Capurgana, Colombia – Puerto Obaldia, Panama
The rain came down hard at night, making the day fresh and damp. Unfortunately,
the boat which operated between Capurgana, Colombia and Puerto Obaldia,
Panama was quite pricey and it was best to wait at the dock to get a better offer.
Finally, a deal was made, but the “regular boat” had a problem with the “good
offer”. After fighting it out amongst themselves, we were taken to Puerto Obaldia at
no extra charge.
The sea was rough, but the boat safely arrived in Puerto Obaldia. We proceeded to
the immigration office a second time. Still, it took explaining in our broken Spanish
(proudly presenting the embassy’s letter) that South Africans didn’t need a visa to
Panama beforehand. Nonetheless, we were told to return in the morning when the
boss was in the office. At least we weren’t sent back to Columbia like three days
earlier.
The annual rainfall in the area was more than 10m/a. Luckily, a covered area on the
veranda of a derelict community hall provided space to pitch the tents. By then, I
had $85 left to get Ernest and myself to Colon, rumoured the first place with an
ATM. Ten dollars were spent buying food and a few beers and with rain pouring
down, we settled in. The roof we camped under at least allowed sitting outside the
tents, cooking and chatting.
Even though in Panama, we weren’t out of the woods as there were no roads to and
from Puerto Obaldia. However, the small landing strip could accommodate small
planes. Still, I had no money left, and even if I did, the six-seaters which flew to
and from Puerto Obaldia couldn’t accommodate bicycles.