Panama

The bus company still had my bag when I arrived in a taxi.  I was relieved to have it back, but relief turned to anger when I did a quick run through of the contents. My nice sunglasses had been in their carrying bag, but now only the bag remained. Also missing was a fancy Camelback water bottle. The guy made a couple calls to see if anyone had seen it, so I demanded a free bottle of water and returned to the taxi. I soon went back to relief; it was pretty fortunate that only sunglasses were missing, and I had all my clothes and camping gear back.

The cab dropped me off at a line of people waiting for the bus to Panama. I didn't originally plan to go there, but throughout my trip I'd heard that Bocas Del Toro was amazing. I had the time, so I figured I might as well get the extra stamp in my passport.

I mostly slept on the way down, charter buses have a knack for knocking me out. When it stopped midway somewhere for lunch, I got a little worried that I'd miss another bus, so I ate my lunch as quickly as possible and waited next to the bus for the doors to open again. A few other buses pulled in, and what do you know, the three Norwegian girls from Santa Teresa hopped off. We talked for a little bit, but as soon as my bus was loading I got my ass on it.

At the border you went to a few different offices on each side to get your passport taken care of. In between was a super sketchy old bridge. Railroad tracks went down the center with nothing but the railroad ties below them, at times definitely spaced out enough for a small child to fall through. And yet they still drive buses and 18-wheelers across it.

Once across the border, I piled into a van with other tourists to go to Almirante, the town where you catch a taxi boat to Bocas. I sat next to a crazy old guy who talked my ear off in his drunken stupor. He would stop talking now and then to take a swig from his brown-bagged cane liquor. "I don't want you to think I'm an alcoholic," he said, "this is purely medicinal. When you're my age you can do these things." A fine nugget of wisdom.

The taxi boat took us on a ride through the islands of Bocas Del Toro before arriving on the main island, Colon. All the buildings along the coast are built out over the water, brightly colored and surrounded by boats. This was a place where a car was useless compared to a dinghy.

I checked into Gran Kahuna hostel where I met the people from my room, Sam from Utah and Yvonne, Sophie and Harry from Australia. Sam and I went to a thai place that had mediocre food for fancy prices, but the beer was good and we sat overlooking the ocean. I went to bed a little early to get ready for our trip the next day.