Panama - Mexico in June, mate for the road
 

Hep guys !

I'm a 23 years old belgian riding a Honda NX 650 of 88' from Chile to Canada (for now ;). For now I'm in Colombia and I plan to pass in Panama at the end of the month (May) or the latest at the beginning of June.

I travel alone (you can check to have an idea at Back Home From Home) and will have to cross the central America quite fast actually (fast compared what I'm used to : 80 miles a day of average - I like enjoying the places I pass by). As I meet some friends in California in July, I will have to choose what countries I want to discover and my choice is for Colombia (right now) and Mexico.

So I will cross the central zone (Panama to Mexico) quite fast. I normally travel alone and like it, but for this kind of faster driving, I guess something like 400 miles/day, I wouldn't mind to have some company, related to these famous security issues in central America. I know it's always exaggerated but as I got some problems in Peru, I do care a bit more for this month.

If someone has part of the road similar, tell me !
I'm quite open, don't mind staying in a place for a few days if it's worth. Just in case, I also do rock climbing and have the material (rope and expresses). I like playing music (have my guitar and harmonica). I'm not that much into too touristic places, I prefer random tourism, just seeing where the road leads me.

The principal idea would be to do Panama - Mexico in max ten days, maybe less, maybe more, depending.

Hoping someone's interested !
Cheers !
Alex

Hi Alex ,
no I,m not going anywhere, but just thought I would drop a few comments on your plan for sort of racing through Central America at a rate of 400 MILES per day ....over 600km perday !!!. Not Necessary, and very uncomfortable and often impossible.
At most double your stated average or aim for something like 200km in a day. CA countries are rather small and the last thing you need to do is drive yourself so hard and try crossing two borders in ONE day. Pace yourself so that you avoid the BIG capital cities for overnight stops and your security concerns will be less.
D o not drive at night, ,get well rested at night and drink plenty of safe water.But then you knew al that from South America .
If you need to be in the USA in July you have plenty of time yet so no need to rush too much.

Thanks for the answer !

Anyway, this is the way I travel. Now to July I have 45 days, and to enjoy a country, I need to take my time without any pressure. This is what I will do in Colombia for at least 20 days more (even if I'd stay months) and 15 climbing days in north of Mexico.

I travel since 6 months and sometimes I stay 2 weeks at the same place, sometimes I do 700km/day for a few days, heading another destination I have in mind.

By traveling you have to choose. I hate doing stuffs by half, and I know I will never be able to visit everything a country has to offer. So there it is :)

Anyway, thanks for the advices !

it can be done...but its not fun
 

Alex,

In 2009 I was on a schedule to get back to the US from Costa Ricca. On the second day I linked up with two riders that were also on a mission to get back to the US. We rode fairly long hours for 7 out of 8 days. We were up and on the road most days near sunrise and off the road by late afternoon. Rarely stopping for anything interesting...

It is a little easier keeping the bike secure at borders when traveling in a small group. Traveling in a large group will slow you down, especially at borders due to the volume of paperwork that is multiplied by each rider.

If you really have to get to California by a certain date, I would recommend getting to Panama sooner than later. It might take longer to cross than Darien than planned or something could happen in CA to delay your progress (ex. mechanical issues.) Cut your time in Colombia and eave more time for CA for relaxed travel. There is so much to see in CA, you shouldn't rush through too much.

Thanks for the advices.

I will finally leave Colombia a bit sooner actually, the 29th of May and should arrive 5 days later in Panama, so I have one month to cross CA, more comfortable. Anyway, I still think I won't do that much discovering stops on the way before Mexico, but I have time in case of problems.

I know there's too much too see in CA, as well as Colombia, Mexico, California ... You never finish it. But well, I choose to do some climbing in north of Mexico so I don't mind having ten uncomfortable days to have then 10 exceptional days. I travel for fews years, I will have a way more than 10 uncomfortable days. This is what makes good days actually better ;)

I'll be there in June but your scheduleis wway too fast for me

Antigua!
 

Alex,
You should make an effort to stop in Antigua, Guatemala. Its lovely town, lots of artists, good food, a compliment of bars and hotels. And do connect with David. If you go out it is guaranteed you will have a good time as he knows where all cool bars are and is friends with many of club doormen. beerbier beer

Be careful, as he may encourage you to dance on the bar with the chicas...it happened to me. :D:D:D:D
I can still feel the handover more than a year later.

Hello !

