There´s more to Panama than the canal

The border crossing into Panama is one of the easiest I have ever encountered, with a little stroll across the thai looking bridge,

and incredibly for central America there was no need to pay any fees/bribes, although the Americans were made to which made things even better! One of the most talked about places in panama to go to is the archipelago of Bocas del Toro although I think it has scummed to the lonely planet hype, as it was little more than a grotty over-developed island where there weren´t even any beaches left as every inch of coast line had been taken up by hotels and restaurants.

A dive tour for the day takes you dolphin chasing in the bay then on to some other islands where the super rare red frogs are caught and displayed by the local kids, but the dives themselves aren´t anything to write home about apart from being the cheapest place to dive I have ever encountered. Unfortunately that night the camera got robbed by a notorious gang of locals in one of the bars, so lost all the pictures of the place and nearly a lot more when I went on a drunken rampage trying to find the people that had taken it; only to realise that they really weren´t the sort of guys persuaded by rational argument and I probably wouldn´t win trying to fight an entire bar full of them.
In the morning the rains still hadn´t abated so we took it as a sign to get out of there and caught the next, rather bumpy, flight out to Panama city.

Again the views from the plane were worth all the money as the hundreds of boats queuing up to enter the canal were spread out like a rusty carpet below the flight path into the city.

Quite strange being in a city again after all this time on beaches, especially such a developed one. Sparkly lights everywhere, massive shopping centres and big banks lined the streets which supposedly the drug cartels created to funnel their money through. Although did manage to find the camera I had been searching the last 3 countries for everyone thinking about going travelling has to buy one of these, its amazing!

As with most cities there is an attractive colonial part

which is nice to stroll around and afforded contrasting views of the new city across the bay,

then onto the three linked islands which make up entrance to the canal zone as the ships steam in under the bridge of the Americas.

Walking up one of the hills on the islands gives great views of the city, and also one of the strangest entry methods into a bar ever seen...

a zip line through the jungle! unfortunately the bar wasn´t open at the time so didn´t get the full experience.

Of course one of the things you can only see in Panama is the canal itself and a visit to the Miraflores locks

to watch the giant boats make their slow way out to the sea having crossed 60 miles of impressively man made waterway is an incredible site, especially when the massive panamax boats come through with only inches to spare each side.


Even with the best of planning intentions the designers of 1900´s couldn´t of predicted the shere demand for transport in the 21st century so work is already underway to extend the capacity of the lock to allow for the post Panamax vessels which currently have to dock at the mouth of the canal and offload all their cargo for it to be shipped overland by freight train.

There is only so much city heat and pollution that one can take at any time, so a journey back to the hill country of Boquette near the Costa Rican border was a nice breath of fresh air, literally. This is a place famous for its magnificent Quetzals (the national bird) although after walking the Quetzal trail I didn´t spot a single one, but the views of the rolling hills and coffee plantations spreading out before you made up for it.

I was going to pay a visit to a nice looking golf course winding its way through one of the valleys but after being told I couldn´t enter wearing shorts or even walking I decided to give it a miss and went for a cycle ride in the hills instead which after 6 months of no exercise nearly killed me.

Left the hills early in the morning to get back to the big city with the intention of sorting out a boat over to Colombia in a few days time, but just as I was arriving at the hostel there was a group of people leaving for the coast to try and find a captain so I went straight back out without even setting my bag down and on to the fortified little port town of Portobello.

Home to the black christ, an eight foot wooden statue that was washed up in the harbour in the 1600´s and atributed with magical powers after attempts to send it back out to see resulted in a few unexplained deaths

and now the mystic powers are enough to convince the belivers to crawl on their knees (some all the 53 miles from Panama City) to worship before El Nazareno.

Looking out onto the harbour you see all the yachts mored in the safety of the bay

waiting to take us on the next stage of the adventure...