Bye bye Costa Rica, hello Panama

We crossed the boarder in Costa Rica to find out that there were protests in Panama so many of the main roads were blocked, something we didn’t know before we left Costa Rica! As a result, we couldn’t get a bus to our next destination, Bocas del Toro, but after a few minutes, a good ol’ chap from Panama decided he could take us, as long as we were prepared to change vehicles a few times on the way. Initially we were highly suspicious of this, but we soon realised that he was actually being helpful, as unless we got to the ferry by 3pm, we wouldn’t be reaching the islands today and the boarder or ferry towns certainly weren’t the nicest of places to say the least! On the way to the ferry town, many roads were blocked by felled trees, boulders or tyres ready for burning, but it all looked fairly peaceful. We were left feeling a little apprehensive as to what might happen over the next few weeks, as the protests had already been going on for 16 days, and talks with the government didn’t seem like they were progressing. So yes, we entered Panama blissfully unaware of all the antics! We also had very little cash, as we had to use it to exit Costa Rica (the damn card machines never work at the borders!), and when we learnt that the ATMs were out of cash and the ferry only took cash, this was a little concerning! Thankfully, the kindness of the Panamanian people shone through from the very start, and we were offered cash in exchange for buying fuel. Our first phewwww in Panama! 

Thankfully, we made it to the ferry port at 2.59 and 59 seconds, and we got on the ferry to Bocas Del Toro 😥 ‘race across the world’-style!