COLOMUBIA to PANAMA

kippers for breakfast?

WHERE: the San Blas islands Catamaran tour
WHERE (less detailed): getting from Colombia (South America) to Panama (Central America)

our sturdy vessel and home for 4-days

WHY: because flying from Colombia to Panama or Costa Rica is obscenely expensive, £400-ish for a 2hr flight which often will swing down to Ecuador to pick up a few more passengers.
DAYS: t-78 to t-75

pirate of the Caribbean

WEATHER IS: fortunately for us near perfect. A few hours suffered from heavy rain while a few more suffered from overpowering sunshine. For Hoolie she just suffered after falling asleep on-deck within hours of boarding the boat she spent rest of the trip with a beetroot red face that would scare small children into sleeping with factor 40 sunblock on.

"Did you not think about putting some sun tan lotion on?" asks Rhaani in a classic Horse, door, stables, bolted moment.

"I reiterate, this trip is not just one big holiday, it's hard work at times, obviously just not this time."

FOOD IS: awful. Coming into the trip we had expectations of fresh fish every day and healthy vegetable based meals. Instead we were forced to witness first hand how it is possible to cram three different types of carbohydrates into one meal. The scrambled eggs for breakfast were nice though.

and admittedly this wasn't our toughest hour, but it's still hard work

DID YOU KNOW: their are 365 islands in the San Blas region.
PEOPLE ARE: having shared a hostel with our future shipmates we (i.e Paul) were concerned at their 20hrs drinking a day policy (Rhaani was more concerned about them being uncouth Aussie Okkers) ... Paul's concern proved warranted as they downed rum/vodka/beer, like water, while Rhaani's concern proved unwarranted ... Pauls survival plan of hiding in the bathroom for 4-days was undone by shared bathrooms and a 6hr passport delay that meant the opening drinking session started at 11am the first day and required an impromptu visit to a local supermarket to replenish supplies ... in the end thanks to light Colombian beer Paul was able to hang out with the rest of the group without destroying himself or his liver ... Rhaani and Julie demolish their 5 bottles of wine plus beer and vodka with alarming ease.

not a bad pic considering it was taken with a non-water resistant camera while Paul stood in four feet of water

HIGHLIGHTS/LOWLIGHTS: the morning of day3 when we woke up to the jaw-dropping view of tiny, white beached, palm tree swamped Caribbean islands... finally being allowed to jump off the Catamaran into the open water ... night4's, rum and vodka fresh fruit punch that put hairs on Rhaanis chest ... not being allowed to buy the boatful of lobsters and crabs offered to us by local fishermen after our captain declared they were caught out of season ... Sun-baking on deck with beer in hand as we cruised the Caribbean ... certainly not the news that all x3 of us would be sleeping in a cramped, air-less double bed cabin - Paul takes evasive action and sleeps on deck for the remainder of the trip ... Certainly not the news that we were expected to help out by taking a 1hr nocturnal look-out shift - Paul risks the wrath of Rhaani by sleeping through their shared 2-3am watch duty ... the general amusement at watching the alpha males depart with spear guns and fishing rods and returning empty handed for x5 days in a row ... certainly not the food.

Robinson Tweedale and girl Friday

UP NEXT: PANAMA CITY.