Our van is hopefully on it’s way to Colombia now. The process of shipping out of Panama was unpleasant and expensive, and we wish they’d just build the 30 miles of road that are missing between Panama and Colombia! But it’s over, and supposedly the process on the Colombian side is easier.
The short version is that because our van is 3″ taller than the door height of a high-cube container, we had to ship roll-on roll-off, which is where you hand over your keys and they drive it onto the boat. Because of that, we had to build a wall in the van to block off the living area from the cab so that our stuff wouldn’t all get stolen.
The Great Wall of the Sparksmobile
A group of travelers waiting in a smelly police parking lot for our VIN inspections.
These folks are from Florida. They aren’t shipping, but their truck is so cool I had to take a picture of it. Yes, that is a real airplane fuselage on top!
While waiting at the port I had the opportunity to watch customs officials helping themselves to the contents of trucks. This guy is snagging a nice new shirt for his buddy.
We hired a shipping agent to help us through the process. It involved two full days, at least 2 dozen copies of a dozen different documents, and innumerable stamps, signatures, and inspections, followed by a day spent in the port of Manzanillo, a loud, dirty and thoroughly unpleasant place. I’m exaggerating, but only a little.
If you’re interested in what the process was like, I posted a detailed write-up on expeditionportal. If not, read on for photos from the rest of our time in Panama City!
While not dealing with shipping, we enjoyed some of the sights of Panama City, in particular the famous canal.
The Puente de los Americas (Bridge of the Americas) spans the canal a short distance from our hotel.
We see giant cargo ships passing behind our hotel every day.
The highlight of our time here was a visit to the Miraflores locks where we had a nice dinner and watched the locks in operation.
The locks had a great visitor center, which featured models of the trains used in the construction of the canal.
To get back to Panama City from Colon, we rode the Panama Canal Railway, which we had been promising to Quinn for months. It was a big hit!
The inside of the train was very nicely done in wood.
We visited the Casco Viejo neighborhood of the city.
It’s slowly being gentrified and features a variety of newly restored buildings, empty hulks of buildings, and ruins of churches.
We stopped at a bar for ceviche and a couple of beers.
