Panama - the country that wasn't on my original list of destinations, started with the most memorable of border crossings. The Costa Ricans wave you off on one side of the river; you walk across (in this case very wet) wooden railway sleepers on a 200m long bridge, and ask the Panamanians nicely to let you in on the other side. It's full of pedestians making their way one way or the other, interspersed with massive trucks crossing the bridge barely wide enough for them to fit through.

To enter Panama, you're supposed to have onward travel arranged to get out of the country, and whilst I have my flight home booked from Rio, at that time I didn't have my Panama to Colombia flight booked. So the immigration officer questioned me about my trip so far, my intended destinations in Panama and my onward travels. Worried that he was going to be difficult about me not officially having an exit from Panama I told him the full story of where I'd been and the planned route through South America, at which point he winked and asked if he could come with me! Not what I was expecting - although not the first bit of banter I've had from an immigration official. When leaving Nicaragua I went up to the desk with Nicki and Ash, had the conversation with the Immigration official, as I was the only one to speak Spanish I generally did the talking, and he then asked if either of the boys was my boyfriend. When I said no, he said that I ought to find myself a Nicaraguan husband and pointed to his colleague who he claimed was a good option. Well that was one way to get me out of Nicaragua faster than you could say Hola Costa Rica!

In fact I have had a similar conversation with many a local here. Usually, this happens after I have told them that I'm travelling for 5 months.

Them: Are you married?

Me: No

Them: Do you have a boyfriend?

Me: No

Them: Do you have children?

Me: Are you serious, really? I wouldn't be a very good mother leaving my kids behind in the UK for 5 months now would I?

Now most of these conversations have been with drivers of the various shuttles & taxis we've taken as I always try and sit in the front, and I don't think they've been trying it on, it's just not normal for them to see an unmarried, single, childless woman in her early (ahem mid) thirties. The ones who are trying it on also tend to ask the same questions, and no to all of the above questions then seems to mean to them that I must want to converse/dance with them regardless of my opinion in the matter (they are usually 5'5" or less). Should I therefore lie and pretend to have a significant other, or do I stick to my guns and tell the truth? I fear the answer is although I like to take the 'why should I lie about it' line of thought, actually a little white lie would probably make my life an awful lot easier!

Anyway, they let me into Panama, without the immigration official to chaperone me, and we headed straight for the archipelago of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast just East of the Costa Rican border. We were once again reunited with the Irish lads who were staying in the same hostel. Bocas is a quiet seaside town where the main activities all revolve around the water. We got a boat to a beach on a different island one day which we pretty much had to ourselves, great for playing frisbee/football/rugby. Another day I hired a bike and cycled 5 miles to a different beach which was also deserted, which was quite hard going along a sandy track on a knackered old bike with only 1 gear, but it felt good to get the blood pumping after my lack of exercise here. I had planned to go diving on my final day but after getting up early to find torrential rain we called the diving off - not because we didn't want to get wet, but bad weather affects the visibility. I was so disappointed not to be able to go - it just goes to show how much the diving bug has got me! There'll be opportunities to dive in Colombia so I shouldn't have too long to wait.

It was another 12 hour day to get to Panama City from Bocas and I arrived at dusk, travelled in over the Centennial Bridge just north of the city to an amazing view The Canal and the city beyond. I only had 1 full day in the city, so I'm sad to say I didn't make the most of my Saturday night in Panama City, but instead recovered from my 3 hours in bed the previous night but getting an early night. I spent the afternoon wandering around the old town, which reminded me of Havana in Cuba as it's colonial architecture is often crumbling and in disrepair, although there does seem to be quite a bit of resoration going on in the area. I stumbled upon some sort of local event in the one of the squares and hung around to see what the kids who were dressed up were about to perform. They were doing various local dances - some of the kids couldn't have been older than 4, they were brilliant. I then set off for The Canal and wandered up towards the bus terminal when I was intercepted by a police man with an exceptionally big gun. He asked if I spoke Spanish and told me that he advised me not to use that street as it wasn't a particularly safe area. He also asked where I was from and then continued to ask about Man United and to tell me all about the growing Panamanian football league. Not wanting to appear rude I nodded politely and waited patiently for him to take a breath and take my leave. I arrived at the Canal rather late as I'd left my camera on Costa Rica time which was an hour behind and thought it was earlier than it was. The museum had shut, but fortunately I managed to sneak into the visitor centre and saw a ship go through the locks. The canal is not at sea level as there would have been too much material to remove to construct the whole thing at sea level, so the ships are raised up & down by a series of locks at each end and travel across and artificial lake in the middle. Whether it's the Engineer in me or just the scale and the tight fit of the boats going through, I was suitably impressed and glad it'd made it there.

That night I met up with Gill & Rich who I'd travelled with in Guatemala, it was Gill's birthday and they'd splashed out and were staying in a nice aparthotel, so I went over to see them. We caught up on the last 5 weeks since we'd separated at Lake Atitlan, shared birthday cake & I made use of their massive, powerful, hot shower (with complimentary Clarins products!) and got slightly envious of the king sized bed they were about to sleep in as i returned to my 10 bed dorm! I hope we cross paths again in South America.

Short but sweet, Panama City was my last stop in Central America before flying out to Colombia the following day. I'd enjoyed Panama although I found Panama City to be a city of 2 sides where the gap between those who have and those who haven't to be flaunted everywhere. One half of the city is high rise, glass clad skyscrapers, the other half crumbling colonial streets and blatantly poor neighbourhoods. There seems to be a strong American feel to the place too, the US dollar is the common unit of currency rather than the Panamanian Balboa.

I think, all things considered, Guatemala and Mexico have been my favourite countries in Central America, Costa Rica the most disappointing, although I could have given it more of a chance and explored a little more off the beaten track. Very excited about South America and by all accounts, according to almost every local I speak to, I still have my Spanish, Spanish accent and haven't picked up a Latin American inflection yet, hooray!

Total Miles travelled = 3659

Total Hours travelling = 151