to Panama City: landfall at Portobelo

May 22, 2017

At five in the last afternoon at sea, we weigh anchor for the final leg to Portobelo. When we leave the weather is very calm but there is a good ocean swell as soon as we leave the islands. There is little wind though and the surface is smooth. We see some dolphins alongside the ship. It has been overcast all day and as we move west along the Panamanian coast we see a very dark band of clouds ahead. It does not seem to be moving at all. On its western side appears a waterspout that seems to reach all the way to the ocean. Two or three more tornadoes are trying to develop along the front. A heavy downpour on the western end eventually obscures the first spout. Then another one forms to the east of the boat and touches all the way down to the water surface. It’s an awesome and scary sight, but we will be okay inside a 40 ton steel vessel. As we start getting more underneath the front the rain gets pretty heavy and it gets dark, most of us retreat to our rocking cabins.

It is definitely the bumpiest ride of the trip. We have taken Dramamine and fall asleep off and on. During the night we are awaken several times by bigger waves that bang against the hull and finally at about 2 am by the sound of the anchor chain running out of its forward compartment. The captain has been up all night and he comes around stealthily to open our deck hatches. The fresh air is nice.

At six Patrick gets on deck, we are anchored in a narrow inlet with the town of Portobelo in front of us. We have arrived in Panama! Portobelo means “pretty harbor” and it is indeed very pretty here when seen from the water. The town and its fort are somewhat interesting, but the accommodation in town seems expensive with the only budget option not getting very good reviews. After reading Jeff and Roz’s journal , we have decided to try and head straight on to Panama City today by bus and start cycling again from there.

But first we have one more great breakfast on the Quest, French toast this time. All gear and our bikes are loaded on a lancha that Goeran has arranged, and while we set foot on land at the jetty, he heads to the immigration office to get us all stamped into Panama. There has been some question whether Panama requires proof of onward travel. For a while it was necessary to avoid a $100 fee, then it was waved for a while but recently they started asking for it again here in Portobelo. Formalities would have been easier in Porvenir, but that failed yesterday. With some notice it is not that hard to cook-up some flight reservations, print-off a confirmation and then cancel the flights. Others are good with Photoshop and just change the name on a confirmation scan. Either way, there are ways to do this without spending money on an actual ticket, but it is a pain to do if you’re in line at the immigration office. So we keep our fingers crossed, and after a fairly long wait Goeran returns with good news and all our passports stamped.

Our crossing on the Quest was great, Goeran is a very experienced captain, he takes safety serious and even though our crossing was uneventful and calm, he would be the guy you want driving your boat when there is trouble. With only ten passengers his trips do fill-up early, so it takes some advanced planning to get on the Quest. You have to book way ahead and that is sometimes difficult for overland travelers.

We say our goodbyes and catch a “chicken bus” to Sabanitas on the main road across Panama. These are old US school buses and brightly decorated. There we quickly catch a larger bus into the city. It all goes very smooth; the buses only cost a couple of dollars, plus a little more for the bikes. We are dropped off at the main Panama City bus station at the Aldwood Mall. We say our goodbyes to our fellow passengers here, except Egwin and Christina, the two Belgians from Antwerp who are going to the same hostel we are. It is only about 3km riding to the hostel, the GPS helps us find the shortest route, even though that means walking against traffic on a couple of one-way streets. The area looks pretty rough. We check-in at Mamallena, part of the same group that runs the Cartagena hostel. A decent enough room with a fan, and AC (at night only), a nice common area and kitchen, and shared bathrooms. The area is pretty rough tough and the walls surrounding the hostel are covered with razor wire and electric fence.

After catching-up on some internet we take a walk to the waterfront and circle back to the hostel. Our first impression of the city is that it feels much more “American” and run-down than the cities in South America we visited. We have trouble locating a restaurant we want to eat at and end-up chowing down supersized Big-Mac meals at the McDonalds near the hostel. We are hoping for better choice tomorrow. In the evening we share a couple of beers with Egwin and Christina and staying up later than we usually do.

One of the smaller islands in the San Blas group.

Porvenir, a small settlement where you can get stamped into Panama. Not today though.

Goeran takes Patrick to a nearby island to try and buy some bread. All we come away with is some photos. Outhouses build over the water.

Overlanders keep hoping for a ferry connecting Cartagena and Panama. For motorcyclists and especially people with vehicles this crossing is an expensive one. Here is one of the two ferry boats that were supposed to start a regular roll-on roll-off service. Stuck on a reef. Ahead of it is the hull off a sailboat that did not make it either. This is an unforgiving coast.

An ominous band of clouds appears to our west.

As we get closer we see heavy rain and a waterspout off our port bow. Yes, we finally learned which side is port and which one starboard.

Another tornado trying to form straight ahead.

The band stretches from east to west across the sky. At least two waterspouts are visible and several others trying to form.

Waterspout touching down to the sea surface.

We wake up to a sunrise while anchored in Portobelo Bay. Francis Drake, the pirate, was buried here at sea.

Leaving the Quest. It has been a fantastic voyage. We hope we'll see her again sometime.

Landfall in Panama. Here we are at the old customs house in Portobelo. We are waiting for Goeran to finish the immigration formalities.

A "chicken bus". These are old American school buses used for public transportation on the rural routes in Panama. We take one similar to this for the 35km ride to Sabanitas where we catch a larger bus to Panama City.

Arrived at the Mamallena Hostel in Panama City. They are affiliated with the hostel we stayed at in Cartagena.

Today's ride: 3 km (2 miles)
Total: 31,825 km (19,763 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0