Newsflash-Darien Crossing June 2011

[Mujeriego]

1. Cargo ships out of Colon prohibit passengers.

I spoke personnally to the Captains of 6-8 vessels including the Yicel, Don Juanez, Intrepin, Girar Sol to name a few. Each said that in the last year thier respective owners or companies implemented new rules which prohibit the tranpsort of any passengers. Supposedly these rules were adopted due to increased percieved risk of kidnapping or robbing of passengers by Colombians upon arrival in the ports of Northern Colombia. I offered bribes of up to $200 and there was no budging. I approached some captains requesting work as a ship-hand. No success. I speak spanish fluently and have lived or traveled in Latin America for 4 years. I am also a lawyer in the USA. I wish all of you the best of luck in proving me wrong, but it appears that Colon shipping vessels are no longer an option.

2. Girag quoted me 901.25 to air ship a bike from Panama City to Bogota. It will arrive at 8AM the day after you put it in. The cheapest ticket on Kayak.com from Panama City to Bogota is $327.

3. Portobelo and Miramar did not have any sailboats or tourist boats available this week.

Captain Jack's Hostel in Portobelo said that the sailboats were not attracting enough passengers or motorcyclists at this time. He did say that the sailboat "wildcard" recently made a direct trip from Cartegena to Portobelo with 7 motorcycles, but he said this was a pre-arranged 1-time trip.

I personnally visited the Docks of Miramar, and spoke with the Policia Nacional who worked the coastline from Colombia to Colon. There were no boats available at this time. The supply boats were too laden with cargo to carry any additional motorcycle. Even if the Captains agreed to make room for a bike and passenger, the supply boats from Miramar make numerous stops along the Panamanian Coast before reaching the Panamanian-Colombian border, and you still have to get a smaller second boat to reach Turbo. These trips can take from 9-14 days.

In sum, I'm going to take a shot tommorow morning at a boat in Colon who has a Captain who is about to retire and doesn't give a damn about rules. If that doesn't work, I'm headed to Carti. If no luck there, I'm either selling the KLR-650 or riding bike. I am not going to pay 1300 bucks to ship a bike that I bought for 2800. If anyone has any concrete ideas please let me know. I am by no means an expert on Darien crossing. However, I've wasted the last 3 days scouring Panamanian port towns for rides.

Good Luck

[markharf]

I suppose you're in too much of a hurry to wait for the Stahlratte, www.stahlratte.org: Aktuelle Tour ? Basically, though, shipping costs $800 and up (you and the bike). If that's not worth it and you don't want to scurry around promoting a shared container, it sounds like you know what to do.....

Mark

[vagabondrob]

Mujeriego,
Contact Guido in Portobello. It's only a short, and beautiful, ride from Colon. You can get in contact with him via his website at;
Backpacker Hostel Wunderbar - Home

His next sailing trip is June 12 and he is heading to Cartagena.
I sailed with Guido last August. It was a great trip, he is a motorcycle gearhead, and his prices are a lot less than what you have posted.

Good luck with your journey.

[kito]

you can also sail from panama city docks. i sailed from panama to jaque to jaredo to bahia to buenaventura. its one hell of a trip . not for the faint of hart but i loved it . i spent about a week camping in the darien with some soildiers. cost me just over $400 all in for me and the bike . buenaventura was the first place with customs on the trip so you will have no stamp in your passport for about a week. when i arrived they told me i had illeggaly entered colombia but they turned a blind eye .

[snohobo]

We have some overlanders here looking to share a container - but they aren't ready to leave yet - they are still looking for another car to share a 40' with. If they can't - they may do a 20' and you could probably squeeze your KLR in there also.

Also - I sent you an email re: selling your bike - I have a friend who is interested.

Shaun