San Francisco to Ushuaia in an 87 4Runner.

[defrag4]

The Pan-American Highway, a series of roads linking the great white North of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska all the way down to the southern-most reaches of Ushuaia, Argentina. At a total length of just under 30,000 miles, Guinness Book of World Records marks it the "World Longest Motor-able" road. Yes-siree, 30,000 miles of awesomeness all navigable with nothing but 4 wheels, a tank of gas, and a sense of adventure.

Except... Except.... Except 54 damn miles of impenetrable jungle full of beasts, FARC rebels, impassable mountain terrain, and native tribes who are rumored to still dabble in cannibalism. I am of course talking about the "Darien Gap". The little stretch of jungle that separates Panama from Colombia. The little stretch of jungle that has created much headache for all overlanders headed south.

Panama City is where overlanders must arrange shipping around this swath of rainforest. I would say it tops the list of all overland PanAm travelers fears (the ones that have gotten over the whole kidnapping/beheading nonsense at least). Imagine loading your baby into a dark box, hoisting her high into the air, placing her among thousands of strangers, and setting her off to sea... Not to mention travelers have been stuck without their vehicles for months, forced to pay exorbitant fees, and there have been some whose trucks never showed up at all! Lauren and I approached the city with trepidation knowing what lies in store.

As we came upon the sprawling metropolis full of gigantic skyscrapers, super highways, and malls I was instantly reminded of my home city of Miami, Florida. Mix in everybody speaking Spanish and driving like crap and I really felt like I was back home!

We had a few goals for the big city of Panama. #1 See the Panama Canal. #2 Arrange shipping from Panama to Colombia.

We made some friends off the internet who had been traveling south as well. <a href="http://www.adventuretheamericas.com/[/img]Adventure the Americas</a> is a group of 3 friends who set off in a 4runner from Colorado and are now in Panama City. Pretty cool.. even cooler when you think only 3 weeks ago they were still in Colorado. Yes you read that right. In 3 weeks they managed to drive all the way from Colorado to Panama. A process that took Lauren and I over 7 months to complete! We told them they were crazy. They told us their plan is to circumnavigate the entire continent of South America and return home to Colorado in only 6 months! Then we told them they were just F'n nuts.

Aside from being crazy they turned out to be pretty cool dudes and we instantly hit it off. We spent the night sharing beers, swapping stories, and scheming our plan to ship around the gap together. It is cheaper to double-up and place 2 trucks inside 1 container. They had already laid some of the ground work for the process, found a shipping company, and begin the initial paperwork. These guys were fast.

Team Adventure the Americas and yours truly.

Since it was the weekend and we could not move forward with any of the process we decided to do some sightseeing.

First off we headed out to the walled-city of Casco Viejo. Panama City's historic district. It was built in 1673 after the old Panama City was completely destroyed by the dastardly pirate Henry Morgan (Yes of Captain Morgan rum fame) and his crew. Casco Viejo was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997. The area itself was getting quite run-down for a while and is now undergoing massive remodeling and restoration. It was crammed to the gills with beautiful colonial architectural, ornate churches, palaces, and now hip bars/restaurants. There is also a seedy side to the place which I can only imagine will get shoved out as real-estate values increase. Ahh progress.

After scoping out the city we headed up to a large forested area called Ancon Hill. Ancon Hill was under U.S. jurisdiction as part of the Panama Canal project and thus avoided urban development. It is an odd island of green surrounded by the urban sprawl of the city below.

We had read that the hill is home to monkeys, sloths, deers, and all kinds of wildlife cut off from any other jungle. Our friends from Adventure the Americas had seen a sloth up there just the other day, we hoped we would be so lucky.

As we climbed the hill we were greeted with sweeping views of the city between the jungle brush.
Panama City

Casco Viejo

CAUTION: GIANT BUTTS CROSSING

We made it to the top of the hill which had a gigantic Panamanian flag flying, viewable from all over the city.

Lauren looking off towards the Panama Canal off the distance.

We headed back down the hill still searching for wildlife. We head some screeches up in the trees and saw a small pack of Geoffrey's Tamarin monkeys roaming about.

