Shipping a 20 ft container to Bogota, How?

Lionheart says on May 8, 2005, 14:55:

been there ... done that But it was my move from South Germany (Munich) to the USA (Nevada). I am being so specific because the land transport is a big part of the costs. I did a search for different container companies and Hapag LLoyd had the best overall offer, about $3000 for everything in a 20 foor container 11 years ago.

They dropped the container trailor off in my driveway 3 days early, picked it up, and 6 weeks later it was in Oakland, CA. I had to drive there for customs clearance, which turned out to be a USDA inspection. They wanted to see if I had a lawnmower and garden furniture, which I had ... they were looking for illegal alien moths and bugs. After clearance the trailor was delivered to Nevada 2 days later. Everything went very smooth.

I would advise to let the container company take care of everything from door to door, and have them insure everything. In other threads here it was mentioned that the Colombian ports are dengerous and theft is normal, only bonded containers are ok ... not sure why. But be prepared for losses.

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dwmte says on May 8, 2005, 16:04:

i must confess that i have done the container thing... out of and bact to colombia on several occassions. i can tell you every inch and every pain of every possible aspect of this death defying feat.

it will be the worst 'post office' experience of your life. it will cost you in excess of $5,000.00 before it's all over--or right at that amount--count on that like death and taxes.

i know where of i speak here, i have shipped 40' containers from colombia 3-4 times, 20' containers twice. both ways. i've been there and done that. i know who's who, what's what how it will go down and when and where to cry/or scream when it get's so f***ing frustrating you wanna kill. even the american end is a suck world. none of it is easy or fun, and every last bit of it is expensive. HOWEVER, once it's over--the painful months--you have your stuff with you, here or there and you add up what's left after every fuckin theif on both sides of the caribbean has taken his fill, it works, friend, but it's painful. ask lionheart and he shipped to two points in the civilized world yet the whole transaction was basically anything but. add to that shipping your family jewels to one of the most corrupt places in the civilized world, and you begin to develop a picture of what's ahead of you.

i casually say, "ahead of you" ha! some time within the year, we're doin it again. moving everything in florida, back to medellin. oh boy!!!, here we go again. payola...

plan on agony and just smile when they tell you to bend over. and after they're done, smile and say, 'thank you.'

peace,

dw martin e me at dwmte at bellsouth.net and i'll make you feel worse. i forgot, i've used both ports, cartegena and buenaventura (use miami to cartegena, my recommendation. buenaventura is suck world) and miami is as pleasant a port in the u.s.

good luck.

dw

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Mamey says on May 10, 2005, 19:01:

reconsidering I am thinking that a 20ft container might be too big. So maybe if anyone knows of a company in which I can send a crate from the Los Angeles area to Bogota, any info would be appreciated.

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Mamey says on May 10, 2005, 19:03:

reconsidering I am thinking that a 20ft container might be too big. So maybe if anyone knows of a company in which I can send a crate from the Los Angeles area to Bogota, any info would be appreciated.

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lvrabbitlv says on Jun 7, 2005, 17:17:

container shipping I came across the site and it is very informative about container shipping, but my delima is I am thinking a shipping a car with personal items inside in a 20 foot container from LA, california to Calderam Costa rica. Does anyone have any info on this or know of the best shipping company to use? I could also go from Houston, TX. to Limon, costa rica. Thanks Jen.

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2retirensa says on Jun 7, 2005, 19:53:

If no one knows on this site, try one of the Panama message boards. It's much closer to Costa Rica and many of the shippers are the same. Their message boards are very active and you'll get a good ans.
Maureen

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