Central America - Road Trip to Panama

In case you were wondering what a Bongo is - well there's a picture of one below.

We travelled in the OM Costa Rica Bongo from San José to Volcán, Panama, where OM Panama is based.

The journey took about 9 hours in total, and we passed through some really beautiful countryside - both coastal and mountainous.

A part of the experience of the journey was the border crossing. It was definitely the most disorganised border crossing of my life! The crossing point was a mess of trucks, dust, puddles, shops and stalls. 

The process consisted of queuing up to leave Costa Rica, then carefully picking our way through puddles, trying not to be splashed or run over by trucks, and making for the Panama end of the crossing. There we had to queue up again and present various papers and proof of sustenance in order get the stamp to allow us into Panama. 

The Bongo had to undergo some degree of scrutiny too, and whilst this was going on we took the dance to grab a burger. Eventually we were on our way, and started to climb up into the mountains of Panama. After an hour or so, passing through some wonderful scenery, we arrived at Volcán, Panama.

The next day I became a monkey - but more about that later ...