Written by Mia:

Back before we crossed into the Pacific and were still in the San Blas islands we had some lovely visitors, here is a post about our wonderful time together and our short explore of Panama.

Our friends from Norway spent months planning a trip to Panama and we were very excited that we could spend time with them! We were especially excited that they were willing to come to see us on the boat which meant more time in the Guna Yala for us and a very exciting trip to the boat for them to join us. They took a 4×4 out of the comfort of Panama City for a few hours of muddy, bouncy tracks to Carti where they were picked up in a Panga which basically a small wooden fishing boat, with a powerful outboard engine. They were delivered straight to our boat  drenched from the rain and waves and a little stressed but with big smiles and hugs. The weather leading up to their visit was very rainy, in fact the day after they arrived we heard they had closed the road they had taken the day before. They are life savers cramming their luggage with them all kinds of goodies from Norway that will make Itchy Foot and her crew happier on the Pacific crossing. Visiting dignitaries of cruising families get used to and even embrace the “muleing” they are asked to do and we sure do appreciate it!

We spent the next ten days traveling west through the west. The western part of the Guna Yala feels different to the eastern part probably because it sees cruisers and tourism. The anchorages feel like the Caribbean and there are a lot more people around and there seems to be more company on the beaches. Ashore, it seems to be more western with TVs and less traditional dress and more people trying to sell stuff. But it is still full of Guna charm and a great time was had by all. Gunnar, Mona and Nikolaj are great sports and took to boat life with big smiles and were always willing to help with cooking and cleaning up. They are wonderful boat guests! Teo and Nikolaj did a lot of coloring together and they had a ball playing pirates thanks to Mona who bought pirate costumes. My favorite thing was the chance to catch up with friends! We caught up on what everyone is doing in Oslo and to hear what has been happening since we saw them in Lanzarote. We so much appreciate the effort they went to in order to come out.

We went to a big town in the Guna Yala called Carti. And even though they brought lots of supplies from town (thank goodness!) we were tempted into Carti for eggs, fresh veg and bread. The walk through town was interesting and it fun to see the kids interacting with their environment. Mona told me that they had an impromptu session of tug-of-war with some local kids in the street on a hunt to buy bananas and we visited a little Guna museum which was a bit of a tourist trap with painted signs next to pieces of cookery and statues. The person who gave the tour was not around that day. Another bonus of town was sharing cold beers in the “pub” with the lovelies from Sugar Shack.

Otherwise, we visited a few islands with beautiful beaches and everyone had time to play. There was a lot of swimming off the back of the boat and Bob the kayak got lots of use. Mona inspired me to do some exercise, too which is much appreciated. We had some pretty strong wind and had to make due with our third choice of locations. But as it turns out Salardup is lovely and there is a guy who set up a beach bar which means they clean and rake the beach every day. The boys created and played a boat game with drift wood and we enjoyed our days there.

We spent a day visited Mormake Tupu where we were shown around the island by a local family, introduced to the Chief and attended the daily Congreso. This was quite a visit and deserves its own post, so I will not go into too much detail here. But on the way to Mormake Tupu we had a wonderful visit from dolphins. They were incredible and I never tire of it, I always feel like it pulls outa special childish delight. We were all on deck calling to them, watching them play on the bow and giggling. We were so happy they made a special visit for our guests. In the evening we anchored in the middle of the mangroves with a hut built on stilts nearby. It was its own kind of beautiful.

Our last anchorage in the Guna Yala was Waisaladup. It boasted a beautiful beach and was another home to a beach bar so again was very clean. We had a barbecue lunch here with the crew of Joshua. The boys has a good explore amongst the trees and we had a lovely time swimming and relaxing. We drank water directly from the coconuts. There was less swimming off the back of the boat because there was quite a current plus we spotted a few Portuguese Man of War in the water floating by the boat. Although they are beautiful and interesting we have been watching lots of David Attenborough and we know they need lots of room! They are small but hot pink and stick up on the water’s surface like inflatable toys. They are a symbiotic collection of creatures including serious retractable stinging tentacles can be 30 meters long!

We had a long but quick and exciting day of sailing to reach Linton Bay. They got a taste of ocean conditions on the way, with 10ft seas, but I am happy to report that no one was sick and everyone was still smiling when we anchored. We passed the time trying to spot more dolphins and failing, but instead seeing lots more Man-of-War.

Gunnar and Mona organized a trip and treated us to some luxury. We got Itchy Foot safely into a marina and hired a comfy 7 seater SUV, then headed through Panama into the mountains with coffee plantations. First came the winding road along the coastline to Colon with the crazy buses. They are converted from American school buses but with so much more BLING than I remember. From Colon we took a major highway most of the way and the driving was a lot more comfortable than that we did in Colombia. It wasn’t long until we got our first glimpse of the Panama Canal as we crossed over it on the bridge. And soon enough we’ll be scenery for cars driving over Itchy Foot going through the Canal.

Our first stop was El Valle and it is a lovely place in the hills. We checked into our cute hotel Residencia and headed for a walk to the waterfall “el Macho” and even all got in for a refreshing swim in the natural pool. From our hotel we had a great view if the mountains around us which are indeed the rim of the second largest extinct volcano in the world, the crater is over 5km across. One view in particular, “La India Dormida“ is very clear in the mountains surrounding El Valle.

Legend has it that Luba, the daughter of the Indian Chief fighting the Spanish conquistadors was caught in a love triangle. She fell in love with Spanish soldier and a warrior from her own tribe loved her and that ended badly. She renounced the soldier and left the tribe and upon her death the mountains took her rest amongst them. I think she is beautiful. The next morning we visited a Mariposario or butterfly house and we learned so much and really enjoyed the tour which included some great information from knowledgeable guides. We actually saw a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. Teo and Jon decided to use the morning at the serpent house, holding their first snake, and also were delighted by the small exhibits in this small tourist destination. On our way out, we stopped at a viewpoint to see the entire volcanic rim, absolutely breathtaking.

And before lunchtime we were on our way to Boquete. We made some short stops and otherwise enjoyed the changing scenery, including dusty ranch like places a cool wind farm and twisty green mountain roads. We arrived at our little oasis, the Inn at Palo Alto in Boquete just before sunset. We each had a room with a double and a single bed and all the hot water you could hope for! It was a little chilly in the altitude and it was welcome. We enjoyed a drink at the bar overlooking the river and ordered in pizza to avoid piling back in the car.

While we were in Boquete we did a few walks in the area including one with six bridges over a river through a gorgeous rainforest that was different from the ones in Colombia. It was full of ferns and mushrooms and bromeliads which are cousins of pineapples. Our guide, Luis, was very passionate about telling us about all the life we saw here and he also took a liking to Teo and kept picking him up and throwing him over a shoulder for a giggle. Another walk we did followed along a pipeline that ended at a waterfall and it felt almost alpine, except for the toucans and sloths (that we missed) and the monkeys (that we saw). The town itself was worth a wander and we made the most of it, enjoying enjoyed the incredible ice cream and we had our goodbye dinner at BBC (Boquete Brewing Company), a micro brewery with an attached food truck that did amazing burgers. The boys loved the old fashioned popcorn machine and the WWF wrestling on TV.

All too soon we were saying a tearful goodbye, but they went to Tahiti on their honeymoon so maybe they will be tempted to revisit us in the Pacific.