It’s that time of year again where I head back to America to visit with family and friends and see my doctors.  This trip will be an extrordinary one as I will be pre-celebrating my 50^th birthday across America!  As many of you know, I like to have a birthday month!

I could not sleep and was awake with the sunrise. To my utter delight it was magnificent.

Traveling to and from the San Blas islands requires a bit of work as they are not easy to get to.  I worked with Judy Lam at Lam Tours who helped me with all the arrangements.  She is incredibly thorough, courteous, and customer centric!

The panga was supposed to pick me up at 0730 from Banedup in the East Lemons, but since we had moved the boat to Carti, the pick up was pushed to 0830.  So, at 0725, we thought we had plenty of time to eat breakfast and finish my packing. But, no.  At 0730, a panga circled about and asked if I was ready.  Eek gads, an hour early?  Nope, I asked them to give me 30 minutes and they agreed to come back.  We ate quickly, shoved last-minute items into my back pack and finished getting ready.  I got the panga all to myself.

After exploring the Carti islands, we had thought that the “terminal” where the panga drops you off and where you pick up your 4×4 was on the mainland.  Incorrect!  My panga driver, expertly wove us through the beautiful Rio de Carti Grande.

The water was brown, but all of the trees and brush were a vibrant green.  It was a lovely trip down a quiet river.

Within 15 minutes we arrived to Port Bosukun where we met our 4×4 driver.  My original panga ride would have taken 45-65 minutes from Banedup, so having Sugar Shack in Carti saved me from a much longer, bumpy, wet panga ride. Cost from Carti $5 (from Banedup).

There were loads of people waiting here, which was surprising.  Where did they all come from.

Since my panga driver was early, I had to wait over an hour for my 4×4 driver.  I milled around, spoke to a few people and tried to avoid being eaten alive by the no-seeums.  After about 45 minutes, my panga driver came over to me and pointed out my 4×4 driver.  Six passengers loaded their gear in the back and we were on our way.  The ride is 2.5-3 hours.

The 4×4 turned out to be a Landrover with a transmission problem.  Our driver, Angel did his best up and over the hills and through the windy roads, but it was a struggle at times.

Thank goodness, I sat in front, otherwise I probably would have been car sick.  We made it to the airport in one piece after almost 3 hours.  Cost: $30.

This is the last trip where I can enjoy my platinum status, so I took great pleasure in skipping the huge line and walking up to the short priority lane.  The amazingly sweet AA agent was able to book me on an earlier flight out of Panama and into Miami.  Instead of having to wait 4 hours at the airport with no Admirals club and no wifi, he got me onto a flight that left in 2 hours.  In addition, he also got me on an earlier flight to American so I now arrive at 2300 instead of 0100.  Lucky me.  America here I come.

I walked the entire airport and poked me head in several stores.  I did not buy anything as 1) I’m on a budget since we are not working; and 2) I don’t have a credit card since I lost my wallet in Columbia.  But it is always fun to window shop.

The flight to America (LA) was equally uneventful, always a good thing.  I had hoped to sleep, but was pleasantly surprised to see entertainment systems at each seat.  Instead of getting a much-needed rest, I watched 3 movies from MIA to LAX!  Sweet.  One of my favorite past times and I had a lot of movies to catch up on.

Landed in LA around 2300 and was picked up by my sweet brother in law and whisked back to his house for a good long rest.