Off to South America in November - Plan B advise
 

Hej everyone,

I took 5 months off from November. Initially the plan was to travel South America from north to south by motorcycle. But as you probably all know most land borders in SA are still closed. That’s why I need a good plan b and asking for your wisdom here. Any suggestions are welcome.

Currently my thinking is to still fly down to Colombia and travel the country for 3-4 weeks by motorcycle. I tend to still buy a bike for that timeframe (RE Himalayan). Can anybody give me an indication on transaction costs (duties or whatever)? I am trying to figure out if it’s better to rent or buy. A big plus of buying would be that I could continue south if the Ecuador border opens.

If the border situation in SA remains unchanged while in Columbia I am thinking to switch to Central America and essentially travel from Mexico to Panama. Would that be a good alternative (asking people who crossed SA and CA and can compare).

Another alternative if Colombia’s neighboring borders are still closed, would be Chile or Argentina and travel south (eg Ruta 40). But here my biggest concern is that I would not be able to cross-cross between both countries in Patagonia (what appears to be suggested in most itineraries).

Hope it’s not to confusing. Essentially asking for POV from experienced SA/CA Traveller.

Thanks guys and safe ride

So, as of last week some borders are opening in November - Argentina is open for land travel from all neighbouring countries from October 1st. Colombia/Venezuela is closed however there are rumours of the border's opening to/from Ecuador. I believe that it's likely that other borders will open before long, HOWEVER... there's (obviously) no guarantee.

You could easily spend a lot longer the 3-4 weeks in Colombia and find new places to explore (I've lived here for 15 years and still have a lot to visit for the first time.

re Argentina/Chile - we've travelled many times, for anything up to 3 months - once again, you won't run out of things to do.

Overall, in terms of the potential for border closures, you're better off in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, or Perú; you can spend months in any one of these and find new attractions.

re rent or buy in Colombia - we've never rented a bike so not much idea of rates however Adventure 57 rents a BMW F750GS for USD 130/day for rentals more than 10 days. Buying a bike in Colombia requires "Traspaso" (transfer fee), legal minimum insurance (Seguro Obligatorio de Accidentes de Tránsito (SOAT)), annual road tax, and "Revisión Técnico" (safety check), none of these is expensive.

Hi,

We've come down Central America and Colombia through this year, so happy to offer current advice - we are awaiting the Ecuador border to move on.

Alanymarce is right, obviously with much experience - Colombia is exceptional. We spent 6 months for CA, and already 4 in Colombia alone.

Check our our instagram https://www.instagram.com/endangeredspeciesvanguard/ if you want some inspiration.

IMO November is just too soon to go anywhere that you cannot leave with 24hrs notice without losing too much.

Most countries are beginning to open up and it will probably be an avalanche as nations try to catch the economic tourist boom.

Mutations of Covid will explode and as virus do, the stronger ones survive and spread. It could all just shut down overnight.

So I think I am suggesting if you do go, to rent a bike but with the ability to cancel and return the bike with little or no loss.

Good luck.

Argentina is open via land borders to neighbouring countries (since Oct 1). You can easily spend 5 months only in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay (in fact despite having been to Brazil multiple times, when we were there for longer (3 months) we had to leave at the end of our visa period with a lot still to explore, and we've been back since a few times, and still haven't reached Rondonia/Acre, for a start).

Many thanks - very helpful and makes a lot of sense.

We came to the conclusion to buy a cheap motorcycle and risk it. This way we can travel slow and take our time without having to worry about a USD 50-100 rental fee per day when parking the bike for a couple of days.

And we still have the upside of potential border openings. :)

Good on ya.

YOLO.

We did a similar thing an hour ago. Decided to start our world travel with our youngest two kids late 2022.

beer

Hey Silverstrand, I just registered on HU and this is my first reply. Hope it is useful.

I'm currently in Medellin, Colombia looking to buy a moto and hoping the borders open up. Here's a few things to know. 1) The Himalayan is $4700 USD brand new. 2) If you buy from a dealer, they handle all the fees and paperwork. 3) If you buy used, consider hiring a fixer (especially if you don't have great spanish) to take care of all the paperwork and/or arranging for bike mods. They charge 3-5% of purchase price. 4) Consider taking a couple day tours with a guide when you get here. I went with colombia moto adventures. For $175 a day, you get a rental (Honda XRE300 and a guide who can give you invaluable advice. 5) Colombian traffic is madness.

I decided to get a DR650 (just started looking) with a hope of travelling to Ecuador in early December. If the border does not open, then I will just go around Colombia till it does. If you are interested in an extra riding buddy, let me know.