So far it's going very well and I don't feel too much the time pressure. Tomorrow I will then stop in Antigua if I find some place to stay, cause I can't pay hostales anymore ^^

Who's the David I have to contact ? I may be available for an hangover.
Do you have a phone or something ? as we arrive tomorrow already

Cheers !

Antigua
 

Hi Alex,

Sorry, I seem to have gotten my posts confused. I thought David from Motomundo has posted a reply to your thread, but I can't find it, which makes me wonder what caused me to fall and hit my head.

I was tagging along with two Canadians that had been in touch with David. He set us up with an inexpensive hostel. Reach out to him and swing by the shop. Chances are he'll help you find a reasonable place to stay.

Motomundo Antigua
2a. Avenida Sur #16
Antigua, Guatemala
+502 7832 2579
info@motomundoantigua.com

If your budget is getting tight you might try an alternative to hostels. Have you tried Couch Surfing? www.couchsurfing.com (CS) My experience varied from country to country. I easily connected with and stayed with three people in Brazil. Brazil is such a friendly country, its not surprising. I later tried to find a host in Sucre, Bolivia, without success. Mostly I was traveling too quickly to correspond, then stay with a host. The thing is, you shouldn't use CS like a hostel, where you check in one evening and check out the next morning. Plan to stay with a host for two or three nights. I always took the host out for dinner or unch a few times. The financial saving is nil, but the experience of meeting someone and their insight into the local area is priceless. I know you are traveling on a schedule, so this might not work for you.

PS: How is you get from Colombia to Panama?

Thank you !

I actually was sure someone other than you talk about Antigua on this post as well, but no idea where it is.

I know very well CS for using since years, I already made a few demands but as you say, with the motorcycle it's usually too fast or too unpredictable.

I'll then pass by the shop when arriving

My story of crossing the Darién Gap is quite complicated : we tried the famous sailboats but the all stuff fall down, gotten by the customs, and I wonder if this all MC transfer won't stop this way, cause it's all illegal. We then decided to come back to Bogota and take the plane. More expensive but secure and legal. More infos on :

Google*Traduction

(Google Translation, sorry for that)

Thanks for the infos !
Cheers
Alex

Motomundo is closed , and the owners name was Taz , not David .
There is a David working at the Moto Cafe , just around the corner ...

crossing the gap
 

I heard that getting transport on a boat is getting hard again. The Stalhratte is back to the Colombia <=> Panama shuffle after completing their annual Caribbean tour... Wonder if Captain Lulu will have problems transporting boats out of Colombia on his next voyage. Frankly, I think the problems start when dealing with the customs people as you leave Colombia, right? I can't imagine how they have authority over the mode of transport. Maybe the graft that is more common in Central America is creeping into Colombia.

Regarding Couch Surfing, I recommend making requests a week in advance with flexibility in the date of arrival... Being a international motorcycle traveler sticks out in the crowd of backpackers and if written correctly will produce invitations. At least it did for me in Brazil. I would post an itinerary notice for a city with description of my trip and send several requests directly to people in a city that looked interesting. That way I covered both ways of connecting with a host. One time in Suriname a host who had just signed up saw my itinerary (arriving that night!) and invited me. A lady in Brazil who rides a motorcycle saw my itinerary and she invited me to stay with her family. She never reaches out to travelers, but my story was close to her heart. We are still friends and I had the opportunity to host her when she came to New Jersey...

I am on the north-east coast of the US and not on your route. Best of luck in your travels.

I was just on wildcatrd and he said he is no longer taking bikes north at the moment. Because of customs

this and that
 

Alex,

Sorry, seems I got David's place of employment wrong. I recall it was Moto +something...

Anyone interested in transport...,

I wrote Capt. Ludwig of the Stalhratte to share Alex's experiences. Apparently customs has been giving some of the boats a hard time, but the Stalhratte has never encountered problem leaving Colombia. Keep in mind that the Stalhratte is a 124 foot steel hull vessel and significantly larger that any other boat servicing backpackers and adventure riders. The next trip for the Stalhratte from Cartagena is scheduled for July 22. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. Given the past history of no issues, I am betting we won't hear any news for riders that sail with Lulu.

Sorry guys David is a bit lae on this one
 

I see this post a little late, but yes David works at motocafe/mototours :scooter:

Too bad i didnt see the post in time to take alex out in town Peter

I remember you up on the bar with the girls in rileys, a good night.

I hope the rest of your travels went well Peter Bodtke.

Safe trip up to canada alex

Cheer

http://www.motorcycle-adventure-guatemala.com/