Panama city, Bogota Columbia, Shipping
Dec 28, 2009

Toques on Moto

Listed in the lonely planet are several hostals which offer economical accomidation as well as help finding and booking a boat to and from Panama to Cartagena, Columbia. The last boat sailed on dec 26th and no others would sail until Jan 8,2010 as Christmas is very serious here. The price was listed as 365 USD per person and the same for the bike.

I decided to drive out to the Cargo Airport just 5km past the passenger airpport to inquire about the cost to ship to Bogota via cargo plane. There were apparently two shippers named Copa Airlines, and Griag Airlines. Copa listed their flights for 638USD for the bike only. The crux came when I learned that Copa informed me that they wouldn`t be flying cargo until march 2010. This left me with one option which was Griag cargo for the minimal cost of 901USD for the bike which was loaded right then and there on the spot. The fee had to be paid in cash which I withdrew from an ATM located at the Copa airlines departure gate (there are two Copa buildings here within 2km of each other that dispense USD.) All I did to prepare the bike was take off the windshield....no battery disconnect or fuel issues to resolve.

I hitchhiked to the passenger Airport and was happy to find a plane leaving immediately to Bogota. I boarded the plane with Avanzier Air lines (forget spelling) who were the only ones that would sell me a oneway ticket to Columbia. The cost for that was 380 USD plus free liquor during the hour and a half flight. I was suprized when mid flight the steward came back with airplane food....an extinct thought for our starving North American aircarriers.

Arriving in Bogota I was asked at immigration what hotel I was staying at that night. I had packed the lonely Plant in the bike and 2 hours before that didn`t even know I was going to Columbia, so, I simply told him that I was staying at ``hotel Bogota`` I got busted immediately and lectured that this was very important. I kept saying Hotel Bogota and finally the ticked off immigrations agent let me pass and stamped my passport. I checked into a great hostal in the «Historical centre of Bogota that I searched online. Initally a cab driver dropped me of at a hotel for a 200USD per night, I couldn`t afford that so I asked to use their internet to seach for a hostal. The dumb cab driver didn`t understand my terrible spanish...so maybe I was the dumb one..... I needed an affordable accomidation. I wandered out into the streets just a few hundred meters from the airport and tried to flag down a cab. It was too dark to see me so I came up with the bright idea of using my flash light to S.O.S. a cab to the side of the busy dark road. The idea worked and with the hostal address in hand I gave it over to the cabbie.

I picked the bike up at the airport the next moring but only after a bit of a wild goose chase that included leaving the Griag Cargo area and having to walk across the parking lot, cross two busy streets 3 lanes wide each, while circumnavigating a chain link fence along a dirt foot path some 500 meters to a place with a green sign to fill out import papers. (sorry I forget the name) Everyone kept telling me that the place had a green sign so I opted to ask a new person for directions every 50 meters because I knew that I was in the vicinity.

40 minutes later and the paper work was filled out and I walked back to Griag cargo to retrieve my bike just as I left it in Panama.

I spent new years in Bogota, met all kids of great people, stored my bike at a garage that I knew was charging me more than the locals paid etc. New years day I rode to Manazales along ruta 50, a great road to Hostal Mona Lisa. Before I left the garage, however, the man looking after my bike handed me a new Years gift of Columbia finest rum. The guy used the extra money he was charging to buy me a gift even though he lived in a corrugated sheet metal house in a parking lot with two dogs and could have used the extra money. I gave him my extra leatherman because I was so floored by his generosity...

Greg George
Toques on Moto