Sailing Panama to Colombia

Between Panama and Colombia, the countries that link Central & South America, is the Darien Gap. A piece of land that is largly unpassable, mainly due to the difficulty in road building in this region, there is no easy route through without a 4x4 and a knowleagable guide. Further to this, the presence of FARC in this area makes it slightly risky to make the effort of passing through. Due to this, there are only really two options to go from Panama to Colombia, plane or boat.

So, along with 12 other backpackers I decided to get onboard with the most popular option of taking a sail boat from Panama to Cartegaña, Colombia.

Our boat was a fantastic 60 foot sailing/motor yacht called Wild Card and was skippered by an Aussie fella called John, who was supported by his first mate and fellow Aussie, Nigel. The passengers were a mix of Brits, my travel buddies James & Will - the Aussies, a Swiss couple and a lone Norwegian.

After boarding at Portobello in Panama, we sailed for 10 hours overnight to arrive in the amazing San Blas Islands, home to the native Kuna Tribes. First stop was passport control - which was a corugated iron hut with a desk and a broken chair on a tropical island no bigger than a few football pitches. Passports stamped, we headed a short blast away to a cluster of idylic deserted islands a moored up here for a couple of days of jumping off the bow, snorkelling, fires on the beach and eating fresh lobster.

Following this little piece of paradise we set sail for a 35 hour straight trip through open water across to Cartegeña. En route we saw a family of Sperm Whales and a large pod (perhaps 30 - 40) of Pilot Whales who were very interested in our vessel and got up very close and personal.

All of this, combined with sleeping on deck under a full moon and stars, and witnessing an incredible sunset at sea without being able to see land in any direction made for this to be an epic journey that i am sure none of us who were on the boat will ever forget.

Cayman Hunting in Bocas Del Toro

Whilst in Isla Bastimento in Bocas, we embarked on a midnight Cayman Hunting adventure with the Hostel manager and a few of his idiot drunken american friends. After searching the freshwater pools on the jungle edge just off Red Frog Beach this little adventure ended in the capture (and swift release) of this little fella.

Panama

I wasn`t expecting much of Panama before I arrived. Nobody on the gringo trail mentioned much about it, and I didn`t know much about it. However, in my brief 10 days or so there, it has to be one of my favourite Countries so far.

First stop was the stunning Bocas Del Toro, an Archipealigo of Islands in the north east, packed with dense jungle and stunning remote beaches. Surrounded by mangroves, crystal clear sea waterways and colourful coral reefs. A crew of 7 of us who were on the move together at the time stumbled across Isla Bastimento and the only Hostel on this almost uninhabited Island. With amazing beaches, jungle and a table tennis table at our disposal, we ended up staying a week and loving it.

Next up was Panama City. After a 10 hour overnight bus journey and a couple of valium we arrived before sunrise at our Hostel. Set in a huge old colonial town house in Casco Viejo, the old town, we could see across the Harbour to the modern part of town, which would be best described as similar to the Miami skyline. The City was a great mix of old colonial architecture, barrio slums and modern excess all mixed in together. It felt surprisingly safe and was a great base to go about selecting a Sail Boat to take us on the next leg of the journey, to Cartegeña, Colombia, via the San Blas Islands.

Costa Rica (aka America Rica)

2 chicken busses, a crazy queue, a 1km walk between borders, a refusal to enter the country, another local bus ride, then a 4x4 taxi journey into a cloud forest saw our departure from Nicaragua and entry into Costa Rica and our first stop, Monteverde.

Monteverde, the home to a bunch of adventure sports. High on the list for us was the Canopy Adventure tour, which is a morning of flying through trees and across valleys on Zip Lines. The highlight of this being the amazing 'Superman' zipline, a 1km long, 180 metre high cable that runs from ridge to ridge above the jungle filled valley. The morning we went up was cloudy, and we were in the clouds, so when we were strapped into the Superman line, we were pushed into a total white out, then around half way along the clouds cleared and revealed how high and fast we were flying, which was one hell of a buzz. Easily the best $40 i've spent in a while.

Next stop, La Fortuna, after a 2 hour jeep ride across country, then a 45 min boat trip, then another Jeep ride, this place was awful, boring and full of American college kids. We left first thing the next morning to San Jose, the Capital of Costa Rica.

We rolled in to San Jose the day before the World Cup final, found a good Hostel and got a feel for the place. As with pretty much the rest of Costa Rica, there wasn't really much of an identity as much of the place is trying to be, or is, very Americanised. We hung out here, watched the Spanish beat the Dutch, then headed South for the Carribean Coast and a little beach town called Puerto Viejo, near the Panama border.

