We wanted to go from Santa Marta to Panama. You can either take a plane, sail across the open sea, or the last option, go to a small port and hope there is a taxi boat that takes you. With the last option, no one can tell you if there is a taxi or not. Colombia is not connected to Panama by road, as there is a large swamp area at the connection point. There is a possibility to go by car, taxi, and bus, but there is a risk of disappearing due to the communist mafia/gang 'Guarillias'. So, we chose the option of flying because of our mothers. We were then taken to the airport by a shuttle. We actually wanted to check in there. The woman at the counter asked us if we also had a flight from Panama. We explained to her that we wanted to continue traveling by bus. However, she did not seem interested. 'You need to use a flight ticket or you cannot check in'. We assured her that we did not want to stay in Panama and that we already had a flight from Havana to Zurich, but she was the same. Well, we had a problem. I called Marco (a good friend), and he laughed and said that he had the same problem with my sister, Simone, back then. He just said, 'You need to find a crook who sells you a fake flight ticket!'. So we went in search of a 'crook'. What does a 'crook' look like? We asked the police, security, etc. if they knew anyone who sells tickets. We found someone. The scammer, however, wanted $200 per ticket. I told him that a real ticket only costs $150. 'Then I can't help you'. We were slowly getting nervous because the departure time was approaching. We then saw small offices, so small that hardly a desk chair would fit. We asked a sympathetic lady if she could help us. She laughed and closed the door behind her. We bought an 'invalid' ticket from her for $50 each, and she canceled it the next day.
(For those who will have the same problem) The person at the counter and the Panamanian immigration were satisfied. It was stupid to make such a fuss. Anyway, we finally arrived in Panama.It looked like Zurich Airport. Everything modern and clean. We felt a sense of home. On the way to the bus, we met a woman who also wanted to go to the city. We asked her if we should share a taxi. We then negotiated the price with two funny taxi drivers. It was one of the funniest taxi rides we experienced. Both around 60 years old. They gave us a little city tour and explained everything to us. Most of the time, they argued with each other and made fun of each other regarding who was right and what was what. It was very amusing. We had a huge hostel. When we arrived in the lobby, we coincidentally saw the captain of the sailing ship and his wife. I knew him because I had corresponded with him before and had seen pictures of him. They were looking for more people and were shopping for our sailing trip.
In our hostel room, we had an amazing view of the skyline of Panama City and the sea. Especially at night, it was very impressive.
However, we only had 2 nights in the city before heading to the Caribbean coast. We spent most of the time relaxing and exploring the city. The old town was really charming.
Then, on one day, we went to Portobello. We stayed there for a night before starting our 6-day sailing trip. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed the last evening/night on land. Early in the morning, it started. The sailing trip went to the famous San Blas Islands. There are 365 islands, some small and uninhabited.And others are larger and have several families living there. We were picked up by a crazy guy named Fritz in a speedboat. He is a 65-year-old survival artist from Vienna. We all sat together at the dining table in the evening and Grandpa told us stories from earlier times. The man has experienced a lot, and it was exciting to listen to him. Each one had to decide for themselves what was true and what was not, haha.This is Fritz before our lobster dinner. When I got on the boat, I had to help carry a 160-kilogram heavy motorbike onto the boat.We were lucky that the sailboat had plenty of winches and pulleys. We secured it with 2-3 ropes.We were a cool bunch. 2 German girls, an American who rode his motorcycle from Los Angeles to Ushuaia, and 2 whiny and endlessly complaining Swiss women, so now it's out!!!! The crew was Fritz and his wife (seen in theupper image) and a chef, Jose.We had a catamaran.And of course, we sailed when there was enough wind.There was plenty of space. We sailed and from the beginning, there were quite big waves. Most of us got sick. I went to the cabin and slept for 2 hours. After those 2 hours, I felt like a new person and didn't get sick anymore until the end of the trip. To describe the whole sailing trip is actually a bit boring. We did some cool things like diving for lobster. Fritz and I went out armed with a harpoon to hunt for our wives. Like in the old days, when men went out to bring food for the women. We actually came back with lobsters. However, we had to post 2-3 at the fisherman's to share with everyone. In the evening, we had a lobster all-you-can-eat dinner.It was delicious. We also saw dolphins swimming with us, doing somersaults and everything, full of joy.It was also cool that we had a huge net full of fruits. In general, we ate very well, often too much. However, we clearly didn't have enough time to spend on the islands. Most of the time, we were out from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and had the remaining time for snorkeling or bathing. It was very beautiful.There were also big starfish.And we found abandoned houses of some residents.
This is what Fritz looked like before our lobster dinner. When we got off the boat, I had to carry a 160-kilogram heavy motorbike onto the boat.
When we arrived in Panama City, we didn't know exactly what to do. Either go to the Caribbean coast of Panama and Costa Rica or directly to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. But the weather was quite changeable and rather bad on the Caribbean coast, so we decided to go to the Pacific coast the next day. We spent 1 night in Panama City. We won't forget this hostel. It was a crazy house. When we walked in, everyone looked at us strangely. No wonder, we stumbled upon a hippie hostel. Everyone was barefoot, had Rastas, weird tangled hair, and a lot of body hair. And I would say that most of them had tried one drug or another. But the night also passed. Around noon the next day, we went to the bus terminal and wandered around the largest shopping center in Panama. At 12:00 midnight, our bus to San José left. You can read everything else in the next blog.
