Panama City, Panama - Bogota, Colombia (LB)

Hello from Bogota, Colombia… It has been over 2 weeks since the last post so recapping all the events that have taken place recently may take some time. Now that we have been traveling for almost 5 weeks, the last 2 weeks added quite a bit of variety to the bike tour. Although this is a bike tour, our goal on this trip is to add variety whenever possible to our usual “sleep, eat, bike” routine. Being able to have a vast amount of unique experiences on this trip will open our eyes to so much more than just biking. 

And for more variety, Matt and I decided to take separate paths...for now. True it has only been a few weeks, but we decided to try exploring on our own as a way to gain new perspectives individually. Matt would explore the Northern Caribbean section with his girlfriend Anna by bike, while I would head towards central Colombia and coastal Ecuador. For me, it would be a good opportunity to spend a few weeks to take Spanish classes, do some volunteer work, and do some surfing in Ecuador. We are both very excited to reunite again in September but in the mean time we all plan to provide updates about our different experiences.

In Panama City, we spent a relaxed and enjoyable 3-4 days. The meals cooked by our hosts made us feel like kings especially after the countless days of overly simple camping-style food. We all agreed that Panama City had a major wealth contrast between the rich Panamanians/foreigners and the local middle/lower class people. It was a strange feeling being in one place for several days, after a vagabond lifestyle for almost 3 weeks. 

Rainy Panama City

Panama City Ruins

Following our few days in Panama City, we bussed it to Portobello (Caribbean port town) where our sailboat to Colombia would be departing from nearby. Because we had some time to spare at the bus station in Panama City, I went on a mission to find a Frisbee. I was told that our week long cruise would consist of a lot of island hopping and a Frisbee could mix things up. After searching through 7 different sports stores with no luck, our conclusion was that the Frisbee’s popularity in central America was completely non-existent.

Besides heavy downpours, we arrived in an old port town on the Caribbean side of Panama called Portobello. An authentic fish/calamari dinner that night was the first sign that we were not too far from the coast. 

The following afternoon Matt and I rode to nearby Puerto Lindo (where our boat would be departing from). Besides 2 flat tires in a 15 KM stretch, it was a really scenic jungle-style ride that reminded us of Costa Rica. 

Riding near the Caribbean coast

Oh flat tires

Later on, we got to meet the captain of the boat and his GF. They had been organizing traverses between Panama and Colombia for the last few years with their 50 ft sailboat. We loaded all our gear into a small boat that would then take us to the main sailboat a few minutes away. We got to meet the other 7 travelers we’d be sailing with for the next week. They consisted of 1 American, 2 Swiss, 1 German, and 2 French. That night we were briefed on our itinerary, sleeping arrangements, meals, and dos and don'ts on the boat. Although we spent the first night in the harbor, we were all excited to start this week long traverse.

The port in Puerto Lindo

The setup inside in the cabin

My bed...a few hours later all that stuff was scattered on the ground due to the boat rocking so much

The next day we were off for 8 hours of open sea sailing. The 2 hours were pretty well protected from the reefs so the boat was pretty steady. Later in the day we were fully exposed to the Caribbean waters and got a first taste of the rocking ship. Some of us got a sea sick (including Matt), but we were told it was just a matter of getting used to the motions. We hoped that was the case since it was already a rough start! We reached the first island by nightfall, although we’d be sleeping on the boat, it’d be a calmer area. 

The following two days consisted of exploring the reefs with snorkeling gear, trying to break open coconuts like Tom Hanks in Castaways, and trying to interact with the local indigenous San Blas people, the Kuna. Things stayed relatively mellow the first 3 days with everybody getting along pretty well. 

The Kuna people

Coconut trees everywhere

Lesson learned: Rum and coconut water doesn't taste as good as it sounds

Man vs wild

We'll blame the self timer on our lack of jumping coordination!

