When I walked into the office this morning I saw land, and yet we were still moving.
No matter how many times I go through it, the Panama Canal still remains a fascinating feat of human engineering. It never really stops being surreal to have a sea day that takes place in the middle of dry land.
Even with my adjusted hours (my office opens a half hour earlier these days than it did for the GWV) I’m still not up early enough to see our passing through the first set of locks. By the time I’m settled in for the day we’re already sitting apparently perfectly still in the lake. Looking out there you could be almost anywhere, the islands scattered throughout the area look like they could almost be reached by a strong swimmer, though I’ve no idea how far away they truly are.
One thing I always forget about this day is the heat. Freya but it’s hot in the Canal. Even with the air conditioning going full blast inside the vast windows of the office funnel the heat inside as surely as a magnifying glass focused on an innocent fly by a particularly nasty toddler. No matter how many times you experience, you never really get used to it.
For now, people are taking a break from staring out the windows, whilst we’re drifting about in the lake there’s not much to see – so a lot of people take this chance to read, or chat with home (thank heavens I remembered to feed the gremlins before midnight so they’ve not acted up lately) – and muddle through their other day today concerns. In a few hours, I’m sure that the library will empty as everyone ventures back out onto the outside decks for the next lock.
Once we were released from our drifting about in the lake, the jungle starts to slide by on either side of us, great towering walls of greenery that block us in snug to each side. It’s easy to forget that there are people around us at all. That there is any sign of civilization anywhere at all.
For me? Just another day at the office 😉