Pan American Highway

[xannex]

Any experiences with this? What's the best way to get to South America from Panama, after the darien gap. Is it possible to go through on foot?

Slightly off topic, but are there any good roads from Colombia to Brazil?

[odin_dax]

It's impossible to go through Panama... at least I thought so. Going that way is very, very dangerous. On foot is worse.

[xannex]

I know it's dangerous, but is it really impossible? I know there are a lot of waterways that drug traffickers get through, and maybe some tracks on land?

[odin_dax]

I think the whole point of saying it was dangerous was to avoid all the drug traffickers.... Why would you use their routes?

It is really impossible by auto. By foot is still dangerous. Don't try it. Go to Panama City, hitch a ride on a boat or fly.

[xannex]

I'm going to write about the experience. I'd like to include something about the traffickers or guerillas.

[thief]

Che Guevara did the same route. Im betting you will be safe. Your hell bent onto getting into Brasil.... why is this if I may ask? You said before you where looking for somebody... Connected?

Some info about the places you will be travling through. Skip Mexico..

Guatemala: current situation: Guatemala is a source, transit, and destination country for Guatemalans and Central Americans trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; human trafficking is a significant and growing problem in the country; Guatemalan women and children are trafficked within the country for commercial sexual exploitation, primarily to Mexico and the United States; Guatemalan men, women, and children are also trafficked within the country, and to Mexico and the United States, for forced labor. :

Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, Guatemala is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons.

Drugs:

major transit country for cocaine and heroin; in 2005, cultivated 100 hectares of opium poppy after reemerging as a potential source of opium in 2004

2.

El Salvador:

transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; significant use of cocaine.


3.

Nicaragua:

transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing.

4.

Costa Rica:

current situation: Costa Rica is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; women and girls from neighboring states, Russia, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines are trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation; Costa Rica also serves as a transit point for victims trafficked to North America and Europe; the government identifies child sex tourism as a serious problem; men, women, and children are also trafficked within the country for forced labor in fishing and construction, and as domestic servants.

Tier 2 Watch List - Costa Rica is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of its failure to improve its inadequate assistance to victims

Drugs: transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America; illicit production of cannabis in remote areas; domestic cocaine consumption, particularly crack cocaine, is rising; significant consumption of amphetamines; seizures of smuggled cash in Costa Rica and at the main border crossing to enter Costa Rica from Nicaragua have risen in recent years (2008)

5.

Panama:

Current situation: Panama is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of victims are Panamanian women and children trafficked within the country into the sex trade; rural children in Panama may be trafficked internally to urban areas for labor exploitation.

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Panama is on the Tier 2 Watch List for failing to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly with respect to prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing human traffickers for their crimes, and for failing to provide adequate victim assistance (2008).

Drugs:

major cocaine transshipment point and primary money-laundering center for narcotics revenue; money-laundering activity is especially heavy in the Colon Free Zone; offshore financial center; negligible signs of coca cultivation; monitoring of financial transactions is improving; official corruption remains a major problem.

6.

Ecuador.

significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru, with much of the US-bound cocaine passing through Ecuadorian Pacific waters; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak anti-money-laundering regime; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents (2008).

7.

Peru.

until 1996 the world's largest coca leaf producer, Peru is now the world's second largest producer of coca leaf, though it lags far behind Colombia; cultivation of coca in Peru declined to 36,000 hectares in 2007; second largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 210 metric tons of potential pure cocaine in 2007; finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market; increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for use in the Southern Cone or transshipment to Europe and Africa; increasing domestic drug consumption

8.

Chile.

transshipment country for cocaine destined for Europe and the region; some money laundering activity, especially through the Iquique Free Trade Zone; imported precursors passed on to Bolivia; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, making Chile a significant consumer of cocaine (2008)

9.

