Date: January 5

Weather: 85°

Place: Bus from Costa Rica to Panama City

(Ryan)

The border crossing was filled with the usual array of hoops to jump through with a the addition of Dan and I getting split up for about a half hour. I got sent back across the border to get an exit stamp while Dan proceeded to the next room to get a visa. His official didn't think he needed an exit stamp from Costa Rica but mine did. 

When we arrived in Panama City it was dark and we just stayed at the hotel.

Date: January 6

Weather: 88°

Place: Panama City Not quite what I had expected.  

(Ryan)

After having some breakfast we were ready to see some stuff. First stop was to see the Panama Canal. I, unfortunately, miss read the travel guide and what I thought was a 15 minute walk was more like 15 miles. When we ran out of sidewalk we hailed a cab and asked him to take us to the part of the canal that all the tourists go to. He started to drive and after 20 minutes I began to worry. We finally figured out that he had no idea what we were talking about. After rereading the travel guide we showed the driver where we wanted to go. He had never been there. The biggest tour attraction in Panama and we got the taxi driver who had never been to the viewing area of the locks, unbelievable! Once we knew the name of were we wanted to go he stated sticking his head out the window asking directions.

We had just missed a huge cargo ship go through and the next boat wasn't scheduled for four hours. We watched the short history of the canal and grabbed a cab to the Balboa Yacht Club. This is were we were supposed to be able to find a private boat going through the canal or beyond. What we found was a little ash left over from the fire that burnt the place down. We found a place to have lunch and headed off to see what the Tourist Board had to offer. We entered the back of a large building and weaved through corridors until we found the very small and tucked away offices of the IAPT(Instituto Panameno de Turismo, and if you can figure out those abbreviations, email us) government run tourist office. A woman handed us a brochure, a small plastic bag and a bumper sticker promoting the IAPT and asked if we needed anything else. I figured that I had seen enough of Panama City but Dan thought we should stay the night and travel to the next place in the morning. 

Date: January 7 

Weather:

Place: Panama to Colon

Colon is the name of the town on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal and what follows is taken from the Lonely Planet travel guide

Colon

Colon is a dangerous slum, and if you don't have a pressing reason to come here, do yourself a favor and give it a miss... I couldn't agree more!

Unfortunately, Colon is the only place to catch a boat going south or anywhere now that the Balboa Yacht Club had burnt down. Many people recommended that we not go to Colon including locals on the bus there. We were given the advice not to walk anywhere and take a cab directly to the Panama Yacht Club, which is the only safe place in town.

Arriving at the Panama Yacht Club was much more encouraging than on the Pacific side of the canal. Many boats were there and we met many of the captains and laid a little ground for rides anywhere. We were offered a job as lines men by a couple aboard a beautiful 42' catamaran, who were waiting to go through the canal. The only problem was that they weren't going through for 11 days. Colon was not the place to hang out for 11 days. 

We stayed up late swapping stories with sailors and made a few friends before retiring to out hotel.

Date: January 8 The day before Martyrs Day

Weather: 90s'

Place: Colon

A few people at the marina were going to ask around for us to see if they could help us get a ride or a job on a boat and we said that we would be back at the marina at noon. As of this morning we still have just the one offer to be lines men in 11 days and the entire country is shutting down at 1:00 p.m. for two and a half days. Were not supposed to walk around Colon so were going back to Panama City to weigh our options.

Date: January 9 Martyrs Day

Weather: Mid 90s

Place: Colon to Panama

Colon is not a good place to hang out. The marina office and bar are closed down for Martyrs Day so we are going back to Panama City

Date: January 10 Martyrs Day Celebratory Day

Weather: 85°

Place: Panama City

Town is shut down tight. Nothing is open except McDonalds and T.G.I.Fridays. There is nothing to do but sit in the hotel and watch TV which is mostly static.

Date: January 11

Weather: Wet and Hot 

Place: Stuck in Panama City

AAAAARRRGGGGG! Still no ATM card and I still haven't received PIN numbers for my credit cards from home. My least favorite type of day... Banking Day. We are planning on tiring to get a ride on a merchant ship to Cartagena, Columbia and may not see a bank for some while so thought we would stock up on cash. 

We woke up and did some laundry and internet bright and early. I took a break after that and ate some leftovers in the hotel, which unknowably closed the window at the bank. When we want to do banking we have to set aside most of the day due to the fact that my ATM card doesn't work and I don't have the PIN's for my credit cards. My only option is to find a bank that will give me a cash advance on my credit card, and that normally takes most of the day. After nine banks (no really...NINE)  they began to close and now we're stuck here another day. Well one more day of TV and AC won't kill us.

Date: January 12-14

Weather:

Place: Panama City and Colon

We started the day in Panama City doing banking and internet stuff. We ate lunch then jumped on the bus back to Colon, the crappy town full of thieves and roughnecks. When we arrived in Colon we took a chance and walked to the Yacht Club.  We made it safely and put up our flyer up in the laundry room and then caught a cab to the hotel, where we watched hours of television until the morning. That morning we went to the Zona Libre a large area about the size of a small village. It's a trading area or port kind of place that sells everything imaginable. It's considered second to the similar trading place in Hong Kong. A poor description of Zona Libre, but if you have more interest then you might want to look it up. Ryan bought a nifty watch, Timex I believe, his third one so far. We left the Zona and went to a new hotel (sancturary) which had a wider selection of channels on the TV for another exciting night in Colon. 

On the morning of the fourteenth we taxied to the merchant ship area again to see about a boat. This time we meet a Mexican guy how is riding his bike from Mexico through South America. He spoke slow and clearly so we hung out with him as he did all the talking with the security guard. The guard is the middleman between the captains and us. Bike guy found us a cargo boat going to the boarder at three a.m.. So, we spent another day at the lovely Panama Yacht Club, waiting for departure time. 

So folks, that's where we are now, and hope to get on this cargo ship tonight. We know it's going to be a beat-up piece of junk, but it's only thirty dollars. Wish us luck.