Panama baby
We have arrived to mainland Panama. Parked the boat in a marina located right by the entrance of the canal to be perfectly precise. Oh Pacific, you're so close yet still so far away for us, even though the very water under our keel technically is mixed up with the one from the Pacific. Only 48 miles away..
Once this Caribbean side is behind us and we're out on the other side of the Panama Canal, there will be no way for us to obtain material nor haul the boat so we must wait patiently till we are done with preparing our vessel to our specific needs. Just go! someone said, equally anxious for us to get to the South Pacific as we are. And while that in a carelessly spontaneous perspective might be tempting for a second or two, we know it will be more pleasurable when we are on the safe side in terms of preparations. We will after all spend a year or two in S Pacific and SE Asia and would not like to risk being stranded on an atoll only because of bad planning. However tempting the thought of being stranded on an atoll in French Polynesia might be right now.
It really is a pity by the way that the hurricane season in the Caribbean sea is starting very soon, as our delayed Cuba plans will need to be canceled because of that. However we've heard that Panama has much to offer in terms of adventure. Great surfing both around Bocas del Toro up on this coast, and Santa Catalina on the Pacific side which we most definitely will rent a car to get to one of these days. We also have the massive and very wild rainforest which literally starts right outside these marina facilities. Got greeted by the sound of tamarind monkeys today and I hear there are pumas, caimans, tapirs and thousands of very rare birds in these neighborhoods. Not to mention the big city life of Panama City that is awaiting a short bus ride away. I'm sure we can find various ways to keep ourselves entertained in between boat work for a couple months or more.
