CROSSING THE DARIEN GAP?
 

Hi
I am trying to find some information on getting a motorcycle through, or around the Darien Gap.
Almost everything that I’ve found so far indicates that trying to ride through it would be a very bad idea.
I did read one account that said that it was possible to ride along the beach at low tide. Could this be true?
I have also read that there is a ferry boat around it, but the cost was $500 each way.
Does anyone know of an economical war around the gap?
Thanks
Bill

Love to hear some proof that you can ride around it at low tide ...

NO ferry...

There ARE sailboats that go around. Do a search of the site and you should find all you need.

This is NOT a new question! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Yes, me too!
Real info?

yeah right...I say bullshit.....any proof of this gringo?..if so, please do tell...this is HU ya know...

I'll bet you took the Trans Darien Monorail right?...LOL

http://www.goodtimebob.com/monorail/home.html

say HI to the FARC or the ELN for me then mmmkk?...

I can't believe I paid $400 to fly my bike from Panama to Medellin when I could have either ridden along the beach or taken that sweet Monorail!

Thanks guys for sharing this valuable info... if you only would have posted it 6 months ago...

------------------
Steven
KLR "El Terremoto"
Currently returning from Ushuaia.

You could start by finding and reading "Obsessions Die Hard" by the late Ed Culberson. He spend years attempting the Darien on his BMW before succeeding back in the late 1980's. As far as I know, only a handful of people have succeeded since then. Read his book and you'll understand why. Good luck with that beach route though. Let us know if you make it.

This is one the worst things about the internet, people can irresponsibily post things without checking beforehand to see if they are true or not.
See you on the beach.
]</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I wonder where he got the idea you could ride the coast at low tide?

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000712.html

Are you (Flying Gringo) a comedian looking for an audience, or just a jerk.

Actually, IM(V)HO that is pretty funny.
I think it's pretty clear that Flying Gringo was just making a joke with his original posting, if you've read about the hardships Culberson or Heldge Pederson faced crossing the gap, then the idea that you could simply "ride around it at low tide" seems pretty absurd. Like saying to a mountain climber "Why didn't you just take the elevator?" Yeah, it would be bad if someone took off to "ride around it at low tide" based on his advice, but that person would also have to be pretty naive to do that based on the advice of someone they don't know on a bulletin board, right?

Nate

Unfortunately, it would appear that ezrdr had likely seen Flying Gringo's previous post about riding around the gap at low tied, which is why he's asking again. Obviously, ezrdr is clueless and didn't understand bullsh*t when he read it. Its reckless for Flying Gringo to keep repeating his comment - not to mention, how many more posts do we want to see asking the same dumb question?

Better use a boat trailer, or better yet a trailer your boat can pull.

Ezrder, welcome to the club. As im sure you have discovered, a few of us on the hub have a sense of humour some would find rather uninviteful. Your question is a good one, but has been covered many times on the hub. Use the search engine and you will find all the answers you are looking for. The short answer is no. Fly or take a boat. But if you choose to follow Gringo´s advice and ride at low tide, let us know how you do!

There's a beach ??

Girlie's brother (who's spent ages in Panama) tells me that the bit where land & sea meet is gloopy mud.



------------------
Last seen in S.America, missing presumed fed.
http://www.smellybiker.com

i`m gonna lend him my hovercraft for the day.i cant beleive i didnt have it with me when we were there.
actually, someone could make a few quid there;if we all chip in and buy one we could take motor bikes across whenever they turn up and split the profits at the end of the year to fund all our next trips.easy.

------------------

This is one the worst things about the internet, people can irresponsibily post things without checking beforehand to see if they are true or not.

If you had done any research about the Trans Darien Monorail, instead of just posting something you found on a website, you would know that the Panama Colombia International Exchange Statute (PaCoLIES) of 1974, as ammended in 2003, strictly prohibits the conveyance of motor vehicles on monorails.

See you on the beach.

