Bye Bye Canal de Panama

It almost seemed like the end of our trip when we started out the next day. Having reached the Southern destination, the first part of the days ride left a feeling of completion, yet we still have alot of miles to make and many things to see, but that nagging feeling was there all the same. Maybe it was because we were backtracking on familiar ground as we rolled up the PanAm highway, seeing familiar places and knowing that around this next curve is a fruit stand or a clothing vendor or whatever the case may be. The scenery is of course the same, but looks different from this new direction. Brenda says she doesn’t remember most of this so it is like seeing it for the first time, I guess because I am in the lead I make mental notes of landmarks and upcoming towns whereas she is more focused on not running into me as I adjust my speed to look at stuff. She also says that when we are riding the Harleys she can hear my bike when I adjust the throttle up or down. I think that is her way of saying I need a performance exhaust system on the Beemer.(what a male hears is sometimes different from what the female actually says). We had decided to take a small side trip but missed the turn somehow so ended up back in Santiago for the night, variety is the spice of life so we stayed a different hotel than the first time. I know, very adventurous of us, really pushing the limits. Plus today is my birthday. Hmph 42, when did that happen, really somebody tell me because it doesn’t feel much different that 22.

Brenda had read some good things about Boquete, so the next day we entered David and then went North about 40km. The town of Boguete is in the mountains and is actually considered to be in the cloud forest, thus they get lots of rain throughout the year. We must be doing something right because we only experienced a little bit of mist as we drove up and up and up into the town. There is also an optical illusion as you drive up to the town, the houses along the road all look out of level, at first I thought that some contractor had made a serious error, but then realized that it is due to the gradual pitch of the road. The houses are of course level, the road is a gradual uphill climb.


The landscape is breathtaking with lush greens as far as the eye can see and more types of vegetation than can be distinguished. The low hanging clouds work as a natural veil for the mountain and volcano tops. There is a very dramatic appearance with sun rays breaking through the clouds intermittently which just makes the greens even more vivid. Volcanic rocks protrude through the lush greens intermittently in the cattle pastures and ornately as the locals have used them for fencing, this provides an interesting visual in contrast to the brightly painted houses. As the town is not very big it did not take us long to find suitable accommodation, we chose a Hostel that is right on the Central Park, that is within walking distance to everything. Once again, sometimes we are the attraction, so as we are getting off the bikes a fella walks up and starts talking to us. He is from England, and has lived in Boquete for 3 years, he coincidentally has the exact same bike as me so this leads to some pointed questions about mileage, mechanical issues, etc.etc. In turn, I find out that there is a good tire shop in town that has a machine for changing bike tires. Once we are checked in, I decide it is finally time to change out the back tires on both bikes. I could probably have gotten even more miles out of them but the next few days could find us on gravel roads and the almost bald tires are not good for this terrain. They are ok on pavement but there is not traction on gravel. $5 and about 30minutes has both tires changed out, I removed and installed the tires and the old fella with the tire machine just swapped out the rubber.

Still a few miles in them, but time to donate them to the travel gods.

The rest of the day we just walked around the town and got a feel for the place. There are alot of ex-pats living here, and this is a great base camp for hiking, bird watching for the elusive Quetsal, rafting, coffee plantation tours and just relaxing.