David/Boquete

OK, I've done it yet again – not kept up with my blogging and so now have to write at least ten entries all at once. All I really remember of my time in the highlands of Panama was rain. It rained when we were on the incredibly cramped bus from Panama to David City – it rained when we arrived in Boquete and pretty much rained every day from 11am to dawn. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse just out of town, owned by an American who married a lovely Panamanian woman. The guesthouse was an extremely comfortable place to be for a few days of wet weather, in that we were very fortunate.

We did our first zip lining experience here – which was very good fun. We met a lovely Californian couple on their honeymoon and enjoyed bumping into them in Boquete and again in Bocas del Torro. One morning, it was raining very lightly so we walked up into the cloud forrest. We didn't see any wildlife to note, but it was great being in the great outdoors for a bit. After getting our feet completely soaked crossing our third huge puddle/impromptu creek, I gave up trying to avoid them and enjoyed (with childlike enthusiasm) walking directly through every subsequent puddle/creek we came across.

Apologies for absence in writing

I write this blog for my own purposes, but also to let friends/family know of my travels.  Given I have had such a prolonged absence from writing, I must admit to others and to myself that May was an emotional month for me.  I have been terribly homesick for England - especially so since parting ways with Mark back in Cusco. Everything kept me thinking of the UK - the Royal Wedding, people I met on the road, Harry Potter (!!!), even my dreams were full of England.  So I avoided emails and internet for some time.  Instead I buried myself in wedding planning and trying to enjoy being on the road.

Colombia soothed with its friendly locals and wonderful travelling without being saturated with extranjeros (foreigners).  Even still, I started to hint to Bernard that I am getting tired of travelling and want to go back to Australia sooner than later. About two weeks later, Bernard his this plateau in his enthusiasm and we decided to move more swiftly, much to my relief.

Every time I tried to write my blog, I had to be reminded of how I felt in Ecuador and so I gave up pretty quickly. But now, after nearly three weeks of good fun in Colombia & Panama I felt ready to write again.  I can't wait to get back to Australia - to see everyone again, proper time, not rushed visits, and to no longer live in a suitcase.  I can't wait to cook in a kitchen, to go vegetable shopping, to drink really good wine again.  I can't wait for time to go quickly so our wedding will finally arrive and I can see some of our mates from the UK again.

So I promise to myself to write more frequently because we're in the home stretch - in less than two months we'll be finished, so I must make the most of every moment, be patient when buses run hours late, when people party in the hostel outside my room on Fri/Sat nights. Because it will be over before I know it.

Lots of love to everyone.

Panama Canal

This was on my “must see” list for central america. Such an amazing feat of engineering, it was just awe-inspiring to turn up to the canal at 9.30am and see three huge Northbound vessels lining up to enter the Miraflores dock. We were fortunate that we read the guide books beforehand and found out that between 9 – 11am and 3-5pm are best times for viewing. We spent nearly three hours at the canal admiring the process – the largest of the ships was charged $40KUS to enter the canal – apparently this is ten times cheaper than the alternative sailing up to 21 days to circumnavigate south America. We viewed the muesum at the visitor's centre and noted how little was mentioned about the environmental impact of the canal and their expansion plans (which were passed by majority of 77% in a referrendum). But you can appreciate the economic imperitive to allow the canal to expand – after the US reaped the benefits of their initial investment, you can't blame the Panamaericans to want to benefit as well.  Well worth the visit.

After the canal we went and saw Que Paso Ayer? II (The Hangover II) for the bargain price of $3 - this was great fun being in air conditioned comfort after a few steaming hot days in San Blas.  Off to David/Boquete region tomorrow to chill out in the cloud forrest before heading to Bocas del Torro for some more snorkelling/island experiences.

San Blas Islands

Early start that's for sure. We got picked up at 5.15am for our 4x4 journey to the pick-up point for boats in the San Blas. Along the way we stopped to pick up more passengers – not usually a problem but these Israeli's were not particularly sensitive to the needs of others and they kept us waiting for over half an hour (without apology) because they weren't organised enough to go shopping beforehand. We eventually left and then took the rollercoaster ride on the new road through the jungle into Kuna land (Kuna are the people of the San Blas region and have complete Governance over their land) and eventually found ourselves on our boat, the Sailing Koala.

Fabian is a Colombian capitan who has been sailing backpackers and other tourists between Cartagena in Colombia to San Blas islands in Panama for 14 years. He is professional, polite and gets along well with the Kuna. It was hot hot hot on the water with little breeze and clouds, so Bernard and I were eager to get into the water – after an hour or so crusing we were taken to this lovely island where we were based for most of our trip. We snorkelled for hours around the reef using our new camera, realised we were getting burnt so tried to hide from the sun. We ate lobster for dinner that night, prepared by the Kuna on the island. We tried to sleep in our cabin, but it was just too hot with both of us in there, so I ended up sleeping outside underneath the stars. It was just lovely – then the sun rose and it got hot again. We saw dolphins – the first time I was swimming and they were about 3 metres away from me – the second time we saw a mother and baby swim right beside our boat.

