Panama Surprises

-- Story by Chris and Erin --

December 11th - Panamá City, Panamá is our 44th country, the beginning of Central America, and the reality that after more than 3.5 years and 83,000 miles, the end of the trip is (unfortunately) nearing an end.  We are back on the North American continent, and can measure our time remaining for this journey in rapidly diminishing months. 

What makes it more depressing is that Panamá City is filled with McDonald's and strip malls on nearly every corner, and dollar bills are accepted as the local currency.  Funny thing is that the dollar bills look different than what we remember -- the new 5s, 10s, 20s, and 50s. 

Thursday morning,  Aneval, the taxi driver we met last night is waiting for us in front of our hotel at 8:30am.   The usual fare from the airport to the center (22km) is $20.  The night before Aneval found us walking towards the bus terminal and offered to take us for $8.   He would be taking us on the return journey today past the international airport today, to the cargo terminal which is housed in the old airport.  We arrived around 9:30, and were done with the formalities of extracting our bikes from customs before lunchtime.  A very easy and friendly entry/customs process (without carnet), and only $20 in airport handling fees.

Fri, Dec 13th:  Returned to the cargo terminal to look for Chris & Simi, friends we made in Bolivia at the animal refuge, who were travelling on an Africa Twin.  Their bike arrived after the Aduana closed, so they would have to pick up the bike on Monday.

Sunday, Dec 15th:  An early breakfast and the four of us were off to see the famous Panama Canal.  We took the local bus about 8km to the first and largest of the locks, named Miraflores.  We watched in fascination as a huge car transport from Japan shuttled 5,000 new vehicles inside its shoe-box looking structure.  The ship was a Panamax, built specifically to the maximum size able to fit through the canal, with only 12" on either side for clearance.  The ship paid about US$150,000, in cash, 48 hours previous, for the service.  That comes to US$30/car...

Friday, Dec 20th:  Hurrah -- My original shock finally arrived in Panama, and we rushed over to DHL to retrieve it.   An hour later, the shock was in the bike, and we could finally be mobile again.

Saturday, Dec 21st:  We finally left the heat and humidity of Panama City and rode to Pedasi, 320km from Panama city.  Pedasi is a quiet fishing village surrounded by tranquil farmland and some deserted black-sand beaches.  Chris and Simi had recommended a  nice guesthouse here with hammocks in a lush garden.  In the evening the town seemed to come alive with all the locals out strolling the streets and kids playing in the central plaza.   All of the small houses were decorated with Christmas lights, bringing back glimpses of Christmas in our neighborhood back home.

Sunday, Dec 22nd:  We left Pedasi and headed for the cooler weather of Boquete, in the mountains near the border with Costa Rica.  I got stopped crossing a double yellow line by the local men in blue.  The $50 fine was dropped to a $5 tip for not troubling me with a written ticket.  We arrived in Boquete, 380km later, at a refreshing altitude of 1,120 meters.  Chris and Simi were already there, having found a quaint little guesthouse with a nice garden and a pool -- Hostal Topaz. 

Annet and John arrived from Ecuador on the 23rd, retrieved Annet's bike from customs in record time and promptly rode the 500+ kms to meet us in time for Christmas Eve.  (We also spent last Christmas Eve with Annet in Puerto Madryn, Argentina.)

Tuesday, Dec 24th:  When A & J arrived, we already had the meat marinating for the barbecue dinner, the salads made, the beer and wine chilled, and the German cake ready for dessert.  It was a nice evening catching up on all the travel stories for the last 5 months since we last saw everyone.

Christmas Day, was spent relaxing and the guys working on small problems on Annet's bike (while recovering from hang-overs).  Since we were all feeling a bit too lazy and fat, we decided to go on a trek in the mountains to try to spot the beautiful Quetzal, an elegantly colorful bird native in this region.  But to do this, we had to take two buses, a total of 3 hours, to get to the town of Cerro Punta at the start of the trek on the other side of the mountain.  We arrived at the town on the 26th and started the trek early in the morning of the 27th.  Our guidebooks said it would be a very easy downhill walk all the way back to Boquete.  Well, we didn't figure on the 6 kilometer walk uphill just to get to the start of the trek! 

The actual beginning of the trail is at the top of the mountain at the ranger station (at altitude of 2,500 meters/8,200 ft).   Here there are fantastic views and lots of hummingbirds.  After paying US$3/pp, we walked slowly down, trying not to make too much noise and scare away all the birds.  We saw many things that day, but no Quetzals.  John, who has been fighting a mysterious illness and fever felt very sick about halfway down the mountain.  Near the end, we reached an old road and a passerby in a truck offered to take him back to town.  We ended up hitching a ride in the rain on the back of a cattle truck.  This was a whole different view as we passed many coffee plantations with the deep red coffee beans just about ready to be harvested.   The indigenous women in this area wear long, colorful, homemade dresses, even while working on the plantation.

Sunday, Dec 29th: We say goodbye to Annet and John once more------they returning to Panama City to get the rest of their gear, and the rest of us crossing the border into Costa Rica, our 45th country.