Manaus to Peru by ferry
 

We are looking at travelling from Manaus to either Pucallpa or Yurimaguas in Peru by ferry approx August 2009 and wondered if anyone had done this trip before and could offer any information or advice.

Thanks
Carol and Ken Duval
BMW R80g/s

Hello Ken and Carol!

Why you don't go riding?

I think Chris Bright did it the other way a few years ago and may have even written about it in the AMH? Keep me posted, i was seriously considering doing the trip the same way about the same time, but i'm wondering now if it will chew up too much of my 6 short months. Apparently it takes 3-4 weeks, slowing down with more boat changes as you head upstream.
Are you coming down from North America? I'm starting from Canada next week, maybe i'll bump into you en route.
Sean

amazonas
 

Hola,

we have done it in 2002, but coming from Peru. No big problems, but take your own water and food on boats in Peru. Dont eat the food prepared for you on this boats, because it is made with river water.

First boat will go for you from Manaus to Leticia (Colombia), the port next to Leticia in Brazil (sorry forgot the name). This is the best boat.

Second boat goes from the other side of Leticia, which is Peru, to Iquitos. To get to the port you will have to cross over by canoe. This is the worst boat.

Third boat is from Iquitos to Pucalpa.

Its a very nice journey, just relax and take your time (two to three weeks is good).

Enjoy

Mika

Nice trip Mika... :thumbup1:

Thankyou everyone for your information.

Ola Robson. Ride!!! Just completed 50,000 kms in South America. Possibly another 30,000 to go. Just want to see the Amazon from another perspective. Call it a short holiday from the saddle.!!

We are in Porto Alegre now and head north soon (with many inland detours) to Fr. Guyane, Suriname, Br. Guyana returning to Manaus to do the boat(s) ride to Peru. Eventually we will return to Buenos Aires to follow the Dakar Rally again in January 2010. We hope to also make it to the HU meeting in Viedma this year.

Ola Sean. The above is a very loose plan as we change frequently. End of June we hope to be in Belem to head into the little three countries. July is a bad time as it is wet season but we always have another plan if all looks too hard. BTW what is the AMH???

Ola Mika. We forgot you had done this route. Think we read about it back in Aus before we left. We are looking at a couple of variations but will play it by ear when we get there.

Once again many thanks.

Carol and Ken

I started this thread many moons ago: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...n-amazon-12037
It covers West to East, but it's the same but slower E >>>W

Here's some words and pics from that leg of the trip: Chapter 25 The Big Trip

Enjoy
Chris

PS. Sean: Have a good trip. Are you still on the Beemer?

= Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, by my less handsome half-brother Mr C Scott

HTH
Mr C Bright Sh*te

:clap::clap:
Very good,
What route will you get to go north?
I'm 450 km from Porto Alegre... :D

How's things Chris? Yep, still on the Beemer, haven't snapped it in half yet. I just rode into London today, will be flying the bike to Toronto manana. What is a Super Moderator? Do you have special powers?

Have a good trip Sean. Being a Super Mod allows me to wear my underpants outside my trousers like Batman/Superman etc. Basically I'm now a real life action hero.:donatello:

cheers
Chris

Route help..
 

Hi,

I am new to the HUBB and this is my first post!
We (husband and wife team on 2 Tenere's) are planning a trans South American trip starting and ending in Santiago in Chile.
I (wife) am planning the itinerary however, so far I have gotten us to Manaus but I am unsure the best way to get from Manuas to Quito in Ecaudor. I have read you can catch a ferry from Manaus to Yurimaguas and ride by road from there. Otherwise we could ride from Manuas to Porto Velho, down to Cusco then up to Quito. Has anyone does this trip by rode? Any suggestions?

Thank you.
Ainsleigh and Ben

If you can spare the time, I highly recommend that you go to VZ and Colombia then to Ecuador. It's easy. From Manaus take the excellent highway north to Venezuela, then head West to Colombia. Hotels are very very cheap in VZ. And fuel is free. If you cross into Colombia near Merida, it will save some time.

There is a lot of beauty in VZ and Colombia that is worth seeing. I loved them both A LOT more than Ecuador or Peru.

I took a barge from Manaus to Belem last year (downstream) and it took 5 days. So figure probably 10 days from Manaus to Yurimaguas. The road from Yurimaguas to the coast of Peru is nice pavement. It has a lot of curves obviously.

