With the dangers associated with crossing from Colombia into Panamá via the Darién Gap,, not many people choose to visit the beautiful small towns of Capurganá and Sapzurro. But as I would soon be leaving Colombia and still had not had any firsthand experience in all the dangers I kept hearing of, I decided to join Ashley and Will on a little road trip to go and see what all the fuss is about, and hopefully to arrive safely to get another taste of Caribbean paradise (and as a bonus to get back from there unharmed too).

To make things a little easier we did not drag our entire backpacks along for the ride, and I was very glad of this once I had made the journey. The journey to Capurganá is not the easiest/most comfortable one I've ever made, but it was certainly a very memorable one. Neither I nor Will really had any idea where we were going or how we were getting there, we just put our trust into Ashley's research abilities and followed almost blindly! Probably not a really smart move considering I was heading to an area which often features as one of the "most dangerous places in the world", but it was a last minute decision to go and Ashley seemed to know what she was talking about.

A few errors in her research left us with two consecutive unnecessary very early mornings, but things could’ve been worse. We found that we could not realistically make it from Taganga to Turbo in one day, and that the boat from Turbo to Capurganá did not leave anywhere near as early as we thought. In turn this also lead to a 04.30am trip to the ATM, where a group of locals sat drinking in the street and in the front entrance of the bank as we took out enough money for transport and living costs during our adventure. As much as I hate the usual comments I receive all the time here as a blonde girl in South America, I have never felt as uncomfortable as I did at that time in the morning surrounded by drunk people delivering the same lines. Probably not the smartest thing we’ve ever done, but it all went without a hitch and we just took it as a lesson to plan things a little better in the future!

The journey was a bit of a nightmare as our first bus was home to a toilet which leaked its chemicals everywhere, and left everyone with their eyes streaming as we all tried desperately to find something to cover our mouths and noses. Not to worry though, a few white-towels-turned-blue later and we were back on the road. After a few disgusting cheesy/fried/very fatty bits of "food", we were in the backseats of a different bus with no shock absorbers, and apparently a maniac at the wheel.

By the time we arrive in Capurganá none of us felt like we had any vertebrae still intact as the awful bumpy bus ride, and the following bumpy boat ride had left us all in pieces. I’ve been on bad roads in bad vehicles before, but never for quite an extended period of time, and never with a whining American man at my side! Will had picked up some form of fever somewhere during his trip and was convinced he had Dengue which seemed to peak right at the worst moment.

However, it was all worth it as we arrived to the small town of Capurganá, which instantly reminds you that you are on the Caribbean. As we went for lunch the reggae was already playing at a deafening volume, there were more palm trees than you could shake a stick at, and plenty of rum to drink. The latter being the main ingredient in a very messy night, with the next morning seeing me vow never to drink rum from a box ever again!

Prior to drinking the nastiest rum available in town, we had eaten the best food in town at a place called Patacon. We were recommended this restaurant by the manager of our hostel and we were not disappointed. We had the most amazing cazuela de mariscos, calamari y camarones (seafood stew, squid and prawns); the cazuela was by far the best meal that I had eaten for a long time. If you go to Capurganá I recommend going to this place 100% - it is right at the end of the beach to the left near to the Coco Loco bar/hut.

The next morning we headed to the nearby village of Sapzurro - just an hour's hike through the spider-infested jungle. After getting directions out of town by a very cute local boy we were on our way. With no shoes other than my flip flops, and one of the worst hangovers I've had for a while, this was a rather painstaking experience. The heat was intense and the rain had turned the path into a sea of mud in places. However, I did not have the worst end of the deal, as Ashley and I quickly discovered Will suffers from arachnophobia, and had landed himself in spider hell. I have no idea whether these spiders are dangerous, and I was not going to test out my theory that they were not, however I can say that they make very thick and strong webs, and that they are beautiful to look at; especially when they are sitting overhead webs and as though they are flying.

Eventually we made it through to the other side, with Will armed with a long stick, Ashley with an orange, and me with a very confused look on my face at their choices of weapons. Upon arrival, Will informed us that there was no way that he would be walking through this stretch of jungle again to get back to Capurganá!

Sapzurro is much quieter than Capurganá, and has an even more laid back vibe about it. We chose to stay in hammocks at a camping hostel, and we were even provided with mossie nets. Everything here is pretty pricey, especially eating. One evening we treated ourselves to a prawn dish at the home of a woman called Ana who had been recommended to us. The food was quite nice, but it was not a patch on the previous night's feast (the prawns had come out of the freezer), and it came at a higher price. This left us a little disgruntled and the following night we were treated to a three course meal on a tight budget prepared lovingly by Ashley.

The plan for Sapzurro was to visit Playa Miel (Honey Beach), which is actually just over the border into Panamá. However, we decided to join three couples from our hostel instead to embark on a boat tour around some islands on the San Blas peninsula. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side this day, and a light drizzle spoiled any ideas of finding paradise again. We did however get to visit two small islands which are home to village of Kuna (indigenous people of San Blas).

As much as I enjoy learning about different cultures and meeting people whom I would not normally encounter, I did not enjoy this particular experience. There were many questions I would have loved to have asked about their traditional clothing, as well as where they get their donated items from etc (including one fantastic "DITCH HIM" T-shirt which was sported by a little girl there), however I did not feel comfortable being this nosey. As a group of nine gringos who stick out like sore thumbs, we were quite a sight for many of the locals. After clearing customs to enter Panamá, our driver just dumped us on one of the islands and told us to come back to the boat when we had finished exploring the village - no introductions to the locals or anything. We were greeted in a fairly hostile manner, and naturally the Kunas wanted to know who we were, where we came from and what we were doing on their island!

However, as soon as they realised that maybe they would be able to sell a few things to us their attitude started to change somewhat. Personally I just felt very unwelcome and therefore uncomfortable as did many of us, and we just wanted to leave them in peace as soon as possible. This was not a view shared by all, and there was one girl who seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that we were not really wanted there, and she kept on chatting to anyone she could find as the rest of us lingered around waiting for the boat to save us.

On one of the islands we bought whatever we could find to eat from one of the shops - bread, tomato puree and plasticky cheese. With these delightful ingredients we made ourselves some "Panamanian Pizzas", which went down a treat as we were so hungry! After eating these, and rather a lot more tomato puree in the dinner Ashley prepared that night, we were left in no doubt that this particular ingredient plays havoc with your stomach when consumed in excess!

After spending waaaaay too long in the Kuna villages, we were not left with much time to relax on the "idylic" beaches with our beers. By this time the weather had at least cleared up a touch as we pulled into Playa del Oro (Gold Beach), which was just about one step up from our day at Playaca near Taganga in that there was no cruelty to animals evident here! A bit of sun and a few beers later and it was time to return to Colombia.

The following day our return began with a spider-free boat ride back to Capurganá. This was followed by an unimaginably bumpy boat ride back to Turbo during a storm, throughout which we were covered with a suffocating black plastic sheet in an attempt to keep us dry. Any intervetebral discs which I may have still had remaining after the outbound journey were certainly wiped out over these hellish two and half hours... even the sighting of a dolphin jumping could not bring a smile to my face! For a small taste of this wonderful experience, just check out the look on Ashley's face, or watch the video I put onto Facebook.

Even though it is quite some hassle to get there, and the journey itself is not too pleasant, I think that the final destination is definitely worth it. Making the journey with my whole big backpack would've been slightly problematic, it would've been perfectly doable and made a lot more sense for me to continue my journey into Central America this way, even if it meant taking on the infamous Darién Gap with all my worldly possessions... maybe next time!