Panama

Dec 9, 2019: Hotel Boquete ($27), Boquete, Panama

• 4 buses (San Vito > Ciudad Neily > Paso Canoas > David > Boquete).  Really cheap, efficient, on time.  Border crossing a piece of cake: $9, Costa Rica exit stamp, Panama entry stamp: Boom!  Panama customs did ask me to show proof of my outward travel reservation (my Panama to Colombia flight), but didn’t ask me to show I had at least $500.  Met a very friendly guy on the way - Luis Camareno - who lives in Houston, but travels a lot to Costa Rica (dual citizenship).  Works for U.S. military (provisioning).

• Best ever fish tacos at Big Daddy’s Restaurant and Grill.  And a local IPA beer later at a sports bar across the bridge surrounded by 14 flat screen TV’s.  Oh, and two scoops (Tiramisu and Dulce Leche) at an Italian gelateria.

Cafe Unido for Geisha coffee

• Hotel has a balcony, but it looks out onto an uninspiring commercial area.  And getting to the room requires a tricky ascent up a spiral staircase.  And the lobby had four kids in it.  

• Drizzling and cool.  Hiking plans may be limited tomorrow.  Certainly Volcán Barú is out of the question, and probably the Sendero El Pianista as well.

Dec 10, 2019: Hostel Mamallena Boquete ($33)

• Switched hotels.  Learned something from the receptionist at the new hotel: pay directly in cash, and avoid the 10% tax.  Bye bye Booking.com!

• Had my first cup of Geisha coffee at Cafe Unido.  Rather acidic, rather small, and rather expensive: $6.50!  Right up there with last night’s $6 beer.  

• Finally bought some deodorant!

• Work still going on aboard Serenity: painting, fiberglass, sail drives, rudder.  We’ll see if we get out of the Marina by the 15th.  And Caren may have to go to Mexico for our condo tax setup.  

• Walked up a road towards Volcán Barú through coffee country for a few hours - nice flowers, friendly indigenous people, the women in solid color ankle length dresses.  

• Another fish taco meal at Big Daddy’s Restaurant and Grill.  

• Right elbow swollen and painful - not sure why.

• Decided to head for Panama City tomorrow - 7 hour bus ride - but really not much to keep me here, except the cool weather.  

• Phoned Irv and Nancy Packer. 

Dec 11, 2019: Luna’s Castle ($35), Panama City

• Took an OxyContin at 7 AM.  Elbow still hurts, but not as bad as yesterday.  No breakfast.  Nothing in fact until dinner time.  Pain seems to have been lessened, but also felt a little sick the first hours (empty stomach?). But elbow began to hurt as before after I got to Panama City.

• Good, boring road, ending up at a giant bus terminal about 4 miles from my 2 hotel candidates (I had no reservation, because I didn’t know where I would end up at day’s end.).  Taxi would have expensive, so I got a bus driver to drop me off at the edge of the old city (Casco Viento), then walked the last km.  GREAT PLACE: lots of common area, patios with city views, big room, great WiFi.  But in a pretty grungy part of town: dirty streets, piles of garbage, shifty looking folks.  Feels a little bit like Habana.

• Buses: Boquete > David > Panama (7 hrs, $25).  Flat, sugar cane, cloudy.

• Caren had mostly good news: sail drive and rudder fixed (the mechanic from Panama City was a pro); however, painting may be delayed because of rain.  Her best estimate for me to arrive: Sunday.  

• Steak dinner at Coca Cola Cafe - too much!

Dec 12, 2019: Luna’s Castle ($35), Panama City

• Right elbow still swollen.  Got some ibuprofen and started Cephalexin.  Put anti-bacterial ointment on as well.  Feeling low, and it is HOT outside - I may hunker down for the day.

• Caren wants news on San Blas islands: 

From Panama Good Times: 

Capital is El Porvenir, with small airstrip.  Most visited are Perro Chico, Diablo, Guanidup, and Chichimei (for their proximity to the port of Carti.  A little further from the coast are the  Dutch Keys, mostly uninhabited along the northwest of the region.  Call Jungle Safari for info (507 6756- 7804). 

From Lonely Planet Panama:

• East Lemon & Chichime Cays: island chain popular with yachts: there is a mooring near a good scuba site.

Isla Banedup: sailboats moor alongside this tiny private isle, where you can stop by for seafood meals.

Can transfer from this area to Carti via motorboat for $40.

