Border Bored

Last Saturday I got picked up at my bed and breakfast (Physis) at 5:50 A.M. by a shuttle company to take me from Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro in Panama. The first van ride took a group of travellers to the border where we paid our $8 exit fee . We arrived just as the immigration office was opening for the day but a power outage meant that all their systems were down. After waiting for over an hour one of the immigration officers began to process people manually by recording their passport details by hand and stamping them.
Once across the border the Panamanian immigration folks were checking passports and proof of exit flights out of Central America. One German girl could not provide proof so she tried to buy an airline ticket to Berlin online but the wifi was very poor. After waiting for her for another hour we had to leave her there as her attempts were proving unsuccessful.
The new Panama shuttle and driver took the rest of us to Almirante where we caught the 40 minute speed boat ride to the Archipelago main centre of Bocas Town.
The last leg of the journey was in a van/bus to take me to Bluff Beach Retreat to begin my weeklong yoga retreat with other people from Canada 🇨🇦.Read more