Panama City to Cartagena

Leaving Panama City  for Colon (actually Portobelo just south of Colon) we started off by going to visit the first of the Panama canal locks from the Pacific side. We watched a ship come through the lock. Truly amazing. Aparently it costs about $350 000.00 for a ship to pass through the canal, however the cost to sail around the southeern tip of South America to get to the same place is 4 to 5 times that cost.

We then did the 80 kilometer ride from Panama City (Pacific Ocean) to Portobello (Atlantic Ocean) in good time not knowing what to expect or how long it would take to get the bikes and ourselves booked on a boat. We were not even sure that we would be able to get all 4 of us on the same boat as many of them are smaller type yachts. We arrived  at the Wunderbar in Portobello and we had not yet even taken off our helmets before we were appproached by a crew member of the "Independence". Luck was on our side. The boat was a large diesel three storey yacht with ample place for all of us and we could sail the next day.

We slept on the boat in the port that evening and then loaded the bikes first thing the next morning. We were also joined by two other travellers, Greg (Canadian) on a Honda motorcycle and Jirka (Czek) cycling (yes, on a bicycle) from Canada to Patagonia.

The next five days / four nights were spent at sea sailing to Cartagena along the Panamaniann coastline which is part of the Carribean Sea, stopping of at various islands on the way.

A relaxing few days at sea with an interesting bunch of people. Not the least of which was our 70 year old Captain Michelle, an old sea dog with many stories to tell of his 40 years spent at sea.

We arrived in Cratagena this afternoon and booked into a backpackers which has WiFi, hence this long time overdue blog.