Central American Frontiers - Panama

Step 1 - Panama

The InterAmericana Missing Gap - Darien

Famous as a short-cut route for gold rush types heading west, and later for the canal linking the two oceans, Panama has long been a transit country for people en-route to somewhere else. Despite being made rich by connecting east with west, many are surprised to learn that Panama is the virtual cul-de-sac of Central America.  Even though it borders (and was once part of) Colombia to the south, there are no roads or navigable routes through the Darien Gap, leaving no land route south from Central to Southern America. Panama is therefore the ideal place to begin our trip as it represents the south most point of the northern InterAmericana Highway, which otherwise notionally stretches from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego. It is apparently possible to make the trek across the thick jungle from Colombia, but most choose a speed boat or short flight to avoid the mosquitoes, snakes and guerrillas. Either way - Panama is our starting point! 

Visa Preparation 
EU, US, most regional and most South American passport holders do not require a visa to enter Panama, whilst others must apply for a visa in advance. Interestingly however, anyone of any nationality holding a used, yet still valid, visa issued by the US, EU, Australia or Canada may also enter Panama by purchasing a ‘Tourist Card’ on arrival. Nice and easy then it seems.

The Journey Begins
Most people arriving into Panama do so either at Tocumen airport, or by cruise liner via the canal. Our arrival was to be at 2 am, courtesy of a dirt cheap $75 Spirit Air flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Heres hoping Ryanair don't find out that they get away with charging for carry on!

Hickup at Check-In
Most countries (including Panama, Ireland and the USA) require arriving tourists to be in possession of a return or onward ticket prior to granting entry. This rule is seldom enforced - however apparently it is enforced by Panama. Alarm bells should have sounded when the Spirit Air online check-in system produced a notice to appear in person rather than giving me the boarding pass I was expecting. At check-in, production of a ticket home from Mexico to Ireland did not satisfy their requirements and we were refused boarding. After what seemed like an eternity arguing the case, the stern yet professional staff agreed to send an email to the Panamanian authorities requesting a waiver of the return ticket requirement on our behalf. To my disbelief a response in the positive came within minutes - Apparently Panamanian Immigration officers were burning the night oil. We were on the flight. 

Entry - Panama
Panama requires a Customs form (per family) and an Immigration form (per person) to be completed before approaching the Passport Control. The Immigration form is a carbon copy affair, the idea being that you should keep the second slip to present on exiting - hence allowing some unfortunate civil servant in a dark cave somewhere to record that you did in fact leave before your visa expired (Like the ID90 white slip in the US).The officer asked only two questions; Where we would stay? and; How long we would be in Panama? Although she clearly had no idea what I tried to say in responce due to my broken Spanish, we were stamped in and had arrived in Panama. No digital passport reader, biometrics nor computerised records of arrival were taken. Surprisingly also, both the 'Tourist Card' and the carbon copy requirement seem to have been discontinued as we left with just stamped passports and no extra bits- Either way, first border done and dusted!

Land Transport in Panama
Whilst ‘diablo rojos’ (so called red devil buses) do make the 25km journey into the city, we were informed that they don’t take cash and don’t run at night, so we opted to test our negotiation skills and try bargain a taxi. Thirty minutes and $28 later we were at our $15 a night hostel and were ready for bed. Hotels in Panama do not collect biometric or passport information relating to guests. Panama has one rail line, which only runs north south, parallel to the canal. Outside of that, the only public transport is by bus. The next morning after a quick photo by the massive MiraFlores locks on the Panama Canal, we chose the bus, surprisingly enough, and began the trip north-west toward CostaRica via Panama's second city David. The bus to David costs approx $15 and takes 6 hours. From there the border is a further hour or so. Long distance international bus lines also operate direct connections from Panama City to SanJose in CostaRica along the InterAmericana.

Panama CostaRica Border at Sixaloa 

Departure - Panama

Instead of following the main route we decided to use the smaller and lesser used Guabito/Sixaloa crossing a few hours to the north. This crossing leaves from the heart of the Panamanian Afro Caribbean District and is known for being 'hassle free'. Hassle free proved to be an understatement as this free for all border crossing appeared intentionally designed to allow anyone slip past. To exit Panama one must buy a $3 exit permit sticker followed by handing your passport in to a second official through a bank teller style window for stamping. There is no opportunity for the passport officer to check that faces match passports as multiple passports, of both arriving and departing passengers, are piled high in front of the stamp wielding officer. In addition, those disinterested with getting an exit stamp (such as Panamanians travelling with their National Identity Card) simply walk past unchallenged. There are no formal Customs checks before crossing the dilapidated and disused Chiquita Banana railway bridge into Costa Rica. This would be an easy border to cross without papers.

Next Step - Costa Rica