A little further down the hill I am scanning the trees and spot a clump of fur. Looking closer... SLOTH!

Satisfied with our adventure tour we headed back into the city and grabbed some Dim Sum at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294480-d1309023-Reviews-Lung_Fung-Panama_City_Panama_Province.html[/img]Palacio Lung Fung</a>. Best Asian food we have had since leaving the states! That's not really saying much but this was as good as the stuff I could get in San Francisco. Highly recommended. I ate about 1000 trays.

Next morning we headed off to see Panama City's #1 attraction. The Panama Canal.

The Miraflores locks are located just outside of Panama City. They are one of 3 sets of locks used to traverse 51-miles between the Pacific and Atlantic. Looking at the locks in person and seeing them operate is mind-boggling. Add in the fact they are almost 100-years old is even crazier. A true engineering marvel. The history of the Panama Canal is very interesting as well. Did you know the French were actually the first to attempt digging the canal?

Tomorrow begins the shipping nightmare!

 

[Truck Camper Porn]

This is the best thread ever. Bar-none. Love you guys :wings:

 

[defrag4]

lol thanks bud

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

So, how much weight have you lost?? Look at your first pics and look at the last pic of you.

 

[defrag4]

We rose early on Monday morning and met the guys from Adventure the Americas downstairs in the hotel lobby for our gratis gourmet breakfast of a cup of coffee and piece of bread. We confirmed everything was a GO with Seaboard Marine, our chosen shipping company, and mapped out a plan for the day.

Today mission was to get the initial inspection of our trucks to confirm the VINs matched our import permits and to confirm we had no outstanding warrants/traffic tickets. With this clearance we would be able to move onto the next step of the process.

Keith from Adv the Americas had already loaded up the GPS with the coords of the inspection yard. We jumped in the trucks and hit the crazy streets of Panama City.

After battling our way a few miles through heavy morning rush hour traffic we pulled into a dirt lot in the middle of one of the roughest neighborhoods we have had the pleasure of entering thus-far. I would have thought we were lost if our buddies Brad and Sheena from DriveNachoDrive and 10 other trucks weren't already queued up waiting in the lot for inspections of their own.

View from the inspection lot.

Nacho sighting

Talking to Brad we learned that he has spent 3 days at this lot now. Apparently the inspection offices were closed the past 2 days for "meetings" of some sort. Of course in standard Central America practice no one bothered to inform the large number of people/cars waiting around outside...

When we arrived we met a long line of trucks hoping to finally make some progress. Lots of fellow overlanders from all over the world. Canadians, Swiss, Germans, Mexicans, and a few American gringos like ourselves. A regular United Nations of automobile travelers.

We were all waiting around in this sketchy parking lot confused and stressed, wondering if the inspector would actually show today.

Eventually a man in a white shirt with a clipboard came out of the inspection office. We all ran to our trucks, gathered our paperwork, and stood tall and straight trying our hardest to impress. After all, clipboard dude was the critical first step of the shipping process and if we managed to screw this up who knows how long it would be before we got another shot.

He went from truck to truck, inspecting paperwork, making notes and giving the royal thumbs up or thumbs down to the owners.

Brad passed his inspection, Adventure the Americas passed. I was up next. I was nervous as hell as "Clipboard" came my way. I locked eyes with the inspector who all of the sudden did a 180 and started marching back to the inspection office. WAIT! What about me!?

I ran around asking random people questions, Is he done for the day!? Is it lunch time!? Did I piss him off somehow!? How do I look?? No one had any answers.

30 stressful minutes passed waiting around in the parking lot, shady characters prowling the fence eyeballing our trucks like hyenas. I was just about to give up in defeat when the office door swings open and out trots Clipboard once again... 10AM coffee break I guess?

He comes over chatting on his cellphone and seems bothered by my presence. Maybe he thought I would disappear if he went away for a bit? He takes a quick cursory glance at my paperwork, makes a few grunts, and says everything looks good. We passed!

On to the next step. We need to wait for Clipboard to process the paperwork and send it across the street to the "Secretaria General" office. This complicated process of walking the papers across the street is estimated to take all morning/afternoon and we are all told to come back around 3PM.

