Punta Barco

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We left Santiago and I was glad to be feeling better even if not 100%. Our aim for the day was to get to the next town, Aguadulce, in order to maintain some eastwards progress. It was more highway riding and quiet once we got out of town.

We spotted Edith's coffee shack by the road from a long way off. It looked great with nice seats in the shade and lots of nice plants in pots. She served great coffee and we treated ourselves to a slice of Mamallena (bread pudding served as a cake).

She also had a few Panamanian flags decorating her cafe and was pleased to donate one to us for our collection. 

We made the decision at the cafe that we would ride on further than planned as we had been making good progress and it was overcast so not so hot. We also thought it would be good to catch up on the day lost to illness. This meant we were now heading for Penonomé. Not much to say about the day's riding. The highway isn't the best but it is the only option. 

We were amused by this billboard on the outskirts: "Colon Town" 😄

We arrived early afternoon after covering over 100km. This was a major boost for me after having felt to rotten a few days earlier. This meant I had time to go out and find a barber. Edward did a great job of interpreting my mimes into a great cut. (Our Spanish classes didn't cover how to describe hairstyles. Is that covered in the advanced class Neil?)

We had stayed in a quiet hostel and there was a side door right beside our room so we had been able to bring the bike inside. 

We have been noticing these signs along the road. I'm not sure how much impact they have as most drivers seem incredibly courteous anyway. We had been warned that the highway gets busier further eastwards and the road quality gets worse. We certainly saw some evidence of this. 

We loved this huge mango tree that spanned the road - especially as passing trucks had shaped the lower limbs and branches into a square tunnel shape over the road.

Before leaving Penonomé we made a plan for our next few days. We took the decision to skirt the north of Panama City rather than go into the centre. We didn't feel we would have enough time to do it justice and the decision meant we could have a few days of moderate distances before sailing to Colombia. 

We crossed into Panamá Oeste en route which made us realise just how many regional borders we must have crossed without realising.

Our moderate distances meant time for a side trip down to the Pacific for a swim in the afternoon. Just as we reached the sand we saw this shell and thought "we should not go in barefoot"

The water was amazing. Lovely and warm. Great colour. Most surprisingly, it was really powerful even though there was barely any swell. Each wave would roll us in and out unless we fought hard to stand up. 

Our first night in Panamá had been in a palapa on a farm owned by Francisco which we had found via Warmshowers. We have maintained contact with him and he had told us of a house he has at Punta Barco where we could take refuge (his words) under the terrace if we were passing. We took him up on the offer and could not believe our eyes when we arrived. His house is a huge holiday villa with a vast terrace and an infinity pool. How incredibly generous of him to let us use it for free and unsupervised. 

Thankfully we don't have far to go the next day so there will be no need to rush off in the morning.

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