In the new year, the infamous ferry from Panama to Colombia (which we had planned to drive South and catch) was still not running. A dispute between the ferry company and the port workers in Cartagena meant the ferry had stopped running indefinitely. This put quite a hole in our plans, as the ferry cost $400 for the car, and the only other option (sending the car in a shipping container, or on a RORO) was going to cost us around $2500.
We booked in another 3 weeks of Spanish class in Playa Gigante, hoping that when we were done, the dispute would be resolved and the ferry would be running again. Sadly, that was not the case. After our 3 weeks vacation by the beach, we decided that the best thing for us to do was turn around and head back towards Canada.