Yes, this is the road block the locals made to collect money from anyone headed to the beach. It was a bit alarming being the only gringos for miles around!
For our next stop we decided to go back to the other side of the country and hang out on the Caribbean side. Our goal was Isla Grande just off the coast from La Guayra. La Guayra, aside from being difficult to pronounce, is also difficult to get to. We had to hitch a ride from Las Lajas to Santiago, then a bus to Panama City, another sketchy night bus from the city to Colon, which is the last place in Panama you want to be, yet another bus to the historic port city of Portobelo, and again a bus to La Guayra, and lastly a boat out to Isla Grande. Needless to say the journey was arduous, plus leaving the city in the middle of the night on a Saturday takes you on a journey through the barrio to pick up what it seems like every drunken party animal in the country of Panama. Sunday morning came with some surprises as well. This was the first day of summer and everyone from Colon and the surrounding areas, which all seemed to produce people of seedy character, were headed to La Guayra to party. What we though was going to be a quite little beach town was infested with thousands of drunk and loud caribbe folk looking to stir up trouble. Anyway, we made it and we were bound to enjoy ourselves!
Even with all the people, we were still able to find paradise!
Monday morning!! The streets are clear of people, and we have the island to ourselves!!
The beach was a bit of a hike.
This thing is almost the size of my head!
Finally the beach!!
Portobelo is an interesting place; we were luck enough to find ourselves stuck here on our way back from La Guayra to Panama City. Portobelo, founded in 1597, was once the largest port in the Caribbean. It was a departure point for all the booty the Spanish were ravaging out of Central and South America. The Spanish would ship their treasures to Panama City, then hike it through the jungle to Portobelo to be loaded onto ships bound for mother Spain. In the 16th and 17th centuries most of the world's precious gold and silver was shipped out of Portobelo. This of course drew a lot of attention, and in 1668 the infamous Captain Henry Morgan, and his squad of Privateers sacked the city and her three forts. Though of as the unsackable city, Morgan accomplished this feat by landing a few miles down the coast and hiking his men through the jungle, surprising the Spanish and taking control of the town and her treasures.
Amazingly, there are still plenty of remnants from the original forts!
Lastly, we got to buy some hand made jewelry from the local natives, the Kuna Indians, who have continued to live like they did centuries ago. The Kuna still are politically autonomous and live within three different reservations throughout Panama and Columbia.
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