Travelling SA- ship from UK or buy there?
 

I'm sure this has been asked lots of times before and I have looked at the shipping review page already but I am still unsure.

I am planning a trip through South America, I am not planning to go until 2018 so the route is still flexible. The rough idea is to go from somewhere in the south to somewhere in the north, I am willing to choose my starting and end point based on how easy it is to get a bike in/out of there.

That is my question really, is it easiest and cheapest to ship my own bike from the UK (and if so where is best to ship it to) or to buy (or rent?) a bike out there (if so where is most straight forward to buy a bike as a traveller). I know there is difficulty buying a bike and then taking it out of the country. Either way I would like to sell it at the end of the trip and again I am not sure where is easiest to do so? It sounds like it is easiest to sell to another traveller?

I know this is very open ended but I am looking for a starting point to plan the trip and I am currently not very knowledgable.

Thanks!