MotoAdventureGal update: To the Darien Gap, then the hop to Colombia

Alisa Clickenger (MotoAdventureGal) in the Darien Gap. (Photo: Alisa Clickenger)

Alisa Clickenger, aka MotoAdventureGal, is on her way to Tierra del Fuego, a woman riding solo to the tip of South America. Periodically she checks in with us. We left her last preparing to leave Costa Rica.

Panama was the next country on the route. Crossing the border was comparatively easy but somehow along the way Alisa lost her keys.

"Well, luckily I brought an extra set of keys along with me, and luckily I had the foresight to put a spare key to my panniers (where the spare keys were stored) in the seam of my jacket."

Leaving the border crossing she next stopped at the customs, or aduana, only to find she did NOT have the correct papers and so had to go back to the border. That led to her meeting someone who told her of a great road through the mountains that turned out to be a highlight of this portion of the trip.

"This was the best day of my trip I think. I was feeling so lucky, so alive, I was in pure bliss."

Pushing on to Panama City, she met up with a rider she had met in Honduras and they agreed to ride to the Darien Gap. The Darien Gap is where the road to South America ends in swamp and through which no road passes. From Panama it is necessary to go by boat or airplane to Colombia.

   Alisa's bike strapped down for shipping. (Photo: Alisa Clickenger)

They rode to the gap, spent the night, and headed back to Panama City with the intent of visiting the Panama Canal. Bad directions and bad traffic conspired against them, however, and the entrance to the Canal Zone was closed for the day when they arrived. With their bikes to be flown to Colombia the next day there was no opportunity to return.

The other rider had made all the arrangements, so all Alisa had to do was show up and buy her ticket. One thing she was able to get hold of in Panama City was a new chain and sprockets, so with those mounted it was on to Colombia.

By the time Alisa was preparing to fly to Colombia, she was having second thoughts.

"It's all starting to wear on me. There's so much I want to see but I have to keep heading south. Why the hell am I doing this? Do I continue this mad dash to the bottom of the continent, or just give it up and have a good trip?"

One factor motivating her to keep going was the desire to visit Machu Picchu. The day they landed in Colombia she heard Machu Picchu was closed due to mudslides.

"Machu Picchu is closed, which just sucks! I just broke down and cried."

But the dice had been cast, she was now in South America, and the road led onward. Still, this was Colombia, the land of narco-terrorists.

"Colombia has a reputation. I got spooked."

She stayed with her traveling companion for a few days but their travel styles were very different.

"He had three weeks to noodle around and I needed to head south."

In the meantime, she discovered that she loved Colombia.

"The Colombian people are so friendly and warm and outgoing. Yes, you see military activity and you ask about it and they say, 'guerrillas.' But that's about all. The scenery is gorgeous and now I'm comparing every country to Colombia."

Perhaps as a holdover from the past days of narco-terrorism, however, Alisa did say the Colombian people seem to have a sharp edge to them, and they look at you very calculatingly.

Then there's coffee. Coffee doesn't agree with Alisa's system and she had promised herself she was going to stop drinking it. But no: "Hell, I'm in Colombia. I have to drink coffee!"

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