South Africa to Buenos Aires
 

Hi, I am leaving for BA in March and air freighting my BMW 1200 across.
Any tips or suggestions?
Regards
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Assuming that by tips you are referring to entering Argentina. Beyond that, there is too much info to comment, but searching here is a great way to read up on many different experiences by many different riders. If you have specific questions, you'll have a better chance of getting answers,

As far as entering countries go, it's pretty straightforward, you shouldn't have any problems. Assuming that you are on the Malaysian Airlines flight from Jo'berg or Cape Town?

If you arrive too late to pick up your bike same day, you can cab into town and return next day. They are used to clearing motorcycles so even if you Spanish is poor you can find the cargo terminal (walking distance from passenger terminal) and then bumble your way through the process. It's basically fill out a few forms, get a few stamps,wait around for the right guy to say ok, pay a couple of fees, and then you can assemble your bike and ride away. If you want a detailed description, then I'm sure someone has posted one here, use google to assist with your search.

For a good place to stay, you can cab to Dakar Motos. It's not the ritziest place, but great for bikers and they have kindly housed many a rider over the years and if you happen to run into any issues with customs they can assist.

Where are you headed? Staying in South America or heading all the way up?

Thanks so much for the reply!
My wife and I are planning a 4month trip around South America. We are provisionally planning on heading to Ushuaia quickly the avoid the cooler climes and then making our way North to Peru and then down to Bolivia, cross into Brazil and back to BA to fly back home to CT.

Great news about the customs and clearance. I have in fact been in touch with Dakarmotos and they have offered to do the clearance. Does this sound like a reasonable sort of outline as far as weather is concerned?

I gather Ushaia is 'closed' from the end of March?

Regards
Andrew

Sounds like an great trip, no doubt you'll have an amazing time.

Re: routing, good plan to head south as soon you can as it starts to get cooler. In reality, it's hard to say that there is a specific closed date, but the volume of riders heading south really starts to decline as it cools down in the fall.

You can still make it down to Ushuaia but later in the year the risk of snow and ice increases as you move into winter. Even then, there is one pass that you cross to get into Ushuaia proper (Paso Garibaldi) and if you have the time to wait out early season snow, you can jump across much later than you will be down there. Having said that, you will be fine for heading straight down and then working your way back north. The issue at that time of year will be moreso about comfortable riding temps, rather than not being able to ride at all.

Big question is the route you intend on taking back. If you want to hop across the Andes into Chile and back and forth then you'll have to start paying more attention to the weather and your timing. High mountain passes catch precip which turn to snow when it gets colder.

As for the countries farther north you just want to be aware of the respective rainy seasons, there are some detailed comments on this site by experienced riders that should give you a good overview. Search is your friend. Happy planning.

Shipping SA to BA
 

Hi Andrew,
We shipped out of Cape Town to BA in Oct. of 2009. We did a little research regards flying the bike over and it was quite expensive. In the end we sent the bike by cargo ship. A very good service, direct sailing CT to BA and only took two weeks, also quite cheap. We posted details in the shipping section, look for Kev Hatchett. There is also a "Sticky" which myself and Cruz put a lot of info into, although two years old now. Sticky with our total costs here - http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...049#post263104

You can find details in the Contacts section of our website or on the shipping section of the HUBB.

Hope everything goes well for you you have a great time ahead.
Give our regards to Argentina :-) bier
Why can't I change my Sig?????? We're in Asia now.

Ask for a quote from Duncan (car shipping from South Africa | Camping in Cape Town | Cape Town Backpackers | vehicle storage Cape Town | Freight forwarder South Africa | overland Africa | African Overlanders | accommodation in Cape Town). He is the agent of MSC for sea freight, gives good prices. He can also arrange air freight (free crating by BMW SA!)
Ali
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