[This message has been edited by Flying Gringo (edited 10 January 2006).]</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


hey Gringo.....please read and quote my entire post...if you had a clue....


hey why is the bogus monorail site linked to FARC?...http://www.farcep.org/....do you know of this?....

this is Horizons Unlimited, and the post info quality used to be relatively bullshit free and not misleading.....

Ok Flying Gringo

why don't you share the results of your research with us?

It's not a help for anybody if you just post information like this without any hint on who did cross the darien gap riding around it at low tide...

Did you do it? Somebody you know? A friend of a friend? Did you read it somewhere?

Interesting subject, many people would like to know more about it :-)

C'mon folks. There is no beach.

The bulk of the caribbean side of Panama is mangrove, jungle and swamps abutting the ocean. When the tide goes out in a swamp, you've still got a swamp. If there was a beach, there'd be villages, resorts, a road down to the beach - the trappings of civilization. Not to mention, look at the map. Its several hundred kilometers from the last road to the beach in Panama to the first road in Colombia. How many kilometers on a beach can you ride before the tide comes back in? Where ya gonna park that thing waiting for the tide to go back out?


[This message has been edited by quastdog (edited 18 January 2006).]

Crossed from Panama to Colombia with a backpack once in 1994. Ten days of walking and taking canoes from village to village, at the time there was not a lot of geurilla activity. The paths at that time we're defenatly not for bike's.

May 2005 we hitched a ride from a sialboot from Cartagena to Panama. Five days off sialing with a stop on the beuatifull San Blas islands. Tied our XT600 tenere's to the mast.

We waited in the marina in cartagena two days before we found some one who would take us across. But there are regular sialboots that do this trip, but not to many that take bikes.

An other way is to drive to Turbo, Colombia and boat your way along the coast to Acandia (according to same guidebooks there is a direct boat), cross the border to Puerto Obaldia we re you can take the supply boat along the cost off panama ending in Colon. But trust me this is not safe, a lott of hassle, and cannot compeat with the sailboats from Cartagena to Colon (but this is my opinion)

In the lonely planet and footprint guidebook there are section dedicated to the crossing, check it out...

There is a guy that crossed the gap on a special prepared bike, saw a webpage once. I'll check my boomarks

Check foto's on our website
www.trans-amerika.nl

[This message has been edited by MillsRoadsurfer (edited 19 January 2006).]

[This message has been edited by MillsRoadsurfer (edited 19 January 2006).]

Never mind metros, riding at low tide, walking, pushing, saliboats or contraband boats. What about this? I have just noticed that there appears to be a ferry link from Cartagena to San Andres and another from there to Colon. Is this so, and if so, do you think they could manage a KLR somehow? Not the only reason to visit San Andres, I've heard.

------------------
"There's no justice, just us".
1995 Honda VFR 750, Purgatory, London, UK

You might check our Kip Ross's piece in the March 1961 National Geographic called, "We Drove Panama's Darien Gap".

It only took them 101 days averaging less than 3 miles a day to cover 271 miles.

Great reading. Guess they should have used trailers or followed the low tide also - silly gringos.

It can be crossed. Not a joy ride though. You have to haul her across the jungle. Use dugout canoes and the help af at least half a dozen natives. Antonio Braga has a web page with plenty of photos and descriptions. www.motoaventour.com
I would rather take the Central America Underground Train.

I recall a Rokon was ridden through a numer of years ago - no canoes. And who wants to end up in N. Columbia, even if you took the Trans-Darien-Dirigible service across?