We head back to the hotel to kill some time. Around 2:30 we head back to the inspection lot, park the trucks and then play a high-speed game of frogger across the 6-lane highway.

We receive little badges that say "Secretaria General" and enter a large office full of people waiting around. We ask the bubble-gum snappin'-cellphone chattin'-front desk girl where can find the Secretaria General. She instructs us to take a seat, so we do.

30 minutes pass, No one has moved. We start to get restless. We ask the lady what is going on. She just smiles and tells us to wait.

An hour passes. OK what the hell is going on! Its 4PM now. We assume the office closes at 5. There are 8 of us in here waiting for the same paperwork and we have made no progress past this initial waiting room.

We ask the gatekeeper again, What is going on? She laughs and tells us to wait with no further explanation. Seemingly perturbed that we were interrupting her game of "Angry Birds"

A fellow overlander emerges from behind the gatekeepers magic door. He explains that he was just with the Secretaria General, there is no one in there and he just walked by the front desk lady without saying anything to her about an hour ago.

Damnit! That's what we get for asking for permission...

We hatch a plan, Brad and Keith are going to cause a distraction and I am going to army-crawl past the desk, through the magic door, and into the office of the Secretaria General. We are just about to put the plan into action when our eyes catch the Camo-clad security officer fingering his pistol and licking his lips. He can sense the gringos are up to something. We put the plan on pause.

Finally the gatekeeper takes a break from texting her loverboy and says 2 of us can enter. Instantly, all 8 of us rise up and rush the door. She starts yelling at us. Only 2! Only 2!

"DON'T LOOK BACK!" I yell to Keith and Brad.

We all keep pushing past the door. We soon find ourselves running blindly through the hallways of the government building desperately seeking refuge. We find the door marked "Sec. Gen." We fall in and slam the door behind us fully expecting some crazed rifle-wielding Military dude to come kick our asses at any second.

We find the Secretary General pleasantly sitting all alone at her desk. She sweetly asks "Why were you guys waiting outside?...

Brad's paperwork is processed without a hitch. Everything matches up and he is given his clearance paper. His shipping partner was not so lucky and had to make a last minute mad-dash out of the building for copies.

Keith's turn came up. The SecGen got 90% through the process when she hit a snag. His import permit listed the truck as an "ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE" but "Clipboard" had marked it down as a "CAMIONETA". This inconsistency was all that was needed to flunk the entire inspection process. Keith would be unable to get his clearance until we had the import permit changed at the customs office across town. FAIL.

My shot. I get up with my paperwork, 90% through. Snag. My VIN number was fine but where it asked for Motor VIN the import permit listed N/A. This would not do. DOUBLE FAIL.

We slunked out of the SecGen office defeated.



Next morning we were up early, headed to customs and got the proper changes to our paperwork. Drove back to SecGen office, bum rushed past the frontdesk airhead and went straight to the SecGen. Everything matched up perfectly this time. We received our clearance forms!

With our clearance forms in hand we headed to Panama City customs office to cancel our Vehicle Import permits so we could fly out of Panama without our cars.

Unfortunately no one at the Panama City customs office had any clue what in the hell we were trying to accomplish. They just couldn't understand why we would want to cancel our vehicle import permit.

We spent about 3 hours going from office to office explaining in vain what we were trying to do. We finally thought we were making some progress when they brought us to the main jefe (boss man) of the entire customs office. However, it turned out he was pissed off to be interrupted by a bunch of gringos and still did not understand what we wanted.

Oh well. Looks like we will have to cancel the permit in the port town of Colon where the customs office did this stuff daily. That's what we get for trying to be efficient!

Next morning we woke early. We took a few essentials out of the truck and packed our backpacks with some clothes. If everything went according to plan, by the end of the day, we would be loading the trucks into a container bound for Colombia.

We hit the road towards Colon, Panama. In Colon our mission was to cancel our import permit, find Seaboard Marine office, and load our trucks into the container.

