Well my long suffering 1100GS isn't even back from its last trip (soon to be shipped back to the UK from New Zealand) and I'm sizing up another trip. I'm not a complete noob, I've shipped the bike to Southern Africa (11 weeks, 13500km) and NZ (9 weeks, 9500km), but I know very little about South America. I have to travel in the northern hemisphere winter so would aim to arrive early November through to mid December. This will also work for friends in NZ who have expressed an interest in joining us.

I'm thinking of taking six weeks in total, flying in to Santiago, Chile and going as far north as Lake Titicaca and down Ruta 40 to the Chilean Lakes and back up to Santiago roughly as per this map, circa 8000km:



This would be the absolute max, and would likely be trimmed.

I realise that a more sensible option would be to stay south and explore Patagonia, but I really want to see the Atacama, Bolivian Altiplano and Salar de Uyini pans.

How does this look as a starting point?



Deserts, I like deserts...

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

Nice tidy GS there!

Your routes are good, your time allotment not so much. You could spend 6 weeks easy just in Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and the Argentine and Chilean Lake districts.

This is a huge area. Certainly you can power through on highway and cover it all, but you may not have much time for the many stunning sites along the way.

Time of year and weather can play a big roll for traveling the far South, but what most may not consider is that while the weather is nice in the far South (November to late March) during that same time, Central and Northern Argentina are SUPER HOT!

Coastal Chile will stay cool of course and the Salar is so HIGH UP, it will not get hot like Central Argentina will from Nov. to April. Also, certain times of year the Salar will be flooded with a lot of it impassable. Take care your bike in that sloppy salty mess and get it hosed off ASAP after exposure or risk severe pitting on all Aluminum surfaces. Nasty!

If when heading NORTH through Argentina, if it gets too HOT you can also cross over to the West, enter Chile, then go NORTH along cool coast, then cut back over EAST to get to Bolivia.

You might want to break your tour up into TWO visits. Maybe leave your bike?
Return in a year or when ever? (May be some TIP issues however?)

Hey Mollydog

That's a shed load of useful information, thanks for that. I think the route I've proposed is like what you get when you go to an architect for a new house - he shows you what you could have with unlimited funds, but between you the concept is cut back until an achievable dream appears. That's what I hope will happen anyhow...

I'm not too bothered by the heat - on a trip to Botswana it was over 40 degrees C most days and we survived, but that may not be the case for some of the others, so thanks for the heads up on that.

What worked for us on the last trip to Africa was stopping every third day or so to get off the bike and do game drives or other activities, and I'd try to build in that sort of thing to this trip - my pillion won't allow any Iron Butt type nonsense.

I guess the sensible option would be to do the lower part of the loop, but damn, I'd miss what looks like some stunning desert scenery up north.

I don't think leaving the bike would be an option as it would likely be two years until I could go back,

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

Greetings Reg

You said that one of the thing you were keen to see is the Salar de Uyni. My understanding is that the rainy season in that area is from December to March.

I was on a short bike trip in Bolivia/Peru quite a few years ago in October. One of the highlights was riding across the Salar, at that time it was completely dry. White and flat as far as you could see. I'd recommend it to anyone.

A few years later a mate of mine did the same ride but it was in December and there was a a layer of water across the Salar. They had fun and got some great photos of floating bikes and salt encrusted bikes but even after power washing the bikes back in Uyuni they all had electrical problems for the next couple of months.

It can get wet at other times it just depends on your luck. The hire bike I was riding had been through the Salar 12 months earlier when it was wet and result wasn't pretty.

WD40 is your friend but salt corrosion is a PITA.

I like the rest of your trip as MD said 6 weeks is too short for that sort of trip but in that part of the world 6 months is not long enough.

That said making a detour to Potosi is worthwhile. You can do a tour into the working silver mine and take some "presents" for the miners. After seeing how they earn a living you'll never complain about your job again.

Regards

IanJ

__________________
Always have plan B, and maybe plan C
www.travelswithkitty.com

Ian, thanks for the info. Looks like a trip to the salt will require a big can of ACF50 for sure - it works very well on the salty roads up here in the Highlands. In terms of seasons, if we were to go to the north we would do that first in early November. Thanks for the tip about the silver mine, I bet it's one of those situations where you end up questioning how manly you really are...

Cheers.

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

Why wasting money to shijp bikes around the globe? Best in South America is to buy a bike insted. The Locals love if Tourists ride the same bike as they do. Sometimes they invite you at a trafic light "oh i have the same bike" into their house. On your planed route you will miss Brasil. For me people in Argentina and Brasil were the moast friendly people on this planet: http://motorradreisen-suedamerika.de...uela-brasilien

That is something I've considered in the past (I may yet buy a bike to keep in Cape Town), but my pillon would require a big GS or similar, which I would need to be in excellent condition and then be able to sell easily. Truth is, I'm not free wheeling enough to do that, I like using my own well set up bike and time is an issue unfortunately.

