So the final entry of the blog falls to me, which I'm now writing on the plane bound for Madrid, from where we'll jump on the first plane for London that'll let us on. I feel like this entry should be a recap of the journey, a summary of feelings, experiences and emotions relating to the entire trip but right now that seems far beyond me, so I think I'll start with a writeup of our final location of Panama City and see where that leads.

Our journey from Frank's place wasn't overly simple, involving a boat trip to the mainland village of Bocas Chica, then a collectivo (which we were reassured 'nearly always runs') to the Pan-Am highway where we were to await a bus which 'should probably be passing' to take us to Santiago, where we'd 'almost certainly' be able to catch another bus to Panama City. Given the flimsiness of the plan, we were surprised to find ourselves waiting no more than a few minutes at each junction before finding the next onward transport. That's not to say it was a swift journey, our 9am start saw us pull into the main bus station in Panama around 5pm. Panama City is relatively small when compared to London or Cape Town, comprising of just a few million people, but when compared to the small towns and villages and the blissful isolation of Frank's place, it was a seething mass of humanity and we were a bit lost when we found ourselves at the nexus of the subway/bus interchange during rush hour, however our big city sensibilities soon kicked in and instead of taking a cab through the rush hour traffic we jumped on the metro (after figuring out how to buy the correct ticket) which whisked us in air-conditioned comfort (and for only $0.35 per person) pretty close to our hotel in the central banking district. I must admit that it was nice to arrive at a hotel which had a huge bed with crisp white sheets, hot showers, buffet breakfast, fast WiFi and room service! We spent a few hours settling in before walking a few streets south to find a TripAdvisor recommended Argentinian restaurant, where we ate an entire loaf of fresh bread and two huge ribeye steaks cooked to perfection, washed down with a good Argentinian malbec. Panama seems to have a mini Vegas vibe about it, so we stopped in at one of the many casinos and played some cheap roulette and blackjack until fatigue took over and we crashed into the comfy bed at the hotel.

The next morning we started working down the list of places and things we decided to do and see. Number one was the famous canal, from where Panama still derives a huge amount of its GDP (nearly $2 billion last year), so we jumped into a cab to take us to the Miraflores locks where it's easy to spot the huge ships traversing the canal. Now I don't want to spoil it for you, but if you go, be prepared to see immensely large tankers pass slowly through improbably large locks. Completely what I expected, but also very underwhelming at the same time. If you ever feel the urge to go, just look at the pictures attached to this entry and you'll basically have the same experience but will have saved the $15 per person entrance fee. After that we caught a cab to Casco Viejo, a region of the old town which is swiftly being restored and gentrified. As a result it's a great place for tourists to stroll, filled with wonderful old architecture, coffee shops, restaurants, brew pubs, hotels and a lot of souvenir shops selling Panama hats. We were warned against venturing any further west to the adjoining favela of El Chorillo due to the gang-fighting taking place there, a point our taxi-driver made clear by miming us two walking followed by us each being shot, complete with pow-pow sound effects. Point taken! Casco Viejo was fun to walk around, though, and once we'd taken pictures of the buildings and skyline, eaten frozen yogurt, drunk a few beers and bought a Panama hat we walked (in an easterly direction) along the shore towards the cluster of high-rise buildings, aiming for the Hard Rock Café where we had a final farewell margarita on the 62nd floor overlooking the city. Not a bad end to a fantastic three month honeymoon through Central America!

This is probably where I should round up the last three months, but there are far too many good memories to be able to pick out favourites. It's been three months spent in the fantastic company of my best mate, seeing, experiencing, doing, eating and drinking a crazy variety of things. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to have done this, and to have shared this time with my beautiful new wife has made it even more special.

If you've stuck with us on this journey then thanks for reading! We hope you've enjoyed the ramblings and pictures.

As for now, London awaits, it's time to get back to work and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to a decent pint!

Muchas gracias,
KL