Crossing Into the Final Central American Frontier

Day 32 Pines 2 Patagonia log

Paso Canoa, Costa Rica

To

Penonomé, Panamá

We woke up early drove a 1/2 mile and we were ready to depart CR and get moving through Panama. Government employees are not allowed to handle money in Costa Rica so we had to pay our $8 exit fee to a funky little booth across the street and then go back to the main office. It all went pretty smoothly and after placing a few P2P stickers we were headed into Panama.

The border facility in Panama was by far the nicest we had been in. The people were helpful and there was almost a flow to the process. It still took a while but after a few hours we we finally in the last Central American country!

The landscape in Panama was surprisingly beautiful and lush. There were huge mountains off in the distance covered with clouds that looked like they were from Jurassic Park. The roads were well maintained and straighter than we had grown accustomed to. We were making good time and having fun, until we got pulled over again.

As we were approaching a small town there was a motorcycle cop standing in the middle of the road waiving us to the side. We pulled over and held our breath. Red was out front a little farther than Matt and Adam when he started talking. Red took his helmet off and hopped off La Fonda so see what was going on. As he walked away a large truck and trailer sped past and blew his bike off the kickstand. Red AND THE OFFICER were able to grab La Fonda before she hit the ground and get her upright. There was a moment where Red looked like he was going to kiss the officer.

He agreed that we were not speeding and just wanted to let us know it was a school zone (not posted) and we should slow down. He was very chill and polite and he did give Red a hug before we all rode away. We all agreed he just wanted to check out the bikes.

Again we dodged another ticket and we’re headed South. We rode for another 3 hours through beautiful countryside and farmland before reaching our home for the night in Penonomé, Panama.

We got checked in to our secure lodging and headed into town on the hunt for an ATM and some dinner. We ended up at a Sushi restaurant in a mall that provided decent food and a few cold drinks.

After dinner we returned home and reached out to a friend we met back in Antigua to see how he was progressing. Turns out he was only an hour and a half behind us so we decided to wait for him in the morning and all ride into Panama City together.