Sometimes it can work out quite cheap - the bike went from Inverness, Scotland to Auckland and back, including all fees, insurances etc for GBP2000.

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

i can totally understand, the desert is beautiful in its own way!

If you go up north in late november you can be lucky that the heavy raining season will not have started yet. nevertheless it can rain around uyuni and in the high andes it can snow!

your itinerary up north looks good. i like the coast of chile and think it is even more beautiful than the other side of the andes. there are nice fisher villages where you can stop, stay and camp at the beaches. Don´t miss out bahia inglesa, chanaral (pan de azucar), taltal, mano del desierto. if it is to boring just take a different route than the highway and drive a dirt road for a few kilometers! just check before hand that it isnt a dead end road

i really miss san pedro de atacama in your itinerary. i love this beautiful little tourist town. but the area around is just stunning and you can easily spent one week there driving every day to new sightseeings (el tatio, puritama, piedras rojas, vale de la luna, dirt roads along vulcanos etc.). from there you should!!! go thorugh the nationalpark eduardo avaroa checking out the red/white/green lagoon, more geysers and a stunning landscape (take the west route if it´s possible). afterwards you will end at the border close to ollagüe or heading further north to the salar de uyuni. if it is flooded always ask other people/guides whicht entrance/exit you can take. otherwise you can sink! if you wanna protect your beautiful 1100gs just book a one day tour for the salar only!

from uyuni to la paz you have a good asphalt road, it might be a bit boring but you can discover oruro or just take the route over potosi which is more beautiful in my opinion.

to drive the north route at lake titicaca is interesting. maybe somebody will say something to it.

by the way, i can totally understand you will take your bike. first of all the 1100gs is awesome, it will be nice riding and you know your big peace of iron

Hey pickypalla, thanks for the good information, esp the tip on San Pedro de Atacama.

It's looking likely that we would cross the border near here and not go into Peru at all. On Google Streetview the area there looks a bit like the Namibian desert - a good thing - it may be that this is as far north as we need to go - hopefully it would be before any rains come.

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

Well after a 'hard' day on the computer - a surprising amount of the route is on Google Streetview - I think I'm getting a handle on this trip.

It seems that I will get plenty of desert scenery, so from Santiago perhaps after seeing Valparaiso it would be up to San Pedro de Atacama, Salar de Uyuni then south via Ruta 40 to Mendoza then on to the lakes at Villa de Angostura, Bariloche etc then back into Chile. Route 5 north from there looks pretty dull so I'd aim to stick to the coast as much as possible back to Santiago. That basic run is about 6500 km which leaves time to explore to a reasonable extent.

Heading north first makes sense as we would be in Bolivia around the beginning of the second week in November, so hopefully still dry. Don't much care about the temperature - my pillion has her electric vest and keeps happy even on trips in November in the UK and the layers come out of the jackets when it gets warm. We went from 8 degrees to 30 in New Zealand.

I agree it would be nice to take more time, but that just won't be possible. I think I have the beginnings of a trip that will please everybody. Dunno why I end up being tour leader...

Nevis Road, South Island NZ (at a mere 1100m!)

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

i really would recommend going from san pedro through the nationalpark eduardo avaroa. it is the most beautiful landscape, riding up to 5000m passing a lot of flamingos, guanacos, active volcanos and colorful lagoons. but the ride won´t be easy, you have to inform yourself before hand if it is possible by motorcycle. afterwards go straight to uyuni and if you don´t want to go further north just ride south to tupiza (uyuni - tupiza is also are stunning road through the mountains).
if you will miss the nationalpark and uyuni, you know you have to come back and doing it again...

from tupiza you pass the border into argentina going to salta, etc...

if you will decide differently i enjoyed taking passo sico more than passo jama when i have crossed from San Pedro directly into Argentina.
here a photot from the nationalpark of my shutterstock acc (@admin please delete if you see it as a commercial)

Fantastic, thanks for that. Better not forget my polarizing lens filter eh?

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

Try the Paso de Agua Negra between Vicuña in Chile (close to Pisco Elqui), ride over Andes (5700m) on pleasant dirt roads then down on twisties to Rodeo in Argentina.
Connect with Ruta 40 via Ruta 149....wow landscape.
You can do Northen Argentina to Bolivian border via Jujuy then up the Quebrada de Huamahuaca. Stunning. Nice hot pools along the way...You can do dirt roads via Lago Pozuelo and might see flamingos.
Have fun.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

Fantastc, thanks for the tips, they'll be marked on The Map.

__________________
Our FB page: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Africa2Up/

8000 KM in 6 weeks is very easy - on paved roads. I haven't rode in that area so I am curious to know if the time frame is realistic; how many miles of rough roads, and trails will you be riding, etc.?

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250