Panama City

February 13-18, 2016

After my big sailing adventure, it was on to Panama City, or as they call it in Panama, Panama.  It seems a bit confusing to me, but it works for them.

I don't have that many photos actually, even though I spent 6 days there. For one, I spent a couple of those days just recovering and not worrying too much about sightseeing. For two, I actually didn't like the city all that much.

Hot, crowded, kinda dirty and smelly, as big cities tend to be. I stayed in the old town, but even it didn't have the same kind of charm that other cities have had that just begged for photos to be taken. It was interesting to note however that there didn't seem to be a middle class. Places tended to be incredibly upscale, or ramshackle run down.

One of the prettier churches

Some ruins in the old town. I'm actually not sure what their history is.

The Palacio Municipal. It was pretty all lit up with their flag colors.

I did enjoy the views along the water. The downtown skyscrapers all seemed to follow a blue-grey-green color palate which I thought was pretty.

And I drove past this skyscraper on the bus. It qualifies as legit.

I was going to go see the ruins of the old city of Panama, which Captain Morgan (yes, THAT Captain Morgan) sacked in 1671.  But it was a steeper fee for something I had thought was free, you could just walk through to the old places which now live beneath a residential area.  So I bailed.  This was outside the visitor center.

I went to the Afro-Antillian Museum which was small and had some interesting stuff about the West Indies population, especially in regard to building the railroad and canal. Pictures were banned but I snuck some anyway.

I liked this quilt too.

Also the Museo del Canal Interoceánico (Canal Museum), which was very well done, though I went a little too late and it closed on me before I got to the exhibit of historical photographs of the canal.

Scale models of sailing and pirate ships from the period

There was stuff on building the railroad that connected the coasts before the canal did, and the workers lives. They got paid $0.80 per full day of work.

Also the building of the canal, from the failed French attempt to the successful US one after Panama declared independence from Colombia and the political aftermath leading to Panama taking over running it. One display referred to US President James Carter which I found amusing.

And that leads to the highlight of Panama City for me, the Panama Canal itself! It gets its own post though.  That'll be up next.

I had a failed attempt to get to the canal (buses did NOT cooperate) and I ended up at a mall instead where I found this merry-go-round. I'm pretty sure the ponies have those dusters on a stick on their heads.

One other thing that was fun in Panama City is the buses.  Imagine taking old decomissioned US school buses (which they did) dipping them in white paint, and then dipping them in Mardi Gras. That gets you close To what they look like.

Yup, this just about sums it up.

Also this is the first country so far that has provided a pitcher of water automatically with the meal.  It's kinda nice.

Last of all, this sums up my feelings for the male population here. Translates to 'I want your respect, not your catcall'

Sailing the San Blas

February 8-12, 2016

Finally my days in Cartagena came to an end, and it was time for the Caribbean sailing adventure that I'd been looking forward to for months.

The lights of Cartagena's shipping yard

There's no road between Colombia and Panama (the only place the Panamerican highway stops between Canada and Argentina), only the mass of jungle that's the Darién Gap. And to go through there you need good boots, plenty of bug spray, and $200,000 for when you get kidnapped. Since I left my good boots at home this trip, I opted for the boat trip option.

We left in the evening, so I had a day to prep my packs,  and change over the last of my Colombian currency. Somehow I was able to make money pulling out pesos and changing them to USD which is the paper money of Panama, so I maxed my debit at an ATM one last time. A short taxi to the docks, pause for a police bag inspection, and we were headed in a dingy for the Ave Maria, my home for the next 5 days.

She's a 50 foot single keel boat, and we had 11 passengers and her captains Paul and Sindry, from Australia and Colombia respectively. The rest of us were Liz and Matt from Minnesota, Kees (Case) and Jal (Yal) from Holland, Hanna and Matilda, and Gerd and Lassen from Sweden, and Pablo and Mariana from Argentina.

End of trip picture, one of the good ones of Ave Maria

We got bags stowed, showed to out bunks, and weighed anchor. About 11pm we exited the protected harbor under power and with a sail up, and the next 36 hours were a misery.

I won't sugarcoat this part, on the whole it sucked. This time of year the bad weather blows in, meaning we had 40 knot winds and swells that were probably 15-20 feet high. (It was kinda cool being in the middle of absolute nowhere though)

This video doesn't quite show the magnitude of the ocean, but it gets close.

Just about everyone was sick to some degree. The rocking was huge, and it didn't stop. I found being up on deck didn't bother me, but going below where there wasn't a good view of the water was terrible. Just as I get carsick if I read without looking up, this did that. I think it has something to do with peripheral vision.

The scene for most of the open water part, with miserable passengers getting fresh air. Sindry is at the helm.

I took a dramamine from someone else the first night after getting scared into it from all the talk, and I think the pill upset my stomach as much as anything. That was the only meds I took, and I never tossed my cookies, though I came close after taking a nap during the day.

I caught a fish the first morning. Flying fish of various sizes launched themselves on deck during the night. This was one of the smaller ones.

So below deck equalled sick, the front deck was rather unsafe due to its sometimes vertical nature, and the cockpit courted rain squalls, sun, wind, and waves blowing in your face every so often. Not exactly paridise.

The second night was worse than the first, and water was coming in closed hatches. (I'd have thought waterproofing would have been a priority). Mattresses were sliding off bunks, and I had to hold the ceiling more than once to keep from falling off my top bunk wedged in the bow. Needless to say we were all praying for dawn, since we knew that's when we were due to reach the islands and protected reef waters.

My bunk was the top. There was about six inches clearance and I had to army crawl to get in it.

The rest of the cabin, looking from the door of my room up front.

