The Darian Gap is about 250 miles of dense, pretty much impassable jungle in
Panama, and is essentially the "end of the road" until you get to South
America proper (usually Colombia or Venezuela).  It is an area notorious for
being filled with Colombian rebels and drug runners, and not a nice place to
visit if you are a peaceful Westy-driving Gringo.  It has been crossed a few
times in RUGGED 4 x 4 vehicles, but they usually take a month to do it, with
much of that time spent with machete, shovel, and winch, making a few miles
a day.

In 1994 I believe a ferry service called "Crucero Express" was started from
Col�n, Panam� to Cartagena, Columbia where you could actually travel with
your car.  (Normally you have to pack up the car, have it shipped, fly and
meet your car a week or two later).  It may or may not still be in
operation.  I have a friend that went down there a few years ago to discover
it was "temporarily closed down."  This may have just meant that the skipper
was too drunk to drive the boat...  (que sera, sera...)

You can also ship to/from Miami from Caracas, Venezuala.

There is also a TON of information you need to know about getting a "Carnet"
which is like a passport for your vehicle, as well as a LOT of other
regulations regarding passport handling, visas, etc. etc. etc.  (For
example, in Costa Rica, if you stay past a certain length of time on your
way down, you will only be given like three days to traverse the entire
country on your way back!  (Lots of screwy rules like that)

The only reason I know all this stuff is from reading a lot about it a few
years back - I was planning to accompany my friend on the trip but never
did.

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Zoltan Kuthy [mailto:zol@foxinternet.net]
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 4:39 PM
To: BRENT CHRISTENSEN
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: driving to rio (little vanagon content)

I often think of driving down to Chile and than visiting the other places
around.  But I never heard of the Darian  Gap.  It sounds like the problem
old Cecil  Rhodes faced when he tried to build a railway from Cape  Town to
Cairo.  It still not possible to travel that route by rail or by road.
Could you tell us about this "Gap".  I even heard that a bunch of Vanagons
and Westies are planning to go to Terra del Fuego this year.  How will they
fare if there is a Gap? 
Zoltan 
BRENT CHRISTENSEN wrote: 
  
Check out http://www.vanagon.com/journeys/caravana/ 
Maybe you can join them. 
BTW - due to the Darian Gap, you cannot *Drive* all the way down.  You have
to have the car shipped a portion of the way.  (There are no drivable roads
for a portion in south america) 
Good luck - sounds like quite an adventure! 
Brent Christensen 
'89 GL Syncro Westy 
Santa Barbara, CA 
-----Original Message----- 
From: Jason Willenbrock [mailto:pooncerelli@HOTMAIL.COM] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 3:52 PM 
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
Subject: driving to rio (little vanagon content) 
hello all, 
i have an opportunity to possibly go cook in rio de janeiro as an extern 
through my culinary school. if i did this i would most definetely drive my 
westy.  anyways, before i am set on doing this i was wondering if any 
listees have ever driven their vans, or any vehicle for that matter, to 
brazil, or close to it (ie: costa rica, panama etc..)?  by this summer my 82

westy should be up to par and ready for a trip like this. it would be a 
westy experience of a lifetime, let alone being able to work in rio for a 
while.  so if anyone has any knowledge that they could pass on like road 
conditions, dealing with border patrols and officials, regulations on 
bringing my dog, what to bring in my van that i may not be able to get down 
there, good surf spots along the way, local bars, and most importantly, how 
to speak portuguese. any thoughts, inputs or ideas would be greatly 
appreciated. the time frame i am looking at would be either this summer to 
next winter or next winter to the following summer. opportunity of a 
lifetime and i am very stoked. but i need knowledge before i commit to 
anything. thanks in advance for your wisdom and humor. 
jason 
82 westy 
90 gl 
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