In attempts to write this update I discovered that I am not good at editing down what I have written.
I obviously think that everything I write is valuable and worth your time to read.
I, however, do know that uncontrollable events may arise in your life that could prevent you from reading everything I’ve written.
If this is the case, you can just read the first paragraph and look at the pictures (more at
http://picasaweb.google.com/yojchristina/PanamaRoadtrip) If that whets your appetite feel free to continue reading.
Sunday March 30, I left with two of my friends, Lori and Morgan, on a road trip down to Panama in a 96 Buick sedan.
You can only imagine how many stories I could tell about this adventure. So now I’m here trying to summarize 180 hours and 405 pictures in a way that will take less than 180 hours of your time (hopefully a lot less). But maybe you want to go on a trip like this for yourself, so in that case I will try to give you some important tips. My desire in sharing these tips is that on your trip you can have just as much fun with a little less stress.
Preparation and Packing: I would strongly recommend bringing a large vehicle with lots of storage on this trip, even if only 3 people are going. It is important that you pack things like: trail mix, tortillas, water, frijoles molidos, hammocks, sheets, blankets, matches, CD’s, money, books, towels, pillows, cameras, and bathing suits. Some other things that were over looked by us that would have been useful include: non-expired drivers licenses, a map, and maybe a travel book that is less than 7 years old and that has more than 20 pages on the destination country.
Departure: In many ways leaving at 5am is a good idea. If this is what you want to do you should try to go to be early the night before. Complete exhaustion is not the best way to start a trip. Fortunately the initial route is easy, turn left out of the apartment complex, drive 2 km, turn right. In theory after this one right turn you can keep driving straight for 900 km or so.
Boarder crossing #1, Nicaragua/Costa Rica: This is where they are going to expect you to have a recent license if you want Costa Rican drivers insurance. Even if it is just recently expired they won’t accept it. Another confusion to avoid is the cost to leave Nicaragua. It is $2 a person or 40 cordobas. You should try to remember to bring money.
Costa Rican Driving: Although Km-wise Costa Rica is not very long do not get excited thinking you are going to drive through it faster than all your predecessors. There are lots of winding mountain roads, big trucks, rain, darkness, and San Jose. Maybe if you bring an accurate map, passing through San Jose won’t be a stressful disaster. Or you can not see it as a disaster and waste of time but an opportunity to see a broader perspective of Central American cities. They have Denny’s.
Costa Rican Lodging: There are a few methods of finding a hotel to stay at in Costa Rica. I will touch on one method here and an alternative during our return North. The first step is picking a town. We chose Neily for its size and proximity to the Panamanian boarder. When you get off the main road you may get pulled over for having suspicious Nicaraguan license plates (there is a little animosity between the two countries). Maybe here the cops will see that the driver is uninsured and try to give you a $500 fine for this. At this point in time one person should talk two cops out of the ticket and explain the confusion of foreign road rules. Another person can ask the third officer to recommend a place to stay for the night and make other various small talks. He may recommend Hotel Andrea, a fine place to rest your head and eat the beans, cream cheese, and tortilla dinner and watch some Chinese TV.
Boarder Crossing #2, Costa Rica/Panama: Not to much to say here. The people are friendly and it is free. The police station shares a building with a barber shop and there is a really big Zona Libre. They don’t check expiration dates on licenses when giving permission to drive.
Panamanian Driving: The first large town after crossing the boarder is David. They have a mall and the pharmacy sells phone chips to activate your cell phone in the country. Being able to call home makes the parents happy. The next large town is Santiago, they have a McDonalds with a large play area and a $.85 menu.
In Panama the left lane is for passing, not driving. If you get pulled over for this and they notice your license is expired they will threaten to fine you $150 and take away your car. But they are friendly and don’t want to hurt tourism so after 10 minutes or so they might let you go. In all interactions with the police it is best to play dumb. Once driving again you should keep your eyes open for signs that say “Ciudad Central” and follow them. Don’t be deceived by “Autopista” signs they don’t go where you want to go.
Panama City: If you ever make it to Panama City, congratulations! If you aren’t sure if you’re in the right big city, it is the one with all the really tall buildings and tons of traffic. If you are still confused you can roll down the window and ask someone, “What city is this?” They will answer while your traveling companions who made you ask laugh.
Walking through the city is a great leisure activity, you aren't confined by the one way streets that aren’t labeled on maps. The canal is pretty cool, and the Miraflores locks. There are also some ‘botanical gardens’ and a zoo you can visit for just one dollar. You might want to pay a little extra to encourage them to water the gardens and get a few more lively/alive animals.
