Can a person travel through Mexico, to Central America, and on through South America by car?

Question

Is this too dangerous and/or impractical? Can a person even drive through Central America?

Answer 1

yes you can.  It is called the Pan American Highway if I remember correctly.  I'm not sure about the dangers.  I would not want to drive through Mexico.

Answer 2

No. You can travel through cenral american up to Panama.

Although it is on the drawing board, the Medellin to Panama motorway is still a myth. There IS a dirt road but not only is it terribly secluded but also rather dangerous (although things have improved substantially)-

You would have to take a ferry to Cartagena, or Esmeraldas (Ecuador) or fly to Medellin and take it from there. It is no longer dangerous to travell by car. Take the Panamericana from Medellin straight down to Ipiales. It takes 10 hours from Medellin to Cali and 10 hours from Cali to the south border (non-stop)

The motorway has been planned for 2020

Answer 3

It is possible, but really dangerous if you are not well prepared. Remember you will need to cross rivers and forests. The Amazon Rain Forest is the biggest forest in the world, and with the roads not well paved sometimes you can only pass with appropriated equipment.

Answer 4

The Pan American Highway runs from Alaska to Southern Chile with only one break in Southern Panama and Northern Colombia.  There have been discussions and plans for years to complete the highway through that area, but nobody knows when or if it will ever be completed.  That area, called the Darien, is an engineering nightmare.  It is a dense forest with a lot of swamp land.  The guerrilla groups in Colombia are not as active there as before, but they are still around.  Also, the Indian groups in the area are fighting the highway, because they feel that it will destroy their territory as new people move in.  Finally there are rumors that the US government is trying to prevent the roadway because once it is completed that would allow another easy drug route from Colombia to Mexico and then the US and it could create another illegal immigrant wave as South Americans would have an easier time getting to the US border.

Once the highway sarts up again in northern Colombia, it runs through Ecuador, Peru, and Chile until Tierra del Fuego.

Answer 5

you can drive through central america, but i wouldn't recommend it.  It's an extremely long drive and a bit dangerous, especially if you are an american.  (People think all americans have cash coming out of thier butts)

But it's totally doable if you want to risk it and if you come out safe then you'll have a heck of a story to tell!

Answer 6

See webpage below for many articles on this subject.