I have now arrived in Panama City, the final destination of my Central American Journey. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by already - I am already travelling for 6 weeks!

My last update ended in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica. We only stayed there for a couple of nights saying good bye to some people that travelled on the trip and welcoming new ones. This included two Swedish girls which were fun! San Jose is just a big town and there wasn't much too exciting to see or do. I spend an afternoon walking through the centre of town, on my own in preparation for Lima. It's a bit rough and busy in those cities but I figured fast walking and big sunglasses help a lot to be less hassled. I bought myself a bag of crackling and a really nice chocolate and vanilla ice cream that tasted just like the ones they used to sell in old East Germany! One nice memory….

The next and last stop in Costa Rica was Puerto Viejo, a small village on the Caribbean Sea just before the boarder to Panama. This place was just lovely. The beaches were as good as empty, the waves were awesome, the weather was perfect and the water was just perfectly refreshing. The beaches reminded me on the film Pirates of the Caribbean - they must have filmed it there as it was right next to thick jungle. My camera really doesn't take good enough photos's to show how tropical this place is. We hired bikes for the entire time we were there and cycled from beach to beach and from village to village. I run out of t-shirts as I am constantly loosing one after another, so I bought myself a new one here - my first item of clothing that I really needed.

Before we got to the island Boccas del Torro, we had to cross the boarder again. This time it was a lot quicker - just a very long walk across a bridge. Not sure if I mentioned it before but the entrance to Costa Rica was a nightmare. It took us fully 4 hours to get through as the cues were ridiculously long and staff lazy!

Anyway, to Boccas del Torro wasn't a long ride and it included a really quite special boat trip past some lovely Caribbean islands. The most remarkable comments I have to make about this place is that it is perfect for partying. I don't think I have drunk as much on the entire trip as I did during the 3 days we were there. It was a blast and we had loads of fun. My new room mate Sian who is from Christchurch in England is very much fun to be with and our tour leader Eric has eased up as well. Anyway, on the day we didn't have to deal with a hangover, we did a boat trip to some good places for snorkelling, dolphin watching and swimming on an especially beautiful beach. Oh I have to mention that the seafood at this place was really nice again - I had some great calamari and fish here!

Next stop was Boquete which was in the highlands of Panama and nowhere near as nice as it is described in the guide book. The paths for hiking are hidden and disclosed so you would have to use tour guides who want around 100 dollar for a day trip and the places to eat aren't very exciting either. Actually at this place I tried Sancocho, a national dish made of chicken and vegetables in a stew. It was horrible and came in a milky sauce!!! Made me almost 'cotch' - some may know what I mean!

Anyhow, I did a bit exploring but couldn't wait too leave. The next stop was El Valle. We have been told it's going to be just like Boquete and so some people from the group have decided to leave - so we were down to 6 people only and it was soo much nicer - the smaller the group, the more fun you can have. Basically the rest of the trip only included our gay tour leader 22 Eric, my hiking buddies Phyllis and Charlie both 61 from the US (and soooo not typical American!!!), Sian the English girl who is 24 and Mike from Canada 44. May not sound too exciting but we get on brilliantly. Anyway, El Valle was a lot nicer too. On the day of our arrival we hiked up to a waterfall and the next day to the top of the crater of an extinct volcano. They build the city El Valle directly in the crater - I wonder who had this ridiculous idea, but it was beautiful. The view from up there was just amazing and you could look as far as to the sea as it was sooo clear! Otherwise there wasn't much happening here, so most evenings we spend drinking rum and coke or vodka lemonade and play cards. Can you believe that you can buy a bottle of Smirnoff (1L) for 3.50 pounds?!

Well, today we arrived in Panama City and I have already been able to see the Panama Canal. It's just amazing seeing those huge cargo ships crossing those locks! It's the 8th wonder of the world, was build between 1904 and 1914 and is 80km long. The ships must pay in accordance to weight and the average cost crossing is $30k but apparently someone swam through it who only needed to pay 36 cents.

So in two days I am off to Lima to explore Peru, Bolivia and Chile. I am a bit worried as I am doing this trek by myself and my Spanish is only getting better very slowly! Fingers crossed I find some nice people to travel with on the way to Machu Picchu!

Speak soon. Andrea x