Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua

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After spending 6 months in South America, I found myself with less than 3 weeks for Central Amrica before having to fly to the US to catch my flight to Bangkok. So I decided on a few highlights that I wanted to see.

As I had arrived in Panama City from Colombia, the Panama Canal was a must see, beeing one of the impressive engineering feats of our time. And impressive it was. We spent some time watching massive container ships passing through, their sides barely clearing the edges.

Panama City itself had a very modern section, with skyscrapers and casino´s. The old colonial center was more picturesque, but also quite run-down, and in need of some restoration.

So after two days in Panama City, took a series of busses to get to La Fortuna in Costa Rica, to see Volcan Arenal, one of the worlds to 10 most active volcanoes. The best way to see the volcano is by guided tour, so I picked one which included a visit to some hot springs. The hot spring turned out to be a hot-river, heated by the volcano. It was pretty cool swimming there, as we where in a hot river, surrounded by lush, tropical vegetation. The volcano itself has been active since 1968, with minor erurion every 5-10 minutes. These eruptions are best seen at night, as the lava rocks glow red. We has to walk through the jungle, at night, for about half and hour, before reaching a suitable view-point (about 1km from the eruptions) to see the lava flows. It was the first time I had ever seem a live lava flow, and it was truly impressive. Even on the walk there, before seeing anything, we could hear the rumbling eruptions.

The following day I made my way to San Juan Del Sur, in the south of Nicaragua, where I net up with Arne & Johanna, a german couple, and Richard, a english guy, all of whom had also been on the yacht from Colombia to Panama. We spent 2 days relaxing on the beach, doing some surfing, playing frisbee and at night playing poker.

With the clock ticking, it was time to vamos, and make my way to Guatamala City by bus (passing through Honduras and El Salvador).

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