Had a luxury journey to Puerto Lindo on the northern coast of Panama on 3rd. Was somewhat concerned as nobody seemed to know where this place was so decided not to risk the various chicken buses alone with my backpack and sundry luggage (!) and arranged a private car up there. Got there finally after the driver asked about 5 people. No wonder! It's a tiny village (well, hamlet really) with just a few houses and a tiny marina. Found the hostel that had arranged my boat to Colombia and settled in. A short while later, 2 of my fellow crew members arrived - Jonathan and Gretchin from NY. The 3 of us went for dinner at Leo's - after asking various people and being pointed each time to someone's front door, we finally went to a house and discovered that Leo's restaurant was, in fact, a dingy concrete slab with 2 tables where Mrs Leo (or whatever her name was) rustled us up some fresh fish for $3. Was good though and after a couple of beers we headed back to the hostel, after bumping into our other crewmates, Mike and Alison from Australia. To be honest, although pleasant enough, none of my fellow passengers were really my cup of tea and after 5 days in eachother's pockets, I didn't know them any better which is odd right? They didn't really socialise or talk which drove me mad and also made the trip very lonely. Mike and Alison were nice, I think around mid-20s, both primary school teachers and a fairly new couple so all loved up and only have eyes for eachother - all very lovely except when you're stuck in close proximity for 5 days! Jonathan and Gretchin were fairly typical New Yorkers - conservative (actually very boring!) - he's a lawyer, she's a social worker. About 30 and been together for 5 years - in my view far too long as they didn't have anything to say to eachother unless they were bickering or discussing one of their books. Still, they probably all thought I was a stuck-up Brit so there you go!

On Wednesday morning we huffed and puffed down the hill with our bags to the marina where a random guy showed up in an outboard and took us to the SY Maluco - our home for the next 5 days. I had been slightly apprehensive about this journey. I'd been wanting to do it for months but you can't book it in advance as the boats only announce when they are going about a week beforehand - suspicious? Yep, I was. I mean, why would a boat go backwards and forwards between Panama and Colombia with no set schedule? I was convinced I was setting foot on a drug running voyage (still think it might be!) but decided as it was booked through a hostel and nobody had complained up until now, it must be ok. Our hosts were John and Eileen from Venezuela and they seemed nice enough although kept themselves to themselves for most of the journey. We spent most of the day sailing (well motoring actually as there was no wind!) to the San Blas Islands.

The San Blas Islands are an archipelago of almost 400 islands, most of which are uninhabited and are covered with palm trees and white sandy beaches with the gorgeous aqua water lapping on the shore - picture postcard stuff. They are part of the Comarca de Kuna Yala which is a narrow, 226km long strip on the Caribbean coast stretching right down to the Colombian border. The islands are home to the Kuna people who run the area as an autonomous region with very little to do with the national government. They have their own law which is based on a kind of tribe and chief system. One important law to be aware of as a visitor there is that every coconut has an owner - even the ones that have dropped on the ground - so you are forbidden to touch them and certainly pick them up or eat them, otherwise you have to answer to the people.

Our first night was pretty uneventful and we were all in bed by about 9pm. I'm not sure how the sleeping arrangements would have worked if we had been a different group as one couple were in a berth that had just about enough room for 2 bodies, the other couple was in the main cabin on a bed that was barely wider than a standard single and I was across from them in a 'bed; barely wide enough for my hips! If we had been 5 complete strangers, we would have known eachother very well by the end of the trip! The bed was comfortable enough but the cabin was so hot that it was stifling. It wasn't much better on deck. Just as well we had a gorgeous clear blue ocean at our fingertips for an early morning dip the next day!

The next morning, John took our passports to the immigration building on one of the islands to get us stamped out of Panama. They weren't working that day and told him to come back the following day. What a great job! So, we took the outboard to one of the Kuna villages to have a look - not all that interesting really and I always feel like I'm wandering around a zoo in those situations - I'd hate someone to come nosying around where I live taking pictures. Anyway, they all live in kind of mud and straw huts and lead a fairly basic life although their local shop was well-stocked with beer which most of the men were drinking at 10am! Our motor broke as we tried to leave so various people got involved, including El Presidente (the chief) who was standing there in a grubby white T-shirt and pair of shorts! Not quite what I was expecting (and no, I wasn't exactly expecting a grass skirt and huge head-dress either!). We got towed back to our yacht and then headed to some islands 2 hours away called Chichime which were stunning - one literally was just a pile of sand with 3 palm trees on it so I decide to swim to that one and pretend to be Robinson Crusoe for all of 2 minutes as it was too hot and my skin was frying! I spent the rest of the day on the boat reading, dozing and generally being lazy with the occasional dip in the sea to cool off. Bliss!

After another early night and early morning dip, we went back to immigration which had thankfully decided to open and then motored for about 6 hours to some other, stunning, uninhabited islands - Cayo Blanco or Cayo Coco or Coco Blanco or something like that where we spent the day pretty much doing what we'd done the previous day! The next morning we set off for 2 straight days of non-stop travel direct to Cartagena. Because we had to have the motor on, the constant drone was annoying and there wasn't much room on deck as everyone was fighting over the shady spots. After we'd gone to bed, we hit a storm - what a nightmare! We were rocking all over the place and I fell out of bed 3 times - I had nothing to keep me in (everyone else had walls or tables to fence them in) and I would wake up flying through the cabin onto the floor and then have to stumble back and put my bed back together while trying not to throw up! I think I only slept 20-30 minutes in any one stretch as we were being thrown around so much. John the skipper was up in deck in all his yellow rain gear but he looked awfully spooky as he was wearing a red light and creeping around. Poor bloke, he was all over the place trying to sort out the sails and keep the boat on track. By morning I felt as though I had run a marathon but as it was still pouring down, I decided to stay in bed (and cling on!). Even going to the loo was almost impossible - getting there was one thing but doing what you had to do was a totally new challenge! By early afternoon, the storm had settled down so I ventured on deck and finally managed to eat something. The wind had been so strong that by about 5pm we suddenly spotted the skyline of Cartagena. Huge white skyscrapers - I had no idea it was like that. I had only ever seen pictures of the old town but this looked like a modern American city. We actually made it in record time for this boat - about 36 hours when normally it takes an average of 42-48. As we got closer, some blue lights started flashing and a police boat came alongside us. This is it, I thought. They're going to come aboard, find the stash of weapons or money and arrest us all - Colombian prison - great!! (Actually I was a bit worried as I had spotted (and smelled) John and Eileen smoking weed the previous 2 days but was sure they had nothing stronger on board - but you never know eh?!). Anyway, they wanted to find out where were going and help guide us into the port because it's difficult to navigate into. Basically, the Spaniards wanted to make Cartagena an impenetrable port so they constructed huge walls underwater with just a small gap to allow ships in the know to pass through. This was mainly to keep the pirates out and would smash up the ships as they ploughed into the walls. The walls are still intact today and are not very clearly marked in the dark!

So, I have to say I breathed sigh of relief that we had made it and was looking forward to a shower as I was caked in salt and suncream and my hair looked like a chip pan - mmmm!! Next potential issue? We had to leave our passports onboard to be stamped the next day as Immigration is closed on a Sunday which meant we would be illegal in Colombia for 24 hours. Not ideal in any respect. Flashes of the Colombian prison again, not to mention thoughts of women dying their hair blonde to try and look like me. More on that later…..!!