We don’t want to leave!
In Panama, visitors are allowed to stay for 180 days consecutively. In mid-October, we were at our 180 day mark and we had to make a decision on where to go. Being Hurricane season and a busy one, in the Caribbean, we couldn’t go there. If we were to leave the boat, our insurance says we have to leave it in a marina, not at anchor, and that costs a lot of money when you add up the fees, flights, hotels, meals etc. So we decided to make a quick trip down to Sapzurro- the Colombia/Panama border.
We had friends who have done it, we knew people who lived there, and we had only one day left on our visa, because the Immigration officer in Porveneir (San Blas) would not give us an exit stamp in our passport. If we were to be late checking out, there would be a $50 per person fine. Who wants to give more money away? So off we went on our first overnight trip on NautiKel. It was 160 miles to Obaldia, where the Panama Port Captain and immigration is. It was blowing a steady 20 knots most of the day, and we thought it would be a great sail!
In this image, our wind speed is 16.8 knots and our boat speed over the ground is 11.0. We are on a beam reach and there is no current or wind waves to speak of. We were CRUISING!!!
Well it turned out to be pretty good, having moved the boat over 75% as fast as the wind speed. We were impressed.
Because our cruising permit was still valid for Panama, and we didn’t want to give it up, we anchored in the La Miel anchorage on the Panama side of the border.
We met up with our Friends Captain Jack and Lorena of SY Fantasy, whom we had not seen in a while. !!! We had originally met Captain Jack and Lorena in our FMD days in Portobelo and they also own land in both La Miel and Sapzurro. Years before Jack had owned a restaurant and hostel in Portobelo, aptly named Captain Jacks, and we had many times enjoyed the great food served there.
After Jack suggested that we take the dinghy to Capurgana to do our office Check IN to Colombia, we arrived in the hustly little resort town on a Friday of a holiday weekend. What a switch from the docile San Blas! Check into Colombia complete, and lunch in the bellies, along with a cold Club Colombia, we dinghied thru the flat clear waters the 4 miles back to our anchorage in Panama
Town of Capurgana Beach 
Restaraunt in Capurgana 
delicious lunch
We had decided that IF we can get away with it, Staying on the boat in Panama, while having passports checked into Colombia, we wouln’t push it past the three days necessary to renew our Panama Visa, and we would then head directly back to San Blas. After all, we were sitting virtually ON the boarder of Colombia and Panama.
What we found was delightful Colombian people, restuarants, a lovely beach, great snorkeling, provisions and hardware stores, jungle hikes and generally a really unexpected atmosphere. We have always found the Colombian people to be warm and welcoming and this was an unexpected delight
The Grocery Store in Capurgana 
A Horse and Cart was not an unusual sight there.
One day we joined our friends Captain Jack and Lorena from Fantasy, and two other friends Patricia and Veronica for a hike up to El Cielo, a picturesque maze of river and jungle in refreshingly cool clear water. It was a nice hike on land and definitely needed after spening so much time on the boat. We took a “truck” which was actually a motorbike/ wagon, halfway there and walked the remaining portion to the refreshing waterfall.
A motorbike? A truck? Who knows 
Piled in, and with a beer, life is good.
We all jumped into this…. um… wagon? and headed out of town onto the bumpy gravel country roads towards the waterfall.
We didn’t have any fun at all. ( Im sure you can imagine
Town of Sapzurro 
The lanchas and in the distance, our friend Patricia’s house.
The town of Sapzurro lies between the quiet resort beach of La Miel (Panama) , and the busy resort town of Capurgana ( Colombia). You can take a lancha between them all, or you can walk the steps on the walking path between them, crossing the international border along the way. We often walked the 278 steps up the hill to the boarder and then to Sapzurro during our stay.
The start of 278 steps. 
The ACTUAL border. 
They continue up…. 
and up….. 
and what goes up…must come down
We hiked the steps many times, once with Chris and Caroline to take them to a fantastic restaurant we were introduced to by Jack and Lorena. They serve an awesome Veggie burger in a beautiful park like setting of the uniquely built house.
The house was amazing wild open design, beautiful and airy. no doors.
Chris and Caroline were with us when I had Malaria, so it was nice to see them in better circumstances. They would be departing in a few days to Rio Dulce, via Jamaica and Caymans, so we thought we would make the most of our time with them before they left.
We spent a few days hanging out at Jack and Lorena’s piece of land there. They are in the process of building a facility- a resort of sorts, and a home, but for now its just a pool with a bathroom and a palapa table.
Lorena is Colombian, and she is a fantastic cook. We certainly didn’t want to part company, especially after learning her secret to octopus ceviche! (this soon became one of our favorite appetizers)
We had some fantastic BBQs there. We again found the love for the game of Frisbee! As Patricia and Veronica were very involved competively in the sport!
Three weeks quickly passed. Many meals and beach Frisbee games ensured and with the anchorage starting to become a bit rolly and uncomfortable, we headed back towards San Blas together with our friends on Fantasy. Jack had to get Fantasy to a marina so he could get some work done on her, so we decided to sail together towards San Blas.
So follow us as we land in some of the less visited islands on our next post.