I apologize about the informal nature of the following post. In the interest of time, I copied and pasted much of a chat conversation with a friend, editing some personal details, and taking out irrelevant parts.
The short version is that after leaving Panama City a few days back, I walked to the border of the Darien province, where I was stopped by the national police. After telling them my story, they wanted to let me continue, but it is prohibited to continue past Yavisa, as it is a war zone. They spoke with the commander of the southern forces, who said I had to return to Panama City to get permission from CORAZAL, the border security branch of the national police (Panama does not technically have an army, per se, but has a combined police and military).
I am going to meet with the head of COROZAL in the morning, hoping, praying that they will let me continue on foot through the Darien.
_____________________________________________
i walked for 4 days from Panama City. the first day was a little difficult, but I covered a great distance. I started late. at 5 pm. but walked well over 50k. till 3 in the morning. about 2 hours of that was in the rain. i was soaked when I arrived in the town that I was heading towards…so a hotel helped me with a room for the night. the next day the local town was celebrating san cristobal 
Annoymous Friend: No kidding!
me: wonderful catholic songs, fireworks, everything
Annoymous Friend: What a coincidence!
me: yes! so i continued from there…the weather has been great.sometimes though it is very hot…and sometimes it rains
6:17 PM Annoymous Friend: Wait a minute: you walked 50k in 10 hours?!?
me: but often there are clouds which obscure the sun.
yes
Annoymous Friend: My goodness….
me: that is actually a normal pace
Annoymous Friend: normal… right 
me: lol…but i was actually walking faster than this
6:18 PM Annoymous Friend: How hot is it? And how humid?
me: because I waited for an hour at the police station for the rains to stop at one point
i dont know, i am so used to the temperature at this point, air conditioning bothers me
Annoymous Friend: What’s the name of the town? And where are you now? (I hadn’t ask 
)
asked*
me: the name of the first town where I stopped was Chepo
6:19 PM i will tell you where i am in a moment…first the story
Annoymous Friend: ok
me: so…I left Chepo
at around 11 the next day…i walked and walked and walked and walked
6:21 PM to a town called cañitas where I slept at the police station. The next morning, I walked and walked and walked, but the environment started to change rapidly. i passed maybe one of the most beautiful lakes i have ever seen
Annoymous Friend: I’m trying to follow this on the map
me: called lago bayano
6:23 PM Annoymous Friend: I found it, yes
me: as I was approaching the lake…the fincas stopped
finca is a farm
where they have cleared the rainforest
6:24 PM so the fincas became forests, jungles, deep, dark, and vast
full of strange creatures that I have never even imagined before
and howler monkeys that dont howl, but roar
i hadnt seen monkeys like this before
Annoymous Friend: My goodness!
6:25 PM me: but they are intense
and there were many many many
everywhere
Annoymous Friend: I hope they were not aggrssive
me: and spiders so big that you wondered if it was actually a spider
and snakes of all colors and sizes
Annoymous Friend: oh god, please don’t mention those…
me: and birds, with sounds like you have never heard
and i came to a bridge
6:26 PM where the pAnnoymous FriendmericAnnoymous Friend crosses the lake
and i found there a kuna village
Annoymous Friend: Yes, I see that on the map
what does kuna mean?
me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuna_(people)
Annoymous Friend: Oh! I see
me: there was no restaurant at the Kuna village and I had to buy food from the small snack store
i bought tuna and a piece of bread
from a woman wearing clothes that are quite literally 3d
in their patterns and colors
and also given my state
6:31 PM she was wearing a nose ring and was speaking a language unintelligible
to me
the kuna live together, in very close proximity
Annoymous Friend:
This is fascinating!
