30th March 2015 – Panama City to Boquete – 2015-04-02 01:13

We’re back on the road today after 5 nights in Panama City.ÿ We’re feeling very lethargic and relaxed after this extended break. We have 480 kilometers to drive to our overnight stop at Boquete which is expected to take us between 8 – 9 hours, so we decide to get on the road early and we leave at 6:00 am with a packed breakfast. Unfortunately we take a couple of wrong turns and end up going the wrong way on a motorway, so we go miles out of our way. We stop after we’ve been driving through peak hour traffic for 1 hour and we’re on the wrong side of the city, so we hail a taxi and ask him to take us over the bridge of the Americas, which he does very proficiently.So at 8:00 am we’re out of the city and on the Pan American Highway.We come across a very large wind farm with huge turbines.The road is good for a while then the concrete deteriorates and we come across a lot of road works.We get stopped by the police for a passport check and one of our drivers isn’t wearing his seat belt, so green car is detained while the rest of us all wait a couple of hundred meters up the road. We push on as best we can and have a quick lunch on the side of the road, as we want to arrive in Boquete as early as possible to have a look around.We are making good progress when we hit a traffic jam at another roadworks.After sitting for about 10 minutes we decide to get out and walk up ahead to see what is going on. There is a mob of indigenous people who have blocked the road in both directions and they’re having a protest. They want a new road into their village and so far they haven’t got it all they’ve had is promises from the authorities, so they’re resorting to a road block. It is now 2:00 pm and they blocked the road at 12:30 pm. There is a politician talking to them and they’re spokesman is also talking but so far no resolution. It’s a very hot day we both have our wet neck scarves on and there is no shade, so we are sitting in the car with the doors open to Take advantage of any breeze there is. At 4:50 pm we started to move forward and a few cars passed us going the other way. When we get up to where the road block was all of the plastic barriers have been moved and the people have dispersed. We’re on our way again after a 3 hour delay. We drive for about 6 kilometers before we come to the end of the row of mostly trucks and cars going the other way. As we drive into David the second largest city in Panama and the light is starting to fade. By the time we arrive in Boquete it is dark and green car hits a dog in the Main Street. A few of the guys go back to check on the dog which appears to be OK and hobbles off on 3 legs. We arrive at our hotel at 7:15 pm after an eventful day but one free of car troubles! Boquete is on the side of a volcano and a popular town for Americans to retire to. The area is good for growing coffee it must like the volcanic soil. It’s been an interesting day but unfortunately we don’t get to see Boquete in daylight.