We hope you all had a fun and safe New Years, and those of you that are still on holidays are enjoying them! We have left the easy travelling of the states behind us and are now piecing together our non-existent Spanish through the start of our trip in Central America.
A couple of days in Panama City, between dodging holes in the footpaths and falling debris from building sites, has taken us through the crumbling colonial old section of the city, and to the nearby jungles of the Panama Canal.
With Captain “Jungle Man” Carl at the helm we spent a day exploring the Panama Canal by boat and kayak. An impressive engineering feat built 100 years ago sees 14000 ships pass through its locks each year. Each ship being charged a minimum of $20000 US, and 85 million gallons of fresh water is discharged for each ships pass.
After a 10 hour overnight bus and boat transfers we have reached Bocas Del Toro. Bocas is a popular backpacker destination on the Carribean side of western Panama and yes there are waves in the Carribean!