So, next stop Panama, although we're currntly holed up in Puerto Viejo awaiting word on if we can cross the border tomorrow as there has been a few days of trouble surrounding the Bocas Bananna Co in Panama and their industrial action against pay and conditions - which in true Central American style has got a little out of control.

Nicaragua

Post Vegas I caught a plane straight to Nicaragua to continue my Southward journey through Central America, via Mexico City and San Jose, Costa Rica. As per my previous post I had roughly a week here to keep me on schedule, so I crammed in a few locations that I had been recommended.

These included Granada, a buzzing old colonial town on the northern edge of the 8,264 square kilometer Lake Nicaragua. Not much to report on Granada other than enjoying the excellent local rum, Flor De Cana, a little too much...

Next stop was the stunning Isla De Omotepe, a small volcanic island on Lake Nicaragua. It was formed by two huge volcanoes bursting out of the lake, side by side, which have since joined by a land mass created by years of lava flow. Now covered in Jungle, this island is an incredible place, straight out of a Jurrasic Park movie. The landscape was stunning, it was packed with wildlife, waterfalls, volcanic beaches and friendly locals. The picture above is of Volcan Concepcion, taken on the evening we arrived from the top of an amazing wooden sculpted viewing tower at the heart of the Hostel we stayed in.

Next stop was the pacific coastal town of San Juan Del Sur, near the Costa Rican border. A notorious spot for surfers to hang out since a film in the 80's (I think) put this place on the map. It wasn't as touristy as I was expecting, but it also wasn't the most real Nicaraguan experience. I spent a few days here dodging rain showers and hanging out with the crew I had met in Granada and Omotepe. All in all, it was a short and sweet stay in Nicaragua, but it feels like a good blast through some key locations.

Next stop, Costa Rica.

July

So, my goal for July is to get through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in around 3 weeks, leaving the last week of the month to take a 5 day sail boat trip through the San Blas Islands from Panama to Cartegena, Colombia.

This would mean that I get to Colombia for the start of August, starting what feels like stage 2 of my trip, South America.

This is pretty quick to be venturing through these countries, especially Nicaragua, but looking at the vast scale of South America and taking into account the many good things i've heard about the countries down there verses Costa Rica & Panama (which are very Americanised), I think it's the best decision right now.

As I write this, i'm on schedule and on the road almost daily with a couple of Aussies and a fellow Brit who are on the same timeline and course.

Map Update

Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, USA, Costa Rica and Nicaragua in one month. It's time for a map update.

Las Vegas

I've always wanted to go to Vegas, so a friends Wedding combined with a wider group of friends from the UK was the perfect excuse. Further to this, it felt like good timing to catch up with some Londoners after 4 months on the road filled with multi lingual conversations and brief, transient relationships with fellow backpackers and locals.

We spent the first night in the Belaggio, then moved over the to Wynn Encore, which is a new Hotel on the strip (thanks Tom), and a pretty amazing place to say the least.

The home of excess and zero taste truly lived up to it's reputation. It truly is a disgusting place, full of disgusting trashy people, staying in mostly trashy Hotels (luckily ours wasn't), eating shit food and throwing their money down the drain.

However, having said that, we approached the week by mentally bypassing this and it was a blast. It flew by, mainly in a drunken haze whilst leaning over a roulette wheel or hanging out by the pool. The Wedding day was great fun, held at the Graceland Chapel and hosted by 'Elvis' it was the perfect Vegas Wedding.

It was great to catch up with the guys who were there, and I only left about $20 down out of my gambling budget. Some lucky gamblers in our group left a few hundred bucks up, no such luck for me unfortunately. Where I am now a few hundred US$'s would go a looooooong way.

Can't say i'll be rushing back, but i'm glad i've been. Box ticked in style!

A Day In Mexico City

En route to Vegas I spent a day in Mexico City between flights. Landing early in the vast metropolis that is Mexico City, I headed to the central square (Zocalo) to get my bearings.

It was the morning of the Mexico v Uraguay World Cup match and Fifa had taken advantage of one of the Worlds Largest City Centre Squares and set up a multi giant screen outdoor arena to watch all the games. This was a big game so the Zocalo was packed. With an atmosphere and crowd like a huge carnival I had a great time here getting into the game.

Following this match they screened the iconic England v Argentina (hand of god) match, which was great to watch in such an awesome setting, surrounded by Argentinian fans waiting for their match at 1.30pm.

After a little stroll, I then got back on the Metro that evening and headed to the Airport to catch my plane to Vegas.