Bad news in the Banana Zone

The Lima Devil's Curve dilemma is no more. As you may recall, my bus trip was going to take me to a dangerous section of the Pan-American Highway north of Lima. A northbound truck crossed into the southbound lane, struck a bus, and the bus fell 260 feet down a cliff into the Pacific.

Death toll rises to 51 after passenger bus plunged off cliff near #Peru's capital Lima, on a stretch of highway known as "Devil's Curve" pic.twitter.com/qJXeyaJjRi

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 4, 2018

Well, there was an uproar in Peru and the president just banned all buses from using that stretch of the highway. So by the time I get there in a couple of weeks, we will be taking an inland (and hopefully safer) route.

But something else happened this week. The Uraba region of Colombia is in turmoil. Uraba is a poor region abutting the Darien Gap. It contains the final few dozen kilometers of my Pan-American journey to Turbo. Apparently the government installed three toll booths along the highway and the locals are pissed. The police have not been able to control the situation and all flights in and out of the area have been canceled.

This is the toll booth between Turbo and Apartado airport (where I plan to travel via a tiny yellow taxi cab). Police have had to fall back. Communication with region has been cut off. pic.twitter.com/qyrbjcwSLP

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) January 5, 2018

PATRULLA DE LA POLICÍA QUEMADA EN CAREPAhttps://t.co/ri4OmyZY0d pic.twitter.com/tDlsmxybLq

— Urabá Noticias (@UrabaNoticias) January 5, 2018

URABÁ AMANECE CON VÍAS CERRADAS Y MÁS PROTESTAShttps://t.co/Qe4wavQc3t pic.twitter.com/oY7CIlRZoy

— Urabá Noticias (@UrabaNoticias) January 5, 2018