Highlights from Panama include:

Spending some time in Bocas Del Toro
Hiking in the mountains of Boquete
Visiting the Panama Canal
The town of El Valle
Beach life in Pedasi
Visiting a Health Centre in Toabré
The San Blas Islands

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Clothes

1 Pair Trousers - used sparingly, in nightclubs and whe ntemperature dipped – especially in Bolivia
1 Pair Cargo Shorts – used extensively. I recommend Gap. Lasted very well, had pockets repaired in Panama then replaced in Colombia.
3 T Shirts - White t-shirts didn’t last too well. Easy and cheap to buy when replacement needed.
2 Vests - Easy and cheap to buy when replacement needed.
1 Shirt
Haverhill C.C. Baseball Cap
Woolly Hat – used sparingly, but always handy to have – again especially in Bolivia.
Belt - As it turned out, I put on a lot of weight around the waist. Who would have thought.
Swimming Shorts
4 Pairs Boxer Shorts – Not enough.
3 Pairs Socks – Enough.
1 Pair Flip Flops – Every day wear. Replaced in Argentina. Havaianas are the way forward.
1 Pair Reef Sandals - Used very sparingly, posted home from Bolivia.
1 Pair Shoes/Trainers – Replaced in Colombia.
2 Jumpers – One stolen from hostel in Oaxaca, replaced in Guatemala.
1 Raincoat – Again, used sparingly but useful in colder places.
Sunglasses
2 Pairs Glasses
90 Pairs Contact Lenses - used all and bought new ones in Colombia.

Toiletry Bag

Toothbrush – no need to worry, these things are available everywhere you go.
Toothpaste
Dental Floss
Shower Gel
Razor
Shaving Oil
Aftershave
Deodorant
Ear Plugs – Absolutely indispensable. Used a lot, enabled me to sleep in places I wouldn’t have otherwise slept. If you are thinking about travelling, take earplugs. Simple as that.
Sleeping Mask – never used.
Vitamin Tablets
Sun Cream
Aftersun Cream
Sun Protection Lip Balm
Spare Razor Blades
Cotton Buds
Insect Repellent
Nail Clippers
Shaving Mirror
Eye Drops
Hair Wax

First Aid Kit etc.

280 Doxycycline Tablets (Malaria) - didnt end up taking.
Chloroquine Tablets (Malaria) - took them through Central America. Lots of people don’t bother.
Plasters
Antiseptic Wipes
Dressing Bandage – didn’t use
Dressing Pads - didn’t use
Germoline – didn’t use
Bonjela – didn’t use
Antihistamine - used sparingly
Ibuprofen/Paracetamol
Condoms
Sewing Kit – unless real emergencies are required, very cheap to go to a launderette and pay a tailor to make repairs.
Dental Floss
Ear Plugs

As a side note, all of these toiletry and first aid things are widely available in every town and most villages. Probably worth buying as and when required, unless planning to do a lot of things away from towns and villages.

Documents

Passport – oh dear.
Flight Tickets – never once got asked for proof of onward journey.
Address Book – never used
Vaccination Record Card - never got asked to show it.
Notebook/Journal - used a lot. Sent home full one in Bolivia. Replaced in Arequipa.
Hotel Reservations for USA
Photocopies of Passport – came in handy when passport was stolen.
Insurance Policy
Glasses and Contact Lenses Prescription – came in handy when buying new contact lenses.
Elastic Bands – ?
Pen
Calculator – never used

General Bag

Battery Charger c/w Adaptor – lost and replaced in Guatemala
Alarm Clock -
Victorinox Swiss Army Knife – confiscated in Panama City. Forgot it was in my pocket and tried to board a plane! Whoops.
Duck Tape – Used to repair pockets in trousers and money belt, and to keep camera battery compartment door closed.
Cable Ties – never used.
Torch - Don’t remember ever seeing this!
Padlock – Used a lot, especially in hotels with lockers.
Batteries for MP3 Player
Camera Memory Card

Books

Lonely Planet Mexico – very useful. Heavy. Left in Guatemala.
Rough Guide Central America – ?
Rough Guide South America – Not brilliant. South America is too big a continent to condense like that.
English-Spanish Dictionary – helpful.
Lonely Planet Health Handbook - never used.
American Psycho (some light reading) - book exchanges in hostels are for winners.

