Panama
Caño de la Humildad

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    • Day 15

      18. Panama City - Casco Viejo

      September 6, 2019 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

      Casco Viejo is the historic district of Panama City. When the Panama Canal was being built, an influx of workers caused massive growth and expansion of Panama City, and the elite residents abandoned Casco Viejo for a better location in the city, letting Casco Viejo fall into ruin. It is now an UNESCO World Heritage site. While much of its architecture has been restored, some buildings remain in crumbling ruin.

      We wandered through there today. The architecture was pretty neat, and there are some cool historic churches. We had a great view of the Panama City skyline. On the downside, it was filled with overpriced restaurants, and dozens of vendors selling the same touristy souvenirs in every shop.

      We chose to check out the Panama Canal Museum they had there. It was filled with floor to ceiling placards documenting in detail the story of the many failed attempts, and the eventual successful one, at building a canal. It would have been easier to read the story in a book, as the museum offered little else.
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    • Day 18

      20. Shipping the car - Panama 2 Colombia

      September 9, 2019 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

      Although they share a border, there is no way to drive from Panama to Colombia. The main intercontinental road, the Pan American Highway, which stretches from Alaska to Argentina, has a 150km gap in it as it passes through what is known as the Darien Gap, located at the east/south end of Panama.

      The Darien is a tropical jungle, with parts of it inhabited by indigenous tribes. While some if it is accessible with a guide, the parts that preclude safe travel have no roads, and ill-defined trails (if any). Visitors are subject to ticks, snake-bites, and disease. The area has limited to no police presence, and is known to be utilized by narcotraffickers. You are considered "on your own" if you run into trouble there.

      I'll pass.

      Hence, we (Craig) are engaged in coordinating shipment of the car via container (shared with one other traveler's car) from Colon to Cartegena. Craig did exhaustive research on this prior to our arrival, but coordinating the sharing of the container required much last minute communication with a several transport brokers to find someone who wanted to do the same thing as us at exactly the same time.

      The brokers are invaluable, but even with them, there seems to be so much room for things to go awry. We needed to be at the car inspection checkpoint between 6 & 7 Monday for car export inspection. Our Frenchman container-sharing partner was driving in from Costa Rica, and was scheduled to be there as well. He showed up just around 7, and the official told him he was too late and had to leave. Since we were scheduled to load the cars on the container Tuesday, this would have been a disaster for us, delaying us for days, since car shipments only get sent certain days of the week.

      Craig pleaded with the official, and we were granted clemency. Whew. (The Frenchman later communicated that he got caught unaware of a time zone change. Geez. Things can go wrong so easily.) We returned to pick up our inspection paperwork at 2, only to have to wait over an hour for it as it wasn't ready. you have no choice but to be patient.

      Tuesday we drove to the east Panama port of Colon to watch the car be loaded onto the container and locked. We caught a bus back to Panama City ( about 50 miles?) for $3.15 each. On the way, we saw an accident involving a container that looked exactly like ours. Our hearts were in our throats momentarily, until we remembered our car is getting shipped from Colon, and not on the road to Panama.

      In the meantime, our flight is booked for Friday, and we have a few days to toodle around Cartagena before picking up the car next Tuesday.

      Fingers crossed!
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    • Day 1

      Alle guten Dinge sind 3

      June 20, 2018 in Panama ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

      Und somit betrete ich heute zum dritten Mal den Flughafen in Panama City. Schön zurück zu sein!
      Jetzt bin ich meinem eigentlichen Ziel, Lima, schon recht nahe 😊
      Der Flug von Frankfurt hierher war sehr angenehm. Ich konnte ein bisschen Schlaf nachholen, Filme gucken (Dieses bescheurte Herz, Plötzlich Papa und Vielmachglas) und konnte die Beinfreiheit von Reihe 10 voll auskosten. Schon fein,wenn man sich ein wenig bewegen kann und nicht ständig die Rückenlehne des Vordersitzes an den Knien hat.
      So verging der Flug eigentlich recht zügig!
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    • Day 7

      11. Border Crossing - leaving CR

      August 29, 2019 in Panama ⋅ 🌧 75 °F

      Crossing the border is a 2 part process. You have to officially “check-out” of one country, then “check-in” to the next.

      DISCLOSURE – this is Craig’s post from his travel blog. I stayed in the car, guarding it, (which is code for playing games on my phone) during most of this activity.

      Paso Canoas or "How we outsmarted the border mafia"!

      Leaving Pavones at about 6:45 A.M., we arrived at the Costa Rica border at Paso Canoas at about 8:15 A.M. Exiting a country is the easiest part, generally speaking, of any border crossing. This is not an overly busy border, so I anticipated an easy Costa Rica exit. As has been our experience, signage is always a problem. And this border is no exception. Arriving at the border, we nearly crossed directly into Panama before realizing that there were no Costa Rican Immigration and Customs offices in the immediate area. Up the road a ways, I saw a building with some border signage. Luckily, we arrived just as the immigration offices were opening. I parked the car, and quickly grabbed a place in line. After about 10 minutes, I handed my passport to the immigration officer. He said that I needed to go across the street to pay the exit tax and bring him the receipt so that he could stamp me out of Costa Rica. Since I was in the vicinity of the Aduana (customs) office, I thought why not cancel my T.I.P. (Temporary Import Permit for my car). After waiting in line for about 10 minutes, the customs agent looked over my paperwork and said that I needed the receipt showing that the exit tax had been paid. So, I dashed across the street, paid the tax, and got my receipt. Back in line at the customs office...the agent sees that I have my exit tax payment receipt, but he points out that my passport does not have the exit stamp. Back to the immigration line, which by now has grown quite large. 15 minutes goes by, and I have my exit stamp. Back again to the customs office...another 10 minute wait. Finally, the customs agent closes out my T.I.P. I can now officially exit Costa Rica! Karen has been guarding the car, and now it is her turn for immigration. Maybe it takes her 15 minutes at most. Now, we are ready for the Panama border!
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    • Day 8

      12. Border Crossing - entering Panama

      August 30, 2019 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

      DISCLOSURE - as with post #11, this is Craig's post from his blog.

