Panama…

I’ve let the blog slide a little of late… I’ll try and catch up while I rest here in Cartagena, Colombia (the fearsome cough has returned with a vengeance), get my wisdom teeth pulled (bargain, at $30 a pop) and plot my onward travels.

In the meantime, here’s some pics from the last few weeks…

An oh-so-tiny poison dart frog on the island of Bastimientos, in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. 

Equally cool, the delicious offerings at the nearby organic chocolatier, Up in the Hill. This ball of pure chocolate loveliness was on tantalising display, made from their very own chocolate trees. I guardedly lingered over it, inhaling deeply. .

Taking a break on the Panamerican. 

Star fish in the clear Caribbean waters of Bocas del Drago. Beautiful, otherworldly creatures. 

Sunset and an evening game of footie.

Travel decorations. 

Crossing the crumpled cordillera back to the Pacific. Again… 

 Las Lajas, 20km of pristine beach. Sunrise and sunset here are bookends to perfect days. 

Arriving in Panama City with Belgium cyclist Arnaud…

… like no other skyline in Central America.

Watching a bulging freighter inch its way through the fabled Panama Canal.

Heading out through the jungles to Portobello, to track down a boat.

And here she be. A couple of days later… Sailing to Colombia. What luxury! 

Travel companions.

Arrival in Cartagena. South America, at long last! Quite a feeling…

15 thoughts on “Panama…

  1. gyatsola

    Thats some distance you’ve traveled! I’ve heard great things about Columbia, it should be great there. Can’t wait to see all the photos.

    By the way, have you looked at your blog on an iPad or iPhone? WordPress sites now look very different (even without downloading the app I think). They use your first picture on every entry as a sort of ‘title’ page. It really looks great.

    Reply
    1. gyatsola

      Ah, you are well ahead of me there, I don’t even bother much with apps (thats why I was so surprised that the format changed all of a sudden on all wordpress sites). But I see iPad2 is better for photos… I think I’ll resist that temptation though!

      BTW, is there a problem with your Spot or did you just turn it off? It shows you floating just off the harbour at Cartagena….

      Reply
  2. Daniel

    Cass, it’s great to see that you’re doing well. You’ve definitely inspired me to get out there, in fact I just booked my tickets to India for a manali to leh tour. Can’t wait to hear how you’re liking your trohloff!

    Reply
  3. Susie Moberly

    Great to see you back Cass… seems like a long time since we saw your blog. Great stuff as usual and photos better than ever… hope your cough subsides soon. Stop smoking that wicked tobacco… LOL… and take care… HUG X

    Reply
  4. Peggy Wolkowsky

    Hi- My nephew took a boat from Panama to Cartagena about the time you did- He left April 12th, we have not heard from him since- Do you have any suggestions as to how I can try to track him down? Thank you- Looks like you are having a great ride.

    Reply
    1. otbiking Post author

      Peggy. Most of the crossings by sail boat take 5-6 days, so he should be in by now. If you have the name of the boat, you could contact a couple of the main guesthouses in Panama and Cartagena, who help get passengers together, like:
      http://www.casaviena.com/cartagena-hostel.html
      http://www.lunascastlehostel.com/

      If he took lanchas (speedboats) via the islands, this can take longer, a week or more. No one has mentioned any issues with any of the sail boat, so I’m sure he is fine.

      Reply
  5. otbiking Post author

    Why thank you Eric, such eloquence from a writer as gifted as your good self (-;

    Daniel, you will love Manali-Leh, it’s a truely epic ride, Tata Trucks, Himalayan passes, Buddhist monasteries and all. If you have time, pop into Spiti Valley too. And I’m loving the Troll.

    Reply
  6. bridget

    Hiya Cass
    Que Bacano -Que chevere you’ve arrived in S.Am!
    So looking forward to Part 2!

    Btw did you ever cycle the Nubra valley – taking another group to Ladakh in Aug, plan to add on some time for more exploration… and was considering Nubra – any thoughts/
    Hope you get over the cough and tooth-ache soon!
    B

    Reply
    1. otbiking Post author

      Hi Bridget. Nubra is nice, quite a big military presence though. We used to run a trip that entered via the ‘backdoor’ – I forget the name of the pass – and then came up and over Khardung to finish off. Tough, but a great ride.

      Reply
  7. Henriette

    Hi!
    I see that you sailed to cartagena with rebeldia. I would really like to do the trip with this boat, how did you get in contact with them? Do you have the contact details of the captain? Tanks a lot!

    Regards
    Henriette

    Reply
    1. While Out Riding Post author

      It’s a great boat, with a cool captain and first mate. But I’m afraid I don’t have a contact email for them, and I’m not sure that they were going to run a regular service, as it wasn’t their boat.

      Reply

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