Other Stuff

Travel Towel – not good. felt horrible, didn’t dry properly. After a few days I bought a normal towel. Started using a sarong in South America, which is lightweight and dries quickly.
Sleep Sheet – not good. Too small, too hot in Mexico to sleep with anything covering. Sent home from Bolivia
MP3 Player – used to store photos. Have since bought an iPod.
Digital Camera & USB Cable - worked wel until Panama, where it died. Would take small camera and possibly a larger better quality camera next time.
Money Belt – works well if you actually wear it. Doesn’t do so good if you leave it in your daysack. As I unfortunately found out. Replaced in Arequipa.
Day Pack – stolen in Peru. Replaced. handy to keep with you when on buses.
Laundry bags – useful for separating dirty clothes from clean.

Things I bought when away

Casio watch – needed to know the time. worked well until stolen from hostel in Lima. Replaced with imitation in Colombia, which didnt work too well.
Extra jumper - didnt really need this, just bought it because I liked it.
Pen and small pad – I kept wanting to write little things down but never had paper available, so I bought a little notepad and kept it with me all the time.
Hiking boots – cheap ones, from a market in Bolivia. The Hi-Tec Squash – although awesome – were not up to the rigours of hiking in the Andes. Would probably buy better ones next time as they were not the most comfortable.
Blanket – for cold nights in Guatemala. Used sparingly and sent home from Bolivia.
Sleeping bag – bought in Argentina. Never really used and got lost on the plane journey from Panama to Madrid at the end of the trip. Quite hard to find a decent camping store, so I would buy from home next time. I thought about getting all the camping gear and starting to camp more to save some money, but the equipment (where available) was not of a great standard and not cheap either.
Valium – used to sleep on buses. Needed a prescription in Lima, but available over the counter in a small village pharmacy. Work well but leave you very drowsy the next morning. I read the whole of Mice and Men the morning after taking one, and I can’t remember a thing about the book. Not sure about the legality of taking them across international borders?

If you like this equipemtn review, or are trying to research your own equipment needs, be sure to read the review of my Six Essential Items to Carry Whilst Travelling

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Yami had been assigned accommodation in Penonomé, and assigned her first clinic in Toabré. In order to get to Toabré for 7am, we left at six and took two buses. When we arrived at the clinic, the locals were already queuing outside the clinic, which served as the medical centre for the whole of the mountain region in the area.

Click here to view larger map

The clinic, although basic, served its purpose well and was certainly in demand. The patients were all indigenous people, and obviously extremely poor, the poverty being evident in the state of the teeth of the patients. Children of 7 or 8 came in to have adult teeth removed due to lack of care, and most patients over the age of 40 had very few, if any teeth at all. One lady came in for a clean of her one and only tooth, one of the middle bottom incisors. It was a funny, yet sad moment, watching Yami cleaning this single tooth.

I couldn’t believe how the people had let their teeth fall in such a bad state, but Yami explained they literally did not have any money, and buying ‘luxuries’ such as toothbrushes and toothpaste was simply not an option.

Officially, Yami and the other doctors were supposed to charge for the treatments they carried out, however in reality they didn’t charge, as the majority of the patients would have been unable to pay in any case, and probably would not have came to the clinic to receive treatment in the first place.

To get any idea of the remoteness of the clinic, and the inaccessibility of the region in which these people lived, some of them – kids of six of seven included – had walked 8 hours through the rainforest just to see a doctor or dentist, and of course they had to walk the 8 hours return journey home. A pretty tough walk, especially if you have just had two or three teeth removed.

Although only three hours from Panama City, probably the most affluent city in Central America, Toabré and the highlands of Panama are a completely different world, and the vast difference in living standards between the city and the country is both disturbing and shocking, especially considering it is a country that has a unique commodity (the canal) that generates billions of dollars per year.

Although I had seen a lot of poverty in the previous 300 or so days, I never really saw with such proximity, or interacted with people who literally have nothing, not even the money to buy a toothbrush or toothpaste. Thinking about the plight of the indigenous communities in Panama, I couldn’t decide if it was a sad reflection on the failures of the US administration in Panama, past and present governments or the distribution of wealth and resources of the country, but something was definitely amiss.

On a plus note, after Yami had seen all her patients for the day, she gave my teeth the once-over and a clean! Unfortunately my camera had died on the beach in Pedasi, so I didn’t manage to get any pictures of the clinic or the locals. I do have one of Yami working, though this wasn’t taken that day!