We went diving off old ship wrecks (very cool), kayaed around the islands and ate fish, seafood, rice, chips and lentils for nearly every meal. When weather turned we enjoyed the comfort of the boat, sleeping well whilst it stormed outside, the gentle rocking motion soothing rather than disruptive. We visited a traditional Kuna village and bigger modern township of Carti – both lifestyles remarkably impovrished but resilient – the Kuna are in desperate need of better waste disposal (sewerage and rubbish). The traditional dress of the women is just lovely and the sense of community in this area is very strong.

Arriving in Panama City

After being checked very thoroughly by Colombian police at the cartagena airport (presumably for drugs) we arrived safe and sound in Panama City. After repeatedly trying to give directions to our hostel, (they are extremely complicated) we eventually arrived at our hostel. A slight problem with our booking but the hostel owner was so lovely and we had air conditioning in the room so we were happy enough. Went to an American influenced restauruant for dinner and ate really well for cheap and slept soundly that night.

Next day went to the biggest shopping mall we've encountered for many many years with quite competitive prices – much better than buying goods in South America. Our taxi journey was a bit difficult – the guy picked up other passengers along the way and so Bernard gave him less money – and he went wild. It upset me a bit, but all the locals were laughing when Bernard said “son of a bitch” to him in Spanish, so the guy drove off and the matter was resolved. Took me a few moments for my heart rate to return to normal, but once it did I thoroughly enjoyed myself shopping. We bought a camera we can use under water, I bought a new bikini and flip-flops, Bernard bought board shorts. Spotting a theme here? That's right, most of our highlights throughout central America is the snorkelling and beaches, so we have equipped ourselves appropriately.

Whilst at the shopping mall the heavens opened and monsoonal rain started (and lingered for the rest of the day) so no other sight seeing for us. We made our way to another hostel to pay for our tour to San Blas islands, then got another cab back to our hostel. On the way the wheel came completely off its axle and so we were stuck in the pouring rain in the middle of Panama City. Fortunately it wasn't really a problem – the city is pretty safe, we hailed another cab without too much difficulty and made it back to our hostel to dry off. The guests at the hostel were super lovely, so we ended up chatting to them for the rest of the day, we ordered pizza for dinner, packed our bags for San Blas.

Cartagena

Cartagena old town is just lovely. It isn't nearly as impressive as the walled city of Debrovnik, but it is very livable and remarkably modern. By that I mean that the spanish colonial architecture has been well maintained but also turned into modern comfortable living. The old town is expensive, but well worth staying in that part of town. We arrived mid afternoon in town, got ourselves comfortable in our charming little hostel before exploring some of the town for dinner. We paid over the odds prices but had a wonderful meal and coctails. The next day we headed off to the port to try and find a boat to sail to Panama.

The only boat leaving during the next week that wasn't full was small and operated by guys who didn't give the appearance or behaviour of professional captains – more like guys who just want to have fun sailing around on their boat and took backpackers with them to make some cash. Not what we were wanting for 2 days crossing the open seas. Other boats were being cancelled here and there, so it all seemd easier and more reliable to arrange boats to San Blas from Panama (which thankfully we managed to). We booked (expensive) last minute flights to Panama City and onward flights to Costa Rica.

We drank beer on the city walls whislt the sun set, and cooked ourselves up storm in the best hostel kitchen we've ever experienced – Risotto one night, fajitas the next night – I tell you we felt so at home in Cartagena – we would have loved to have stayed longer except it was prohibitively expensive to do so. Did we do anything in particular in Cartagena – well no. Its just a great place to wonder aimlessly for a few days.

Santa Marta and Tayrona NP

Welcome to the tropics! Most people come to Santa Marta to organise hiking tours to visit Cuidad Perdida (The Lost City) or to visit Tayrona National Park. We skipped the 20 hour bus journey and flew as flights were under $100US. We arrived it was hot hot hot and hadn't rained for days. Our hostel was great – a bit of a party place, but actually enforced its rules of 12am music off and bar closed. We met some nice people there and had a fantastic air conditioned ensuite room so we stayed a few days longer.

Bernard really wanted to do the lost city, but so many people said that walked in the wet season (ie May – September) made it a very difficult and at times quite miserable trip (ie hiking in soaking wet clothes/boots for 6 days). We understood why – two out of the four days we were in Santa Marta it rained quite heavily ALL day. But in between those days we had lovely hot weather. On those days we went to the cinema (watched the Fast and Furious 5) and went to the Tayrona NP to enjoy their isolated and pristine beaches. We even bumped into our Slovakian friends on the local bus which was a pleasant surprise. Santa Marta is a pretty grim town – getting home from dinner in nearby village of Taganga the road was blocked by burning car tyres. Even the taxi driver was aprehensive at this point, half expecting the car to be held up on the back streets we took to get back to the hostel. Nothing happened of course. Our few days at the Dreamer Hostel were really great and we were excited to be making our way to Cartagena and onward to San Blas.