13 – 18 February, Portobello, San Blas, Panama, Butthole Surfers – Independant Worm Saloon
Travelling from Panama to Colombia isn’t as easy as first thought. The land is covered with jungle which creates a boundary known as the Darien Gap. It is full of dangerous animals and peoples and neither country wants your average Joe wandering around here, kidnappings and massacres are apparently commonplace.
So to get through to Colombia, you must either fly or sail for 5 days across the open ocean. I choose the later. The trip is quite popular with travellers, and takes you through the stunning San Blas islands, before an open ocean crossing to Cartagena in Colombia.
 Smokin’ hot transport in Portobello. Nearly every bus is an old US school one, I think they have graffiti competitions. |  Many boats do the Panama/Colombia crossing, but not all boats and tours are equal. This is the boat I chose, named The Wild Card. I chose it due to it’s large size of 60ft (18m). Even though it is big, the captain thought it necessary to take 20 people and 7 motorbikes. Conditions ended up cramped. |
 Heading out on the first day, I managed to get something huge on the lure, unfortunately when pulling it in the 20kg line snapped. |  Our cramped boat, fine during nice weather. On our first night, nearly everyone was seasick. The crossing in February is normally rough due to the trade winds. |
 Sailing at night was fun, sitting up front with my Swiss friend where huge waves broke over us. |  On our first day at the islands, we visited an indian villiage. No grass and only 1 coconut palm. |
 This oinker lives half in the ocean, he seemed happy enough. |  The local kids always smiling and teasing each other. When we first got on the island, they ran away screaming, not surprising really, porque soy el diablo blanco! |
 After the indian village we sailed on and met paradise, absolutely wonderful! |  Barracuda for lunch! Snorkelling was fantastic, actually the food was pretty impressive on the trip. |
 Communal wash in the ocean, not enough water on board for 20 people. Later this night, we made a monster of a bonfire on the island, fun fun fun! |  The locals run a good trade selling crayfish to the boats, num num num,. |
 Our final sea leg we were 30 hours at sea. Open ocean sailing was pretty boring, except when this friendly pod rocked up. |  Finally arriving in Cartagena, an absolutely stunning old city. |
All in all a great 5 day adventure, although there were a number of issues with the trip. Half of the people couldn’t sleep due to there beds being either in the front of the boat, where the vertical movement was huge, or close to the noisy engine. People ended up sleeping where and when they could and often ontop of each other. I recommend checking out boats and crews sufficiently before heading out.
Although the few issues with the crossing, the adventure was immense and San Blas are the prettiest islands I have ever seen. Worth a visit if you get this way.
x.brad.
