Seeking Panama  -

I expected to wake up with my heart in my throat out of sheer anticipation.  Rather, my eyes opened and I was strangely calm.  I took a quick and cold shower, turned in my key and went out to repack the bike.  After weeks of repetition my muscles can do all of this without my brain intervening.  This left me free to contemplate what was about to happen.  Today I would attain my goal.  Today I would see the Panama Canal.  Why was I so calm?

I really had no plan for the day, I didn't even know how far I wanted to go.  It was only 120 miles to the Panamanian border but my relatively late start would put me there after noon.  My Lonely Planet said to expect 2-3 hours delay at the busy crossing, so I might just find a small town on the Costa Rican side to stay the night, then I could get an early start in the morning.

The town of Golfito sounded promising, an ex-banana exporting hub in a little bay off of the Pacific.  I could definitely use a half day of riding, especially for the last big push to Panama City.  Thanks to Costa Rica's benevolent signs, I didn't miss the small turnoff onto the dirt road to Golfito.

The Nicaraguan/Costa Rican border was much like the one to the north from Honduras.  I was quickly surrounded by the local youth, all of which wanted to serve as my guide through the border zone.  I knew I could figure it all out on my own, just like I had several times before, but this time I was torn as to what to do.  Should I save some money by brushing of the riff-raff, or should I donate some of my dollars to some kids who at least try to earn a living.  It didn't matter because within 10 footsteps of leaving the XR, one of the eldest kids had attached himself to my side and wouldn't take no for an answer.  One of the youngest and dirtiest kids offered to wash my bike and I couldn't help but laugh, as did the other kids.  Everyone knew it was a joke and a veiled attempt to get a handout, so I handed him a few coins for the laugh.  I was really just happy to be leaving Nicaragua for the time being and didn't really care if it cost me a few extra dollars.

I would really love to go a whole day without getting lost in Central America.  I figured after my 2 hour tour of Leòn last night that I would have the layout of the town sufficiently memorized.  Not so.  I managed to waste another hour this morning just trying to get out.  The Pan American highway can be well disguised when it enters a city. 

I wasn't particularly enjoying Nicaragua so far, so I decided to try and get as close to the Costa Rican border as possible.  If I could make the coastal town of San Juan del Sur it would only be a quick jaunt to the frontera in the morning.  But in my way stood Managua.  As if Leòn wasn't bad enough, the capital city was home to many different highways leading in all directions, and none of them with large blinking signs telling me which way to turn.