I arrived in Panama City in mid afternoon, and didn’t want to travel out to Penonome that same day so I checked in at Zuly’s, the hostel I stayed at back in February, and caught up with goings on in the World Cup, before heading to Penonome to see Yami the following morning.

Whilst I returned to Panama to see Yami, I knew she would be working and that I would have to amuse myself during the days, something I did by taking trips for a couple of days here and there to various places in Panama.

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The first week in Panama I went off to Chitre and Pedasi in the Azuero Peninsula. I stayed in Chitre for a night before taking a bus further south to the village of Pedasi on the southern tip of the peninsular. Pedasi is a village of about 2,000 people and is the hometown of Panama’s first female president, Mireya Moscoso, who ruled from 1999 to 2004. It is well known in Central America for having decent waves for surfers and being a generally nice little village.

Pedasi lays a couple of kilometers from various beaches, which turned out to be a 30 minute trek along a stony track. The beach I saw was a deserted expanse of black sand with waves crashing into the rocky shoreline. The village itself is pretty enough, with enough in the surrounding area to keep you occupied for a day or two. One of the main reasons for coming here is the surfing, with numerous beaches nearby offering supposedly excellent waves.

The morning after arriving I took the early bus to Playa Venao, which has a reputation for having excellent waves, where I was in two minds about hiring a surfboard and jumping into the deep end as it were.

The bus trip took about 40 minutes and dropped me off on the main highway, and wouldn’t return for about 8 hours. I found the beach, an open expanse of sand with grass at the rear and a small island about a mile off shore, and set about killing time. The area was completely deserted apart from the ramshackle huts and beach bar with no-one in. It stayed completely deserted for most of the day, apart from a herd of cattle that came down to the beach at one point to have a swim in the sea, encouraged by some cowboy dudes. I met a local surfer who had hitchhiked from Panama City and planned to spend a few days at the beach, sleeping in a hammock tied to the wooden frame of the restaurant, before hitchhiking back to the city.

I returned to Penonome the following day, and Yami and I caught a bus to El Valle, where we stayed for the weekend. I had visited El Valle during my first time in Panama, so I knew it was a cool little village. Not much happened over the weekend, we were given a tour of the surrounding area by one of Yami’s university professors who owned a weekend house in the village, watched the World Cup Final, and explored on some bicycles we hired for an afternoon.

I flew back to Panama, spent a week with Yami and returned to Cartagena. I then tried to go south to Medellin, but the buses were a little bit of a problem due to the FARC in the region, so I decided to take another route, via boat from Colombia back to Panama. The trips are organised regularly, and sailed whenever there were enough people on-board. I called the Captain of one boat, arranged my ticket, and as luck would have it, we sailed the next day (Thurs 22nd June).

The Darién Gap is a stretch of land joining Panama and Colombia. Covered in dense rain forest, it is a widely unexplored, inhospitable area of land, home to various indigenous Indian groups, as well as some unfriendly characters, namely three Colombian rebel groups, the right-wing United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) and both left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The Panamerican highway, which stretches about 16,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina, would run continuously if it were not for a 62 mile stretch through the Darién Gap that has never been constructed. Various attempts have been made to link the road through the gap, however due to environmental and political reasons, this has never been accomplished. It is said there are mud roads, which are passable at some times of the year, but for the most they are only accessible by 4×4. The lack of decent road, and the presence of the rebel groups makes all overland passage both extremely difficult and dangerous, and is not recommended, and for that reason there are various sailboats offering passage from Panama to Colombia, thus bypassing the Darién Gap.

The boat I sailed on, the Stahlratte (German for “Steelrat”) is an old fishing vessel, made in Holland and first registered in 1903. In celebration of her 100 year anniversary, the ship’s owners decided it would be fitting to circumnavigate the globe, taking on board random crew members along the way. The financing of the boat is somewhat unplanned, and due to that, the ship was ferrying passengers back and forth from Panama to Colombia and vice versa (with a stop off in Panama’s San Blas islands to break up the journey), in order to pay the passage through the Panama Canal.