me: in fact, it is common for them to have a common house, where everyone, but especially the children sleep in hammocks
6:32 PM and the houses are mostly raised on stilts, as their culture is acclimated to the rainforests
and living on the rivers
and lakes
and the sea
they have long dugout canoes
the children seemed extremely happy, playing all over the place
6:33 PM peeing where they liked
so, i continued to walk and walk and walk
Annoymous Friend:
me: just on the other side of the bridge, i met this guy, named Irwin
who pulled over to offer me a ride
he was driving a new pickup truck
6:34 PM and in the back he had many workers
i told him my story and why, though thankful, I couldnt accept
asking what I did for money and food
Annoymous Friend:
6:35 PM me: he offered me a place to sleep and eat when i made it to cañasas (i think is what it is called)
so, i walked from the bridge into the late afternoon and sunset
with the colors of the sun, reds, orange, purple cast against a super dark sky
rainbows
6:36 PM and lightning so bright booming close by, stretching across the sky
as it got dark, I wondered how long it would be until the next town
i walked for a very very long time
6:37 PM on a road that was very very straight
just cut, right through the rainforest in a straight line
Annoymous Friend: yes, I see it on GoogleMaps
me: as night fell, big insects started coming out from the forest
locusts and grasshoppers so big, as long as my hand w/fingers
6:38 PM again, snakes crossing the road
i saw a sloth that didnt quite make it
i guess it was too slow
Annoymous Friend: My goodness…
This sounds like a film
Let me see what a sloth is
6:39 PM me: so…i walked and walked and walked, actually climbed and climbed and climbed
up a slight grade
Annoymous Friend: Ah! We call this animal “preguiça”, whcih means laziness
me: until the forests stopped and fincas began again…
you can see this on the satellite view in google maps
6:40 PM Annoymous Friend: yes, I am seeing this
me: walking a little further, past the curve
i stopped at a small store (tienda)
where they fed me chips, bread, and cinnamon milk
heated and delightful
i asked them if i could use my hammock
but they said they didnt own the store
6:41 PM and an older man, actually originally an immigrant from colombia (as many are in pAnnoymous Friendma) walked with me for about 1k to his home
which was little more than a roof
and some wooden walls that enclosed a kitchen
Annoymous Friend:
6:42 PM me: i woke up in the morning to the sound of his radio, a talk show, that was using an automated laughing sound, used incessantly
i had to pee also, so I got up
6:43 PM cows were been corralled right next to where i was sleeping. My first image was of a cow being tied to the bars of a truck. After I got up and packed, I continued on to torti
that day is kind of a blur
6:44 PM i am sure i can remember parts
there are many farms there
Annoymous Friend: How so?
me: and i could see the forest off in the distance
Annoymous Friend: Why is it a blur?
me: i stopped and talked with many people
and collected a few prayers as well
i am not sure, it just isnt as vivid as the other days
6:45 PM Annoymous Friend: ok
me: the road was just so straight
seemed endless
Annoymous Friend: Yes, it’s pretty impressive on the map
me: there are a few hills to break it up
but it becomes monotonous
6:46 PM so, I stopped in torti, where I slept, again, next to the police station
i started to smell ripe by this point
Annoymous Friend:
me: I hadn’t showered or bathed since chepo
i could have, in the rivers, but for some reason, i just pushed on
6:47 PM so the next day i arrived easily, with time to spare in cañAnnoymous Friends (sp?)
close to the border with the darien
and i stopped to search for my new friend Irwin
6:48 PM Annoymous Friend: right!
me: turns out he lived way off of the main highway
on a road that eventually ends in the carribean
so i hitched a ride
out to his finca
he is a little younger than me
and spent 2 years, playing soccer in guadalajara, mexico
6:49 PM so he has been around a bit
and now organizes this group of laborers, mostly his friends, to do odd farm jobs
Annoymous Friend: Where is he from, originally?
me: spraying herbacides, pesticides, using a matchette to cut grass and clear fields
from this pueblo
this town
6:50 PM i thought, erroneously, that because he had a new truck, that his house would be of some substance
lol
and stature
but it was not
it was a cut above the rest in the area
but he really just used it as a place to cook meals for his workers, so it was trashed
6:51 PM he fed me, with his workers
rice, beans, and dry meat
and offered me a shower
only it wasnt a shower
it was a muddy pond
lol
Annoymous Friend:
Well, you know that people pay a lot for that in what they name “spas” So I guess you were just lucky
me: where I bathed, cleaned my clothes, and dried nude in the grass, watching the thunder clouds billow and form
6:52 PM haha
right
and minnows nibbling at my legs and toes
when i first felt one, i freaked out
haha
he said he was coming back, but took too long and I wanted to continue, before the rains
6:53 PM i could have slept at his place, but i decided to keep walking towards agua fria no.1 and 2
the names of other “towns”
really, just more dense clusters of houses along the pAnnoymous FriendmericAnnoymous Friend
Annoymous Friend: yes
6:54 PM And then?
me: and then the rains came
Annoymous Friend:
me: so i stopped at a tienda/bar
to wait for the rain, I sang some hymns
read my bible
practiced spanish
and continued on after the rains stopped
they usually only last for 1-2 hours
but i have to wait a little longer for the roads to dry so my feet dont absorb the water
6:55 PM and get blisters
and i was already wet from the rains that had fallen
on my clean clothes 
ok…so then, i continued, not much further, to agua fria no.1
and then, I passed into the Darien Provience
i need my camera Annoymous Friend!
lol
6:56 PM Annoymous Friend: You can’t describe it all, right?
