south America now
 

Hi people,
I've been a Hubb Viewer for many years and have been to the UK and Thailand meets a couple of times.

Well all the dreaming over the years has ended and i find myself in Colombia at the start of an indefinate RTW ride.
just had a great 4 days in Bogota getting the bike from customs,
(thanks to Motofreight uk and Lyncargo Bogota).

I'm now in Medellin spending two weeks at spanish language school, hoping to learn some survival language skills.

I'm planning on spending at least 8 months in South America, heading south, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile slowly to Ushuaia and then back up the other side via Argentina and Uruguay.
hopefully hooking up with the Dakar in Jan 2017.

Im an English Man riding a blue Tenere660 mostly ambling about without too much of a plan. I'm staying mainly on road until the Carretera Austal (ok not exactly off road I know).

so if you are about and fancy a chat and a beer, :thumbup1: send me a message.
id love to hear any advice or tips from my fellow travellers.

Ian:thumbup1:

Hello!
 

Hi Ian,

Same here - I read absolutely everything on Hubb, posting... Not so much :mchappy:

We are going on our RTW in mid October starting in Santiago or Buenos Aires - haven't arranged the shipping yet. How was getting the bike from Customs in Bogota? Hope it was straightforward.

I've been trying to figure out where to learn some basic Spanish in Chile or Argentina when I came across your post. A little worried as a lot of people say the accent and slang are very difficult and different to the rest of South and Central America.

We are hoping to see the Dakar in January '17 as well - it would be great to meet up bier

Anna

Hi Anna,
i was originally intending to ship to Santiago in September, but decided as i was unemployed and homeless, i might as well leave early.
i shipped further north to take advantage of the time and weather.
i used moto freight, Roddy and his team were great both in UK and Lyncargo in Bogota. i highly recommend them and £500 cheaper than James cargo (for my quote)

i had my bike through customs and on the road in about 6 hours. which believe me is quick. i met a swiss couple who were having much more trouble and it took them more than double the time.(via swiss cargo)
I'm sure people will have varied opinions but Colombian Spanish in Bogota or Medellin is described as near to Spanish Spanish if that makes sense.

i would recommend getting some Spanish lessons before leaving, i wish i had, but everyone is so friendly and nice here my mime skills are getting me through with the odd Spanish word i know
(so far bought a puncture outfit and some Imodium. they are two mimes you don't want to confuse):rofl:

hope to catch you out here. if i can be of any assistance ill do my best. :thumbup1:

As a speaker of Spanish, I would choose Colombia to learn it. Chilean Spanish is VERY rapid and challenging to understand, especially because they tend to leave off the ends of words ending in r or s. Argentinian Spanish accent is different in that they pronounce the double ll as sort of a "shuh" sound unlike the "y" sound used in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, most of Colombia except Medellin, Panama, Costa Rica, etc.

My buddy and I are currently making our way south on a couple of KLR's, we're in Concepcion at the moment and speak fluent "Chileno", so if you're about give us a yell.

Hi Mikeleawry,
I'm currently in Pucon, just waiting on the weather to improve before riding on south.
if you get down this way top me a line.
would be great to have a beer beer:thumbup1:

Be careful not to get stuck in Medellin! I had similar plans a few years ago and never made it very far. It's just an amazing place. Gotta love Colombia.


As they say: The only danger in Colombia is not to want to leave.

Thomas