Panama!

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We crossed the border to Panama over a rickety wooden bridge and headed South to the mountain village of Boquette. Unfortunately it was rainy season in the mountains so we relished in a short moment of rain and cooler temperatures. Here we did a canopy tour zip-wiring over the rainforest on 14 wires, the longest wire being 400m at apparently the fastest speeds in Central America.

We then took a 9 hour coach down through the country to Panama City where the temperature warmed up and are staying at a hostel in an old colonial mansion in Casco Viejo. Today we explored the old part of the capital and toured around the city (maybe accidentally on the wrong bus!). We also went to the biggest shopping mall in the world which was very exciting. Tomorrow we're going to see the Panama Canal, looking forward to seeing some big ships. Hoping to get a good deal on a Panama Hat!

Emma spent the morning examining a canal, not a root canal, the Panama Canal! We saw a huge cargo ship being towed through a set of locks and learnt lots of interesting facts?!

Did you know ships pay according to their weight? The highest amount was $200,000 by a 90,000-ton cruise ship and the lowest was $0.36 in 1928 by a man who swam through. Another exciting fact: ships worldwide are built with the dimensions of the canal in mind: 305m long and 33.5m wide.

We've met lots of interesting people in our hostel and sampled some of the capital's nightlife.

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