The group assembled early in the morning ready to load up and sail out, however it took a while to get everything organised, provisions bought, passports and immigration arranged etc, so we didn’t actually leave the Cartagena marina until late morning. That afternoon and the following day was all at sea, which although it is the Caribbean Sea, was surprisingly choppy, so choppy in fact that one of the girls on the boat started feeling ill about an hour from the port, and for the next 36 hours lay curled up in the fetal position, occasionally letting out a murmur or wail, moving only to drag herself to the side of boat, lean over and throw up!

After the initial euphoria of being on a sail boat wore off, and the gradual – sometimes violent – rocking motion of the ship took became monotonous, I passed time watching the open seas, reading, playing cards or soaking up some sunshine on deck, whilst below deck I took advantage of the classic offerings in the library, a lot of guidebooks, and a host of old (and some newer) movies. Add to this the seemingly constant food preparation or clean up, and the time passed fairly quickly. On board everyone was expected to take on some cooking/cleaning responsibility for at least one meal, so I got mine out the way early on, meaning I could sit back and relax for the remainder of my time on board. At one point on the Friday, out boat attracted a group of curious dolphin, who swam along with us for a good time, jumping out of the water and generally playing around.

We sailed (using a mixture of wind and motor power) from Thursday afternoon through the night, all Friday day and night, arriving and mooring amongst the San Blas islands just as it got light on the Saturday morning.

The San Blas islands are an Archipelago consisting of about 400 tiny islands, or cays, on average the size of a football pitch, covered in palm trees and ringed with white sand. Basically, paradise. On some islands the local indigenous people (the Kuna), have built their villages, whilst others remain untouched and undeveloped. We moored in a position within swimming distance of 3 or 4 uninhabited cays, each covered with palm trees. There was nothing for it but to jump into the warm Caribbean Sea and swim across to explore my own little island in the sun.

I spent the most of two and a bit days we were moored up exploring and looking around the islands, snorkelling and generally basking in the glory of the paradise that is San Blas. I can honestly not say enough good things about those two and a bit days. A complete break from civilisation, and a holiday from a holiday! Over the course of the time we were there I swam, sunbathed, explored, ate, drank, and enjoyed it all.

We left our mooring point on the Monday afternoon and sailed to a traditional Kuna village, where we went ashore and had a quick look around. The Kuna people are about 40,000 strong and are self-governing, separate from the Panamanian government. They gained this autonomy in the 1950′s, making their own laws and running their economy ever since. The three main industries are fishing, trading coconuts and tourism.

One of the most noticeable things about the Kuna is the traditional dress of the women, who are adorned head to toe in brightly coloured hand woven molas, their arms and lower legs are covered in beads, their heads are covered with scarves and some have nose rings and painted faces. The women sell these molas, which are very cheap considering the skill involved and time taken to make.

We arrived in the Kuna village in mid-afternoon, and wandered around the straw huts, taking in the way of life and being offered the various molas on sale, before heading back to the dock and onto the boat for a final night aboard.

The Tuesday was an adventure in itself, being taken to the off loading point, shipped across to the shore in speedboat, before boarding a 4×4 to the city. The 4×4 journey took us through the rain forest, across rivers, through waist deep mud and away from the Caribbean towards the Pacific and finally into the sprawl that is Panama City, where I checked into Zuly’s hostel and had a Cerveza Balboa with some of the folks from the boat, before heading off to Penonome to stay with Yami the following day.

Some more photos from the 5 day trip:

sailing away from South America

last views of S.A

dolphins

looking at the dolphins

first glimpse of San Blas

sunrise over San Blas

sailboat heaven

stahlratte

all seems shipshape

stahlratte

more sailboat heaven

waking up

the day revealed all

island hopping

moi

reef

lunch

me – posing

local sales people came by plying their wares

yee ha

the quintessentail desktop shot

midday on the stahlratte

posing – again

beers

beers pt 2

chess

sale made they shipped out

ashore

paradise!

my island

its mine – I lay claim to it!

stahlratte

stahlratte

moi

moi and my island

kuna school

another village shot

the houses

and the streets

all made from palm

once back on the mainland it was a 4×4 trip

through the jungle, on the washed out roads

and crossing a few rivers

definately 4×4 territory

no asphalt

view over the Panamanian rainforest

and back down to the Caribbean Sea

Rainforest

As far as the eye can see

Arrving in Buenos Aires airport was a totally different world. Panama had been pretty up to date, but Buenos Aires was basically Europe. The people looked more European, the roads were smooth, the buses were modern and the city looked perfectly clean. To say Panama City had/was none of those things would be unfair, but Buenos Aires took it to the next level.