Eventually the islands came, and they were glorious.

White sand beaches filled with palm trees, turquoise water lapping at the edges. It was still rather windy, but we could swim off the boat, read up on deck, and generally enjoy the Caribbean. Cue photo montage.

Webbed foot pelicans in trees still crack me up. It was great watching them fish for hours in the shallows, a couple flaps to loft and search for a target, then diving, wings folded.

Taking only photos, leaving only footprints.

Selfie on a deserted Caribbean island!

I went paddling the little dingy with Kees and Jal to one of the islands the first day, it had a small population of Kuna on it. We fought the wind and the waves, two paddling one swimming, to see the island and deliver the boat's gift to Rosalind, the island's Queen. The Kuna have a male governed society, but matriarchal rule. She was on another island, but we delivered the bag of coffee and foods from the mainland to her husband.

I also negotiated fresh coconuts for the guys. A kid went and knocked two out of a palm tree and them macheted them open so they could drink the milk. Just as fresh as it gets.

Dingy in question, adventure vessel and source of amusement.

Along the lines of as fresh as it gets, we bought lobster from locals in a canoe, and had that for dinner.  My first time trying lobster actually.

It was good, and wonderfully cooked. I still think shrimp are just as good at a third of the cost though.

Since scuba is prohibited in San Blas, the Kuna free dive up to 40 feet to hand collect the lobster.

Day two we scooted islands and had a delightful barbeque on the beach. Salad and pork chops wonderfully marinated and grilled on a palm-fire.

Grill balanced on coconuts

Super salad, and the whole crew eating

I took a nap in a hammock for a while, though I am sorry I missed my chance to sleep in a hammock on a deserted Caribbean island. That would have been the first night, and I was just too excited about a non-bucking bed to consider a hammock. Also I know I freeze easy and wasn't prepared with a plan to stay warm yet.

The view definitely didn't suck.

The next morning I swam to the other little island which had a small wreck to snorkel. Armed with snorkel, fins, and a life jacket hugged to my chest to keep me floating easy, I fought the wind and current.

Talk about stereotypical

The boat was a small sailboat that hit the reef, a bit of its mast still sticking above the water to help locate it. Its sides were falling apart, but it was cool to float over. The surrounding reef had some cool corals and pretty fish too. I made it back to the boat without getting swept out to sea by the current, but my legs were jelly when I finally hit the beach.

The next day after another peaceful night, we sailed 4 hours to El Porvenir, one of the main islands. I sat on the deck the whole time and got my first touches of sunburn. It was a lovely sail in nice water, and the highlight for me was the dolphins that came with us for a bit.

The first time I just saw one back roll out of the water before they disappeared. A half hour later the alert was called again, and this time there were two jumping alongside the bow for maybe 5 minutes. It was amazing watching them, and seeing them swim along just under the water at our bow.

El Porvenir wasn't much, but it had an airstrip and the Immigration office where our passports got stamped in.

El Porvenir docks

Beautiful sunset photo curtosy of Kees and his waterproof camera. 

The next morning we all took a boat to Carti on the coast, then a jeep to Panama City.

Paul and Sindry

All of us in the lancha to Carti

Though some parts were uncomfortable and difficult, it was an experience I won't forget. I got to visit places that were National Geographic material, and I made it safely to Panama to start the next installment in my adventures!

Carnaval in Barranquilla

February 6, 2016

Carnaval in Barranquilla. Its known as the biggest party in South America aside from Rio, and it was my first disappointing adventure day I've had so far.

I had the first Saturday free, so I decided to bus to Barranquilla for the day and see what all the fuss was about.

When I got there, I had to find my way from the side of the highway where the bus dropped us. Just a couple questions though, and I was on a bus labeled Batalla de Flores (Battle of Flowers) which was the big parade.

Everywhere was bright colored, flowers, decorations, and more neon than Las Vegas. I followed the crowd once we were as close as the bus could get us. It took us down a couple streets and along a little back path next to a street under construction, and finally to the parade route.

Here's a not-very-good picture of some of the costumes around town.  It was like Halloween got drenched in neon.

I did carnaval in Ecuador three years ago (read that post here) so I was expecting big crowds, not a very good vantage point, and probably to get sprayed with foam at some point. I did find big crowds, was caught in a bit of foam crossfire, and had a terrible vantage point.

Foam attack

All along the parade route there were tents set up, and you had to pay to sit in the chairs there. Those saving money were all pressed in behind, and between the payers heads and the tent roof, there wasn't much to see.

Especially when everyone stood up, even though they had front row seats.

(The people next to me had cool hats, and I can't figure out how to make that flow with the rest of the post, sorry)

Sideways, clandestine photo

I got a couple glimpses of the parade.

And all of those glimpses included sparkles, sequins, and huge flowered headpieces

These ladies had my favorite outfits, all balck and gold.  You can see the giant flowers in their hair reasonably well in the picture too.

There were floats with costumed singers and dancers on top, but this is all I could see of them.

Eventually decided that I just wasn't having very much fun, especially with no one to share it with. So I decided to cut my losses, leave in the middle, and head back to Cartagena.

I got a meat and potato skewer from a street vendor, and fought the tide of humanity back to where buses were allowed. I lucked out and the first one I jumped on was indeed headed to the bus terminal. From there it was just a few hours of bus rides home, and there was a beautiful sunset along the way.

I saw fireworks in Cartagena while waiting for the metro to the old town too, which was fun.

Moral of the story: it didn't work out this time, but I'd love to go back to Barranquilla some day to do Carnaval properly, with more time there and someone to share it with.

Next up: sailing adventures in the Caribbean!