Using the monorail
 

I'm surprised at the amount of incorrect and out of date info on this thread. Facts...it's not hundreds of clicks through the Darien. Were one to go overland the least structured part is about 50 miles. The ferry ran for a few years but went out of business some years back. No running along the beach at low tide....much of the coastal area is mangroves...hench...no beach. Can you ship a bike on the monorail? Yes, but space is limited..the amount being seasonal. The monorail is venture of the Colombian government and FARC. Under the Colombian/FARC Joint Use Agreement of 1998, FARC military shipments receive priority during the dry season. Coincidentally this is modeled on the treaty between the US and Panama which gives American naval forces head of line priority. Few bikers use the monorail. This is in part due to costs. Obviously, to anyone who has viewed the site, this is not a mode of transport for the masses. A dress code is maintained...difficult for someone who carries all their gear in saddlebags. Some of you may remember that episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" when Robin Leach journeyed on the monorail with the DuPonts. There was the somewhat frenzied media circus when Madonna and her entourage chartered the entire monorail for the beginning of her South American tour...timed to coincide with the release of Evita. As to traversing the Gap on land. It has been done by bike. There was one particularly publicized case of the guy who spent several weeks in one of FARCs eco-tourism camps in the Darien.

Nothing to do with the Darien, nowhere near it.

The Darien HAS been crossed by vehicle, to my knowledge, as follows (best as memory serves)

Ed Culberson, R80G/s
Helge Pedersen, R80G/S
Antonio Braga
Lauren and Patricia Upton, 4wd Outback of Beyond Adventures
Two guys on Rokons, 1970's Crossing Panama's Darien Gap by Motercycle

That's all the vehicles I know of.

Currently, you'd have to be mad or suicidal to try - the guerrillas control the region and don't take kindly to foreigners in the middle of their drug route.

Northern Colombia is also not safe. The rest of Colombia is improving quickly, and is well worth a visit.

Upton did it twice in a Jeep.

Also, AMC (when it owned Jeep) did it as a promotion and used the rivers much of the trip.

Danny Liska?
 

Didn't Danny Liska do the Gap back in the 50's? :innocent:

Anybody ever read his book?

It's been 25 years since I read it....can't remember the Gap details but
I'm thinking he did it....but I'm sure he had lots of help. Anyone?

Liska was a bit of a BS artist as I recall....kind of like some of our
current overlanding heroes out there:blushing:

In 1975 I was in the area. I did research at the time by talking to every
traveller I could find who'd come up from the south or was headed south.
I'd spent two years in Guatemale before this so I met many many travellers
and I quized them all and made detailed notes on everything. No internet then.

I did not have a bike on this portion of my trip. At that time flights from Panama to Colombia were very expensive. And boat trips were inconsistent
and also pricey.

The very best option I found then was flying from San Jose, Costa Rica to
Isla San Andreas. That flight was $25 in 1975. Since San Andreas is part of
Colombia the National flights into Colombia were very cheap at that time.

I flew from San Andreas into Bogota for about $15. I know, seems unreal, but
all true.

Granted, I'm sure costs have gone way way up. And who knows if you can
stash a bike on the little planes they fly. (back then it was Foulker turbo
props IIRC) They did take some big furniture and other huge cargo pieces at that time. A bike? Don't know.

If you get stuck on San Andreas, well its not too bad. Nice place.

Cheers,

Patrick:scooter:

He shipped the bike to Colombia and went thru via canoe and hike, IIRC.

yes - it was the AMC expedition I was thinking of. Forgot about the Uptons, although I had heard about them. They took 741 days to travel 125 miles in a Jeep.

I didn't know about a Land Rover and a Jeep (Kip Ross) that went through in 1960, and a British expedition, led by Major John Blashford-Snell, that took two Range Rovers through in 1972.

Anyone know anyone else?

And for the hardcore out there, let's not forget Karl Bushby who walked it (& floated down part of it!) in 2001.

The Darien part makes for pretty grim reading in his book 'Giant Steps' which covers walking the whole of the Americas.

http://goliath.mail2web.com/

Ronkon Trailblazer
 

It was done on a Ronkon "Trailblazer". With balloon tires and two wheel drive, all you'd need is a pair of pontoons and you probably "could" drive it down the coast. There's even enough room on the back seat for a six pack.
Check out www.outbackofbeyond.com/guide.htm Smitty

Wonder if it would be possible on a specially built quad bike?I have actually seen one fitted with a set of very bulbous tyres,crossing a marshy lake a couple of years ago.The tyres had rubber paddles that were leant one way so they would act as propulsion in the water.The rider would get soaked of course!

