"Oh how beautiful Panama is"🐯🐻

"Oh, how beautiful Panama is" is the title of Janosch's children's book.

Unfortunately, we cannot (yet) fully confirm this saying. Panama welcomes us differently than expected, in pouring rain. (It's still rainy season until the end of November) I've never been so happy to have solid ground under my feet. Weather-related turbulences repeatedly occurred that we had never experienced before on a flight. When we arrived at the hotel we explored the area a bit. The next morning we headed to Casco Viejo, the historic district of Panama City. We also strolled along the Cinta Costera. The streets of Panama City were eerily empty and the heavy police presence gave us an uneasy feeling. The woman at the reception at our hotel told us about protests. (It's really difficult to get by without knowledge of Spanish, almost no one can speak English)

➡️ Traveling isn't always just "peace and joy" and certainly not everything goes according to plan. In my opinion, the reasons for traveling are primarily the urge for absolute freedom, but we see that in danger here, especially in Panama. Since the end of October People in Panama are taking to the streets to fight against the controversial mining law. They see the law as unconstitutional and fear serious consequences for the environment. This demonstration even goes so far that streets are partly blocked by police officers but mostly by Panamanian demonstrators. Our plan was to go to Bocas del Toro, unfortunately this region is badly affected by the protests, at the moment there is no chance of getting there. It has already reached the point where there is a shortage of resources in terms of food, gasoline, etc. The country is imposing a 24-hour period Lockdowns, even schools remain partially closed.

At the moment we don't know what's next, we hope that we'll get to Costa Rica somehow, a trip to Bocas or Panama in general doesn't make much sense for us at the moment. In addition, all buses to the region have been canceled. In addition, no one can say how long these closures will last. Many people recommend flying, but this option is very expensive and would be the last option if we can't get away from here.

For the next 2 days we are taking a trip to the San Blas Islands 🏝️....to escape the chaos and it is still a region that is safe to travel.