Bocas del Toro
One must back-track towards David to get on the road to Bocas. You go up over some mountains and come back down with views of the Caribbean along the way. There is a reservoir on the Caribbean side of the mountains. There are some indigenous people on the coast there and you notice a different style...
Boquete
We back-track a bit and get back on the autopiste or Pan-American highway 1 and head to David. Beautiful, scenic drive. Not far after the turn-off, we came across a motorcycle crash with the guy off alongside the road with a broken leg, on the ground screaming. I told Mimi to hope that the people ar...
Playa Chiquita to Pocri (Pedasi)
All roads lead through Paris, and in this case through Panama City. We made it through with nary a misstep and found ourselves on the Autopiste heading west. I don't think I have mentioned yet that we have no electronics with us, and I left my compass in my car at home. We have a 2001 Lonely Planet...
Back to Playa Chiquita via Cerro Azul
We had enjoyed ourselves at Playa Chiquita and Mimi had made some plans for us to return there for my birthday. She knew Sonia's schedule. But we had another night before Sonia was returning, so we climbed up Cerro Azul. This is very close to Panama City, just up from some place called December 24....
Second stab at San Blas
With renewed confidence and sense of purpose, we leave Playa Chiquita with instructions to find Albrook Mall in Panama City, where we can book a trip with Explora tours. We find Albrook mall, a sprawling complex 3x as large as the malls we are used to and criss-cross it searching for this tour compa...
playa chiquita
Head east, not sure what we were looking for other than a place to sleep. Thought the road terminated in Cuango, later found gravel turn-off (unmarked) which continues all the way to Palmira. I gather this road will soon be completed all the way to Santa Isabel, which would put you within a stone's...
Isla Grande
We head up to Portobelo, take a look, continue towards Isla Grande. Some marinas, restaurants, housing accomodations along the way. We take a basic hotel for $45 looking out towards Isla Grande. Met three Germans traveling east along the Caribbean and they mention some festival that way. Visited Isl...
Beach near Portobelo
Still our first day, we head back through Panama City with the intention of heading towards the Caribbean coast. I am attracted to the "corridor Norte" signage. We go up near Portobelo and discover a beach with some cabanas, where we pitch our tent and stay two nights. Restaurant available there, sh...
First stab at San Blas
We set off towards San Blas (Darien) from Panama City, where we had to go to get our car. Our car wasn't available at Tocumen (airport), so we had to backtrack a bit. Stopped at some "gypsy guest house" and found a western woman who I could communicate well with and learned that we needed to have a...