Panama to Colombia

I must start firstly by wishing my readers a very Happy New Year. Secondly I'd like to apologise (again) for the lack of new blog posts. And thirdly when one does pop on t'internet, say sorry that its not been in any way coordinated with Viva Latin America. Clearly we are almost one in the same person these days and need to make an effort not to cover exactly the same ground! Nevertheless here's a slightly more condensed (and I reckon probably less entertaining) version of what happened from Panama to Colombia.

If, like us, your forward planning has been fairly minimal you'll soon find out that there is no cheap way of getting from Panama to Colombia - that is if you value your life! You could attempt to travel overland across the Darien Gap but that should either be classed as adventurous or suicide, depending on how you view these things. I didn't think my parents would appreciate a phone call from some guerrillas demanding money in exchange for my life. It just wouldn't be a particularly good Christmas present!

So, faced with flying or sailing, we chose flying. Sailing takes at least 5 days and although you get to see the San Blas islands, we just didn't have the time. But wait a minute, what's this? Trans Darien Monorail
Could my eyes be deceiving me? No. Its a joke website but it tickled me and almost raised my hopes during hours and hours of flight searching!

We found some fairly cheap flights in the end but a feature of the low cost was that to get to Bogota we had to change planes twice and sleep in Barranquilla airport in northern Colombia. Our main concern was that the airport would be shut overnight and we'd have to find somewhere to sleep at some ridiculous time at night. However, it actually worked surprisingly well. After a comedy 20 minute flight from Cartagena to Barranquilla in a 20 seater Dash 8, we found that the airport was open. We even got the approval from the security guard, although he seemed totally baffled as to why we weren't going to a hotel. All that was left for it was to find a row of seats and unroll the sleeping bags for a bit of shut eye.

I can't say I felt at my best the next day, but I did get some sleep so I was happy with that. Compared with some overland border crossings it was a walk in the park!