Travel Latin America: How To Sail From Panama To Colombia?

Travelling around Latin America is a case of one amazing experience after another. I was fortunate enough to have many of these experiences back in 2014 on my way to Brazil for the World Cup. Little did I know at the time I'd end up living here! 

One of the best experiences I had was sailing between Panama in Central America and Colombia. If you're planning a trip through Latin America and aren't sure how to get between the two continents, I cannot recommend this option enough!

Originally Published April 26 2014

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I was lying in my bunk at the front of the boat trying not to vomit or fall out of my bunk (with only varying levels of success is each) as the waves rocked the 50 foot yacht from side to side when the thought occurred to me – what am I doing here? I'm no sailor. I didn't come to Latin America to spend time at sea. I came to eat lots of great food, see some amazing historical and natural landmarks and meet some great people. So how did I get here?

The Ave Maria at one of our beautiful Island stops

Spending over four months travelling down through Mexico and Central America a common question asked by other travellers was, “how are are crossing the Darien Gap?”

The Darien Gap is the small stretch of land that is virtually impossible to pass through due to dense jungle and – more importantly – very dangerous people.

I'll admit, due to my lack of research before starting this trip, I didn't actually know this was an issue. Sure I knew that some people – including friends of mine – had chosen to do this trip by sea, I just didn't know it was that or having to fly.

One of our island stops

After meeting so many people who were travelling in the other direction and had done the sailing trip from Colombia to Panama who almost universally raved about the experience I started to think that maybe this was something I too could get into.

Lying in the cabin that first night nothing felt further from the truth, but once morning arrived and we'd arrived at the San Blas Islands it was clear they were 100% right.

I have a tough life

The San Blas Islands – an archipelago of around 370 islands off the coast of Panama – is truly one of the most beautiful things I've been able to experience.

Once I was able to stop focusing on on how awful I felt (I was one of those annoying people that just assumed I wouldn't get seasick. Don't be that guy) I was able to appreciate the trip for what it was – a once in a lifetime chance to sail through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world in a beautiful old sail boat.

Our vessel for the trip, the beautiful Ave Maria housed myself and 10 other guests for the five day journey including several days slowly drifting around a selection of hundreds of uninhabited islands in scenes you would normally only see in a movie.

Did I mention these Islands are beautiful? 

Any time you're sharing a small space with 12 strangers for several days how well you get along with them will go a long way to deciding how good a time you have. We were fortunate enough to have a great group, many of whom were of a similar age to me, which made me feel – for the first time in months – like I wasn't the old man of the group.

Our captain for the trip, Paul, an Aussie with many years experience at sea made it clear from the start that this trip is not a luxury cruise and had more in common with camping than anything else. While it was true that luxury would not be the way to describe the trip, Paul and his partner Sindry made every attempt to make sure each of their guests were as comfortable as possible, and Sindry's cooking alone made anything I ever ate camping look like gruel.

Paul was forced to use all of his years of experience on the last night of the trip when a strong wind broke the main mast leaving us bobbing around in the sea while for a while he salvaged the situation as best he could. While I was struggling to keep my dinner down, Paul was struggling to save a vessel that is not only his home but his livelihood. 

The Ave Maria

The mood the following morning as we cruised into Cartagena port was a little somber, with our battered boat slowly making its way to our final destination, and her Captain contemplating what his next move was. 

For every moment of the journey that was less than ideal, however, there were many more that made the trip one of the best things I've done on this year abroad - and perhaps one of the best I've ever done. 

For anyone deciding whether to sail from Panama to Colombia (or the reverse) or to take the slightly cheaper flight, I say you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to take the rare opportunity to see this beautiful part of the world. The Ave Maria will be back in the water before too long and I'd recommend anyone to jump on board with them for the crossing.

Just remember your sea sick pills! 

Travel Latin America: Welcome To Belize - Go Slow!

Travelling through Latin America was the best trip of my life - and not just because I ended up in Brazil, finding love and deciding to stay. There are so many great places to see, people to meet and food to eat throughout the continent. Belize was one of those incredible places, and here's what I wrote about the county back in 2014.

Originally Published 25 Feb 2014

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From the moment I got off the boat and entered the customs office, I knew this was going to be a laid back location. With the floor covered in sand, and a single question asked by the customs officer, it was no time before I was ushered through the doorway and greeted by the lone security guard.

“Welcome to Belize”

The Island motto - oh and this is the main street

Once on the island of Caye Caulker, things only got more relaxed. There are no cars on the Island – only golf buggies – and the roads consisted of some roughly smoothed out mud where pedestrians were only occasionally having to move out of the way of traffic – which was mostly of the pedal variety.

