Oh, just the one and then home for bed....

One for you Dadsy...

A nice leaf:

Oh yes, and Ciudad Perdida was nice too...

(just not as much fun as the walk to get there)

FARK didn't get me...

Despite wearing a military print baseball hat for most of the week walking to and from the Ciudad Perdida, i managed to come out of the jungle in one piece....almost.

A tick took a big bite from my bottom (removed by very cheerful guide), and i got a massive bruise on the sole of my foot....this seems to me an unusual place to bruise, so i took a picture of it. I didn't take a picture of the tick on my bum....

Matching outfits....felt VERY uncomfortable with this photo...teenagers playing with guns scare me!

Cartagena 2

There were also nicer things to look at in Cartagena other than drunken Me:


For some reason it seems that a disproportionate number of my photos are of elderly men....hmmmm.

Cartagena

Yay! Cartagena is fun! Didn't really drink much alcohol on the boat for fear of reawakening the Evil Seasick Steph. So...Cartagena means Beer! Yes. Thought it was appropriate to celebrate arriving in Colombia by going to a German brewery for the night.

Hmmm...look slightly seasick there actually.

On a boat in the San Blas islands

The San Blas islands are the type you imagine when you read Robinson Crusoe, but don't really believe still exist without a mega-bucks 5 star resort messing it all up.

The islands range from ones that are big enough to house several thousand Kuna Yala (local indigenous group), through to tiny islets that are little more than a few palm trees on a pile of white sand.

We spent 6 days sailing down the coast of Panama (the only way it is possible to travel to Colombia, unless you fly), swimming and snorkelling and fishing our way around hundreds of perfect islands.

Day one was a bit messy, bleurgh....big waves. After that my stomach got it's act together a little and stopped behaving like a big wuss. By Day 6 I was loving it! Sat myself on the very front of the boat to get the biggest possible wave action! There were quite often dolphins swimming along with us to play in the water disturbed by the boat, and flying-fish zooming about all over the place. It was pretty darn cool.

The Captain turned out to be nice too. The fine officers of Scotland Yard have stood down and directed their activities towards the gangs of field-mice currently causing havoc in the badlands of Norfolk.

The Captain and our dinner:

The fish I caught.... :( poor fishy fish:

A star fish having a breather:

Me, having a well-earned break from a long, hard day:

The Pirate Francis Drake

The town where I was supposed to meet 'the Captain' is about as far as you can go in a Northeasterly direction in Panama. After that, it's on foot, possibly with a few guerrilla-shaped obstacles in your path!!

I stopped in Portobelo on the way, which is where our honourable Sir Francis Drake lies, somewhere at the sandy bottom of the sea. Funny that here he is never mentioned without a whisper of piracy....interestingly different history lessons depending on where you are in the world I guess.

It's a strange area of Panama, lots of old Spanish fortresses, tiny forgotten towns and a distinct feeling of maritime trickery. Lots of (slightly dodgy) boat people hanging around who've been at sea for years and have become slightly loco from all the salty air.

After waiting by the side of the road for several hours for a bus that was rumoured to travel to Miramar, decided it was actually safer to hitchhike than to sit by the road all night (sorry mum!)...I did manage to find the oldest man in Panama to give me a lift, I could definitely have taken him on in an arm wrestle :)