Blogs from Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 153

When I got into the country the Panamanian customs (aduana) stamped my passport saying that i cannot leave without the car. That is a problem, since my plan was to leave BT with Eloisa and take off for colombia. We spent most of the day monday (and also the previous friday) trying to figure out our options. This information is not available on the internet and was difficult to find, so here I make my contribution to this amazing creation of mankind my making this information public and googlable: Leaving your car in Panama. Because many people used to drive from the US and simply abandon their cars parked on the street to rotten, the Panamanian government determined that one cannot drive here and leave the country without the car, unless with the customs authorization. One ... read more

Eloisa and I went to the island where she does her research. I had caught the flu and was feeling like crap, so I asked her to drive. I slept through the entire one-hour boat ride. When we got there I found a hammock and slept the entire time. Eloisa woke me up to have lunch, and later to take the boat back. Once again I slept the entire ride. We went to Eloisa´s friend´s house in Gamboa, where the boat to the island leaved from, to wait for the party at night. Kelly - Eloisa´s friend - had a hammock there, I lied down and slept from 4 to 8 pm. At the party they also had a hammock, which I couldn´t resist and slept the entire time. I only woke up to go back ... read more

´´It´s not where you are, it´s who you are´´ I heard a guy say, outside my dorm window, a few days back when I was just waking up from another crazy dream about something forgettable. And I couldn´t agree more. I have realised now, six weeks into the biggest trip of my life thus far, it not all about just going to these far flung places and saying you´ve been there, staying in hostels surrounded by white faces, not walking the streets at night in fear of fear itself or being overly pretentious about energy flows and karma in a hand-written hostel guestbook. I think it´s about doing something that matters no matter how small or big or just doing the right thing. And what that is?... well, I still don´t know yet. That´s enough ... read more

I think the last thing I wrote was a whirlwind update of a week's worth of adventures in Costa Rica.... Now we're in the homestretch - Panama - the last country and final few days of the trip. I can´t believe how quickly it's gone! I'm sad that's it coming to an end, but also feel so lucky, and excited about so many things back home. It´s funny how traveling does that, makes you appreciate the mundane or little things and of course, the people close to you back home. Anyways... back to Panama! After missing a 6:40 am bus and waiting in the rain for two hours for the next one, we finally made our way across the Costa Rican and Panamanian borders. This was definitely the easiest border crossing yet, but also one of ... read more

This will probably be the last entry from Panama. We leave on Thrusday 31st to head back for Costa Rica. We have had some lovely days - trips out with Claudio, the owner of Hotel Angela where we are staying. We were supposed to do a trip on the Catamaran and had it booked for Monday. But when we arrived they told us the boat was booked out by a group of Outreach kids. So we were OK with than and re-arranged the trip for today (Tuesday). But this morning it was raining very heavily and when we got to the Catamaran office the girl told us the trip was cancelled. Well, needless to say we were a bit annoyed. We were asking for our deposit back and the girl got annoyed with us for being ... read more