It was the summer of 2004 when I decided that I wanted to ride to south america on a motorcycle. I remember consulting a world map briefly to confirm that North and South america were indeed connected by land, albeit a narrow strip, but certainly passable. It wasn't until around 2008 when I was talking with a co-worker in Salt Lake City about the trip and he told me about the Darien Gap, a 100 mile break in Pan American Highway that separates Panama from Colombia. Were it not for this gap, the pan american would stretch uninterrupted from Alaska to Argentina. The root cause for this missing link in the magic ribbon of asphalt is, as you might guess, political. It's kind of a deadlock between the two countries and neither will budge. I asked the hostel owner here in Panama (he happens to be Colombian) why the gap is there and when will they build a road. His response was, "Never. Panama doesn't want a bunch of Colombians traveling freely into their country and Colombia doesn't want Panama to disrupt or compete with all the logging that is going on in the jungles down there... the gap is like the border from the U.S. to mexico, but more secure." The Darien Gap is also well known for kidnappings, murders, and disappearing missionaries, as Colombian guerrillas and paramilitary are known to hide out and run drugs there. Long story short, it's a bad place where the highway ends and you have to take a boat or a plane around it. (Here's a link to the wikipedia page)
Backpackers that are traveling in Panama and want to continue south to Colombia will typically take an airplane from Panama City or a sailboat from Colon. I've spent the past 5 days in and around Colon trying to arrange safe passage for me and my moto to Colombia via watercraft. I camped just outside the port town of Portobelo where dozens of sailboats sit waiting. Only a couple of them would take motorcycles and they wanted the same fee for the bike as a passenger - roughly 400 to 500 usd. I couldn't believe the prices, as they had nearly doubled since 2007 and 2008 where I'd gotten some of my info. The boats spend 5 days out at sea and they drop you off close to the border in Colombia, most at the town of Cartagena. Five days in open water, sleeping on the boat can sound very exciting at first. Thinking about the adventure and the sea I was almost reeled in. Then I remembered the last time I was on a boat, and the time before that, and so on. I do not have sea legs, and five days would be torture for me. I still met some of the captains and they told me everything would be ok; they had ginger root and some great techniques that involve looking toward the horizon and concentrating. I even looked into taking a skiff "The Darien Gapster" (a long, basic motorboat) that wouldn't go completely out to sea and we would camp each night instead of sleeping on the boat. However, the gapster wouldn't take my bike and the only other captain that was actively accepting them (he had three strung on on the deck of his little boat already) didn't inspire much confidence.
I spent the morning riding around the little towns and villages near Colon looking for someone else that might take motorbikes. I found some people that seemed interested but had never carried or hoisted a bike on deck before. Somewhere around lunchtime I made a hard decision, a firm decision, to fly the bike and myself to Colombia. It seemed to go against some of the principles of the trip; taking my time, taking the slower, scenic roads. But this is a decision I don't think I'll regret.
I bolted straight for Panama City from Colon and rolled right into the airport. Within 2 hours I was all set and all my paperwork with customs was done - it was like the easiest border crossing ever, I guess because I was really paying up this time.
Tomorrow morning I fly to Bogota, Colombia and begin the second leg of the trip.
Till then,
-John
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| Not me, sorry. |
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| Tent view in Portobelo, Panama |
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| The KLR poses at the Panama Canal |
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| Finally some better visibility today in Panama City |
