¡Hola a todos!A quick note: this is the third and final blog detailing my experiences in Panama and I have uploaded all of them within the past tens minutes: my apologies; once again there was something of a backlog!I returned from the islands of San Blas feeling peaceful and refreshed. I asked the 4x4 driver to drop me off outside a backpackers' hostel in Casco Viejo, the 'old town' district of Panama City. The area was originally settled shortly after Captain ...

¡Hola a todos!It was an early wake-up call indeed the morning of my journey to the San Blas islands. I gathered my day-pack and boarded a fearsome-looking 4x4, driven by Alex who sported an assured American twang whenever he spoke in English. We hurtled through the near-deserted 5am streets of the down-town area as I rubbed sleep from my eyes and grew a little more accustomed to the sight of a quiet city centre. Our route out of town took us past Panama Viejo, t...

¡Hola a todos!I arrived in Panama City in the early evening on Tuesday 1 September. Many months ago, when I was planning my flight itinerary with a helpful chap from STA Travel, he made it known to me that my intended flight from Quito to Los Angeles would stop in the airline's hub airport of Panama City and asked whether I would like to continue straight on to LA or enjoy a short lay-over in Panama. Intrigued, I chose the latter and so found myself with an addi...

¡Hola a todos! Well, time is relentless and so the inevitable finally has come to pass. This will be my final entry from Ecuador and so from South America. It has been a truly incredible six months and my mind is still in the process of trying to understand all that has befallen me and all that I have seen, learnt, felt, smelt… I am sure that you see the picture. I write this entry from a blissfully air-conditioned internet café in Panama City, mere hours be...

¡Hola a todos! My time in Ecuador and, therefore, South America drawing rapidly, alarmingly to a close, I pressed on with my desire to see what little more of the country I could in my few remaining days. I had been inspired by Mum and Dad’s pictures and words showcasing the natural wonders of the Quilotoa crater and Cotopaxi volcano, both located to the south of Quito and roughly half a day of journeying by minibus away from one another. Although I could hav...