Re-united with Harvey and the Tracker

Finally, finally we have Harvey and Tracker back. It has been a long, arduous, stressful and extremely expensive undertaking. I said to Uli that we would now have to stay in South America for at least 5 years so that the cost/benefit of ferrying the vehicles here would look better!! Not such a bad prospect at all. We came up with the idea to spend 2 years exploring South America because people kept asking us. We thought that 2 years seemed like a good period of time - long enough to see a lot of places but short enough so that our families and friends dont write us off altogether. We shall enjoy each day and take as long as we wish - who's counting?

Would I recommend fellow RV travellers to ship their vehicles from Panama to Colombia via the ferry? Today whilst it is all fresh in my mind, I would say 'No Way-Jose!' But, I think when we get going and exploring and enjoying this continent, I suspect that the stress and horrors of shipping the 2 vehicles will be a distant and vague memory. So ask me again in a few months.

For us the experience of shipping of vehicles was much much better than most other folks. We did not have damage or theft and the vehicles actually made it on the ship.

Other RVers were not so fortunate; a number had items stolen valuing 100's of $US dollars, vehicles were ransacked and movable items taken, especially tools. Oddly, even people's dirty laundry were stolen.

One vehicle that went on a LOLO (Load On Load Off) ship had major damage to the drive shaft under the vehicle so had to have it replaced in Cartagena. this would occur if a vehicle was dropped from a height onto the drive shaft rather than onto the wheels.

A German couple found out that their RV was not put on the ship. They ended up waiting 10 more days for the RV to come, meanwhile they had a dog with them and had to book into a b@b that would accept dogs. 10 days in b@b's soon adds up and food and drink costs will accumulate because you cannot prepare your own meals in your own kitchen(ette).

Also the agency managing their transit refused to accept any blame or responsibility and even started black mailing them saying they would not give the Bill of Laden unless the couple paid more money. The Bill of Laden is a critical piece of paper, without which you cannot get your vehicle out of the receiving port.

We were told by a Swiss German couple not to even attempt to try to get our vehicle out by ourselves because it was too complex a task and they had tried for days with no luck. They then resorted to using an agent. They had a lot of tools stolen.

So, we decided to be kind to ourselves and use an agent in Cartagena to help us get the vehicles out of the port.

Then another German couple who had shipped over a land rover did manage to get their car out with out the use of an agent and it only took them 2 days.

So we felt a bit annoyed with ourselves that we had used the agent when we may have been able to do it ourselves and save the money. We do pride ourselves on travelling independently and being self sufficient so we felt a bit like a couple of whimps after this news.

We felt terrible for the other RVers. We could only sympathise with their plights.


The process to ship vehicles from Central to South America is actually straight forward. What makes it difficult and stressful is the incompetence of the people. In my opinion it is a sham and is designed to confuse and frighten the customer in order to extract as much cash out of them as possible.

However, if you accept this as how it is and you cant change it and you still are motivated to do the voyage then forwarned is forearmed. You have to manage your mind set and accept the risk and the cost. If you can talk your self into believing that you may have stuff damaged and stolen and it will be stressful, time consuming and much more espensive than even the price that they give you when you book the passage, then if you get away with no theft or damage it will feel like a bonus prize. I guess it is reverse psychology; prepare for the absolute worse scenario and if that doesn't happen then you feel lucky, lucky. lucky!!!!

Very few RV's make this trip each year - its about 50! So don't feel bad if you decide to turn your RV around and head home after you have explored Panama City! However, that number is starting to increase slightly, and if enough of us make the trip, then we have more influence over costs and processes and we can make it a better experience for the RV's following us down in the future. I will be writing a blistering email to the agent we used and i will be copying in her superiors. She is incompetent, unprofessional, poorly motivated, seems unable to think stategically, does not respond to emails,does not provide information in a timely manner, is a liar and should be relieved of her responsibility as soon as possible. Her name is Evelyn Batista and she works for Wilhelmsen/ Barwell agency You have been warned.