• Achutupu Dumat: Most refer to this area as 'Chichime,' but island has two other names: Achutupu Dumat (Big Dog Island) and Wissudub (after the tropical icaco fruit).  A popular anchorage point for boats arriving from Colombia, it's a meeting place for sailors in the region.

• Wailidup: In the Lemon Keys, also labeled on nautical charts as Tiadup.  Ample mooring, popular with sailboats.

• The undisputed gems of the Archipiélago de San Blás are the Cayos Los Grullos, Holandeses and Ordupuquip, a triangle of three virtually uninhabited island chains that are separated by calm blue-green waters and surrounded by shallow reefs. At the lower western corner of the triangle are the Cayos Los Grullos, a mere 10km northwest of Río Sidra. Heading clockwise, the tip of the triangle is formed by the Cayos Holandeses (Dutchmen Keys), while the Cayos Ordupuquip are located in the southeastern corner. Despite the lack of tourist facilities in the cays, yachties love to anchor near these islands, though it takes skill behind the wheel to keep your boat afloat here. Needless to say, the snorkeling in the Cayos Holandeses is astounding, though you’ll see plenty of tropical fish and colorful reefs anywhere in the cays.

• Corazón de Jesús & Narganá The densely populated islands of Corazón de Jesús and Narganá, which are linked by an arcing wooden footbridge, are of little interest to travelers, especially since they’re the most Westernized Guna communities in the Comarca.

• Isla Tigre: Just a short boat ride from Corazón de Jesús and Narganá, Isla Tigre ranks among the most traditional islands in the Comarca

• Playón Chico: Has regular air connections to Panama City.

• Achutupu: Has daily flights to Panama City,

• Went to a random street doctor for my swollen elbow.  He asked the right questions, then wrote me a prescription, and charged me $7.  The prescription was for levofloxacina (Levaquin), 750 mg once daily for 10 days - at $5 per pill.  Ouch.  He said it is a much more powerful antibiotic than Cephalexin.  And he weighed me: 152 lb.  OMG.

Dec 13, 2019: Luna’s Castle ($35), Panama City

• Just hanging out at the hostel.  Arm still swollen.  Appetite pretty low.  Hot outside.  A great day to continue reading my biography of Churchill.

• Panama Canal Railway Company Panama City (Corozal) 7:15 AM > Colon ($25) weekdays 

Dec 14, 2019: Luna’s Castle ($12), Panama City

Arm looking better (?). And appetite up a bit.  So I breakfasted on pancakes, and hiked around the close-by Metropolitan National Park.  Saw an Agouti up close.

Dec 16, 2019: Serenity, Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

• Made it!  3 hour wait in the doctor’s office; 10 minute appraisal of my swollen elbow & forearm; prescription filled for something stronger than Ibuprofen; $3 taxi to Albrook bus terminal; 1 hr, $3 bus ride to Colon; $20 taxi ride to marina, where my sweet wife greeted me aboard Serenity.  She looks beautiful (Caren & Serenity): all freshly bottom-painted, decks and sides gleaming white, the best-looking boat at the marina.

• Met crew Katie Hilding and Rob.  Smiling, cheerful, healthy.  They had returned from a day of food shopping.  I believe they will do the cooking?  (And we pay for the food, of course).

• The Kuna are, after the Pygmys, the smallest people on earth.

Problems remaining:

• Caren can’t find the external antenna to her Iridium Go.

• Need to download The Panama Cruising Guide to Caren’s iPad: but the WiFi here stinks.

• Need to pay for Caren’s Dropbox.

• It’s raining a whole lot each day.

Plan:

• Go kayaking up jungle river tomorrow

• Do laundry

• Sail to Linton Bay Marina next day; overnight

• Sail to San Blas islands the next day.  

• Hang there until Xmas day

• Sail back to Linton & drop me off

• Walk Linton Bay Marina > Puerto Lindo (1.6 km)

• Bus Puerto Lindo > Sabanitas (43 min, 4x daily)

• Bus Sabanitas > Panama City (1 hr 10 min., every 10 min)

• Taxi Panama City > Tocumen airport (20 min, $25)

Or:

Taxi Linton Bay Marina > Tocumen airport (1 hr 46 min, $50-$65)

Questions:

Cruising permit?

Dec 17, 2019: Serenity, Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

• Anti-inflammatory for 3 days: Diclofenaco.

• Sent $650 to Rob via PayPal .

• Rain rain rain.

• Guy came to measure boat for canal passage.

• Getting charged $25.26 every time you use credit card at ATM!

