Day 96 - Almost to Panama City

Dateline: 80 kms from Panama City

The riding today was fairly easy. The traffic on the roads was light and fast. The highway passed through mostly lowland plains, where we saw acres upon acres of sugar cane and maize being cultivated.

Coming home from a river lime

The roads in Panama are in excellent condition, and so far we've been fortunate to avoid any delays at the many random police checkpoints we cross each day.

I'm happy to report a significant presence of dark-skinned people here. My Granny Rhoda was born in Panama, just after the opening of the canal. Her father, along with thousands of other Caribbean men came to build the canal from 1904 to 1914.

We're staying at a motel (Hotel Canadian) run by Canadians (they're everywhere!) just off the Pan-American highway. They took us to their favourite Thursday night lime at a restaurant/bar called La Ruina.

We were given a short history of the place which is lined with great old historical photos of the area before the damming of the river to help create the Panama Canal.

As a nice treat, I ordered off the menu and asked for the same plate the owners' son was eating quietly by himself at the bar. A nice dish of white rice, stewed chicken and stewed lentil peas. It looked, and tasted exactly as if it came off my own Mother's stove.

I must be getting real close to Trinidad.

Uhhh.. that's not right!

I had a slow speed dump of the bike while trying to bring it into the hotel compound. The guys are still laughing at the video. I'll post a link to it once it's uploaded.

Sadly, I warped the left side rack, so we'll have to unmanagle it using a vise before I can get the panniers back on.

Crossing the Gap

The southern portion of Panama borders along Colombia. However there is no regular traffic between the two countries along this border. The land is an undeveloped, essentially un-crossable area of dense rainforests and swamp called the Darien Gap.

Years of civil unrest, guerilla warfare and narco-trafficking in northern Colombia have dissuaded the Panamanians from developing any roads through the Gap. Even the great Pan-American highway, stretching from Alaska to the tip of Argentina, takes a 200 km break around the Gap.

So travelers such as myself must either fly or sail around. We had hoped to sail, but the wait for boats is long, and growing. Flying is a faster option to get to Cartegena. But the final decision won't be made until we speak directly with some agents and have firm dates and quotes in hand.

Right now, I'm keeping an eye on costs, and hope to keep them to a minimum. I'm so near the end of the journey, but there are still some significant hurdles along the way...

I need to buy a new rear tire in Panama. I'll need about $1200 to get me and Rebecca around the Gap. And I still have to cross the mountains from Colombia to Venezuela, then traverse that large country and book passage on a ship to Trinidad.

Close, yes. Finished? Not by a long shot.

Still having fun though... :)

Stay tuned :)