Driving south towards Panama City I made very good time through this hot, boring, section of the Panamerican despite a heavy contingent of motorcycle cops looking for speeders along the highway. I heard some horror stories about driving in Panama City so the plan was to wait one more night and head into Panama City on Saturday morning. So, I had time for another detour into the mountains for the town of El Valle which sits in a valley created by a dormant volcano.


I was approached by a German man who ran a ecolodge and offered me a reduced weekday rate, so I took him up on the offer.




German breakfast included.


And, yes, real estate for sale.




The next morning I had little problem getting into Panama City and settling down. The next day I met the local BMW club.



They told me I could easily drive to the end of the pavement in the Darien so the plan was hatched.



I didn´t quite make it all the way to the end because a this checkpoint the army told me it was dangerous to proceed and that they would not be responsible for my safety. One of them kept pointing his gun to his head and saying Bang Bang Pow Pow.



Just when I thought I was being smart and avoiding danger I felt something in the wrong with the bike and pulled over to see my chain guard ripped off and caught up between the tire and the chassis.



I was almost a serious problem because part of the chain guard cut fully around the tire.

It turned out the cut did not go through the tread and the tube was intack. I was able to ride back to Panama City without incident.



On my last day in Panama City I met some other riders and we had a little party before leaving Central America.

I got to the border early and beat the lines. Completed both sides in under 2 hours and even got a sticker from Panama immigration. They thought I was pretty crazy when I got so excited about the sticker.




Panama!



I arrived in David before noon and decided to head east over the Continental Divide for Bocca del Torro. Well, it looked easy enough on the map. It started out as a great ride.






But, as I climbed up into the mountains road conditions turned for the worse. Heavy rain and high winds started pounding me just as I was reaching the Continental Divide.



Rain I can handle but the wind was something else. As I leaned into turns I felt like the wheels would get blown out from under me.





I crested the mountain and pulled over where some truckers were parked. I tried to ask them if it was always so windy, because I was considering turning around. I am not sure what they said. In fact I am not sure if they were speaking English, Spanish or Klingon, but my impression was they were saying that this is the top of the Continental Divide what did you expect you stupid gringo.



By now it was 3:00pm and I hadn´t eated lunch. I decided to continue, hoping that as I decended road conditions would improve. However, just when I pulled over to eat the rain clouds really opened up.



The rain finally did subside and I got some food in me. The worst had to be behind me.

I thought this was the Carribean, but it was just a dammed river. I still had a lot of driving to do. Eventually I came out of the mountains and the wind and rain stopped, but I was beaten.

I had to shake off the local traimitadores to find the hotel I wanted in Almirante, but was pleasantly surprised when the run down $15 hotel called Hotel San Francisco had a good wireless connection.

The next morning I got an early ferry for Isla Colon and Bocca del Torro. I caught some good early morning light creating a deceptively nice scene. Actually, the area was totally impoverished.






Bird Island








The pristine environment is being threatened by real estate developers, but mostly at a place called Frog Beach. These photos are of Drago Beach which according to people at Lonely Planet discussion group is much more beautiful.










I was talking to the guide who drove the little boat through the waves like he was a New York cab driver. He was so tired he fell asleep at the table. I told him he reminded me of when I was working in New York. So I told him to go take a nap.


I then had a surprisingly good meal.



Can you get tire of hanging around a beautiful beach with hardly anyone around. Well, I guess when your alone and everyone else is with their girlfriend you can begin to want to leave. Eventually, we set out for a place called Starfish Beach to look at, well, Starfish.



They sure are big!



On the way back to Almirante I got a good view of a real banana boat. The town basically exists to support the Chiquita Banana company. The trucks roll through town all day long to load the boats.



Nothing like more black lung disease for the children.



My hotel was strangely comfortable. In fact, in an odd way I enjoyed my stay at Hotel San Francisco in Almirante. They even had a good wireless connection.



It was then back over the Continental Divide. I later learned that this road was called the Devil’s Chin. Fortunately I had much better weather this time.




The ride was a lot more fun on a clear day.


When I stopped at the only intersection on the road back to the Panamerican I discovered that there was a road over to Boquete that was not on my map or GPS. Since my friend Tom was over there waiting for parts I decided to surprise him. Of course, I got lost and while stopped at another intersection a cop came over and helped me out. He was based in Boquete, in fact.



Boquete is very beautiful and has a great climate, but it is completely over run by American and Canadian ex-pats who have retired here or are working out of their homes.



The region was just judged to have the best coffee in the world but it just can’t produce enough for mass distribution.





I can see why people like it here, but building gated communities with golf courses is not for me.



Tom was having some work done on his luggage rack from a crash he had in Mexico with one of the motorcycle delivery guys. It was his second major crash. He broke his leg in another crash in Canada and has a rod in his leg like myself. My rod is bigger of course.



I went along to translate as best I could. Tony, the mechanic did a good job but is not big on safety. As he was talking to me and showing me that we could see the Devil’s Chin I turned around and as I started to walk towards him I fell into the ground. I fell straight into a mechanics pit that extended just beyond a car in the shop. I really thought I was going to get hurt badly. My shoulder jammed into the edge of the pit, my leg hit the steps going down into the pit and my head almost hit some sort of large machine on the other side of the pit. I also almost broke the visor on my helmet which I just replaced. Funny thing is that I was wearing all my riding gear because I rode my bike there.



But I was okay and the next day I left Tom who still was waiting for parts with the promise that we would meet again in Colombia.

It seems recently that there is a lot of interest in crossing the Darien Gap by motorcycle. Why is this. It has been done, but only at great cost of time and effort. Why do people feel this need to ‘conquer’ the Darien Gap. Why not leave it in peace. As far as I can tell it is only the American riders who talk seriously of doing crossing the gap. This does not surprise me. Someone correct me if I am wrong. Heldge Peterson’s book “10 Years on 2 Wheels” fueled much of the interest. I think he is the most recent person wo actually drag (I wouldn’t say ride) a motorcycle across the Darien Gap.
Here are some of the discussions:

In fact, just go to Horizons Unlimited and do a search of the Darien Gap. Also look on the Travelers’ Tales page.

Here is Peterson’s book at Amazon.

The story of Danny Liska who, in the 1960′s, shipped his bike but then crossed by foot is also worth noting. His book is on Amazon:

Finally there is also