Anonymous asked: Dear H.T. As someone who has ridden through much of the southwest US, Mexico, and Central America, would you give your assessment about Panama for a motorcyclist? !) Are there many places to go? 2) How is the scenery, varied or always the same green? 3) Does it really rain every single day for 8 months? Do you always carry rain gear, or just get wet? 4) When you travel, is it easy to find a hotel, or are they hard to find away from the major cities? 5) How much Spanish can you speak?
Sounds like you have got an adventure on your mind. I hope my answers will help you get a little closer to your goal. Ride Far. Travel Safe. Do It Soon.
- Panama is a small country, but I never seem to run out of places to explore here.
- Some parts of Panama are dry, and not very green. But for the most part you will be in some very green country.
- It doesn’t always rain every day, and in the rainy season it usually rains for a few hours in the evenings. But that’s no guarantee it won’t go all day. I don’t always carry rain gear. On my trip from Utah to Panama I didn’t have any. Just got wet and hoped I dried out later. There were times where I would be wet for days.
- Unless you are in a very small town (think small huts on stilts), it will be no problem for you to find a hotel. It might not be as nice as you would like it to be, but they are everywhere. Remember you can get from the Costa Rica border to Panama City in about 7 hours driving, and there are large cities spread out along the way. The country is small enough that you’re really never that far away from civilization.
- I feel like I’m pretty good at understanding Spanish, but I don’t have much vocabulary to join a conversation. With enough sign language I can usually get my point across. Don’t let lack of Spanish keep you from taking your adventure, but you will have more fun if you can talk to people so try to learn a little.
