The 'ultimate' guide to getting a sail-boat from Cartagena to Panama

Sunset on the boat

Overview

On a map it looks like it would be relatively straightforward to get from Colombia to Panama. The two are linked by land and so you’d think that there must be regular transport between the two.  But you’d be wrong! The Darién Gap is an area of dense jungle and swampland of 160 kilometres in length that links the two countries together and there is no road that goes through it.

Beautiful Bonito!

From the Pantanal, we headed to Bonito – a town known for its proximity to some of the clearest and most beautiful rivers in the world. 

Its the final countdown!

Its just three sleeps to go before we fly to Peru! 

We've said lots of goodbyes and drank copious amounts of fizz... 

Fizz...!!

We've been packing everything up in the house and even managed to find a new home for the fish! Thanks Andrew! They look very happy in their new home.

Getting Started

Our adventure to South America starts in just over 6 weeks, which is a little unnerving as I feel like we've lots to do, but not quite sure I know exactly what it all is!

I've been researching places to go and what to see and have found some really good blogs to help me on my way, including Erin and Simon on their Never Ending Voyage, which has some great tips on what to take and what not to take when going on a long term trip. They've also done lots in South America and are vegetarian, so seeing how they survived in a very meat orientated continent has also been very useful.