Dear Friends,

I'm planning a trip to South America and wondering which place is simplest to fly the bike into. I assume flying is preferable to ship, since it's both quicker and, in the end, generally cheaper.

Given the seasons, I had thought to start of the bottom of the continent.
And judging by earlier threads re the expense of Argentina (shipping, not flying), perhaps flying the bike to Santiago, Chile, is the best option.

Having said all that, starting in Colombia is also appealing, as is Brazil. It's going to be a long trip (insh'allah!)

Any thoughts?

All the best,

Bob

Bob,

I flew my bike with James Cargo near Slough to Buenos Aires and paid Sandra from Dakar Motos to help me clear customs. Couldn't have been easier. I dropped my bike, panniers, helmet and boots off at James Cargo, flew to BA a week later and picked up my bike the day after I arrived - took me (or rather Sandra) 2 hours at the airport before I was riding bike into town. No front wheels to put on, re-filling engine oil, nada. So easy, both in UK and BA.

(If Slough is too far or you're feeling rich and lazy, James will pick up your moto from your house for an extra fee.)

Then I hung out in the bunkhouse at Dakar Motos for a couple of weeks getting ready and enjoying BA, before donning iPod and doing the 3500km to Ushuaia in 8 days. (I have another, more interesting option for heading south from BA, which I've posted somewhere - I'll dig it out if you are interested.)

This was early November last year - good time to get to Patagonia as the weather is improving but the hords of tourists haven't yet arrived.

If you can afford it, fly the moto.

Good luck,

Paul

Thanks, Paul, that's great. I'll get in touch with them.

When you have a moment to dig it out, I'd love to see thread of the more interesting route south from BA.

Anon and bon voyage!

Bob

Hi Bob,

I forgot to mention that the guys at James (I can't remember the chap who did my bke, Giles comes to mind, very helpful) know Sandra at Dakar Motos, which made things even simpler. They faxed the airway bill straight to her when they received it.

In a nutshell, the idea I had for getting south whilst avoiding the VERY boring Route 3 down the east coast was the following:

- head from BA to Mendoza
- go south to approx Bariloche or San Martin de Los Andes
- cut into Chile to Puerto Montt
- take the Navimag ferry south to Puerto Natales
- ride north along Route 40 / Careterra Austal
- continue north to Santiago on the Chilean side.
- thereafter, take your pick - Arg or Chile or zigzagging through both

The advantage of this route is you get to ride more of Route 40, you don't retrace your steps at any point (effectively doing a figure of 8), you save a couple of thousand km riding, and if the weather is good on the ferry I'm told it is an amazing experience, navigating through hundreds of islands in Patagonia. I met a group in Torres Del Paine who had befriended each other on the ferry and were now thick as thieves, travelling together.

The obvious disadvantage is the cost - it'll set you back several hundred more dollars.

Also, I remember seeing a post recently about the Navimag ferry, saying one of the passenger services had been changed into a freight service, so you'd need to check what is going on on that front to be sure the ferry is still running.

I didn't know about the ferry when I road south - had I done, I would have ridden the route I describe. It's 3500km from BA to Ushuaia on Route 3. Perfectly doable in a short period of time if you set your mind to it and see Ushuaia as your actual start point, but it really is just riding for the sake of it.

Happy to share more thoughts on the route north from Ushuaia. I've so far made it to Peru, though am back in Santiago for a bit (distracted by a beautiful Chilena!!). So by the time I get back to Peru I'll have driven all of the Chilean and Arg/Bol sides of the Andes.

All the best,

Paul

Top man, Paul! On all accounts. Will get the map out and check the suggested route. Sounds marvellous, especially since I'm not one to ride for the sake of it.

Anon!

Bob

Feel free to PM any time Bob with questions. If you pick this route, I know some great little side roads over the passes.

I was lucky enough to have someone who had done the trip before me (with the same bike) who answered endless questions before I set off - made a real difference to my planning and getting going for the first few weeks. Border crossings, kit you can / can't find in S Am, road conditions, that sort of stuff. So I'm more than happy to give some assistance back to other riders in the same situation that I was.

Paul

Very helpful post Paul, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences!


Do you recall how much the shipping from London cost, and how much the clearance in B.A.?

Cheers,
Lukas

Hey Lukas,

The flight (one way) and all costs for James in UK was £1645.

In BA airport, there are 2 charges. You pay an admin charge to the airline, which will vary dependent on the airline. My bike went with Emirates (James sort that out and will pick the cheapest) and the fee was approx £125.

Then you also pay the customs and storage. This of course depends on how long you leave the bike at the airport, and also the weight of the bike. My bike is a Tenere 660 and I included my panniers (full of kit). The fee was approx £160.

And I choose to pay Sandra at Dakar Motos to do all the clearance for me, which cost USD250.

These costs was as at October 2012.

So let's call it a cool £2100!!!!

Paul