Panama > Colombia: Bike Transport by The Overland Embassy

Jan 2026 |

Once you hit Panama on your Pan-America ride, you need to arrange transport for your moto to cross the Darien Gap to South America (or vice-versa). I used The Overland Embassy in Panama City and highly recommend them

Crossing the Darien Gap

These days, there appears to be one (normal) option to cross the Darien Gap: air shipment. In recent years (pre-Covid), there was a boat you could put you and moto on, with a leisurely sail from Panama to Cartagena via the San Blas Islands. This service is no longer. Apparently, there is still an option whereby you can transport by ship, obtaining space on a container. But this may not be true, as word has it, Colombia is only allowing foreign motorcycles to enter Colombia via customs at Bogota airport. Of course, there are also urban myth-type accounts of maniacs who canoed or winched their bikes around/thru the Darien Gap. I can't see the merits of this approach, but well done/condolenses to them.

Choosing a Transport Company

There are 2 major providers of moto transport from Panama City to Bogota: The Overland Embassy (OE), and E-Cargo Shipments.

I started looking into transport requirements prior to leaving Canada. After a quick scan of providers, I settled on OE, largely based on their fast response and solid Google reviews. I wrote to them and was advised to get in touch closer to the date I would need transport. I didn't make a booking or leave a deposit (though I recommend you should).

Booking transport from Panama

I arrived in Panama City in mid-January. Though I re-connected with OE by email, I decided it made sense to ride to their office and discuss things face-to-face. There, I met Alejandro, the manager, and booked transport for the following Saturday, 4 days away (they transport bikes by air on a regular schedule 2 days a week). While there, I paid the $1100 fee by credit card. As part of their service, OE also provided 1-month insurance for Colombia, airport pickup in Bogota, and 1 night of free accommodation there. Personal transport from Panama to Bogota is not included in the fee, so I booked a flight on Saturday Jan 19, the same day my T7 was traveling.

Final prep in Panama

On Friday, the day before shipment, I returned to OE and dropped off my bike. There was some paperwork to do, and you are also required to wash your bike. There were 2 other motos in my shipment. We then rode to Customs at Panama City airport and went through a process of final registration and security scanning of our luggage, which was traveling on the bikes. This process took about 90 minutes, after which the bikes had cleared customs and were ready for air transport.

Arrival in Bogota

After the short flight, the hotel staff picked us up at Bogota airport, followed by a short drive to the hotel, a basic but comfortable place. As it was Saturday, we needed to wait until Monday to start the Customs import process.

On Monday, we spent most of the day at the airport, in an office, waiting in line for customs to complete importation. OE's local staff managed the process, we just needed to show our faces and sign some papers. By about 3:00 pm, we were able to access our bikes in the warehouse and then go through a fun process of off-loading via forklift onto Colombian soil. By about 4:00 the process was completed and we rode back to the hotel - my first exposure to some of the insane moto riding in the city (I saw an accident occur right in front of me a couple of days later, 3 bikes smashed together).

I stayed 2 more nights in Bogota at the same hotel, got my T7 serviced at Yamaha, and explored the city a bit before heading to my first stop at Villa de Leyva.

Final thoughts

I highly recommend The Overland Embassy; these guys really "deliver the goods". And they are also great people, with solid communication and seamless service.

Shipper: The Overland Embassy

Price: $1,100: bike shipment, customs clearance, 1-month Colombia insurance, 1-night Bogota hotel