Shipping from Santiago to Punta Arenas
 

Hello,

I'm actually in Potosi, Bolivia. And my wife have a very bad sciatic :mad:. We are going to Santiago (my wife with a bus and me with my bike)
I'm looking if it's possible to send my motorcycle (1200 GSA) from Santiago to Punta Arenas.

Thanks,

Damien

You should be able to get it on the boat from Puerto Monte to Puerto Natales, then it is about 200K to Punta Arenas. All decent tarmac.

You should be able to find someone to take your bike from Santiago to Puerto Monte, or ride it and have your wife take the bus (I think the train goes from Santiago to there as well).

You could both take the ferry http://www.navimag.com with the bike, and then get a bis or blagg a lift for your wife from Puerto Natalas in one of the cars on board.

Oh, if coming south through Chile/Ruta 5 in the next month, drop me a PM. My wife and I are house/dog sitting 178Km north of Santiago on the coast at La Bellena.

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for your response.
I was thinking the same for the ferry, but it's very expensive.
The problem also is to find someone to take care of my bike.

By the way do you know how is road from Uyuni to Calama (road #5 in Bolivia) in this period? I know that the leg between Uyuni and the border is dirt road.

Thanks for your invitation at La Bellena.

Damien

The Calama road seems to have been answered here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ama-easy-74072

I thoughtthe ferry was expensive as well, then I factored in how long it would take to ride the Careterra Austral, fuel costs etc (2 bikes) and then it seemed much cheaper :-)

As you have limited options for getting yourself and the bike to your destination, things just cost what they cost :-)

The house at Bellena can be seen at the end of this blog entry Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' Stories - Two Pegs to Patagonia :-)

ship or truck
 

Pointing out the obvious, if you were thinking of shipping by cargo, Santiago is not a port town. Look for a vessel leaving from San Antonio or Valparaiso. No idea how long that might take, but longer than I am guessing you want.

Have you considered shipping your bike by commercial truck? The land route from Santiago to Punta Arenas crosses through Argentina. I would think an experienced carrier could manage the paperwork. You are trying to move bike roughly 2100 miles, so its going to cost something.

Potosi was one of my least favorite cities. That said, you have a lot of beautiful country ahead of you. If you are headed to Uyuni, think about taking a jeep tour. I took a three day tour that included the salt flat and a two day loop south. At times it not the smoothest road, so your wife might not be comfortable. Hope your wife's sciatic improves soon.

Your next challenge will be keeping up with your wife as she travels in a bus...

Or Antofogasta, but that is probably the worse place in Chile to spend any time :-)