The 3^rd night we had a lavish seafood dinner consisting of freshly caught lobster and crab with a side of coconut rice. It was probably the best seafood I had ever had. The night consisted of a lot of eating and drinking for certain people. Unfortunately we had to make it back to the boat that night where we’d be sleeping. To get from the boat to the island, we would usually swim across but sometimes we would use the “dingy” especially if we had to move gear across. The dingy is a small inflatable boat with a 10 HP motor (also known as a Zodiac boat). Anyways, the plan was to shuttle from the island to the boat several times due to the amount of people and limited space on the boat. In the pitch black darkness, we shuttled the first few people back safely (it was a 5-10 min boat ride). I would turn my headlamp on, but the captain kept ordering me to turn it off to deter other boats from seeing us. I decided to stay with the captain on the dingy to return to the island since he was fairly intoxicated at that point. Since it was pitch black and the boat did not have any lights we were boating through the unknown. At one point we heard a boat motor humming near us. We kept powering towards the island, until we heard a loud “BAM”. We had driven right into another dingy that was heading back towards their respective sailboat. It felt like a scene right out of an intense game of bumper cars. The two people in the other dingy were really surprised but fortunately no one got hurt. To avoid hitting another boat, I decided to keep my light on as the captain maneuvered the boat. Again I was ordered to turn my headlamp off and 10 seconds later we drove right into a thick rope that was holding another sailboat to a buoy. I immediately yelled to the captain that there was a rope under our boat. Being a major problem if the propellers came in contact with this rope, we turned the engine off immediately and pulled the rope out from under the boat before it was too late. 2 minutes later we were back on the main beach trying to shuttle the next group to get onto the dingy. One of the other travelers took control of the engine and in the pitch blackness ripped the pull cord handle right off. Now the end of the pull cord (to start the motor) was stuck under the hood of the engine and thus there would be no way to start it. To make things even more exciting, the two dingy paddles were on the sailboat and we were the last travelers left on the island at that point in the night. Thus we wouldn’t be able to rely on some of the other dingys to help us out. The last resorts was for several of us to swim back to the sailboat, grab the two paddles, swim back to shore, and then paddle the dingy back to the sailboat. After all that was said and done, we were finally on our way back to the main sailboat singing the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” as loud as possible. If keeping the headlamp off at the beginning of this whole crossing was to deter the other boats from seeing us, the singing definitely woke them all up! Besides a dingy with a non-functioning motor, we were all happy to have made it back to the sailboat without leaving anyone on the island. 

Super tasty seafood

The following three days consisted of some more San Blas island hopping but no major open sea sailing. The San Blas consists of around 365 small islands, all within a couple hundred meters/kilometers from each other. Some islands are inhibited, others are deserted. A few of the islands had room for just 1-2 coconut trees, while the bigger islands had whole villages of ingenious Kuna people living on them. 

Our usual hangout spot, under the solar panels.

 

Typical Island in the San Blas with clear waters, coconut trees and a Small Kuna Village

The days on the boats were pleasant and relaxing, although hot and humid. We all got to know each other pretty well: where we were from, what we did back home, our travel plans, etc. 4 of my 7 nights were spent sleeping on the deck of the boat, due to the excessive heat and humidity in the dorm rooms. Usually, I would lay in my bed and wake up one hour later almost swimming in a pool of sweat. I would then do my usual routine of grabbing my headlamp, my mattress, pillow, and sleeping sheet and walk the 10 steps up to the deck of the boat and set up my new bed for the night. The winds at night were crazy and my inflatable mattress and pillow almost blew off the boat a few times. It was an amazing feeling going to sleep with countless stars to gaze upon. When you are hundreds of miles from the nearest coast, the light pollution is nonexistent and is a pretty amazing sight to be a part of. 

Snorkeling selfie

These dolphins rode along side us for about 15 minutes...pretty cool

5:45 am and a new day at sea begins

Almost perfect!

