Driving to South America

[Southwest Dave]

Hi tom, welcome to the RTA forums !

It sounds like a great adventure you are on, enjoy and thanks for the info !

[tom]

Hey Dave,

Yeah we're having a great time, just about to head into Brazil for a few weeks and then down into Argentina. We'll let you know how that goes.

Cheers,

Tom

[dbrandolizi]

Hi Tom
Could you send me info about crossing to Colombia?
Also how much was processing your car into Colombia.
Thanks
Nino
{email removed}

[carrick]

I guess colombia is somewhat dangerous with the FARC and the Guerillas fighting over the cocaine regions up in the mountains and forests....So if you plan to drive around there I would be careful. You will also attract attention if your car or truck has an american license plate... But you should be safe in cities like Bogota..I guess..But I have never been so I cant really tell.

[supertravelers]

Hello everyone, I have had fun reading about your adventures! I am planning on taking one of my own soon, and I have a few questions - hopefully someone can help me answer them.

1) I am planning to take two cars to my parents in Venezuela from Panama - I am planning to leave the cars with my parents once I get there. I live in Florida, and I am planning on driving my car to Panama, and then I am interested in shipping the two cars to Venezuela because I am trying to avoid the Darien Gap problem - how can I find out how much this costs and if there is someone that can help me? I saw in a previous post that someone found a lady that could help them - I am wondering if I can do this also?

2) Is it really dangerous to make the drive from the US to Panama? What are the main problems that have been run into? Especially with the attraction of the US license plates, and the fact that both cars are decent cars and not very old.

3) Will it even be possible to register the cars and leave them with my parents once we get to Venezuela? Are we going to be charged the same amount of taxes, etc. as if we were to just have shipped them there in the first place? Should I just forget the whole trip? HAHA.

I have never done anything like this before, and I really appreciate any advice!!!

SuperTravelers