Panama

The tail of Twylad really starts in the morning when we got a lift out on a motor launch around the yachts moored in the bay to try and find a captain willing to take us into Colombia. Trying our luck with the grandest looking boat in the harbour, a beautiful 43ft Beanetau,

we were surprised when the captain crawled out onto deck looking a little worse for wear (which we took for a good sign considering it was 11am) but agreed to take us the next morning no problems. Looking round the boat and having coffee with him on deck we were all so stoked as the boat really was beautifully decked out in white leather and actually had berths for all 7 of us, although when it came down to sleeping we would be fighting for space on deck under the stars instead. After stocking up on true sailing supplies of litres of rum we returned to the boat for a lovely evening acclimatising and getting to know Javier, the crazy Spaniard we had entrusted our lives to.

Setting off out of the harbour the next morning it was sad to think that that would be the last time I would set foot on mainland central America this trip, but with the big blue sea ahead of us it was time for the start of a new adventure. Stopping off at Isla Grande for a bit of snorkeling

and lunch lounging in the sun lulled us into a false sense of security for what was coming up next. As we left the sheltered coast line and rounded the first headland under full sail the wind picked up from a casual 15 knots to 30 to a full on tropical storm 60 knot in a matter of minutes with the seas running a 15ft swell underneath us. With everyone else down below smacked out on seasickness drugs it was up to myself and Captain to reef the boat down and try and ride out the storm which even with the main sail fully reefed we were keeling massively, everythings not just gin palace sailing in the Caribbean. Luckily the storm blew itself out after a while and with it the wind disappeared completely so we were retired into the little town of Mirimar rather than cruise on further down under power.

Setting sail out of port on a perfect Caribbean sailing day we all got the time to helm and learn more about the boat on the long cruise down to the San Blass islands.

As you approach the archipelago you can really see the range of the 400+ picture postcard islands that make up the San Blass.

They are exclusively owned by the Kuna people so foreigners can´t wade in and overdevelop everything like they have done in most other places, and thus most islands have little more than a basic straw hut on them, and more than half of them don´t even have that.

The Robinson Crusoe in each of us takes over as we we pick a random island, anchor just off shore then dive over board in a race to be the first to concur the new island for England/ Ireland/ America/ Israel/ New Zealand.

The next week pretty much was spent the same with a dive into the warm waters then a lovely breakfast of fruits and amazing Panamanian coffee before moving the boat over to another island of our choosing, then having a bit of explore both above and below the water as the snorkeling and wildlife around the islands was very interesting, including one of the most incredible sights of a giant eagle ray jumping 2m out of the water in front of the boat and seeming to flap its giant wings in the air before disappearing below the surface again. In the afternoons if people could be motivated from lounging on deck, we would sometimes go visit some of the natives and barter produce with them for whatever they had to offer, although I´m not sure where they got their inspiration for their dress sense,

but we weren´t to complain as big chief´s island had little more than a couple of straw huts but most strangely a giant fridge stocked full of ice cold beer! The nights were spent chilling on deck with obvious quantities of quality pirate rum and Captain amusing us with some of his sailing yarns or teaching us the art of night navigation, before trying to find a flat place to sleep under the millions of stars.
After managing to persuade Captain to stay 2 more days in the islands (think he was having as much fun as we were so he was in no rush) we eventually had to start moving towards our destination, but not before getting our immigration papers sorted on one of the most insanely inhabited islands I had ever seen with houses literally hanging off the sides whilst neighboring islands had one solitary house sitting in the middle. This was also the place with surely the most remote hardrock cafe in the world,

and we walked around like kings as the tallest person was little more than 5ft so for once in my life I felt like a giant.

After waving goodbye to the beautiful islands we set off into the big blue sea for the 2 day open ocean trip across the bay towards Colombia, and within a couple of hours we could see nothing more than blue sea and blue sky.

With not much else to do our time was taken up with trying to catch Moby Dick, but even after trailing lines all the way from Panama we got nothing more than a bite which instantly snapped the line anyway, so we had to do without the BBQ´d fish that we had been promised; the only thing that we did manage to catch (or to be honest caught itself) was a flying fish that jumped into the cockpit which Captain had the honour of eating alive. As the second morning arose we had our first shout of land ahoy, and our first sight of South America; although the little fishing village which the guide book had promised had got slightly more developed in the last few years

Leaving the faithful Twylad and setting foot in Central America for the first time was a strange and rather wobbly experience after being on a boat for a week, but it was time to begin a new adventure.

**it is not the choices we make but the chances we take that determine our destiny**

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...