Crossing into Panama I felt like I had gone back to Mexico with how much trash there is on the side of the road-e.g. dirty diapers. Gross. At least there were more fruit stands again.
Soon after crossing into Panama and approaching the city of David, I found myself on what I would call a highway: high volume, high speed traffic. And this one had zero shoulder - I was very much in the way of one lane. 18 wheelers had to slow down and got stuck behind me trying to pass-- the worst 😣
At the same time I was also racing to beat a thunder storm... I lost. In the way on the highway, in the rain: a pretty dangerous situation... What's more, my 3rd and last mirror broke; something I spend much of my time looking into to manage traffic behind me.
Boquete
From David it was a modest 30mile, gradual 4500' climb to Boquete, a small touristy town set amongst many coffee plantations.
Took me about 3 hours in the morning to arrive, trying to make sure I beat the afternoon showers that have become regular the past week.
I was roundly rewarded with lovely, fresh mountain air and green mountain views.
As a testament to how fecund this area is they have a flower garden full of color.
In a social mood I went looking for some local conversation. Which I found in a locals bar and an artisinal coffee shop.
I sat down to wait for a haircut at a barbershop and found myself watching the barber give a completely bald guy a "haircut". I think the guy must have missed the experience so the barber humored him by going through the motions around his head. It was hilarious..I was laughing pretty hard inside.
My 2nd ride took me a different direction into the surrounding mountains. It was stellar. The roads were really steep but without any weight on my bike it hardly put me into distress.
I stayed the night with some peace corps volunteers in San Felix by way of an airbnb guest I had a year ago I had at my place in Boston. Interesting to get a taste of what the lifestyle entails.
From their place I set out for the day through an area that looked like it would have nice views of a bay and less traffic than the main road. Turns out it was a fantastic ride but afforded nowhere to eat all day. As my running club friends would attest, I don't typically complain about the heat, only about the cold. But I almost lost another round to the heat stroke on this 60m/95k day. Full sun, 42c/105f, up and down hills for hours, and at times a head wind. Very trying conditions. I was hurting. If I hadn't found someone's hammock in the shade where I was able rest, I think the dizziness, fatigue, and nausea would have taken me over like it did a couple months back in Salvador. Beautiful views though :)
The next day was another day in harsh conditions. When I stopped for a break around mid day to rest under a tree, a mango fell next to me from the tree above. So I peeled and ate it. Delicious! Trying to knock another out of the tree, a women walked out of her house and offered me one. And with a long stick, knocked a few more out of the tree for me. And then brought me some watermelon. The kindness of strangers :)
Fruit stands are very welcome breaks.
And these bus stop shelters were super helpful to escape the sun and rest every now and again.
A cycle traveling family
I stayed with a Warmshowers host in Costa Rica a month ago who told me about a French family of 5 who had stayed with him a couple weeks prior. The parents and children- aged ~13,10,8- were cycling from Canada to South America as I am. Wow.
A couple days ago friend of mine in Boston linked me to a forum post on Facebook written by the father of the family. He was reporting that the family had been violently robbed on their way to catch a sailboat in Puerto Lindo. Just as I am preparing doing in a week.
I was struck by the small world connection between 2 totally separate people in my life and that it has helped me decide to not cycle that section, known to be dangerous.
So then I looked into this family and what they're up to. You can see from their travel blog below that this is their 2nd massive cycle tour. Their first was across Europe and around most of Asia. As a family. Wow.
The last section before Panama city was busy highway with fast traffic and sometimes very little to no shoulder. Kind of like approaching Boston on route 1 Saugus... Shitty
I reached Panama City!
I reached Panama City!
After 12,000+ kilometers, I am grateful my last 2 days cycling in central america were cloudy with no wind and that I happened to arrive the American Bridge in Panama city during the 2 hour Sunday window it is closed to traffic for cycling! How ironic! Felt like a victory lap :)
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