Boquete countryside :)

Living in London is awesome, but I'm a country boy at heart. My love for the countryside can be traced back to my childhood days when I lived in the small village of Launton, Oxfordshire. Myself and my best friend would spend all our free time roaming around the surrounding farms, armed with a nylon rope, looking for trees to climb. Early girlfriends were left disappointed - instead of being taken to a restaurant or the cinema, they got to visit one of our many tree houses...but I digress.

For this reason I was very excited to head to Boquete, a small town in the middle of a valley surrounded by lush green hills and coffee farms, with some hot springs thrown in for good measure.

The only slightly un-nerving thing is that it is full of wrinkly old Americans. This may have something to do with the town coming fourth in Fortune magazine's 2005 Retirement Guide (and other numerous retirement-related publications). It is important to remember that they are more scared of you, than you are of them, and as long as you don't corner them they will rarely attack. Fortunately I didn't have any problems.

First up was a hike through the countryside to see some waterfalls. Now I'm a man who likes a good waterfall, and this hike did not disappoint. The two hour loop took me past three large falls and through some lovely countryside.

The region is also one of the best places in the world to see the Resplendent Quetzal - a rare bird. Unfortunately, my 30 second google search had not given me the tools to determine whether I actually saw a Resplendent Quetzal, but I saw lots of birds...so I'm going to assume that I did see one. Another sight checked off the list. For some reason, whenever I see a stream or river I always have the urge to build a dam. Maybe I am distantly related to an otter or something. I spent 20 minutes damming a small section of the river (including time to destroy the dam and watch the water rush down), before heading back to town. A lovely day.

The next morning I was joined by Estela, who is from Panama, and she showed me around for the next couple of days. There seems to be some kind of craze in Boquete for creating large whacky gardens and opening them up to the public. We visited Mi Jardín es Tu Jardín and El Explorador, two huge gardens with everything from Dolphin murals to sewing machines with faces on them....it was an interesting but slightly surreal time.

The next day we rented quad bikes (or ATVs as everyone else seems to call them) and burned around the countryside. These were some powerful little beasts - I got mine up to 40mph at one point, before remembering that my protective clothing consisted of shorts, a t-shirt, flip flops and a broken riding helmet.

In the afternoon we visited the hot springs. It absolutely lashed it down with rain which made it even more fun (once we'd completed the 15 minute walk in the cold). There was also a resident monkey, which we had been warned about... It spends most its day trying to steal people's coats, shoes and especially food. It also doesn't like women, a trait demonstrated when it jumped into the water and tried to pull Estela's hair! The pools were nice though - they are natural-style rather than the swimming pool-style you see in much of South America.

After all the refreshment, the evening was spent at the local nightclub. I must admit, I was sceptical when I heard that the town had a nightclub - not only is the place full of old people, there are only about 10,000 people living there - but it was great fun. Mainly because a bottle of beer cost $1. I was re-acquainted with my old friend Mr. Hangover the next day.

After recovering, we rented a scooter and drove out to some of the coffee plantations surrounding the town. After reaching the top of a hill, we decided to stop for a coffee. It was a good decision because the heavens opened and it started lashing it down. The only problem was that it didn't really stop. This made the drive back rather interesting as the sideways rain limited my vision somewhat. We went past a castle, it was average.

Well, that is the end of Panama for me. This is going to be somewhat of a whistle-stop tour of Central America. Roll on Costa Rica!

In an unbelievable fit of ridiculousness I paid $9 for the cup of coffee I am pouring. Estela paid $2 for her huge iced-coffee. This is the famous Geisha coffee, which apparently scored 96/100 on the coffee index. It tasted the same as the free coffee in the hostel. I am still annoyed with myself.

At Mi Jardin es Tu Jardin.

This is El Explorador - it starts off with a re-creation of the Nativity scene made from old garden implements. Baby Jesus is a large stone. This was one of the less bizarre sections.

Birds eye view of Mi Jardin es Tu Jardin.

Swings with a view at El Explorador.

I am so wet here that there is nothing else to do but enjoy life!

Panama City and Las Islas San Blas...

There are not many places in the world that can do the word "paradise" justice. The archipelago San Blas is definitely one of them.

