Click on a photo to enlarge it.
The border crossing from Costa Rica into Panama took 2 hours and 20 minutes. Agnes got really upset with a tour group whose leader
really confused everyone in the queue at the passport window. When the leader accused Kirsten, Helmut and Agnes of pushing in front
of the queue (which wasn't true) Agnes hit the roof! (She's normally so placid!)
It didn't help that there was only one person stamping passports and the tour group consisted of 40 people. Eventually a second window
was opened up maybe because of all the shouting - Agnes in German and the tour leader in Spanish. And yet they both knew exactly what
the other was saying!
On the Panama side we had a man helping us through the formalities. This one did a good job but sometimes you will get ripped off by
these "helpers". We finally got through all the formalities and as soon as we drove off it poured with rain! Welcome to Panama!
We stayed at a shopping Mall in David for the night and got all our shopping done. We made the mistake of buying cartons of fruit juice
with free Ranchero tomato purée. What we didn't realise was that it is very hot! Kirsten worked that out when she added it to some left
over spaghetti! Ouch! Anyway, she said it didn't matter because she would use the other nine packets of it on chicken enchiladas ...
which she never makes!! (Short note from the future - 3 months later and we still have seven left!)
We actually saw a driving school vehicle. You may not think this is worthy of mentioning but we have not seen any driving schools in
any other Central American country and Mexico doesn't have them either. So believe it or not, but it is very unusual and worth a photo!
Despite asking the security guards for permission to park overnight they obviously didn't pass this on to the morning watch because
we got a bang on the door at 6-55am and told to move on. Welcome to Panama!
Seeing as we were up so early we went to Las Lajas beach and had most of the day there. But the beaches in Panama aren't free. It cost
us $10. (The currency is US dollars here.) At least we could use the toilets to empty our tanks and get some water.
Unfortunately is was still 28 degrees inside the motor home at 10.30 pm and we had mosquitoes so it wasn't exactly a peaceful nights
sleep.
On the way back to the Panamerican Highway the next morning we stopped to take photos of all the colourful bus stops with varying
motifs. We drove 160 miles and the road was sometimes extremely bad - concrete slabs that are breaking up and have some nasty sharp
edges that could easily shred tyres!
At least we managed to find a bakery with very good cakes and pasties. We pulled off to drive down to Santa Clara beach for the night
and managed to negotiate a price of $5 per vehicle to park on a beach restaurant car park. We didn't realise the price included dogs
barking and cocks crowing for most of the night!
For the next two nights we headed into the hills and away from the heat at a small town called El Valle de Antón, described as a picturesque
town in an old caldera. The volcano erupted 3 million years ago so hopefully we'll be alright!
We went for a walk into the town and ended up getting lost on the way back. But as a result, we saw toucans, parrots and squirrels
all in the same tree and enjoyed looking at all the large houses with large manicured lawns. We wouldn't describe the town as
picturesque but we did enjoy getting lost.
We managed to get back onto the right road and then went to the Hotel Campestre to see the "square" trees which have a square shaped
base but the trunks are round so it wasn't quite what we expected!
The next day we went to the El Nispero Zoo where Helen decided to try and steal a bus! Only joking!. We just wanted a photo and the owners
insisted on being in the picture!
The zoo had a collection of all the animals in Central America - jaguar, ocelot, spider monkeys, lots of birds, budgerigars, jays,
macaws, golden pheasant, guans, tapir, ostrich, martin, coatis, crocodiles, Panamanian night monkeys and much more. We also got to
see the golden frogs which are one of the attractions here.
Golden frogs & dog chasing Helen.
