Hey friends!
My brother and I are trying to plan a trip driving the whole Pan American highway (or at least from Patagonia back to Colorado). We don't have a time-table but first we need to decide whether to bus it or buy a car in Chile to drive up. I would like to have our own car, and I have a Chilean friend that will help me purchase one, but I was wondering if anyone had information and/or tips about which dealerships are prevalent (for maintenance and emergency purposes) in any or all of the countries along the route, or about insurance and issues like that.
Hope all of your endeavours are going smoothly---or that the rough patches are making you feel more alive!!
**Dedaj**
Reply to this Hi,
good idea to tdrive the PanAm. I did it with my own the motorcycle in 2004 and it was spectacular. If you anyway want to make it to Colorado you better stick to busses (Which is the best and cheapest way of travelling in SA. You ask way? Because you can not drive all the way from SA to the USA. The PanAm is not a continuous street. The is no connection between Columbia and Panama. It's called the Darina Gap and it more or less a jungle without any infrastructure. The only way to pass with vehicles: Ship them! Therefore I suggest to us the bus.
Best regards
Mirko
Reply to this Thanks for the input!! We had heard about that gap (didn't know it had a specific name), and we didn't want to drive through Columbia anyways....but we heard that there was a ferry from Ecuador to Panama? Is that the ship you are talking about?
On your motorcycle?! WOW....how long did it take you? where did you stop? could you tell me more about it--or do you have a blog I could look at?!
Take care,
Dedaj
Reply to this Hi,
if you do not go to Columbia you will miss a nice and friendly country - I know that you heard all kind of terrible things about Columbia, but in fact it is very nice to visit. If you stay in the tourist areas you should be safe...but it is like always: You need to decide for your selfe where to go ;-)
There was a ferry going from Ecuador to Panama, but not anymore. The only way to send a car would be ship it in a container by cargo vessel. If you would stick to taht idea it might be able to do it from Guayaquil/Ecuador, but there is no garantee that the service still exists. You need to ask for it in local shipping companies - for more informations about the shipping subject you can search here: www.horizonsunlimited.com
My trip started in Buenos Aires, Arg then we went down to Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego) and though Patagonia (Arg and Chile) most of Bolivia as well es the cultural places in Peru (Macchu Piccu, Cuzco, Nasca, etc) and all the way up to Ecuador. Finally I was 25000km on the road, in 8 month - by the way: the best thing I ever did!!!
If you only want to drive the PanAm you can make it in very short time from Chile to Ecuador, if you want to visit cultural sites it will take a while :-)
Sorry, I did not have a website or a blog about the trip but I went with BOB, a good friend of mine from England - you can find Infos, Fotos and lots more on: http://www.smellybiker.com/
Hope you like what you see there...
Brgds
Mirko
Reply to this Planning similar trip. Seems shipping vehicle between Cartagena and Colon is best bet for overland travel.
Reply to this Great!! How far along in the planning process are you? Would you mind if I picked your brain a little more?
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