Panama
As we crossed the border, we felt that Panama was a big contrast to Costa Rica, It was flat, arid, and had sparse vegetation. I marvelled at how different these neighbouring countries seemed to be. I had heard that Panama was becoming the next ecotourist destination. When Doug made this comment to our mechanic, he laughed and said “but there’s nothing here”. I had to agree. We stayed in a beautiful mountain village but neither saw nor heard of any other worthwhile destinations. Don’t we sound jaded! Ironically, we found lush, green countryside as we drove south. Although there were not any places to stay, at least it was pretty to see.
Bouquete is a lovely little hideaway, obviously built with tourists or discerning locals in mind. It has numerous restaurants and coffee shops, great stores and beautiful parks and homes. It is well kept and a lot of English is spoken here. All the overlanders we have talked to, stayed here. The climate is perfect, warm with light breezes and infrequent rain. So relaxing! Our campsite was new and had a Bakery/Cafe on-site. I know, too easy! Doug and I got haircuts at Millie’s which was both cheap ($20.00 for both), and entertaining. Millie and her clients spoke English and were very chatty.
The local women here have a traditional style of clothing also. It is a full-length cotton dress with cap sleeves and trim at the bodice and hem. Not very flattering but cool to wear. I did get a picture of a family in their dresses, they were very accommodating.
The town is between two clear rushing rivers, so we had some scenic walks and pleasant views. There are some enterprising artists too, which always captures my interest. Doug busied himself trying to organize the shipping arrangements required to get us from Panama to Colombia. He also had to deal with some truck maintenance and a reoccurring warning we were getting about our transmission. Fortunately, the transmission problem was just a sensor, locating a shop that had synthetic oil for a diesel engine proved to be a bit of a challenge, but successful. Doug’s computer abruptly stopped working requiring some immediate attention to have it resurrected. This entailed multiple trips into David (an hour’s drive each way) and much angst as we waited for diagnosis. Doug also dealt with a broken hinge on the bathroom door and a broken handle on our outside door. Obviously, he didn’t have as much downtime as I did. We also cleaned the truck and camper inside and out as it needs to be spotless before boarding the ship. At least we had the water, space and cool weather to do it there. I also organized what to pack and where to hide valuables as theft is notoriously common in ports and on board. See, life is not just endless days of fun!
We had rented a home in a gated community in Panama City so we could park our unit before taking it to the port in Colon. The house was huge, hot and humid. Luckily the master bedroom had air-con or we would have perished. Leaving the bedroom was like walking into a wall, I am totally amazed that people can acclimatize to this. Doug spent the entire week getting inspections done, sorting out the paperwork with our agent, finding ways to transfer money and tracking down all the necessary forms for the Colombia side. We emptied the truck and fine-tuned the camper storage then waited.
On my birthday/Mother’s Day, we went to visit the Miraflores Locks. They have built a wonderful tourist facility at the Panama Canal complete with viewing platforms, museum, restaurant, and movie theatre. There was so much to see and do that we spent the whole day there. It was very informative and fun. Two days later we delivered our rig to the docks and caught a flight to Cartagena.
Our Route