Dec 18, 2019: Serenity, Rio Chagres, Panama

• Plan for homeowners meeting visit (Jan 18):

  • Jan 17: MDE > PVR

  • Jan 17: stay at Bob & Jody’s

  • Jan 18: condo meeting; stay at Bob & Jody’s

  • Jan 19: stay extra day near condo (?)

  • Jan 20: PVR > MEX > MDE or BOG

• Rachael moving day: Sunday Jan 12

• $1 = COP 3364 = MX 18.95

Jan 9:

MED > MEX: $379 (Interjet)

MEX > SFO: $250 (kayak)

BOG > SFO: $549 (kayak)

MED > SFO: $508 (kayak)

MED > LAX: $528 (kayak)

Jan 19:

MED > LAX: 

• Llipta  + coca leaves for altitude sickness

• Motored from the Marino to a few miles up the Rio Chagres for a peaceful anchorage in a seriously beautiful jungle setting.  Katie spotted a big crocodile on the way up.  Screeching parrots overhead.  Some needlefish skipping along the water.  I spotted a creature hopping along the surface of the river, which the crew later identified as a frog.  Great dinner of tacos with about ten ingredients, and a bottle of white wine.  Tried one puff again, and like yesterday’s puff, was hit hard and long.  

• Swelling down on my elbow with 3 days of antibiotics to go.  Sure is taking a long time to heal.

Dec 19, 2019: Serenity, Linton Point Marina, Panama

• Morning kayak outing for about an hour.  Didn’t see any wildlife, but the river, the banks, the mist, the bird and insect noises made up for it.

• WiFi: Marinamuelle, Wifi507colon

• Jan 17 (Fri) MED > MEX > PVR

Dec 20, 2019: Serenity, Uchutupu Dummat, Chichima Cays, San Blas Islands, Panama

• Took another Valium, rested the entire eight hour motor-sail.  Anchored off a lovely (and our first) San Blas island, with huts, local boats, and sandy beaches.

• Visited by couple and their son to sell us molas - we bought (they are gorgeous).  Rob tried to get their outboard going, but no luck.  Woman was in traditional garb, dazzling smile and teeth - really attractive.

• They told us that Digicel reception was good at island, but too late and too lazy to go in.  Only real need is to make a BOG > MEX reservation on the 17th for the homeowners meeting, and to straighten out Dana’s arrival.  But we can do that tomorrow when we dinghy over to the island for reception.

Dec 21, 2019: Serenity, Uchutupu Dummat, Chichima Cays, San Blas Islands, Panama

Overcast.  Caren down all day with sore throat.  Stayed on board, reading Churchill, Walking with Destiny.  

Dec 22, 2019: Serenity, Uchutupu Dummat, Chichima Cays, San Blas Islands, Panama

• Connor says: Tour operator from San Blas to Panama City: Eulogico  (Eugene in Spanish/guna) +507 6517-9850

• Caren much better.  Went ashore.  Caren able to arrange Dana arrival on Dec 27 (?).  Also met with Eulogico to arrange transportation for me on the 26th.  Visiting couple from another boat: Connor, transited through Panama Canal with Rachael & Jeremy.

• Sandy beach, pretty clear water, traditional thatched huts and some upscale painted wooden ones.  While we watched, a crew of women and men cleaned the beach of seaweed / coconut tree droppings by ferrying it in big floating baskets offshore. 

Dec 23-24, 2019: Serenity, Miriadiadup, San Blas Islands, Panama

• Beautiful spot between two islands.  A half dozen other boats.  Weather mostly sunny.  Pretty good reef snorkeling about 50 yards from the boat (slabs of yellow, wavy rods, trees, not many fish).  Bought veggies (plantain, tomatoes, green peppers, onion, carrots) from a “veggie canoe”, lobsters and coconuts ($1 each) from shore.  Three local men came by in a boat with several dozen lobsters and the biggest crab I have ever seen.

• Caren and crew went to Connor’s boat last night for dinner & a movie.  I stayed back and read George Packer’s Interesting Times.  Rob dinghied over with a meal for me.

• Elbow still painful in certain positions, but swelling is down.  After my snorkel time I noticed the skin had started to blister and peel - a good sign?

• Rachael heating up with older guy she met at Esalen. Will go to Hawaii together.  Communication here is pretty bad.  Will have the following to do when I get to Colombia (and WiFi):

• Rent room to follow homeowners meeting.

• Make sure I have docs so I can vote in the meeting.

• Rent storage container for our stuff.  

• Coordinate with Rachael on the move.

• Pay Mexican taxes

• Hostel reservations for Barranquilla Festival (Mar 3-6)