Go South, young man, and grow up with the country

Well so thats not exactly how Greeley wrote it, but we are heading south, to Panama.

So we found some helpful people in Panama that actually *want* to do business, so we are leaving today. This is sorta good. The panama canal has GOT to be an amazing thing to see, and there are tours of the locks. There are even electric trains that act as tugs to pull the boats through. It now looks like we will be going with either LOLO or containers. The most important thing for the LOLO is that I can get pictures of la tortuga dangling in a banana net!

We will certainly post a fully detailed entry on the trials and tribulations of shipping.

On the Silk Road Panamerican trip blog we learned of Evelyn Batista with Barwil Unitor Ship Service a Wallenius Wilhelmsen agent. They refered to her as the Hero of the Darien Gap. This could not be more true, she is friendly, timely, and very professional. These do not seem to be common traits in the shipping industry.

her info:
Evelyn N. Batista
Sales Executive, Barwil Agencies, S.A.
Barwil Unitor Ship Service

Panama City Office
Avenida Balboa, Galerias Balboa Building
Second Floor, Suite 35
Phone: +507 263-7755
Cellphone: +507 6673-8150
Fax: +507 223-0698
Email: Evelyn.Batista@wilhelmsen.com

Alejandro Vargas with NYK is completly USELESS. After over a week of seeing him in person and unanswered emails he doesn't seem to want to help at all. He is the replacement for Milton Madriz at Barlovento, who by all accounts was very helpful.

Ive been getting long winded sitting around waiting for the boats, so I'll keep this short.

Lots of love to everyone.