Panama city also has great shopping, right now I am wearing shoes I bought for $1.99, I also got a cool gold watch and some shirts. In the Panama bay there are a string of islands connected by a bridge called the Causeway. There are lots of nice restaurants on it and probably a pretty sweet view. In order to see the view it is important to allot at least one hour of driving time to get there. Those inaccurate maps, unlabeled streets, one-way streets, and sketchy neighborhoods take up more time than you’d expect
Panamanian driving – return trip: It is good to give extra time on the way home so you can stop as much as you want. Not just the city has good shopping, and the Buick has a big trunk that can fit lots of bags.
Central Panamanian Accommodations and the Internet: If you spend more time shopping than intended you may have to stop overnight somewhere in central Panama. It is best to not veer off of the main road and not really necessary because there are plenty of fine establishments right on the Pan American Highway. One hotel was only $15/night and could probably sleep five but we saw cockroaches crawling on the sheets so decided to pass. Hotel David was in the guidebook listed as the best option in the area, but the cheapest room we could find didn’t have enough beds. So for $21 I recommend staying at Hotel Hong, they’ll bring you a fan.
I am sure there were cockroaches here too but at least we couldn’t see them. The following day we decided to do some checking up on the internet, it was $.25 an hour and that included printing. I spent a little time printing a copy of a non-expired license and then Morgan and I took advantage of the tables outside and played speed Scrabble. This is fun and works the brain but may cause a scene and draw a small crowd.
Isla Brava: For our last two nights in Panama we went to an island off the Pacific Coast. Beware that the road out to the docks is a little rough. The problem with rough roads is that you can tell if you have a flat tire and you may continue driving on it in your ignorance and then when you finally do realize it your tire will destroyed beyond repair. The island itself is pretty, you can hear monkeys, and other creatures all night long. The downside is that there isn’t a whole lot of sand on the island itself. But for $15 you can take a boat to a nearby deserted island and do deserted island activities.
Back on the main island there is one hotel with rooms varying in prices. If you are planning on spending time in the room itself or like to have a bathroom go for the more expensive room. If you are quickly running out of money go for the cheaper rooms. In theory you could save money and sleep in your hammocks but that may be hard if you brought 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks, and two cardboard boxes with you. Panamanians offer special bread called hojaldras, it is fried and wonderful and $.20 for two pieces, I highly recommend it.
Exiting Panama: If your goal is to get back to Managua at a reasonable hour on Sunday I recommend starting the journey back on Saturday morning. Now, remember, if you are driving on the spare tire you need to go super slow. But don’t be too worried, there is a nice taxi driver, Cesar, who wanders the roads and will offer to be your escort in case of emergency, and you won’t even have to pay him (we didn’t have any money). He’ll show you the way to Auto Centro where you can replace the demolished tire and they might suggest replacing the other one with a bulge so that it doesn’t explode in route.
After getting new tires, ease away your stress by shopping again, you’re already in David and they have that mall where you bought the phone trip on day one. This mall also offers toilets with no seats and some 50% off sales. After a few hours of trying on clothes, get back on the road again. The boarder is close and full of tax-free shopping. Tax-free means stressful, especially if you know exactly what you want and all they have is not what you want. Eventually you’ll find OK substitutes for the souvenirs that you have put off buying and make it past the horse parade back into Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Again: If you didn’t like the first way of finding a hotel in Costa Rica the other option is picking an area on the map and driving towards it. One such area that you may want to stay in is the mountains so you can wake up to the coolness and the sunrise. On the way to this mystical place you should stop by the town with the burnt down roller rink. You might miss it if you have a recent guidebook but it is called Rancho Azteca if you’re interested. Even if it is 10pm when you find the roller rink you will probably be so pumped up that you want to keep driving to find the mountain paradise. The main problem with this is there aren’t a whole lot of cheap hotels/cabins in the Costa Rican mountains. You may try out a few places to see that they are already closed (because it is 1am) or they want $70. If and when this happens you can break into Hotel/Bar Abierto.
Abierto may mean open but it doesn’t mean that the place is actually open. But you can still try to sleep in their parking lot in the freezing cold car, using a dress from one of your recent shopping trips as a blanket. Closing your eyes and attempting to sleep even if just between 1:30 and 4am, does help some. At this time get up open the gate again and keep on trekking. There are lots of towns after San Jose that have parks you can sleep in. The problem is that you may look a little out of place and then people will want to ask you questions thus hindering your nap. When this is thoroughly annoying, get back in the car, go to a gas station bathroom to clean yourself up, stop at some souvenir shops and find a bakery where you can have a nice breakfast of Coca Cola and chocolate cake.
Lord willing, this breakfast of champions will give you the strength to drive the 6 more hours to Managua with few glitches.
Home Sweet Home: In Managua, drag out the road trip some more by getting an iced coffee. Maybe this will help steady the internal shaking you have from the combination of driving, not sleeping, and being dehydrated. Or maybe it won’t help but at least you won’t have to end the trip, because honestly who wants to end a road trip?