Keith had loaded the GPS with the Port of Colons coords. We soon arrived in the gritty city and made our way to the port. Once we arrived there we found the customs office at the port entrance and explained what we were trying to do. They, of course, had no idea how to help us...

This in turn lead us on a wild goose chase all over the entire port of Colon. For about 2 hours we went from office to office explaining our situation to anyone who would listen. Everyone wanted to help but no one really knew what to do. We were sent off in a million different directions. At one point we went on a 30-minute joy-ride inside of one of the ports official vans which was actually pretty cool although completely unnecessary.

We eventually found ourselves at a building which everyone told us was Seaboard Marine office, but we could not find Seaboard Marine. We asked around for 30 minutes and finally someone told us the damn office is on the 2nd floor of the building we are in! DOH!

We walked upstairs and found Seaboard representatives smiling friendly from behind their counters...

We explained our situation to them. They in turn gave us directions to the REAL customs office who COULD actually cancel our import permits.

We jumped back in the trucks, drove all the way back across the city of Colon to find the Aduana agency we had been searching for all along.

Once inside we found the lovely Maria. She knew exactly what we were trying to do! We instantly gave her a huge hug. She told us she was really surprised to see a bunch of white people in her office, explaining that most folks hire a guide to help them through this process. Ahhh Guias? We don't need no stinkin' guias!

Maria is flyin' through the process almost done when *ZAP* all the computers go out. System is offline. No idea when it is coming back up again. Of course, Maria needs the system online to give us a print out of our newly canceled import permit.

Oh well, When in Rome... We went outside and joined the rest of the crew eating some questionable meat outta the streetside food carts. 2 hours later, systems came back online and we finally had the canceled permits we have been chasing for the past 2 days!

With permits in hand we knew we were closing in on the prize. We jetted back to Seaboard Marine, showed them the canceled permits, they gave us some more paperwork and sent us downstairs to the port office. Port office processed even more paperwork and sent us outside to "look for the guys in orange jackets" for inspection.

We got outside and realized everyone had a damn orange jacket on. Eventually I spot 2 guys hiding out in a little shack. I had to beg and plead for them to come out of the shack and do our inspection. They didn't want to get wet!

Once that was done we headed back into the office, paid some port fees and were finally ready to enter the actual port with our trucks. A final paperwork inspection and we were lead through the gates.

We wound around through the mile-high stacks of containers and eventually reached a large building. We drove up the ramp and parked our trucks inside.

Happy to finally be at the last step!

We searched around for the bossman, told him we were here to load. They gave us some BS about just leaving them the keys and they would do it for us. We pushed back and they agreed to let us drive the trucks into the containers ourselves.

Tight fit!

Adv the Americas loaded up their 4Runner and the port boys lashed em down. We were a bit nervous about the whole process.

Eventually we had to say "Adios". Our babies were in the hands of the port now. See ya on the other side!

Conveniently located right next the port was the Panama City Railway. We hopped a train back to Panama City. It was my real first train ride ever. Cross it off the bucket list!

Many $2 beers were drank in celebration. Part 1 of the shipping process was complete!


Next day we got our butts on a plane and flew to Cartagena, Colombia. Of course the process wouldn't be complete without another hiccup. I accidentally booked our flights on the wrong damn day. The lady took pity on us and squeezed us onto the right plane at the last minute. Thanks Avianca!

Stay tuned for Part 2. Getting our trucks backs!

 

[unURBAN]

Now, that brought back some interesting memories! Excellent write-up.

Congratulations with the easy.. oups.. I mean, first part... ;-)

And its no point trying to rush it before the container is on the ground at the port. Enjoy Cartagena, it is wonderful!

E&M

 

[defrag4]

Now, that brought back some interesting memories! Excellent write-up.

Congratulations with the easy.. oups.. I mean, first part... ;-)

And its no point trying to rush it before the container is on the ground at the port. Enjoy Cartagena, it is wonderful!

E&M

lol thanks for your help bud. Your walk-through on your site was a big resource for helping work our way through the process.

 

[FireFinder]

So, how much weight have you lost?? Look at your first pics and look at the last pic of you.

