Friday, 7 November 2014

First Border Crossing

With our packs neatly organized, we loaded into our shuttle van which took us and a few others to the Sixaola border crossing to enter Panama. The road gently careened around for 45 minutes until we reached the crossing. Our driver instructed us to get out, introduced us quickly to our next guide, told us where to pay and drove off, leaving us at the hot, dusty crossing. Travis filled out our forms and we followed the next guide up a hill where we individually went to get our passports stamped. Then we followed the path of people walking over an old railroad bridge spanning the waters of the Rio Sixaola. I struggled to keep up, laughing in amazement at the holes I was stepping over and the loose boards below my feet, trying to focus ahead and not on the moving waters below. On the other side, we received another stamp and loaded into the next van who took us to our water taxi. This new driver who dressed like a Caribbean gangster blared his old school rap music for the next 25 minutes, I sat their laughing, hoping the elderly locals didn't understand the English words. The ocean air however was refreshing as we journeyed to Bocas Del Toro. From there we took our final water taxi in the dark to the nearby Isle Solarte where we found Bambuda Lodge, our cozy island home for the next week. 

1 comment:

  1. I’m so grateful for you blog. I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like this so hearing of your experience is so fascinating. I hope your next week in Panama is filled with great people and experiences! Thinking of you.

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