Road block party

The road block, from the Stamford Advocate.

We're stuck in Panama.

Okay okay, that might not sound all that bad to you. But, that'd be because you've never seen Panama City!

An example will illustrate this position. A misunderstanding with a driver gave us a two-hour journey around the city on a bus, not going to where we wanted to go. Ordinarily we probably wouldn't mind this too much - circumnavigating a city is usually sure to bring you some interesting sights and maybe an insight into a few different sides of town. Not in Panama City. We were on that damned bus for two hours, and all - all - we saw was branches of McDonalds, piles of rubbish and malls. Big, horrible malls, full of Pizza Huts and Converse shops and innumerable shops selling useless crap.

The reason we're stuck is a protest by groups of indigenous people, angry at a proposed mining law that would destroy much of what protected land they have left. They've blocked off the Panamerican Highway - the only way to travel east or west in Panama - in two places to the west of Panama City, and they say they won't lift the blockade until the president himself goes to speak to them. Which clearly won't happen.

Yesterday, after spending WAY more time in the capital than we would wish on anybody in a lifetime, we managed to get out to the beach town of Santa Catalina, in total about seven hours away and kind of south from Santiago - the road block is after Santiago.

Santa Catalina is a lovely little place, and a much, much nicer place to be than Panama City. We are very far from the blockade and out of reach of any trouble, but there is no indication of when the blockade might end and the town is already showing signs of running out of supplies. Not to dramatise the situation - this isn't a big problem. There are just no fresh fruit or vegetables arriving. There's plenty of other stuff, and we're getting down to some creative cooking!

We have heard rumours of the Government putting on free flights for international tourists from Santiago across the blockade, in the direction of Costa Rica, but other rumours suggest these are either only for 'emergency' situations (to catch onward flights) or non-existent.

So for now we're holed up by the beach ... okay, maybe it's not so bad.

SARAH

EDIT - FEBRUARY 5: This morning the news reported police had attempted talks with the demonstrators, but it turned violent and gas (etc) was used. At least one protester died. Supposedly  vehicles have now been able to pass through, but the situation is unknown and it seems unlikely it will be secure for a while. Sit tight!