Sherry and Sarah on the Porch
On our full day in Boquete, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on their porch, looking out to the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of Panama) about 20 miles away.

The View from the Porch
Then Craig and Sarah took us out in their 4WD truck, just looking around. We explored up on the back roads in the mountains as far as the Vulcan Baru Park, just to give us feel for the area.


It was beautiful and cool up in the mountains. We had lovely weather... clear and bright sunny day in the morning... until the clouds and light sprinkles poured over from the Caribbean side of the mountains.

The Clouds Rolling in from the Caribbean
The Beginning of the Hiking Trail
We had a nice time in the evening, too. Craig and Sarah invited some of the other ex-pat Americans over for some burgers. They are all building or have built a house in the area. A very interesting and well-traveled group of people!

After a nice weekend in the cool mountains, it was kind of a shock to get back to hot, humid Golfito. We can see why everyone likes Boquete so much.

At the border crossing, we were again struck by the difference between the Panama side and the Costa Rica side... Costa Rica's road is a poorly-maintained 2-lane road. Just over the border, Panama's version is a 4-lane highway. I have always thought that Costa Rica was one of the wealthiest of the Central American countries. But they aren't spending it on infrastructure down south!

Though we've really enjoyed our time in Golfito--after it quit raining--we are now ready to get going!

Labels: Panama Inland

Even though we could have caught the bus out front of Land n Sea, on it's way out of town, we opted to go down to the Duty Free Zone and catch it at the start of the route, to ensure we had a good seat. By the time it went past Land n Sea, it was already standing room only!

The ride to the border was about an hour and a half.

The Costa Rica/Panama Border
The bus actually lets you off PAST the Costa Rica exit point. We got off the bus and walked forward and found Panamanian officials. But they sent us back to find the Costa Rican officials to officially exit Costa Rica.

Exiting Costa Rica
Then we could proceed to the Panamanian side and enter the country. We were charged $7 per passport for a Panamanian tourist visa and $1 for a stamp of some kind.

Entering Panama
It didn't look like a very secure border. As far as we could tell, you could walk in the front door of one of the shops from the Costa Rican side and walk out the back on the Panamanian side. But there was a border guard about half a mile down the road in Panama, spot checking paperwork.

Craig was there waiting for us at the border in Panama. We forgot when coordinating pickup that there's an hour time difference between Panama and Costa Rica!

The first stop was at Dave Bandel's farm in Bagala, Panama, where most of the HP2XBA Winlink station resides, and the Panama Sailmail station. Dave and Craig are partners in the operation (Dave provides the space and operates the setup, Craig runs the business and helps Dave with operations).

The Winlink/Sailmail operation is really just a couple of radios, PTC-2's, and computers, plus some large antennas out in the field. And it's housed in a non-descript old building and a couple of containers. So it's not very photogenic.

Winlink Building
Winlink Station
Dave, Craig, and Dave
Winlink Station Neighbors
More on our trip later!

Labels: Panama Inland