4.3.10


Honestly, you wouldn't know what to believe .


I rang the Panamanian company, which was handling the incoming motorbikes, at one in the afternoon, as instructed the previous day, hoping to be told that the bikes were fumigated, checked out by customs and ready for us to pick up and ride away into the sunset. No such luck. What was I thinking? The voice on the other end of my phone said, "Oh, the motorbikes did not come on the plane yesterday. The airline company had to take out all fluid from the motorbikes." Des had already emptied the fuel tanks, but apparently the brake fluid, clutch oil and engine oil had to be drained as well. Ridiculous! We couldn’t believe this. The bikes were still in Quito, Ecuador. How was this possible? Wasn’t I told the bikes were here yesterday? It took me all the control I had to contain my rage. I was in a pool of sweat with the frustration of it all. As if it wasn’t hot enough here without this. We had made a booking to go to Cuba by plane on Saturday, which we now had to defer .


Des and I took a walk along the coast, which is close to our hotel, to calm down and cool off a bit. I somehow managed to bang my head on a bundle of concrete reinforcing rods loaded on the back of a ute and nearly cried. It didn’t hurt too much because I had my cap on, but I think I was just about over it all and had had enough of being messed about and lied to.


Our nearest coast is not a swimming beach, unfortunately, but it’s picturesque in its own way. Trucks are tipping the excavated material from the new canal into the water and tamping it down. You can see the land growing into the sea.


There are many sea birds hanging around as there is a fish market close by. Pelicans, gannets and sea gulls all look well fed. We sauntered around and made our way to a Chinatown. Judging by some of the fishing vessels, which looked like Chinese junks, there must be a sizable Chinese community here.


We had a fish meal at an outdoor restaurant. Calling it 'el fresco’ would make it more romantic than it really was. It was extremely basic but had two televisions going (on different channels) and a loud music CD playing. The reason we went there was because it was busy, so we expected a good meal. It was tasty, honest food and wasn’t bad, and the price was good.