Days 87 to 92: Panama City to Cartagena, COL

The Darien Gap, between Panama and Colombia, is a vast swamp land, with a reputation of being very dangerous, due to drug trafficking and banditism. There is no road through there neither, so the vast majority of motorcycle travelers choose to either take a boat or fly over it with their bike.

I've researched on this about a year ago, and found out that our best option would be to book a 4 day trip on a german sail boat named Stahlratte (steel rat). There are a few other boats doing the Panama-Colombia connection, but the Stahlratte seemed to get the best feedback on the motorcycle traveler forums. Since I was warned that usually the demand exceeds supply, I booked the boat 6 months ahead of time. I'm glad I've done this, since we've met a few people already who got turned down and had to look for other shipping options (by air; significantly more expensive), and that includes our friend Josh.

The program was to cruise and hang out in the San Blas islands for two days, and then head out in high sea for a 30-something hour ride to Cartagena, in Colombia, where we were scheduled to arrive on January 17th.

Day 87:

We left Panama City in the morning of January 13th, for a 2 hour ride to a tiny town called Carti, on the carribean coast, where the boat was waiting for us. There, we met the 13 other motorcyclists that were going to sail with us for the next few days. Several of them we have already met at some point, while riding through Central America. It was a fun bunch of people from all over the word: Germany, Spain, Holland, Canada, Spain and USA. Including the  german crew of four, and a few backpackers, we were 23 people on board.

Loading the bikes was a bit tricky: we had to ride into a canoe on the beach, and then hoist them on board of the ship. It was a bit sketchy, but fortunately none of the 13 motorcycles ended up at the bottom of the ocean. The bikes were then strapped and covered with tarps, to protect them from the sea water.

The Stahlratte, waiting for us in Carti, Panama.

Loading the bikes on the canoe.

Two bikes at a time.

Living quarters on the boat.

All bikes on board. They were then strapped and covered with tarps.

That night, we stayed at a nearby island, densely populated by the Kunas, the local indigenous people. Most of us (including myself) were not too happy about it , as it felt a bit of a scam: we were charged 25$ each for a night in a bamboo shack. I don't mind paying a bit extra to make a contribution to the community, but not when I feel like I'm getting screwed. The island itself was overly populated and rather filthy, so I didn't care much about it. Later in the evening, the group purchased a few bottles of rhum, and ended up having quite a fun night, despite the shitty premises.

Day 88:

We sailed for about 2 hours to a small island, where we were going to spend the day. We all had a great time there: beautiful beach, volleyball, swimming and snorkeling, followed by a BBQ in the evening.

Getting ready to jump...

Go!!!!!

The Stahlratte

BBQ on one of the San Blas islands (there are hundreds of them!!)

Day 89:

Another island, this one even more deserted. We had beautiful weather once again and all was good. Mihai caught a large fish that day, which we later had for dinner. It was some of the best fish I've ever had.

Kuna fishermen. They sold us lobsters and fish.

Lobsters...

Posing with Mihai's fish.

Mihai and Floyd (one of the crewmen)  working on the fish.

Dinner time. Food was very good all along.

Day 90:

We headed out in high sea in the early morning. As much as the whole group was in good spirits for the first two days, our moods sank in less than an hour into the 30-something hour trip to Cartagena. The boat was rocking quite hard in the 5+ meter waves. Several people got pretty sea sick, and things got really quiet. I don't think anyone enjoyed themselves that day. Fortunately, I had brought some nausea pills with me (Gravol), so that helped to get through the day. Things got even worse during the night: the waves were even taller, and a few times I almost got thrown off my bunk bed. Zero fun factor. I'm not buying a sailboat anytime soon...

Day 91:

We finally sailed in into Cartagena in the early afternoon. Most were quite exhausted, and anxious to get back on firm land...lol. Since it was getting late, it was agreed that customs paperwork and the bike unloading would be done only on the following day. We found a hotel in the touristic neighbourheed called Gestemani, and passed out early.

Day 92:

It took us from 6 am until almost 4 pm to unload the bikes and get the paper work sorted out at the customs. Not a stressful day, but just a lot of waiting. It was Friday, and we found out that we wouldn't be able to get liability insurance for the motos until Monday. Not a problem, since we wanted to spend 2-3 days in Cartagena anyway.

For more photos from our Stahlratte adventure, you can also check out this link. Willem, one of the moto guys we have met back in San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua) and who we have been hanging out a few times since then, is also writing a blog. His photography and narration are excellent.

Cartagena skyline at 6 am.

Cartagena - view of the container docks.

Unloading the bikes one at a time, into a small Zodiac.

Looooong day of waiting at the customs to get the paperwork sorted out.

Finally... First passport stamp in South America.