me: anyway, soon thereafter, there was a police checkpoint
exactly
like the sign
i wanted to take a picture
it was in such sharp contrast to everything that you hear about this place
Annoymous Friend: Why don’t you have it with you? It’s a shame you’re not documenting your journey
me: boasting of kind people, hardworking
6:57 PM with hibiscus flowers
i lost it in washington, when i went to see my kids
Annoymous Friend: hm…
me: i know, it is a shame
i hope i can capture it in writing
when i arrived at the police checkpoint (this was police checkpoint no.3, i think)
6:58 PM i didnt think there would be a problem, since all of the others had let me continue
even border patrols, looking for illegal immigrants, mostly from colombia
Annoymous Friend: but they stopped you this time
6:59 PM me: had let me continue, because the project here is considered a “manda”
i think i told you about this before
i usually have greater leeway than most
Annoymous Friend: yes, you did
me: others
so…i was very open with them
telling them where i was going, what i was planning on doing
and they said, no no, you cannot pass Yavisa
it is prohibited
7:00 PM and then they got on the phone with the commander of the southern forces
Annoymous Friend: oh dear…
me: they were speaking with him, off and on, for about 30 minutes, after learning about my project in greater detail…i think trying to advocate letting me pass
7:01 PM but, in the end, he said I had to return to Panama City to speak with the head of Border security
they put me on a bus…which was actually a panama city bus (a local bus, not usually for distance travel)
7:02 PM Annoymous Friend: oh, my goodness… Is that where you are now?
me: and there were only 3 others on it
2 drivers taking turns
and a sergeant in the military
the drivers drove mad crazy, and I counted drinking at least 6 beers each
and that was after i arrived
7:03 PM the first beer that I saw them finish was actually from another pack
Annoymous Friend: oh dear…
me: the irony of not letting me pass because of danger and then sending me on a bus with drunk drivers was not lost
Annoymous Friend: haha
me: so, yes, i am now in panama city, again, to speak with the chief tomorrow
at 8 am
Annoymous Friend: I like you r sense of irony
7:04 PM My goodness!
me: life is ironic and i love it!
so…my options now…
1) talk to the chief, and he lets me continue…
Annoymous Friend: I was just checking your last message, It dates from 9 days ago. All this happened in just thi short while?
me: i confirmed the existence of a trail from Yavisa to Paya, very close to the colombian border
7:05 PM I am confident that I can reach the border in less than one day
yes
lol
i cannot do it without permission, because i need my passport stamp
stamped
7:06 PM but I am very confident now that I can make the crossing
Annoymous Friend: Right
me: i just have to convince the chief
Annoymous Friend: Oh, I’m sure you will do it!
me: i think now, the timing is good…colombia is changing governments/presidents i think on monday
Annoymous Friend: Both things actually: convince the chief and crossing yet another border
7:07 PM me: and FARC has released a statement wanting to come to a “political agreement”
Annoymous Friend: That’s true
me: which the colombian government has said it will not even consider talks until all hostages have been released as a precondition
they have released thousands over the past few years
that is the trend
7:08 PM and i am betting on their good behavior with the new president Santos
who is even more of a hard liner than Uribe
Annoymous Friend: well, of course they can’t shrug off their toughness. If they start going public making concessions, they’re doomed. Both parts need to bluff to the press
me: Santos used to be the defense minister
right
but they are really dwindling
it is almost at the point of no return
they have to make consessions
7:09 PM and colombia knows they have the upper hand
actually, there is not much for the colombian governement to gain by coming to the table at this point
at least not to make any real consessions
one of the pieces of the puzzle at this point seems to be Venezuela
7:10 PM and the actions/rhetoric of hugo chavez
Annoymous Friend: Well, it does sound like a historical moment.
me: FARC likes to hide in the forests of venezuela and pAnnoymous Friendma to escape both the colombian governement and the paramilitaries
especially the AUC
7:11 PM in northern colombia
which has pushed them into pAnnoymous Friendma
often the auc raids pAnnoymous Friendma and destroys villages looking for FARC who are often harbored by villagers
AUC is considered a terrorist org by the European Union and the US
7:12 PM but is tacitly supported by the colombian governement, and by extension, the united states
Annoymous Friend: well, paramilitary is never a good thing
me: right
and it seems like they are more, or ever becoming more, interested in controlling the cocaine trade
Annoymous Friend: What happens when you cross? The Darien doesn«t seem t continue. It’ a natural border
me: which funds 70% of their operations outright
7:13 PM Annoymous Friend: that goes without saying
me: the rest come from anonymous donors
and the darien is an important smuggling route
on the long road north…
Anyway, I cannot just cut through the forest, without their permission, bypassing the checkpoints, because eventually, I will need an exit stamp for my passport. So, I have to get permission from the chief. A second option would be to continue walking from the border of the Darien province on to Meteti. From Meteti, there is a dirt road that goes to the far south east frontier/border with Colombia, to a town called Puerto Obaldia, where I can get an exit stamp, and possibly cross through the forest into Colombia on foot. This option, though legal, would actually be far more difficult, because after Puerto Obaldia, I would eventually arrive at a town called CapurgAnnoymous Friend, but from there there are really no roads, no trails, I would have to axe my way through the jungle until I reach the Apuro River (Rio Apuro), where I would encounter endless miles of swamp. Short, it would be so much easier if they let me pass unhindered through Yavisa….