The last 48 hours on the boat was completely at sea. I will say those 2 days definitely humbled a few of us travelers from a nausea and sea sickness point of view. Eating all our meals and sleeping in Mother Nature’s version of a nasty roller coaster was pretty unpleasant. When you actually have to hold onto the side of the bed at night to make sure you do not fall off from all the rocking is quite an experience. Spilled drinks and food became the normality as well as any item falling on the floor if it wasn’t super well secured in place. 

By 6 AM, August 2^nd, we were finally in view of our first section of Colombian land. Although it wouldn’t be for another 10 hours until we would roll into the port of Cartagena. Cartagena is the largest export port in Colombia. Centuries ago, Cartagena was a crucial port for transporting gold and silver from the mines in Peru to Spain and the “Old World” via Havana, Cuba. It was also one of only two cities authorized to trade African slaves. 

We are getting close to the port of Cartagena

The Cartagena skyline

That night consisted of one final dinner and drinks in a lively part of Cartagena between the 11 of us from the boat. It was one very memorable week of sailing that we’ll all keep fond memories of. The next 2 days in Cartagena were spent sightseeing and spending a lot of time in “Casco Viejo” (the old town). It felt like a really well preserved Spanish town and was very enjoyable to check out after several of the fast paced and industrialized cities we had visited in Central America.

Casco Viejo

Anybody lost some shoes?

On the 24 hours of travel from Cartagena to Bogota by bus were pretty uneventful except for a few Colombian teenagers trying to have a little fun. 

The first consisted of one of the teenagers sneaking into the alternate bus driver’s sleeping bed compartment (who was awake at the time and sitting in the cockpit of the bus with the main bus driver ) to sleep for a few hours in a more comfortable position. The rest of us had to resort to our “regular” bus seats. After a few hours, his buddies got jealous of his “first class” seat and decided to rat him out to the bus drivers. Within two minutes the main bus driver pulled over to the side of the road, walked furiously to the very back of the bus, opened the compartment door and yanked the kid out with his collar, yelling some profanities at him in Spanish. 

The second anecdote stemmed from the teenager trying to get his revenge on the bus driver for kicking him out of the sleeping compartment. A few hours passed by after the first incident and the kid decided with the help of his friend to go back into the sleeping compartment to steal the bus driver’s jacket that was laying on the bed that the bus driver had originally used as pillow. Several of us looked on, almost sure that he would get caught at one point or another so we didn’t interrupt his prank. Unfortunately the kid got away with it, making us onlookers accomplices to his revenge plot.

Finally, a few hours before making it to Bogota, the same kid and 4 of his buddies all decided to walk towards the back of the bus one at a time. The first kid went into the bathroom, the second followed, and shortly after there were 5 teenagers in the bathroom stall with the door locked. Within a few minutes a smell of weed overcame the entire bus. Afterwards one by one they walked out of the bathroom giggling. Everybody in the bus had a good laugh at what had happened. Well everybody except the bus driver who again pulled over furiously and threatened to kick the 5 kids off the bus. Fortunately for them we were in one of the most rural sections of the Cartagena-Bogota route so the bus driver probably couldn’t legally kick them out, but he has about as ready as ever to do it. 

Finally arriving in Bogota (8,500 ft altitude), the air had turned a lot less humid and temperatures hovered around 14C in mid day. It was a nice change after weeks of constant heat and humidity in the coastal towns we had been through. After a hectic bike ride from the bus station through most of Bogota, I arrived at Carl and Philippine’s apartment. They are nephews of one of my cousins and have been living in Bogota for 9 months on a humanitarian mission. We enjoyed a nice dinner, especially after having eaten only snacks for the last 24+ hours on the bus.

Although I had planned on only spending 1-2 days in Bogota before heading towards coastal Ecuador to do some surfing and take Spanish classes, I decided to change my plans and give Bogota a try. The next day I was on a mission to find a non-profit that I could volunteer within the Bogota area for an extended period of time. I am not sure how long exactly I will be here for, since it will depend on what opportunities become available.  Expect the unexpected! Till next time!

-LB