Blogs from Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 9

We picked up a taxi from the main square in Panama City to take us to the Flamenco Marina at Armado Island. At the marina we enjoyed a light breakfast of coffee, condensed milk, and cheese empanadas from a roadside cart. We also spoke with the tourist police who were cruising the areas. Their uniforms displayed their blood-type, and they were well equipped for semi-military operations. To see the Canal from the inside, we had to take an organised tour. This involved a bus to the middle lake section of the Canal, about have way on the 37km canal. The road followed the Panama Canal railway line along the edge of the cutting. Some historical carry over infrastructures from the American time were left empty. Also ruins dating back to 1560. We got onto a tourist ... read more

Day 39: finding a shipping company to take the bike to Colombia Day 40: get all the necessary paperwork completed Day 41: get the bike to the Colon shipping dock and into the container Monday, today Tuesday, and tomorrow Wednesday are devoted to arranging for the shipment of the motorcycle from Panama to Colombia. Transporting vehicles between these two countries has always been a significant challenge because there is no road, but at the same time this is also part of Pan-American Highway adventure. So far it is fair to say that the last two days have been adventurous in many ways, and tomorrow promises to be even more so. The two ferries routes that have been in operation between Colon, on the Atlantic side of the canal, and Cartagena in northern Colombia, have been suspended ... read more

Distance driven today: 14 miles / 22 km Cumulative distance driven: 8,129 miles / 13,082 km Today’s trip: Panama City to Miraflores Locks, Panama Canals visited: 1 No stay in Panama City is complete without a visit to the Panama Canal. It is hard to argue that there is any other attraction in this part of the world that is even remotely as impressive and iconic. Therefore, today we did what every other visitor to the country does, i.e. took a tour of the Panama Canal. The Pacific side Miraflores locks are located just 10 minutes out of Panama City, making them very accessible. From the balcony of the visitor center at the Miraflores locks, Zoe and I witnessed how enormous cargo ships passed through a series of interconnected locks at Miraflores. And all of this ... read more

Distance driven today: 276 miles / 444 km Cumulative distance driven: 8,101 miles / 13,037 km (another 8,000 miles to go) Today’s trip: David to Panama City, Panama Milestone achieved: we have now completed half the PanAmerican highway :-) We let David in the morning, figuring that it would be a pretty straight forward ride to Panama City. Turns out that, between David and the next major city called Santiago, there were roadworks going on. These were not your ordinary roadworks, but rather what we believe must be the world’s longest roadworks! The entire 194km / 121miles stretch between the cities was one gigantic construction zone. The existing 2-lane road was being widened to 4 lane highway. Somehow the Panamanian ministry of transportation must have decided to widen the entire section all at once, rather than ... read more

I arrived last night in Panama after a long day of travelling, and after settling in to my dorm I (predictably) went to the bar beneath the hostel with a number of male travellers, where I soon discovered how cheap panama can be: vodka tonics for $1 each. Seriously!! Obviously I had a 'few' of these whilst discussing travel plans with others around me, hearing their stories, thoughts and recommendations for me. I managed to persuade Taylor, an American I befriended, to come to Colon with me the following morning - even if that meant a 6:30am meet. Come 6:30am, I'm brushing my teeth whilst Taylor walks in from a club! Impressively, he's dead keen to come to Colon still, so we crack on. Upon arriving at train station at 7am, we are swiftly told the ... read more