Panama City is not. Although it is a fascinating place. Never have I seen somewhere that has allowed the hunger for newer, bigger developments to bring almost total dilapidation to the rest of the city. Every inch of space within 50m of the sea is crammed full of the highest shiny high-rise buildings, but continue further afield and broken pavements, crumbling buildings and high-density slums await.

Everywhere you look, there is new high-rise being constructed. The ones that already stand seem empty - especially at night, where a 2,000-person building might have six or seven lights on. The locals tell me that a lot of these buildings are used for money laundering. You build a building, pretend you have residents and bank the "rental" money each month.

Anyway, there are two main things to do in the area, visit the beautiful islands of the San Blas archipelago and see the Panama Canal. I headed out to see the canal with Anick from Canada and arrived to see a huge container ship entering the Miraflores locks.

It is difficult to comprehend the scale of the Panama canal or the ships that pass through it. A couple of interesting facts:
 - the canal is so important that most ships in the world are built to the size specifications of its locks
 - 4% of EVERYTHING traded in the world passes through the canal
 - ships are charged by weight, the average charge being $30,000

This might seem steep but it is a snip compared to fuel and wages for a whole crew traversing South America. The highest sum paid to date was $330,000 by the Disney cruise ship in 2008. The lowest? $0.36, by American adventurer Richard Halliburton, who swam through!

Next day it was off to the San Blas islands! There are hundreds of islands, which are owned and run by the indigenous Kuna people. Myself and Jono went to Ina's Place, a small white-sand dot of an island with a few huts, lots of palm trees and ladies rubbing sun cream into eachother's skin*

*Your experience may differ.

The price to stay there included three meals a day. The food was whatever was available on that particular day. The first day we had lobster for dinner, the second it was crab claws. Of the six other guests, only two liked lobster - it was a tough task, but myself and Jono were required to finish off three plates of lobster each*

*Once again, your experience may differ.

We went for a snorkeling trip to Islas Estrella (star) and Perro (dog). Just offshore was a small shipwreck covered in colourful coral. Diving down I was surrounded by tropical fish all whizzing about their daily business - it was pretty spectacular. That was until I sat on some kind of stinging coral...the bumpy boat ride back was less enjoyable than the trip out.

Back at Panama city I visited the old town, which is in the process of some serious restoration efforts. The area is full of lovely colonial buildings but, after it was forgotten about for a century, it became a pretty big slum - as people kicked in the doors and occupied the huge buildings. As colonial cities go, I'd give it 6.5/10.

The last thing I did was to visit the Metropolitan National Park, a huge area of protected rainforest just 2km from the city centre. Myself, Estela and Jono headed out in search of sloths, which are apparently abundant in the area. We started a two hour hike and powered into the forest. After about 15 minutes, the heavens opened and we were forced to take cover. Estela went for the solid option of hiding under a metal sign, whereas I went for the quick option of a large leaf. Jono "Bear Grylls" Moorhead set about constructing himself a small house from various leaves. After 15 minutes I admitted it was much better than my shelter and joined him under a small extension he'd constructed.

I'm heading up North to see some of the Panamanian countryside. There is also the bonus of getting away from the 40 degree heat, which is a bit draining when you try to do anything other then lie in a hammock. Here are some more pics.

This arch could be why the Panama canal was built in Panama (the alternative was Nicaragua). Legend says that the planners saw this arch and decided that the fact that it was still standing proved the absence of major earthquakes in the region. Ironically it collapsed in 2003.

Plaza de la Independencia, where Panama declared its Independence from Colombia in 1903.

Even though I don't like how the city has turned out, this is quite a cool building.

Miraflores locks.

The ass-end of a huge ship.

There are hundreds of these stores around. At some point I am going to see if I can legally buy a gun. Don't worry mum, I'm not really going to buy one.

One morning we planned to swim to the next island. We drank a bottle of rum instead.

The view from the hill in the national park. It was worth getting wet for.

An eventful trip to Panama!

Flying to Panama was supposed to be the easy option. As I wait for the police in the airport holding cell, I change my mind.

Twenty-four hours ago I'd collected my new passport in Cartagena. In typical Colombian fashion, the girl at the Embassy had done me a real favor. The Consulate closes at midday and I was getting in at 1pm, so she left it with her friend, who works at a random company in the same office block. I rocked up to some kind of accountancy firm, asked for Yolanda, and received a DHL package. After frantically ripping it open, I was greeted by the comforting sight of red leather and that new-passport smell - freedom!

