Peruvian Andes in March?
 

Hi,

I am going to be riding south from Colombia in Mid March arriving in Buenos Aires near the end of April and was wondering if I should be planning on staying along the coast as much as possible or will the mountains be available to me and with out a snowplow on the front of my bike? I understand that the elevations are tremendous on some of the passes and I know that this may not be the ideal time to travel this route but you ride when you can eh?!

Thanks,
Craig

Hi Craig,
I am in Panama about to jump to Colombia, or boat, have to figure this out in the next few days. I will be in Colombia 2-3 weeks and headed to Argentina as well. I was thinking to go to Equador first and down the coast of Peru, etc. staying out of the higher elevations/interior where might be more rain too? Or snow?
You are in Colombia now? How did you go, by boat or Girag? Any suggestions?

Cheers
Larry

Hi Larry,

Sorry but I am cheating a bit by shipping from Canada to Bogota before starting this trip. I will be arriving March 17. A friend has had a great trip headed north on a sailboat from Cartegena to Panama and if you are interested I can get you the name of this boat later today if I can get hold of him as there is definitely some proprietors that you will not want to travel with. If you do not get seasick then the sailboat can be beautiful. Barring that then flight is a similar cost and can be a quick way into Bogota. Also I have spent some time in Colombia and have some travel ideas if you are interested in perusing some contact. This is a beutiful country and with some basic percautions and guidlenies you can have a great time exploring Colombia.

I wish I could be more helpful as to you immediate shipping concerns.

Larry:

The sailboat used for going north was the Sathlratte. www.stahlratte.org:

OR in Panama on the way south they used Copa (Air Cargo?) for the bike - Visa accepted, and then to transport you - the human, they found that Aries Airlines was the best to deal with because the "others" all wanted to charge for Return trips. Aries was ok with only One Way tickets.

Hope this helps

C

haha ok, here's a bit more that might help you I just checked my email and my friend added this:

Hi Craig, Checked my memory bank(a little fuzzy) and it is COPA air cargo and AIRES airlines for the one-way passenger ticket. As well, to save the guy a little headache, to get his exit stamp for the bike out of Panama if flying, is done at the guard post at the entry point to the air cargo area of the Panama City airport.

Good luck and let me know what you find!
An aside is that I would love to correspond with you about travel in the north. I have been to Inuvik and Tuk but am very curious about northern possibilities in Quebec and Labrador.

C