Bumped for good info in this thread.
4 captains out of Portobello to Cartegena or vice versa.
1. Captain Mark of the Melody
freshaircharters@yahoo.com
2. Captain Ludwig of the Stahl Ratte (steel rat)
+57 3013503883 or
mail to
info.steelrat@les-raisting.de
www.stahlratte.org: Logbuch
3. Captain Leonardo of the ?
4. ?
Does anyone have the info on the other captains?
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This guy works at Club Nautico in Cartagena, Colombia and knows when all of the sailboats are arriving/departing and which captains take motorcycles.
Manfred HH Alwardt
Pie de la Popa
Calle 29E #20-141, Oficina 101
Cartagena
Phone: +57 311 400 6394
Email: manfred.al <delete-this-at> gmx.de
If you're heading this way its worth contacting Manfred, he knows where the various boats are, which ones take bikes and sorts out all the paperwork for immigration & customs.
You can usually find Manfred at Club Nautico during happy hour, look for a big ginger German. Club Nautico is at N10 24.730 W75 32.477
If Manfred is not there, there is a Colombian guy named David who also knows good English and can help you out. Here is his contact info also
![Sad](https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/images/smilies/sad.gif)
(57) 313-523-0742 or (57) 317 282 0161
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Alternative Information:
Not sure if this guy leaves out of Portobello, but I know he lands in Cartagena
captain Ruben - Fujimo Charters
Tel Panama 507 6735 3714
Tel Colombia 57 313 5000 229
colombia_panama10@hotmail.com
Here is another possible way that you could do it by leaving from Costa Rica to Cartagena, but it is more expensive then the Portobello captains.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...bello+sailboat
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Why you do not want to cross the Darien on the cheap:
Having researched all the Darien transportation options I decided to follow the advice of a guy in the shipments by travelers section who recommended taking a cargo ship from downtown Colon to Cartagena for $200.
1. Downtown Colon is a very dangerous that looks like Mogadishu. Every second guy there is sizing you up wondering whether or not he should knife you. The whole time I was there I did not take my helmet off until I got to the pier. Tourists are frequently robbed there in broad daylight with the assailants holding a knife to your neck.
2. Ships for Colombia do not leave frequently out of Colon. On the day I arrived at the pier the guy told me to come back a week later for a ship to Cartagena. I went back to Panama City to kill a week and when I came back the same guy told me that the ship left the day before. Instead I took a cargo ship leaving that day for Puerto Obaldia which is the Southern most border town to Colombia. The captain told me it would take 4 days to get to Puerto Obaldia and it ended up taking 11.
3. The ship next to ours in Colon was being investigated for Drug Trafficing. There were agents there with metal workers cutting wholes to look for drugs.
4. The dock height in Colon is built for 60ft ships so with our 40ft ship there was about a 6ft drop to load the bike. With the help of a German tourist translating in perfect Spanish the crew still almost managed to let my F650 fall into the ocean. Fortunately the German guy and I were able to hold the 400 lb bike long enough as it dangled over the water while one of the crew members grabbed the handlebars and pulled the front tire on to the ship. The first guy was supposed to grab the handlebars but instead grabbed my turn signals ripping both of them off and almost making the bike fall into the ocean.
5. The first day on the ocean our bilge pump broke and after taking on a few ft. of water the crew finally fixed it. The second day the engine broke down and took a whole day to fix as we drifted in the ocean. On the third day the first mate got us stuck on a sandbar which was dangerously close to land. The captain told me it would take 4 days and it ended up taking 11.
6. When we arrived to Puerto Obaldia half of the dock had been wiped out by a hurricane so we had to unload my bike over the open ocean with 4-5ft waves into a lancha. The guy in the lancha was trying to convince me to lay my bike down onto wood planks. He was to lazy to go find tires so I ended up having to search for them myself in town.
7. The trip ended up costing $350 and they broke 3 of my turn signals and a $30 oil sensor on my bike.
The moral of the story is that you get what you pay for in Darien motorcycle transportation. It is a dangerous place to be price shopping because there are so many drug smugglers and other criminals. If you take a cargo ship the crew is not going to care about your bike because most of them are earning a $1 US per week. Be prepared for the captain telling you to lean your bike against a metal pole for the whole trip, a pig to be kicking the hell out of your spokes and trying to eat your tires because they forgot to feed it, and for your bike to almost be dropped into the ocean multiple times.
The smart thing to do is to schedule one of the 4 Portobello captains a few weeks in advance. They are experienced in transporting motorcycles and all charge close to the same rate of $700.
If you have a beat up 250 cc then maybe this is the trip for you. Just make sure to drive to Carti, Panama then canoe the bike to El Porvenir and catch a cargo ship on El Porvenir instead of going through dangerous downtown Colon. Here is a guy who made the same trip I did this way.
From USA to Venezuela , solo motorcycle trip
Note: Trying to find a private sailboat captain to take you and your motorcycle across the Darien is a lot harder then it sounds. I went to the sailboat marina in Panama City and the one in Colon. Most people who are rich enough to own a sailboat and travel the world do not need the added risk of a motorcycle traveler. I read about one guy who camped at the sailboat marina in Colon for a few nights and negotiated a ride to Cartagena but it still cost him $600. An Australian rider I met in Colombia told me he negotiated a deal (in Spanish) with a guy in El Porvenir who took the Aussie and his bike for $300. I have a feeling that this was a stroke of luck though.
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