From Panama to Colombia

Our last few nights in central america were spent camping at the beach opposite Isla Grande. We found a great free spot right on the beach with a coral reef nearby. More campervans joined us, and by the last night there was a fleet of six vehicles parked up. 

After over 5 months in Latin america, we are well used to being around people speaking a language we don't really understand. But for the last week or two, we have been hanging out almost exclusively with French speakers, which has been pretty funny. There's French Fred and his family of four, our Quebecois friends Marc and France, our hilarious French friend Jil and his wife Corinne, a lovely Swiss family of five, three French campers, and a Belgian family of four. In case you lost count, that's 20 French speakers, and then us!

We stayed at the Ferry Xpress terminal on our last night in Panama, and had a very long day waiting for various inept officials. We were told to arrive at 8am for police inspection and customs (which took 5 mins and didn't happen until 3pm), then told to arrive for boarding at 6pm and departure at 7pm (which didn't happen until 10pm and 3am respectively). The boat ride took 18 hours, arriving at 9pm the next day, then we didn't clear customs until midnight. But we made it!

Celebrating on the boat with a bottle of champagne with our friends Marc and France, 

and the Gladiator in front of our chariot to South America