Panama to Colombia: Crossing the Darien Gap on Foot #SundayTraveler

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Question: How can you drive from Alaska to Argentina?

Answer: You can’t.

“Are you serious? You really can’t drive to Colombia? But it’s right next door!”

Yes, we’re serious. Sure, it’s true that the Pan-American Highway stretches from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska all the way down to Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego National Park at its tip. On paper. However, there’s one 90-km break in the road in Panama, the virtually-impenetrable Darien Gap.

Far more treacherous than anywhere in northern Mexico, only the most adventurous or suicidal attempt to cross the Darien on foot into Colombia. And we’re not that brave. Or stupid.

Why is it unsafe to cross the Darien Gap on foot?

There are plenty of reasons to avoid crossing the Darien. Take your pick:

• Treacherous jungle
• Virtually impassable mountains
• Impenetrable swamps
• Overgrown, often unmarked trails
• Almost totally uninhabited, so if you get lost or injured you’re on your own
• Unfriendly wildlife, such as snakes as big as your arm, man-eating cats bigger than the snakes, crocodiles and caimans in the rivers, biting ants and spiders that can drop down your shirt … you get the idea.
• Countless mosquitoes, sometimes carrying diseases like malaria and dengue fever
• Highly questionable water quality
• Limited food availability (eat local plants or carry your own)
• Crazed drug traffickers
• Desperate paramilitary Colombian guerrillas
• Paranoid government police
• Risk of kidnapping, rape, torture or murder

A few people attempt it every year. I don’t know how many succeed … but for us there are enough documented cases of people disappearing permanently to discourage any notions of our trying it ourselves.

Besides, we have an aversion to bugs and prefer to sleep in real beds.

If you want to cross the Darien Gap

Here’s our advice:

• Hire a local guide
• Travel during the dry season
• Don’t do it alone
• Be prepared to pay at least $5,000 for the experience.
• It will take about three days of hefty traveling.

How to get from Panama to Colombia on foot: 

Here’s the inside scoop, from a Darien local we met. He “might know a few people who do that.”

Crossing the Darien Gap starts with a drive to Yaviza, at the end of the Pan-American Highway.

Expect to be stopped by the police repeatedly. They will want your name and a copy of your passport so they can search for you if you don’t return.

Once in Yaviza, spend a half day hiking to a river

Then spend an entire day on rivers in a rustic boat

Restock supplies at the last mountain village in Panama, then hike a half day in the heat, humidity and mosquitos to get to the Panama-Colombia border.

Once in Colombia, hike for another full day to the first Colombian town.

At which point your guide will bid you goodbye and return to Panama the way he came.

Oh, by the way, now that you’ve entered the country, you still have to get your passport stamped.

For other, safer ways to get from Panama to Colombia, try one of the following:

1. Cargo ship – They sail from Colon and/or Portobello to various Colombian port towns
2. Fly – obviously the fastest way to get to anywhere in Colombia
3. Speed boat – fast and rough, often without food
4. Sail from Portobello to Cartagena – both Google and Luna’s Castle Hostel in Panama City’s Casco Viejo can help you arrange a trip. So can others. It takes 4-5 days and the journey includes a visit to the beautiful San Blas islands. Costs compare to a plane flight.

But don’t automatically choose the cheapest ride; sometimes you’ll get what you pay for.

In case you were wondering, there are no car/passenger ferries from Panama to Colombia or Venezuela. The only way to get vehicle around that stretch of non-road is by cargo boat. We have heard has it that it is an expensive, confusing, and exhausting experience.

The photos in this article were taken during our trip to the Darien. So now that you know more about the area, let us tell you what happened when we visited an indigenous group in the Darien.

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