      As we cross the border, we are motioned to the side by men with official-looking I.D. tags. These are the Ayudantes (helpers) who either assist you in crossing borders by expediting the process (usually involving bribes) or by creating a chaotic situation from which only they can extricate you. After parking the car, I tell them that I do not need any help, but thanks anyway. I have prepped for this border and know the proper sequence: first, acquire auto insurance. Done. second, get immigration to stamp your entry into your passport. Done. third, get the T.I.P. for the car from customs. So far, so good! Completed application...now for the car inspection. I open the rear door, and the customs agent tells me EVERYTHING must be taken out of the car and run through the scanner on the other side of the building. This is not going well...

      As a crowd of Ayudantes gather around, the customs agent asks if I would like help transporting the entire contents of the car to the scanner and back. Things are beginning to smell a little "fishy" here. Undeterred, I insist upon transporting everything myself while Karen guards the car. After first moving two large suitcases to the scanning area, a more senior customs agent comes over and requests that we complete the Panama customs declaration forms. After completing mine, he reviews it, makes some corrections (suggesting I don't really have to list every edible fruit and foodstuffs in our possession) and asks me to complete the form again with corrections. At this point, he can sense my frustration. I comply, and then we move into the scanning area. After scanning the two suitcases, he tells me I only need to bring in duffel bags and the like. I ask him to accompany me to the car and point out the pieces he would like to scan. He grabs a couple of bags, and we go scan them. As we move back to the car, he tells the original agent (a lower ranking one) that we are done since I only have foodstuffs, supplies, and personal use items. A brief argument ensues between the two, and the junior official is overruled. Seeing his potential cut from the Ayudantes who might be asked to help me transport everything vanish, he sulks away and glares at me from a distance as I rearrange our gear. The senior agent signs off on my T.I.P. The last steps are paying $1 to fumigate the car and then passing through the final immigration checkpoint set up by Panamanian Marines. Bienvenidos a Panama (welcome to Panama)!

      The way the "border mafias" work, as best I can determine, are as follows:

      1) Identify potential victims who appear to have money (We are travelling in a 2019 Toyota 4runner TRD Pro).
      2) The Ayudantes (helpers???) immediately overwhelm you with offers of their services to expedite your border crossing. They do this by offering bribes to the immigration and customs agents which you end up paying for...and in addition, the fee for the Ayudante's services.

      OR, as in my case here, my refusal to engage with the Ayudantes MAY have led to the lower ranking customs agent demanding that we scan everything in the car, thereby making the Ayudantes eventual engagement and his probable cut of the proceeds more likely.

      They get you either way...but by "sticking to my guns" and insisting on doing everything myself, we gained the upper hand this time!
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    • Day 5

      El Valle de Antón - Wanderung y Termal

      October 7, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Sonntag. Aufstehen. Frühstück toast mit Rührei. Packen dann los zu Wasserfällen. Umknicken, Ohnmacht. Zurück ins Hostel, verbinden. Los. Durch Ort. Zu La India dormida. Nicht gefunden. Unterhaltung mit Guide. Kleines Örtchen in Bergen. Bunte Häuser. Durch Dschungel. Schmetterling mit durchsichtigen Flügeln. Mandarinen. Zurück ins Hostel windmill. Umzug in bodhi hostel. Mittagessen Nudeln mit Pesto. Eistee aus Pulver. Einräumen. Zimmer mit 27 Betten. Zum Bozo de Termales. Falsche Richtung nach rechts. Dann Leuten fragen. Lange gerade Straße nach links. Schlamm im Gesicht. Fußbad. Abduschen. Baden im Becken mit Blick auf Berg. Zurück laufen barfuß. Gefühl wie in Bad Homburg. Zurück im hostel. Skypen mit flori. Duschen mit warmem Wasser. Sandwich wie am Tag davor. Bananen mit panama Bier. Schlafen.Read more

    • Day 4

      El Valle de Antón - Zoo

      October 6, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Samstag. Bus nach Albrook mit Rosanna. Busticket kaufen am Schalter. Kleiner Bus mit spanischer Musik. Durch Wälder und Berge. Ankunft in El Valle. Hostel falsch gebucht. Notgedrungen ins windmill hostel. Einkaufen gehen. Mittagessen Nudeln mit Tomatensauce. Lautes hostel. In Zoo. El Nispero. Jaguar, Papagei. Abendessen im hostel. Sandwich mit Tomate, Salat, Spiegelei, Käse, mayo. Skypen mit flori. Weeds. Früh schlafen. Laute Nacht.Read more

    • Day 9

      Boquete - El explorador

      October 11, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Donnerstag. Aufwachen. Schlecht geschlafen mit träumen. Dicker blonder Hund. Frühstück mit Brot und Marmelade und Orangensaft. Zimttee. Aufbruch zu kleinem Park. Dann hochwandern zu großem Park. Wilder Hund. Spanisch mit süßer Oma. Schilder mit spanischen Sprüchen. Alles mit Gesichtern drauf. Alice im wunderland. Foto in schmetterling. Regen. Runterlaufen. Rest einkaufen. Duschen. Abendessen. Spiegelei mit Bratkartoffeln. Skypen mit flori. Karten spielen mit den ausm hostel. Gambia. Uno. Londoner. Niederländerinnen. Rachel. Israeler. Niederländer mit Freundin. Australier. Schlafen gehen.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Caño de la Humildad, Cano de la Humildad

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