February 6, 2008
Day 861
I bought a ticket for a night bus out of the city this morning. Next to the bus station was a massive shopping mall with name brand stores everywhere. Lots of American ex patriots, tourists, and rich Panamanians were busy buying pairs of jeans for hundreds of dollars. But… Read More: Shopping Malls and Urban Sprawl »
February 5, 2008
Day 860
Today was the big day where I got to see where the Americas were geographically divided, at the Panama Canal.
Before looking at the Miraflores Locks, I checked out the museum that talked about the history of the canal. The French were the first to attempt to build a… Read More: A Man, A Plan, A Canal »
February 4, 2008
Day 859
Crossing the Gap, Day 5
I spent the morning with the Italians waiting to see if the mysterious plane would show up. The two boys were brothers who had been working around Central America and Colombia for the last two years as street performers. Among their luggage was a… Read More: Traveling with the Family Circus »
February 3, 2008
Day 858
Crossing the Gap, Day 4
The day started off smoothly when the immigration office was actually open and I was able to get my passport stamped. The officer needed to make a copy of my passport, so he made a kid go to the back room to turn on… Read More: The Waiting Game »
February 2, 2008
Day 857
Crossing the Gap, Day 3
I got up early and promptly began waiting for a boat. Nobody seemed to know when one would leave, but they assured me the a boat would indeed be going north to Sapzurro at some point. Eventually I got the ride I was… Read More: Crossing to Panama »
February 1, 2008
Day 856
Crossing the Gap, Day 2
The boat was crowded and left early. When I jumped on board, everyone was already wearing a life jacket, and in a place that's normally so cavalier about safety precautions, I knew it was going to be a bumpy one. When we were slowly… Read More: A Butt-Breaking Boat »
January 31, 2008
Day 855
Crossing the Gap, Day 1
It was finally time to leave South America. My first step was to take a bus from Medellin, the big mountainous city in the center of the country, to Turbo, a small port on the Caribbean coast. The bus started along the same road… Read More: One Last Bus Ride »
January 30, 2008
Day 854
For my last day in Medellin, I went to the interactive Explora Museum. It had a lot of cool exhibits showing the history of the earth, what DNA looks like, how there are lots of different kinds of people on earth, and what Read More: A Theoretically Interactive Museum »
January 29, 2008
Day 853
Today I tried to get to a colonial town called Santa Fe de Antioquia, but things didn't quite work out as planned. I got on one of the frequent buses out of Medellin without any trouble, but I didn't realize that the main road only skirted the edge of… Read More: Sometimes it's Better to Stay in Bed »
January 27-28, 2008
Days 851-852
I was in no hurry to leave Medellin, so I spent a couple more days sightseeing the area. I discovered that like several cities in South America, Medellin had a cable car system that went to the top of a large hill. However, unlike the other… Read More: More of Medellín »
