1 Mar 2002 – 7 Mar 2002
Panama - Ecuador
Panama City - Colon - Panama City - Quito, Ecuador
The modern week-by-week edition
Well, that’s North and Central America done — time for South America.
Our motorbike contact in Colombia had advised us that, due to some instability, we should skip Colombia at this time. We arranged flights for both our bikes and ourselves to Quito, Ecuador instead.
Goneriden
This week’s route
Road sections use current OpenStreetMap roads · ferry and flight legs are direct guides
Week 18 in the full journey
The preserved 2002 maps provide full-trip context while the modern interactive journey map is developed.
Memorable moment
For weeks before arriving in Panama City we spent countless hours on the Internet in a bid to gain knowledge of the easiest and cheapest option for transporting our bikes from Panama City, Panama, to Quito in Ecuador.
After hearing horror stories from other bikers concerning the need for carnets (which we didn't have), the painful delays and costly fees, we were put at ease when, with our remedial Spanish, we gained 2 quotes, one of which was reasonable.
It then took us a maximum of 2 hrs to prepare the bikes for shipping, as well as finalise and pay for all the accompanying paper work. We were told that the bikes well be delivered on Saturday in Quito ready for pick up.....
Original Week 18 accountPictures of the week
Quote of the week"Can you just give me $2 for an ice-cream?" - a God-fearing, Bible-carrying beggar in Colon, he got nothing.
CompetitionTo see how many staff members at the Quito airport we could get our photos with.
Winner - see photos
HighlightOur highlight this week was witnessing the Panama Canal locks in operation. An 80 km ride from Panama City to Colon exposed some beautiful natural phenomena, coinciding with just as much man-made construction in order to allow the canal system to work.
An added bonus was not being shot at as we passed through Colon, which would have been the dodgiest place we've ever been.
Risk activityThe airline deemed it necessary to prevent passengers from carrying any sharp objects onboard the plane; hence we had no bottle opener for our duty free wine in the departure lounge.
Fortunately, they overlooked our tent pegs in our tent bags (which we haven't used since week 3), which proved to be a winning solution.
Ingenuity factor: 7/10
LowlightAfter visiting a local bar with other patrons, Boxy found himself locked inside.
It seems that, whilst he was in the bathroom, the establishment was shut and padlocked from the outside. Not being able to find the light switch, he sat in the dark, unable to enjoy his newfound bounty, until 5:40 pm the next day, when the owner returned to clean up and re-open.
Road tallyFor once on our trip were we receiving utmost respect from the Panamanian public on the roads. It wasn't until we met two police officers dressed in black, riding black motorcycles, that we realised if maybe we had an Uzi each we could have helped uphold the law.
Week 18 photo diary
The mosaic follows the numbered sequence in date-and-time order. Select any image for its full-screen view and comment.