In looking through the path much more closely as we move along, if I was the actual guide for the Step 10 Challenge to Rio, it would be about the time that we reach the end of the Panamericana highway in Panama that team "Morris in Motion" might be looking for a new, improved guide....
You see, the Panamericana highway terminates at Darien National Park at the bottom of Panama. And when you look for road distance from the park to the nearest city of any size, Cartagena, Columbia, you quickly discover that there are no actual roads through this wilderness area.
So the area between the beginning of Darien National Park and Columbia is like a "Lost World" in the spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle's epic, only subtract the dinosaurs and add Columbian guerilla fighters and criminal/drug running elements. I think I'd prefer the dinosaurs....It starts with the swamps of lower Panama and cycles into mountains in northern Columbia. Keep reminding yourself - this is for WELLNESS!!!
And it wasn't until the 20th century that any recorded foot crossing of this area ever took place. I guess it partially explains why few Central American migrants head south instead of north.
And interesting sidenote - the first vehicle crossing was done in a Jeep (though it included barges through the swampy portion of southeastern Panama), and some gentlemen in the early 1960s actually crossed the area in three Chevrolet Corvairs (two of which actually made it, with some help from barges). It is a leap of faith to imagine anyone spending that much time in a Corvair at all, let alone crossing inhabitable swamp/jungle/mountains, but I digress....a lot. If you've ever set foot in a Corvair, you know what I mean.
So this is where we sit...on the edge of the Darien National Park in Panama. Ready on June 1 to strike into South America. When I've heard of people wanting to motorcycle from Alaska to Chile, I think I now know the toughest stretch.
Onward....to South America on June 1 - WOOHOO!
You see, the Panamericana highway terminates at Darien National Park at the bottom of Panama. And when you look for road distance from the park to the nearest city of any size, Cartagena, Columbia, you quickly discover that there are no actual roads through this wilderness area.
So the area between the beginning of Darien National Park and Columbia is like a "Lost World" in the spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle's epic, only subtract the dinosaurs and add Columbian guerilla fighters and criminal/drug running elements. I think I'd prefer the dinosaurs....It starts with the swamps of lower Panama and cycles into mountains in northern Columbia. Keep reminding yourself - this is for WELLNESS!!!
And it wasn't until the 20th century that any recorded foot crossing of this area ever took place. I guess it partially explains why few Central American migrants head south instead of north.
And interesting sidenote - the first vehicle crossing was done in a Jeep (though it included barges through the swampy portion of southeastern Panama), and some gentlemen in the early 1960s actually crossed the area in three Chevrolet Corvairs (two of which actually made it, with some help from barges). It is a leap of faith to imagine anyone spending that much time in a Corvair at all, let alone crossing inhabitable swamp/jungle/mountains, but I digress....a lot. If you've ever set foot in a Corvair, you know what I mean.
So this is where we sit...on the edge of the Darien National Park in Panama. Ready on June 1 to strike into South America. When I've heard of people wanting to motorcycle from Alaska to Chile, I think I now know the toughest stretch.
Onward....to South America on June 1 - WOOHOO!
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