After being told off by a local for breaking the island's law by walking too fast, I knew this was a place I would come to love.

Tell me how you leave a place like this

They don't like to do anything fast there. Your meal might take 90 minutes to come to you, but its all ok, but what else are you going to be doing? Just have another drink.

When you're on the road for any length of time, you sometimes need a break from the actual travelling. You can't spend 12 months going at 100% checking out attractions and monuments. I'd gotten to that stage of my trip where some time in Caye Caulker was the perfect option.

Chilling at the Split

Initially intending to spend only three days on the island, I couldn't seem to leave. I couldn't even tell you what I was doing during my time there. The Island is known for it's amazing snorkeling and diving and yet I did neither. I spend my days by “The Split”, where the northern and southern parts of the island are divided by a short waterway, with beers and my nights at the reggae bar with rum and before I knew it my three days had turned into a week. If it weren't for an offer of a ride down to Flores in Guatemala, I might still be there. It's just that laid back and chilled.

“Go Slow” has become a bit of a motto for my trip so far. As well as Caye Caulker, I've overstayed my initial expectations on the beaches of Playa Del Carmen and the beautiful Mexican colonial town of San Cristobal De Las Casas. “I'm leaving tomorrow” has become something of a catchphrase for me.

No seriously, how do you leave this?

I sometimes worry that all of this extra time spent at this end of Latin America may mean I'll be limited towards the end of my trip, but the way I look at it, if I', having a great time and hanging out with some great people, why move? I've met more than a few people who seem to be trying to pack too much into too short a time, and for mine, I'd rather err on the side of taking too long in one place than not long enough.

Sure, I'll get to South America eventually – the World Cup will make sure of that – but until then, I'm definitely enjoying going slow.  

Travel South America: Hiking Machu Picchu For Dummies

Before I was the "Aussie Gaucho" I was just another Australian backpacking through Latin America. The whole journey got me to where I am today and I love looking back on those experiences. Below is a piece I wrote about travelling in Machu Picchu before arriving in Brazil.

Originally Published 2 June 2014

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When you're on a long trip you'll tend to meet a lot of different types of travellers. There are the foodies, party animals, hippies, culture seekers and thrill seekers.

In this part of the world though, there is one group that stands out among the rest – the hikers and trekkers.

Machu Picchu

They're everywhere, decked out in their khaki trekking pants, hiking boots and fleece jackets. Many even bring their own walking poles.

There's a good reason they're so prevalent, of course, there's a great deal of good hiking to be done in Latin America. There seems to be as many volcanoes as towns, there's lost cities, large mountains and lush valleys.

The biggest prize of all for hikers around here though – and possibly anywhere – is Machu Picchu. The Incan city high in the mountains of Peru has been the ultimate destination for hikers almost since European eyes first laid eyes on it over 100 years ago. The four to five day trek through the Inca Trail has been described by most that have done it as being among the greatest experiences of their life.

But, its so much walking.

While I've been wanting to visit the ruins of Machu Piicchu for many years, the idea of walking for 12 hours a day to get there has never been the most exciting prospect. I always kind of assumed I would do it anyway as I suffer from a severe case of FOMO (feat of missing out). If something is supposed to be amazing I want in.

I just really didn't want to hike.

As it turned out though, I took advantage of my own laziness and managed to have a great experience at the same time.

While I didn't do the Inca Trail - I did go zip lining!

To be able to walk the Inca Trail, you have to book a tour weeks or even months in advance as it is genuinely that popular and limited to just 500 people per day. With my lack of ability to plan, I didn't know when I would be making it to Cusco to start the trail, therefore I couldn't book anything. Shame huh?

As I got closer to Peru I learned about other hikes and treks one could do on the way to Machu Picchu. I settled on the “Jungle Trail” offered by dozens of agencies in the former Incan capital of Cusco. With mountain biking, rafting and zip lining – and more importantly just one day walking more than 3 hours - the khaki crowd doing the “proper” trail would certainly not approve, but that didn't bother me at all. We stayed in hostels, ate in restaurants and got driven around in vans. This was the trek for me.

One of the many great views walking through the Andes

That isn't to say we did no walking at all, it just wasn't all we did unlike those doing the Inca Trail. The time they spent walking we spent having fun, getting to know our tour mates and having a beer. Every step we took uphill in the Andes while we were walking reminded me that I had made the right decision.

Machu Picchu

While I respect that for some people the history and difficulty of the Inca Trail is what makes it the most satisfying, for myself (and a surprising amount of people we encountered along the way) Machu Picchu was a big enough prize as it was, and getting there was just half the fun.