Argentina

current situation: Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; most victims are trafficked within the country, from rural to urban areas; child sex tourism is a problem; foreign women and children, primarily from Paraguay, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic, are trafficked to Argentina for commercial sexual exploitation; Argentine women and girls are also trafficked to neighboring countries, Mexico, and Western Europe for sexual exploitation; a significant number of Bolivians, Peruvians, and Paraguayans are trafficked into the country for forced labor in sweatshops, agriculture, and as domestic servants


tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - despite some progress, Argentina remains on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of providing adequate assistance to victims and curbing official complicity with trafficking activity, especially on the provincial and local levels; the Argentine Congress has demonstrated progress by enacting much-needed and first-ever federal anti-trafficking legislation (2009)

Drugs:

a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe, heroin headed for the US, and ephedrine and pseudoephedrine headed for Mexico; some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area; law enforcement corruption; a source for precursor chemicals; increasing domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers, especially cocaine base and synthetic drugs (2008

And then like you said if you do make the move into Brasil after...

Brasil.

Second-largest consumer of cocaine in the world; illicit producer of cannabis; trace amounts of coca cultivation in the Amazon region, used for domestic consumption; government has a large-scale eradication program to control cannabis; important transshipment country for Bolivian, Colombian, and Peruvian cocaine headed for Europe; also used by traffickers as a way station for narcotics air transshipments between Peru and Colombia; upsurge in drug-related violence and weapons smuggling; important market for Colombian, Bolivian, and Peruvian cocaine; illicit narcotics proceeds are often laundered through the financial system; significant illicit financial activity in the Tri-Border Area (2008)


Easy. All this info you didnt really need but I just thought it might help

[xannex]

Thank you so much, theif. I look forward to discussing this with you on msn. I pmd you my details.

[odin_dax]

Thank you so much, theif. I look forward to discussing this with you on msn. I pmd you my details.

I'm assuming you're white and liberal, being from Boston. Are you writing a political piece of some kind? No offense...

As an adventurer myself, I would never squash someone's general desire to experience the world, but since you're a female traveling alone, especially if you're white, trekking on foot through the Darien Gap is probably one of the unsafest things you could do, unless you're looking for danger.

Running into gorillas, drug traffickers, etc. could very well lead to forced labor, sex slavery, murder, rape, ransom... If you must, don't travel alone.

I've given all my warnings. If you decide to go through with it, the best of luck.

[xannex]

I'm Russian, not 'from' boston, just love it. I am 'from' a lot of places, but I grew up in El Paso, Texas which is on the border of Juarez, Mexico. It's not a political piece. I wont be alone. Thank you for your concern.

[The Jinn]

Any experiences with this? What's the best way to get to South America from Panama, after the darien gap. Is it possible to go through on foot?

Slightly off topic, but are there any good roads from Colombia to Brazil?

Crossing the Darien gap is only possible on foot, or perhaps by water. The jungle is so dense and wild that you need an experienced native guide. There aren't roads the whole way through. It's the wild west down there.

[Saturday]

Have you considered, if you have the funds, hiring a fixer or some sort of guide or security?

This is what most journalists would do, but that fact that you would be going undersupervised is also an admirable (but also potentially idiotic) endeavor.

[neffy]

Crossing the Darien gap is an excellent way to find yourself dead. Sure, some people do it for thrills, but it's one of the deadliest hikes you'll ever make.

One of my friends did so. But he also hung out with the FARC at coke processing sites (and took pics!) But he practiced as a doctor to all the people he encountered and was generally useful.

He's a neurochemist today, makes a killer living and manages to still do stupid shit like the above on a regular basis.

[NewSpeak]

He's a neurochemist today

I've never heard of a defined field of study for neurochemistry, even though there's a Wikipedia article on the subject (and, you know, if it's on Wikipedia it's for real!). Can you get a degree in this stuff?

Because I might be switching majors, then, haha.

[neffy]

I think the direction you'll want is neuropharmacology.... I believe his primary discipline is/was molecular.