Location: Gatun Lake, Panama
Hey all, Grace and Mars here!
After today, I truly believe there are not 7 but 8 wonders of the world. The 8th being the Panama Canal. It was absolutely incredible. The entire Argo crew spent the majority of the day staring up at enormous freight liners that sandwiched us between the equally impressive Lock doors that enabled us to say goodbye to the Atlantic and say hello to the Pacific. Even though our morning was slow, having slept in late and spent many hours coiling lines and stocking up on snacks in preparation. But I would make the argument that today may be one of the most monumental days on the whole trip, where 3 students and staff got to check off a box on the lifetime bucket list. But that wasnt even the most special part; it was that we werent just spectators but actually played a crucial role in transporting Argo through the canal. We were divided into teams to handle lines holding hundreds of tons in tension; some of us got to be liaisons to our pilot. Big thank you to Louis, who was one of the best pilots you could ask for, who even joined us in our squeeze of the day. All in all, its impossible during todays like today to not appreciate the adventure were on, doing things many people cant even dream of. Its fun to know that when we get home, we can tell people that we know how to traverse the largest and most important cross-ocean canal in the whole world, the Panama Canal.
(Hello to everyone back at home! I miss you so much and cant wait to share more of this experience with you!)
Sincerely,