I am planning to drive my vintage car from New York to Buenos Aires. Previously I have driven across the USA (Route 66) and from Peking to Paris. Also from Buenos Aires to Vina del Mar (Chile). All of this in a 1930 Austin Seven without any back-up. Not had any problems so far.
Can anybody give details of recent experience regarding shipping the car from Panama to Colombia (or Ecuador) and any experience of driving in Colombia. For instance what about insurance and personal safety.
Any information would be welcome.
Reply to this We are currently in Costa Rica and will be shipping from Panama later in January 2008.
Shipping options as far as we know:
1. RoRo (Roll on - Roll Off) from
Costa Rica to Matra/Ecuador with NYK-Line (the port of Caldera in CR is often congested and then ships don't load - so it's unreliable! - the same ship stops in Balboa/Panama and can be booked in Panama).
2. RoRo from Puerto Limon in CR, also with NYK, to Catagena in Colombia: boats seem to run only every 6-8 weeks!
For
both connections the local agency is
BarloVento (with dubious reputation re. reliability - no own experience).
3. in
Panama the "Goddess of Darian" (not my choice of name - LOL) is Evelyn Batista, who seems to be one of the very few agents who's willing to go out of her way to work for individual travelers - contact:
Barwil Unitor Ships Service
Galerias Balboa, Suite 35
Ave. Balboa-Aquilino De la Guardia
P.O. Box 0843-01562
Panama
MRS Evelyn Batista
email:
Evelyn.Batistawilhelmsen.com
evelyn.batistabarwil.com
Tel:+507 263 7755
Telefax:+507 223 0698
Internet:www.barwilunitor.com
Once our truck has arrived in Colombia I will write an extra entry about shipping on our website (which is not with travelblog): Dare2Go.com - where you can also read up our reports about Central America by camper truck
In Colombia you'll have to buy car insurance, which is not very expensive and can be bought by the day - once again: I will update once I have the insurance!
Apart from that we hear only good things from travelers coming from Colombia (apart from the stories about endless military- and police checkpoints = but they're making travel safe by now)... The people are reportedly really friendly and welcome foreign tourists. The only negative thing we keep hearing is that prices are on the rise (because in some areas drug income is going down - so people are trying to get money elsewhere).
Have fun on your trip!
Reply to this If you are a Gringo out in the countryside of Colombia, you will certainly be in danger.
If you are planning such a drive through Central America, I would want to make sure that you have a vehicle that is absolutely reliable of all sorts of driving conditions.
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