13139 km Panama City

After a great few days in Medellin, it was time to get moving again. There was one last mountainrange to cross. After 2 days I reached the end of it and I could see the lowland in front of me. It felt pretty good knowing “this is the day I made the Andes my bitch”. I soon discovered there is a downside to being back at sealevel as well though. The humidity and the constant heat make it far from an easy ride. I easily drank about 10 liters of water a day. It was just a couple of days more however until I reached Cartagena.

First thing I did on arrival is checking for boats to cross the Darian gap. It’s unfortunatelly not possible to cross the border on land. I managed to find a boat leaving 5 days after I arrived in Cartagena. Just perfect, so I still had some time to check out Cartagena. Cartagena has a really nice old colonial city center and the whole vibe of the city is pretty relaxed. It has a very Caribean feel to it. Lots of dancing in the streets, nice little salsa bars, colorfol ladies selling fresh fruits. Not a bad  place to be for a few days. All good things come to an end though and after the 5 days I headed for the Sovereign Grace, the boat that would bring me to San Blas and Panama. I felt bad leaving Colombia, I really enjoyed my time in the country. People are friendly and open. There is also a big cycling culture in Colombia making it even more fun to ride there. People are giving a thumbs up or a friendly shout when they pass you in their cars. And a thumbs up beats a poorly executed assasination attempt any day....

On the 12th we started the sail to San Blas. We had a nice mixed group of people on board and plenty of beers for the crossing. We got lucky with the seastate and had a very calm crossing. I was extra happy, because this meant the bike was not hit by waves of seawater on the way over. We spend a nice couple of days on San Blas. The islands are absolutely stunning. We played lots of volleybal, drank lots of beers and had an all out goodtime. After 5 days we arrived at Puerto Lindo and it was time to say goodbye to the rest of the group who took the bus to Panama City. I headed out on the bike again, paid a quick visit to the fortifications at Portobello, where the famous Sir Francis Drake met his end. I managed to push out about 90km before dark and slept close to Panama city. Today I took a small detour to see the Panama Canal and I’m now in Panama City. 

The old city looks nice here, but after strawling around here for a day, I don’t feel there is to much more to see. I’m also eager to get on the bike again after 10 relatively inactive days. I’m planning to follow the pacific coast and make my way to Costa Rica. hopefully accomodations are not all fully booked due to Christmas. I prefer a bed here over camping in crocodile infested areas ;)

Take care all and untill the next update