As I went through immigration I was a little concerned about not having an onward ticket out of Argentina, but in the event of it the lady who stamped my passport never asked about onward tickets, or even seemed bothered that I was there. I just flashed my maroon British Passport and through I went. The Brits. Gotta love them.

Agustin, one of the Argentine lads I had met in Nicaragua had offered to let me stay with his family, so when I arrived in the centre of town I called them up and his sister Lucia came out to pick me up.

After a little confusion in the meeting place we eventually bumped into each other and she drove me back to her house, about 20kms outside Buenos Aires. I was pretty tired so after saying hello to the family and having a chat, my eyes began to close. I had a kip for a few hours. When I woke up I had my first taste of Argentine beef, a nice fillet, juicy and thick, with some salad to go with it. Excellent it was too!
After lunch Lucia and her mum took me out to show me some of San Isidro, the barrio in which they live.

A few hours of driving and wandering around was enough for one day, so we went back to the house to relax. Agustins Dad, Martin played football every Tuesday night, and it so happened that this evenig they were one player short. Well I couldn’t refuse a game of six a side with some Argies now, so I donned my shorts and Hi-Tecs. Turns out that at local level they are not such dirty footballers as their national team. Nor are they as good. Plus they use a really odd ball that doesn’t bounce, so it is virtually impossible to miscontrol the ball when it is passed to you. Which was good for me, not having played for six months more or less.

My team won a pretty easy game in the end, but you wouldn’t have known it was such an easy game from the amount of sweat that was pouring off everyone. We statred at about half ten and finished up at about midnight, which is a pretty ridiculous time to finish a game of football, but it is hard to play earlier as it is just too hot.

My time in Central America was up. I had my flight at 6pm, and spent most of the day with Yami saying goodbye and dragging her around the city trying to get a few things done before heading to the ariport.

Yami and her friend Alicia came to see me off at the airport, which was cool but a little sad, I had got to like her a lot in the week I had known her. We will keep in touch, and who knows what will happen in the future.

After leaving Yami at the gate I went through the x ray machine and realised I still had my penknife in my pocket. What a bloody mistake. They were never going to let me fly with it so I had to just say fair enough and leave it with the security guards. I had grown so used to having the penknife in my pocket that I didn’t even think about not being allowed it on a plane. So sorry Mum and Dad, that knife you got me when I was about 5 years old in still in Panama City airport!

I flew an hour to Bogota, Colombia and waited for a few hours before taking my connecting flight to Buenos Aires.

The late nights and not being able to sleep cauht up with me on Sunday, and I didn’t have the energy to do much. Therefore I didn’t. I just lazed around my hostel reading and sleeping.

It was Superbowl Sunday and a few Americans had arrived the day before, so they were all getting pretty shit faced, shotgunning beers and shots and generally being loud. I had arranged to meet up with Yami in the evening so I didn’t get involved in the beers, which was probably a good idea as I had ha my fair share the previous few days.

I did try to watch the Superbowl but I found the game to be pretty boring so couldn’t keep my attention on the game. In the evening Yami and I went out for some food and ended up at the cinema.

I am turning into my Dad. For my third date with Yami, we found ourselves at the Hippodrome, the horse racing course in Panama City. Many a time have I heard my mum saying how my Dad used to drag her to the dogs when they were first together, and here I was, third date with Yami, at the races.

As I am typing this I can imagine my dad, my mum, and especially my uncle Michael, all laughing at this turn of events. In fact as I was sitting in the stand, cheering my third consecutive horse into last place, I couldn’t help but laugh at what Michael would say.

The Hippodrome turned put to be a pretty shabby place, which Yami pretty much summed up when, after watching someone shouting at swearing at the TV while cheering his horse into 2nd place, she simply said “Que vulgar”. I don’t think I need to translate into English, the meaning is clear.

We watched about six races, I didn’t get a winner. No surprise there. After the races we caught a bus back to the city centre and arranged to meet up and go to a party at one of her friends houses later that evening.

In Panama, the people don’t even go to parties until 11 or 12pm, so I was able to get a few hours rest before we headed out. The party was ok, I got chatting to a few people which helped my Spanish. After the party we got a taxi back into the party zone for some bar action. We didn’t have such a late night, but still stayed out until about 5am.