Colombia to Argentina (Nov'18-Feb'19)
 

Hey Guys,

Firstly wanted to say hello as I've been a member of the HUBB for quite some time but so far mostly reading it on and off without much writing. Now that I am preparing for a trip to South America soon, I was hoping I can ask for some expert advice from you guys!

I am planning to fly into Medellin, Colombia beginning of Nov'18, buy a motorcycle there (considering KLR650 or similar) and ride it along the west coast of the continent (via Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina) all the way to Ushuaia by end Jan/beginning Feb. If time permits I wanted to do a week-long boat trip to Antarctica and either sell the bike in Ushuaia itself or ride it to Buenos Aires and sell it there before I take a flight home end of Feb'19.

I am thinking of following a route similar to this. The map under the link is not mine (borrowed it from the website of a tour company organizing SA trips) and I expect to take other roads based on local recommendations etc. but it should be close enough to give you an idea.

My Spanish is very basic so I'm still not sure if I should buy a bike from a fellow traveler (if I am lucky enough to find one in Colombia), Mercado Libre or get it through a second hand dealer to arrange all the paperwork for me (I read this post and it seems that the formalities are quite complicated without knowing the language well?).

I've also read that selling the Colombia registered bike in Argentina can be pretty complicated (and permanent import is ridiculously expensive) so I am thinking of either doing a border-crossing sale on Argentina/Chile border or in the worst case scenario getting the bike officially scrapped at the end of my trip (though it just feels wrong so will really try to avoid this option...).

Would be really great if you guys could share ANY thoughts or suggestions! Every comment will be much appreciated!

Cheers bier

I'm going to suggest only that your timeline looks pretty speedy if it's to include buying, selling, a trip to Antarctica (highly recommended and perfectly possible to arrange from Ushuaia, but likely to take longer than just a week as well as unlikely to take place exactly on your schedule), and doing much of anything else along the way. Of course your trip is perfectly possible in four months, but you're going to have to hustle, and sooner or later this will get tiresome (and possibly dangerous).

You're not saying anything about what you'd like to actually do enroute, or specifically where you'd like to go. That makes it difficult to respond with more than vague generalities.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Hello Mat!

Im acctually planning something similare now in October to December. But only doing a route through Peru an Chile, possibly Bolivia.
As already mentioned, your route seems speedy, but then again you might already have had it layed out day by day. I'm more going to take it as it comes.

Cheers from Sweden

// Ola

Thanks for the comments Mark & Ola!

Yes, my schedule is tight because of limited time off I was given at work... :(

I actually do have a rough day by day plan (not expecting to really stick to it 100% but i made it to get a feel of what i am getting myself into) and it looks like i will need ~50 days of riding with 300km/riding day on average (some days less, some more esp. in Argentina/Chile). This leaves roughly ~60 non-riding days for rest and other activities which I hope will be good enough.

So far this is my list of 'must see' places I wanted to visit (not necessarily in this exact order). Numbers show how many days I expect to spend in each of them.

Colombia
- Medellin (fly in and buy a bike) 5
- Eje Cafetero 1
- Santuario de las Lajas (on the way) 0
Ecuador
- Cotopaxi volcano
- Quito + Mindo Valley 3
- Baños 2
Peru
- Machu Picchu 2
- Cusco 2
- Colca Canyon 1
- Lake Titicaca 1
Bolivia
- La Paz 1
- Salar de Uyuni 1
Chile
- Torres del Paine National Park 3
- San Pedro de Atacama 2
- Santiago 2
- Velparaiso 1
- Navarino Island 1
Argentina
- Perito Moreno Glacier 1
- Patagonia (El Chaltén, Mount Fitzroy, Cerro Tore) 4
- Bariloche 1
- Mendoza 1
- Ushauaia (sell bike) 5
- Buenos Aires (flight back home) 4
Antarctica 10

If I see I am running out of time or something unexpected happens I guess I will need to cross a few things off my list as I go.

If you think my itinerary is too packed, what would you recommend to drop? Or maybe I am missing something that I should swap with one of the above?

And separately if you have any thoughts on roads to take / avoid that would be great too :mchappy:

Tks again!

p.mat, are those driving days you've listed or rest/activity days? For your own purposes, I'd definitely make a schedule which included both.

Although you've asked for road suggestions you haven't said anything at all about what sort of riding you like, what sorts of activities you enjoy, or in fact anything else about who you are and what you're looking forward to. Again, this makes it difficult to make suggestions; everyone here who is eager to share ideas has had experience with offering lots of suggestions to someone who responds by saying, for example that actually they're sticking 100% to pavement, will be staying mostly in nice, urban hotels, don't do their own bike maintenance, and/or have no interest in local culture beyond its place in their Instagram photos.

I'm not saying any of that's you--merely that it might tend to discourage participation in your thread. What works best--again for example--is if you post that you'll have 2 days between Banos and Machu Piccu (almost impossibly rushed, IMO), enjoy easy dirt roads and off-the-beaten track travel (definitely impossibly rushed), like staying in smaller cities and meeting local people (no problem), and hope to do a bit of high-mountain hiking to spice up your roadside sightseeing (no way). Then I come along and suggest you detour through Huanuco and Huancayo, suggest some routes for doing so and some places to stop along the way, tell you what a great time you'll have, and suggest you add a week to your trip. Or maybe 2 weeks. And that's just one little section in a vast continent.

FWIW, I was in a tremendous hurry along a similar route, and I spent a week and a half between Banos and Cuzco, wandering in and out of the Amazon basin, the high Andes, and the coastal deserts. Then I added another half a week in and around Cuzco, Machu Piccu, and the Sacred Valley--again, hurrying like crazy. But there are people here who moved a lot more quickly than I did, and some of them seem to have had a good time doing it. They just skipped most of the places I went to, and spent far less time lallygagging around even when we went the same places. Horses for courses, and that sort of thing.

I think it's be sensible to start further south, probably in an area where bike purchase would be easily (e.g., Peru). You'll object that you really, really want to see Colombia and Ecuador, which is fine but misses the point that in four months you're going to be skipping most of the continent anyway and need to make some hard choices.

I'm going to shut up now. I can hear myself rambling excessively, and I think that's mainly because I'm recovering from surgery and can't do much except sit around and daydream. So welcome to the HUBB, and I hope you'll find some of the above useful (and continue posting as your trip unfolds)!

Mark