By the way, driving in the Andes (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) can be an overload of curves. And dangerous curves where the oncoming trucks are in your lane. Be careful.

Thank you! We are trying to avoid VZ and Columbia not because we don't want to go there but have read that VZ has closed its land borders to Columbia and it's all just a bit sketchy.
Thank you for the advice on riding in the Andes. Is it very cold? What are the road conditions like?

Yes, i've heard that also about the CO/VZ crossings. I'd suggest that you assume it will be open, and then when you get to Manaus - double check. CO and VZ are not friendly with each other, but there is still business to conduct - lots of smuggling over that border.

The Andes are always cold because of the elevation. Second highest after the Himalayas. Can snow, freezing rain, etc in the middle of 'summer'. Very windy. Main roads are paved and good condition except for curves, overflowing rivers across the road, and falling boulders. Secondary roads are gravel and have all of that +++++.

Our journey in this area was in 2009 so information we have is dated. The Manaus to Pto Velho road then was very difficult and folks we have contact with used the ferry. In 2009 the road was not maintained and there were many broken bridges and timing is crucial.
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Trave...Departing.html
Avoid rain at all costs although some folks enjoy a muddy adventure:thumbup1: Our story can be found here. HU Traveller Ken and Carol Duval's Ride Tale
HU Traveller Ken and Carol Duval's Ride Tale

We used three ferries, and took around 20 days which included a day or two in Tabatinga and Iquitos to arrange the next ferry plus a little sight seeing. Cabin class was our choice for comfort and security reasons. Last boat was seriously overloaded Iquitos to Yurimaguas (double passenger quote). Check the river heights. We planned to ferry to Pucalpa but the low river depth had caused the Pucalpa ferries to run aground, often stuck for days until another ferry pulled them clear. As it was we bounced off a couple of sand bars causing a bit of panic with the locals on board. Cheers and enjoy.

I did it opposite direction - from Cusco to Porto Velho (Cusco-Pueto Maldonado-Inapari-Rio Branco-Porto Velho-Humaita, all good tarmac road), and then the adventurous part, abandoned BR-319 road (Humaita-Manaus).

Humaita-Manaus was great adventure, it took 6 days, and here are some photos Tarmo RTW: Humaita-Manaus, BR-319, Day 1

Less rainy season is september-october.

The rain season for the BR-319 passage start early September........

Best time to drive the BR-319 is July and August last year (2015) in early September it was impossible to to ride the BR-319 because of the rain.

Transamazonica 2015

Impossible or challenging?
 

I met a young French man in La Paz who rode BR 319 in December 2012. He told a tale of hundreds of miles of slippery mud. Said he never dropped his bike so often in his life. I was flat out jealous. Impossible is relative when it comes to the Amazon. My next trip features this stretch of road on a 250cc Chinese bike with knobby tires and not much more. I dream about it all the time. Mostly when I should be working.

Bressan close to humaitá last year September...

Hello!

Exciting trip!

You can take the ferry from Manaus to Iquitos at which point you have a couple choices.

Option 1) I have read and heard that you can go to Francisco de Orellana in Ecuador (Coca is the other name for the same place I think). I believe it takes about 7 days and the boats do not run daily. Don't have much more info on the boats, but from there you can work your way easily to Quito from there.
Option 2) Take the boat from Iquitos to Yurimaguas. I loaded my bike on the boat 3 weeks ago. The trip takes 2.5-3 days and costs 80 soles per bike (100 soles per person to hang your hammock and they feed you three meals per day) Boats leave in the afternoon daily (Transportes Gladys). Then go Yurimaguas -Tarapoto - Moyobamba - San Ignacio - Border crossing Las Balsas - Vilcabamba - Cuenca - Quito



Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Hi, I am in Conception Chile, with a now (i hope) functioning bike ('15 F800GSA had a failed ZFE).

Could you post the current dummies guide of the process to get a ferry at Porto Velho area to Manaus, and then Manaus to Yurimaguas?
-any tips on who to speak to (I'm not fluent in Portuguese)
-rough idea of costs for the segments
-anything not obvious to know?

Thanks,
ps, I rode down from Texas USA and want to see Manaus. Then it's about finding the route to some shipping point, esp since Venezuela looks effectively closed, esp with Americans. I may ship back to USA, or Europe and continuing riding. I'd love to ship to Turkey, and ride to London, as I may be living in London again.

Baker PM sent