It looks like South America ran out of food

 

[RMP&O]

The morale of the story should have read "choose your mechanic like you choose your street taco stand.... the place with the most patrons!"

I tried that once....ended up having horse brain tacos!

Nice trip report.

Cheers!

 

[andysgreenxj]

Hey guys! im new to the portal, and just read through this thread, and have to say...awesome...just friggin awesome!!! You guys are living the dream!!! im hopeing someday to be able to do something similar!
Thanks for shareing your experiences with us, its has been a really great read...safe going, looking forward some more write-ups! :drool:

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I tried that once....ended up having horse brain tacos!

Nice trip report.

Cheers!

I bet they were good!

 

[defrag4]

The urban sprawl of Panama City soon fades as we rise higher and higher into the clouds. Miles of housing developments, sky-scrapers, and asphalt soon give way to lush virgin jungle. We were flying over the Darien Gap. From the looks of it I think the 4Runner coulda made it... Of course its easy to talk crap from 30,000Ft.

After a quick flight our plane descends into the chilly mountain city of Bogota. A welcome change from the sweltering temps of Panama City. We were shivering as we climbed the steps onto the tarmac to head for our connecting flight to Cartagena.

Everything is running smoothly, We grab our packs, rush through customs and head to the connecting gate.

Our luck ran out when the "Shipping process Gods" realized it had been over an hour since our last grand disaster. We suddenly realize there is a sheep missing from our overlanding flock. 3 Americans and only 1 Australian stand at the flight gate.

"Where the hell is Daniel?"

2 of us run back to the customs, No sign. We check the bathrooms. No sign.

I speak with the customs agent, wondering if Daniel had been captured, his long run as a secret Australian drug runner finally catching up to him in Colombia. WAS HIS NAME EVEN DANIEL!?? I wonder.

Nope, replies the custom guy. No white guys today.

We finally find him, outside of the damn airport wandering confusedly around the Taxis. He mistakenly walked out the front glass sliding doors of the airport instead of swinging a right to the connecting flights gate. An easy mistake to make but unfortunately security would not let him re-enter the building. We discuss his options as the automatic sliding glass door continuously opens and shuts in our faces. Well, we sure as hell weren't coming out there! He would have to make his way all the way around the entire airport, go back through security and meet us on the other side at the connecting flight. He had 30 minutes before the plane left.

We wished him good luck and jumped on the bus which then took us 3/4 of a mile across the airport to our connecting flight which was located in an entirely different section of the airport in a brand-new concourse under construction.

Daniel was equipped with his only ticket and a spanish-phrase book. Chances of him finding the new concourse, clearing security, and then finding the gate in only 30 mins looked dim.

We all anxiously paced around the gate as they announced boarding. No sign of Daniel.

We had no phone or internet to communicate with him. I gave Lauren my bag and waited at security. Kevin gave me all his electronics and headed out of security in a last ditch effort to track him down. After 10 minutes of searching, we heard them announcing final boarding.

With no sign of Daniel, Kevin gave up and came back through security as we headed towards the plane.

Our buddy was lost somewhere in Colombia but we got planes to catch. Good luck Daniel!

As we board the plane and hand over our tickets we hear someone yell "WELL WHAT ARE YA WAITING FOR, WE GOT PLACES TO BE!"

We swing around to see Daniel, cheery as a chipmunk, walking up with ticket in hand.

Apparently he had been sitting at the wrong damn terminal the entire time thinking smugly he had beat us to the plane. Only realizing at the last minute that the "helpful" airport employee had mis-read the ticket and sent him to the wrong gate.

We were all relieved to see him, called him a damn bastard, and got on the plane.

We soon landed in Cartagena, found a taxi, and after a quick head count, made our way to a hotel.

Welcome to Colombia!

 

[defrag4]

probably lost 10Lbs or so, they arent big on scales down here cant recall the last time i weighed myself.

eating good and walking around all the hell over the place!

 

[bansil]

When do you get your :box: back?...so you can continue our...ugh your adventure:sombrero:

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

When do you get your :box: back?...so you can continue our...ugh your adventure:sombrero:

They're actually well ahead of this thread....