An ATV can go anywhere....with a working winch.:)

BTW, Paricia's book, Outback of Beyond, is an easy read and I found it interesting. Assuming it's still in print....

Two years ago I crossed from Colon, Panama to Monitos, Colombia on a Colombian contraband boat about 90 feet long. I spent 10 days in Colon looking and waiting for a boat to leave. Every day I went down to the docks and asked around. One day a boat came in from Colombia, so I talked to the captain and he said he was turning around to head back in two or three days, and that the cost would be $150 USD. Not a bad price, and a great trip though the San Blas islands.

If anybody is interested, while in Colon I stayed in Hotel Garcia, where you can bring the bike into the lobby. Colon is a shit hole, one of the most sketchy places I have seen in the Americas. Do not go out in the streets at night.

When we got to Monitos, Colombia (at night), we dropped anchor off the coast of a deserted beach, and about 5 launch boats shuttled all the contraban back and forth from the boat to the beach. It was then all put in trucks and driven down the beach and then eventually to a dirt road that turned into a highway to Cartagena. I camped on the beach and followed the same route to Cartagena the next day through Tolu and Coveñas.

Contrary to Grant's post, northern Colombia is safe these days, although I would still recommend not driving at night anywhere in Colombia.

Last year I drove from Medellin north to Turbo, without any problems. I have Colombian moto friends who have driven from Turbo to Arboletes to Tolu to Cartagena, along the coast road, who also say there is no problem there these days either. The highway from Cartagena to Venezuela is also safe, as is the route south from Medellin to the border with Ecuador. Basically the only unsafe strech in Colombia these days is east of Villavicencio, and back roads through the jungle.

All of the main highways are fine, done during the day. All of this info is from my own personal experience from living and riding in Colombia for two years, and from different riding clubs based here in Medellin who do long-weekend trips all over the country.

If you can get your bike to Turbo (shipping from Panama, maybe stopping in San Andres), the road from Turbo to Medellin is fine. As is the road from Turbo to Arboletes to Cartagena. Both have some dirt stretches.

Another option instead of the contraban boat is the sail boats that are always sailing back and forth from Colon, Panama to Cartagenta, Colombia, taking backpackers. They usually charge $250 USD per person, plus $250 per bike.

I think I read your report a while back. Cool stuff.

This is good info, of course.

I hope you inflight snack was adequate.:)

That's what I like to hear! :clap: I can't keep up - as of only 6-8 months ago it was considered a problem area from what I was told - it's up to you guys to keep us up-to-date on the latest!

thanks for the excellent post!

I'll try and remember to take it to work and fax it to a PDF file. Then, I'll send you a copy. You'll enjoy the article. I managed to grab this particular National Geographic when we were cleaning out my grandmother's house. There were several that I was interested in -this was at the top of the list.

I will be in Panama in late October. I would Like an up to date report on Columbia. I plan to travel south From Panama to Columbia or Ecuador. I would prefer Columbia, but would like to travel without unwanted side trips.
Suggestions Please.

Pappy

Colombia Info.
 

Pappy. Look at the "South from Bogota" thread in the Route Planning forum. There is some very recent info there posted by someone who lives there. Also info about several folks traveling about the same time you are.
Rick

Spelling please!!!
 

The correct spelling is "Colombia". People can get quite upset about that kind of thing.

No offense taken
 

And I sure hope I gave none! Clearly it's a Spanish thing more than English, and I certainly don't have any truck with any so-called English mispellings - let's face it, the language belongs to the world, and certainly not to my little island - spell "tire" or "honor" anyway suits ya'll. Suffice to say peeps do get a tad pissed off when you can't spell the name of their country, not "state", (that you are intending to visit), correctly. It's the minimum of respect, surely. that's my farthings worth on the matter.

Mucho gusto

Chango de Cuerpos- LOL!!

MM