An ATV can go anywhere....with a working winch.

BTW, Paricia's book, Outback of Beyond, is an easy read and I found it interesting. Assuming it's still in print....

Two years ago I crossed from Colon, Panama to Monitos, Colombia on a Colombian contraband boat about 90 feet long. I spent 10 days in Colon looking and waiting for a boat to leave. Every day I went down to the docks and asked around. One day a boat came in from Colombia, so I talked to the captain and he said he was turning around to head back in two or three days, and that the cost would be $150 USD. Not a bad price, and a great trip though the San Blas islands.

If anybody is interested, while in Colon I stayed in Hotel Garcia, where you can bring the bike into the lobby. Colon is a shit hole, one of the most sketchy places I have seen in the Americas. Do not go out in the streets at night.

When we got to Monitos, Colombia (at night), we dropped anchor off the coast of a deserted beach, and about 5 launch boats shuttled all the contraban back and forth from the boat to the beach. It was then all put in trucks and driven down the beach and then eventually to a dirt road that turned into a highway to Cartagena. I camped on the beach and followed the same route to Cartagena the next day through Tolu and Coveñas.

Contrary to Grant's post, northern Colombia is safe these days, although I would still recommend not driving at night anywhere in Colombia.

Last year I drove from Medellin north to Turbo, without any problems. I have Colombian moto friends who have driven from Turbo to Arboletes to Tolu to Cartagena, along the coast road, who also say there is no problem there these days either. The highway from Cartagena to Venezuela is also safe, as is the route south from Medellin to the border with Ecuador. Basically the only unsafe strech in Colombia these days is east of Villavicencio, and back roads through the jungle.

All of the main highways are fine, done during the day. All of this info is from my own personal experience from living and riding in Colombia for two years, and from different riding clubs based here in Medellin who do long-weekend trips all over the country.

If you can get your bike to Turbo (shipping from Panama, maybe stopping in San Andres), the road from Turbo to Medellin is fine. As is the road from Turbo to Arboletes to Cartagena. Both have some dirt stretches.

Another option instead of the contraban boat is the sail boats that are always sailing back and forth from Colon, Panama to Cartagenta, Colombia, taking backpackers. They usually charge $250 USD per person, plus $250 per bike.

__________________
www.motoadventures.org Photo Journal of My Alaska to Argentina trip.
www.casakiwi.net My Moto Hostel in Medellin, Colombia...with a garage of course.

I think I read your report a while back. Cool stuff.

This is good info, of course.

I hope you inflight snack was adequate.

That's what I like to hear! I can't keep up - as of only 6-8 months ago it was considered a problem area from what I was told - it's up to you guys to keep us up-to-date on the latest!

thanks for the excellent post!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

I'll try and remember to take it to work and fax it to a PDF file. Then, I'll send you a copy. You'll enjoy the article. I managed to grab this particular National Geographic when we were cleaning out my grandmother's house. There were several that I was interested in -this was at the top of the list.

__________________
Gerry
PHX AZ USA

I will be in Panama in late October. I would Like an up to date report on Columbia. I plan to travel south From Panama to Columbia or Ecuador. I would prefer Columbia, but would like to travel without unwanted side trips.
Suggestions Please.

Pappy

Pappy. Look at the "South from Bogota" thread in the Route Planning forum. There is some very recent info there posted by someone who lives there. Also info about several folks traveling about the same time you are.
Rick

The correct spelling is "Colombia". People can get quite upset about that kind of thing.

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

And I sure hope I gave none! Clearly it's a Spanish thing more than English, and I certainly don't have any truck with any so-called English mispellings - let's face it, the language belongs to the world, and certainly not to my little island - spell "tire" or "honor" anyway suits ya'll. Suffice to say peeps do get a tad pissed off when you can't spell the name of their country, not "state", (that you are intending to visit), correctly. It's the minimum of respect, surely. that's my farthings worth on the matter.

Mucho gusto

Chango de Cuerpos- LOL!!

MM

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda