Mark Wallace travels the world on his BMW R1200 GS Adventure
Just over a year ago I spent a few weeks in Cartagena and loved it. I’d made some great friends, Oscar and Daniella, and they invited me to come back and stay for a while on this trip. When I was in the US I’d talked to a few friends about the possibility of joining up for a few stops along the way. My friend Keith thought Cartagena sounded pretty good and he decided to fly down.
I have a confession to make. I didn’t shoot any video (or many photos) from San Jose to Panama City. I realized that every border crossing was pretty much the same, and the hours on the road didn’t make for very interesting video. So I focused on making the miles and getting to Panama as quickly as possible so I could set sail. So for those of you waiting to see photos from that section of the journey, I apologize.
I stayed in Guatemala City for a couple of days. I needed to get the bike serviced, get a bit of rest, and spend some time on-line trying to catch up on work. After a few emails back and forth I was given official word that the ship leaving May 9th would not work out. The ship already had two motorcycles booked and had no room for a third bike.
After spending a few weeks in Mexico (and loving it) I realized I needed to pick up the pace. The issue was an 80 mile no-man’s land called the Darien Gap. There is no road from North America to South America, the Pan-American highway ends abruptly in southern Panama. There are only two ways from Panama to Colombia; fly or sail.