Chiriqui Mishap

We caught up with this poor guy shortly after he tipped his truck on the road to Chiriqui. I'm sure it just happened because you could hear the engine cooling and he looked a little miffed. His right wheel must have left the roadway where the pavement ends and drops about a foot or two. This particular stretch is under construction and extremely hazaradous for driving. Ma and I travelled this portion the night before. Can't say we were overly thrilled by the condition of the road here. And given the choice we probably would have liked to have started out earlier and hit it in daylight.

We had gotten a late start from Panama City, in part because I rented a car in the morning that had to be taken back because it was a piece of junk. We also got stuck in Casco Viejo for awhile before heading out of town. It was about 7:30 pm when we arrived at Santiago. We decided to press on.

The road construction began soon after Santiago. The most hazardous obstacle was ditches in the middle of the road that were marked but caused the highway to be reduced to a single lane. Along the entire length the vegetation was thick, dark, and ominous. There were no towns whatsoever. We still enjoyed the ride, but driving conditions were poor.

The next day, returning from David, we enjoyed the breathtaking scenery we missed the night before. I was especially happy to see people along the roadway, waiting for rides, walking with machetes, or playing outside their houses. Sometimes scenery is a wonderful thing but it's empty without people.

Chiriqui has water in abundance and we strained to see every river we passed. They were full and wide. In the daylight things didn't seem so wild. But we felt for this guy. He took his eyes off the road and ended up in a ditch. That one mishap may cost him his job. Ma wondered how on earth they were going to get that thing upright out there in the middle of nowhere.