darien gap
 

hey all
am in Costa Rica at the mo, going to colombia with my big fat heavy harley, can anyone help me with some tips on the best way to cross the Darien Gap, preferably quickly, safely and cost effectively , in that order!
Cheers
daniel shell

A bit late in "planning" this section of the trip. You cannot cross the gap,only go around it by plane or boat. For boat info check out among others, Backpacker Hostel Wunderbar - Home.
You can ride as far as Yaviza, and I highly recommend a visit there( see earlier post by me on Yaviza) but after that you need to backtrack to Cd.Panama for airport service or to the north coast and said Hostel wunderbar.

There is a road that you can take to Carti, but I do not think it would be possible on your Harley because the road is supposed to be pretty challenging.

If I were you I would try to arrange a ride on either The Melody with Captain Mark, or on the StahlRahte with Captain Ludwig. Both can be found on the hostelwunderbar website. The voyage will run $800 for you and the bike.

I wouldn't bother with the Stahlratte. Not because of the ship, but because you have to get the bike to the Caribbean side of Panama and the road is crap (I live in Panama). It's a lot of deep mud this time of year and a Harley just wont do it. Most other bikes wont either, BTW.

Daniel
I will be coming from south to Columbia by the end of Oct. Maybe we can cross trials somewhere, would like to know how the Hog did and how you ended up transporting. I will need to make the jump over the gap on my way north.
Left my Big Fat Harley at home and riding a Buell, but have wondered how it would have done.

Bob:scooter:

Hi Dan,

Glad to hear you are still out here having a good time. In october of '06,
I shipped my KLR from Panama City to Bogota with Girag Air Cargo at the Panama City (Tocumen) airport. Cost was $400 freight, $100 dangrous goods surcharge, and a couple bucks for documents, although I have seen people post recently that the price in now more like $800. It was super easy, if you choose this route go to the freight terminal, on the opposite side of the airport from the passenger terminal, and ask for directions to Girag at the guard shack at the entrance. I have also talked to people who have used Copa airlines, they are in the same general area, no personal experience. I flew on Avianca for roughly $240.

I have heard good and bad reviews of the sailboat method, if I was to go again, I might try that. With a big bike, you have to consider loading on the boat more, on the plane it's not an issue.

I describe the process a little here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...egs/002153.php

P.S. go slow on the Pan-Am in Panama, the cops love to extract money from foreigners. Don't ask how I know.

Andy