Day 86: Panama City (cont'd)

We had planned that day to do a tour of the city with Michaela and John. We met them at 10 am at the Panama canal, and proceeded to visit the museum, and to watch ''live'' the process of getting a large ship across the locks. It was a very interesting visit. You can read more about the canal here. I had previously seen a documentary about it, but what I didn't know is that Panama is currently building another set of wider locks, in order to accommodate even the largest cargo ships in the world. 

There are actually two sets of locks in parallel, so two large ships can be moved up simultaneously.

These locomotives stabilize the ships laterally with steel cables, preventing them from colliding with the concrete reinforcements.

One of the several beautiful maquettes in the Panama canal museum

Photo of a photo of the construction site of one of the 3 new locks.

How the new locks will look like.

From the canal, we headed to Casco Viejo, which apparently was supposed to be a point of interest. I was a little skeptical, based on what we've seen on our first day in Panama City. Well, it turned out that we had previously seen the shitty area of the neighborhood  and it had a lot more to offer than I expected. Casco Viejo has many beautifully renovated buildings. The government is spending a lot of money in rejuvenating the area. With roughly 50% of the work done (my approximation), it is already looking real good. Five years from now, this place will be very impressive.

Old in the front, modern in the back.

From Casco Viejo, we jumped into a cab to check out the modern part of town, with its condo towers and office skyscrapers. We ended up our tour at the impressive Trump Ocean Club tower, and had some drinks on its awesome terrace.

Trump Ocean Club in the middle. It is supposed to be a sail-shaped building, but on this photo it reminds  me of something else.

Terasse at the Trump Ocean Club. Can you see where the pool ends? 

Trump Ocean Club: view from 35th floor.

Trump Ocean Club: lobby

It was a great day, all in all. Tomorrow, we are off to Carti (2.5 hrs from Panama City), where we will load the motorcycles on the ship that will take us to Colombia. Next entry should be sometime after Jan. 17th. Hasta luego!

Last but not least: I finally got my new keyboard. Sweet!

Days 84 and 85: Panama City

Day 84:

Mihai's mom, Michaela, and her husband John have arrived in Panama City two days ago, in order to spend a week of vacation here, and to get to see Mihai. They were kind enough to invite both of us to spend a day with them at their resort, so we jumped on the bikes in the morning of day 84, and met them around noon. It was nice to be treated to a day of luxury, and we had a good time. Thank you Michaela and John, it was very appreciated.

Surprisingly, the resort was packed with French Canadians, or Quebs, as Josh calls us :) When closing my eyes, I could have sworn I was at the Oka beach, and not in Panama City..lol. 

Later that night, I got sick, with stomach problems. This was a little puzzling, since the food we at the resort was among the best meals we had since we left home. I guess my digestive system got used to crap and no longer tolerates quality..lol.

Yet another beach. Starting to get bronzay by now :)

View from Michaela and John's room at the resort

What you see on the horizon is not settlements, but the long line up of ships awaiting to cross the Panama Canal.

The four of us at dinner 

Day 85:

My stomach problems continued in the morning, whereas Mihai was now feeling like crap as well, with what appeared like symptoms of another cold. We wanted to shop for a few missing items that day, so we popped a few pills and took a cab to Albrook mall. This thing is HUGE. There are over 800 shops, and there's even a small motorcycle dealership. I was hoping to score some tires, but didn't like what they had in stock. I guess we'll have to wait until Bogota, Colombia, to find some fresh rubber for our DR's.

Josh was flying out the next day to Bogota, at 6 am in the morning. His bike was supposed to leave on a cargo plane on the previous day. We will most likely meet up again somewhere in Colombia, maybe even in Cartagena.

Josh, crashing in our room for a few hours on his last night in Panama City, before heading out to the airport at 4 am.

Days 82 and 83: Boca del Toro to Panama City

Day 82:

We caught a boat back to Almirante in the morning, and were back on the road by 11 am. Most of the riding on that day was good stuff: twisty roads over mountains.

TWISTY road, just the way we like it :)

Josh was obviously having fun

We stopped that night in Santiago, on the Panamericana. Not a town of much interest, just a place to stay overnight. That night, La Bamba was playing on TV. Mihai and Josh had a good laugh, whereas to me it brought some frustrating memories (remember my licence story from Granada, with the LDP look alike cop?)...lol.

La Bamba on TV. It brought back some bad memories from Granada ;)

Day 83:

Uneventful and boring 250 km drive all the way to Panama City, on two lane highway. There was cops all over the place, so we had to stick to the 80 kmph speed limits. It was scorching hot too, so all three of us were close to dozing off at times.

We arrived in Panama City in the early afternoon, and as soon as we got into town, we hit heavy traffic. Someone has recommended us a hostel in the old part of town (Casco Viejo), so we headed there first. After riding around for a little while searching for the hostel, we agreed to just go somewhere else. The neighborhood was a dump and none of us had any interest in staying there. We settled for a half decent hotel at 40$ a night, in a slightly less sketchy area, in between Casco Viejo and the modern Centro.