I immediately booked a flight to Panama City for the next morning. Cartagena to Bogota, Bogota to Panama City. For some reason I woke up stupidly early and decided to go straight to the airport - this turned out to be a good move...

At check-in the woman had to reschedule me to an earlier flight as there was not enough time to change planes in Bogota. She then asked to see my onward travel plans out of Panama. I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow so obviously these did not exist. For some reason they were worried that I was planning to stay illegally in Panama (!). Luckily the woman from Avianca was a legend and made me a "reservation" to fly out of Panama two weeks later. I was allowed on the plane and landed in Bogota an hour later.

I hadn't had enough time to get a new entry stamp in the new passport. The plan was therefore to exit Colombia with my emergency passport and enter Panama with the new passport. When going through customs, the girl punched some stuff into a computer, asked me why I was travelling on an emergency passport and then disappeared into a small room. After what seemed like for ages, she returned and let me through - I was confused, but one step closer to being in Panama.

I'd cleared customs way in advance so amused myself by pretending I had enough money to buy duty free stuff. About 20 minutes before boarding the stewardess called my name and asked me to come to the front desk. She led me into a holding room and told me the police wanted to speak to me. I asked her why but she said she didn't know. We arrived at the room to find my backpack on a small table - uh-oh!

This kind of thing would have been worrying at the best of times but the Colombian-Panamanian border is not somewhere you want to have problems. During the 10 minute wait for the police I had visions of being locked up in a dodgy Colombian prison for the rest of my life. The police finally turned up, asked me to open my bag, took out two books and held them up in front of me. "Are these books?" they asked. "Yes", I replied, trying not to sound sarcastic while answering the ridiculous question.

After staring at me for 30 seconds, he flicked through them, said "OK", and escorted me onto the plane early! I still don't know what happened...but I have made it to Panama!

Feria de las Flores!

As far as man points go, staying in Medellin for a flower festival has probably not increased my tally. It has, however, been one of the best weeks of my life!

The Feria de las Flores runs for about 20 days from the end of July to the middle of August. The main days are 3rd to 7th August, when the city comes alive with events, displays, parades and a lot of drunk Colombians!

The days were spent seeing the displays and parades, and the nights partying at open-air concerts. First up was a trip to the botanical gardens, where there was a display of orchids, flowers and birds. There were hundreds of wacky and colourful displays, with judges awarding prizes for the best ones. I must admit, this was stretching our love for flowers but myself, Nikki and Emma had a lot of fun anyhow.

An unexpected bonus was finding that the botanical gardens have a butterfly enclosure. Huge, hand-sized butterflies were floating around and the colours were amazing. Yes, I love butterflies!

In five locations around the city, 8m high statues (made of flowers, of course) had been erected to celebrate the Feria. Someone pointed out that this was clearly a gimmick to get people to visit those locations. Well it worked, across three days I visited all five statues - here they are:

OK, so they were not the most mind blowing sights in the world, but it totally paid off. One of the statues was near the football stadium of Independiente Medellín. Myself and Maili, a Colombian girl, asked the security guard if we could go in. To our surprise, he said yes!

One of the biggest events of the Feria was the parade of classic cars. In true Colombian style, we pitched up on the side of the road, cracked open a few beers and waited for the cars to arrive. Rich Colombians dressed up in old-style clothing chugged along waving to the crowds and honking their horns. I was pretty impressed by what was on display - the oldest car was from 1928.

The biggest event was the parade of the silleteros - where flower farmers from all across Colombia walk down the streets carrying flower displays on their backs. There were some huge displays in lots of different styles and some were so extravagant that it was hard to believe they were really made from flowers!

So! That's the end of my Colombia trip. It has been an amazing two months... I have heard from the Consulate that my new passport has arrived in Cartagena, hurrah!! So it's off to Cartagena and then to Panama - central America here I come! Here are some more pics from the Feria.

Workers placing flowers for one of the statues.

Preparing the flowers for the statue - a big job!

I dunno how this guy gets on his bike in the morning - possibly from the roof - but I would not want to fall off it!

Even the dogs got into the spirit of the Feria!

Dancers wave their flags before welcoming the silleteros to the parade.

A big brass band!

I cannot believe these flowers are real. Apparently they are made by cross breeding three kinds of rose.

Dancing girls at the car parade.

Lots of silleteros showing off their flowers.