Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Thanks for taking the time to write your report, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I hope it’s not too long before you get back out there again.


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Astounding....what a great experience.


I concur that no one is truly poor within Europe in comparison.

Well done...hard to beat those Africa Twins eh?

WIBO wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:02 am Well done...hard to beat those Africa Twins eh?

Yes, I do quite like them.....as you can probably tell from my signature line!

Hi Mark,

Great report and pics. I’ve just gone to your blog to read more but I have a couple of questions.

Who did you ship the bike with?
Did you use a carnet or TIPs for borders?

I’m getting close to the same trip so I’ll PM you with further questions if I may?

Cheers,

Graham

gbags wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:12 pm Hi Mark,
Great report and pics. I’ve just gone to your blog to read more but I have a couple of questions.
Who did you ship the bike with?
Did you use a carnet or TIPs for borders?
I’m getting close to the same trip so I’ll PM you with further questions if I may?
Cheers,
Graham

Hi Graham,
No problem, please feel free to PM any questions.
Re. carnet/TIP....we simply got a TIP at each border from the aduana (customs) of the country we were going into, plus one from the airport aduana when we collected the bike at Santiago airport (the bike won't be released without it). It was all very straight forward. They need your passport and bike registration document to do the TIP. Make sure they stamp and sign it. I also had to sign it in the appropriate place (they will show you where). Then, when you leave the country, hand it back to the aduana of the country you're exiting.
We shipped the bike with Motofreight, London to Santiago on the outward leg. It's going back to London from Buenos Aires, again via Motofreight and their agent in B.A., Dakar Motos. They are very helpful, and I know some other folks have used them and rate them highly.
As I say, please feel free to PM any questions. On Hellas of this forum travelled S. America last year as I think you may know, and I'm fairly sure he'd also be pleased to answer any questions.... he has experience of the northern countries which I haven't (Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia)
Mark

Fantastic Mark

My regards to Debbie x x

Paul-S wrote: ↑Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:54 pm Fantastic Mark
My regards to Debbie x x

Thanks, Paul - good to see you're still around on the forum, and hope all's well with you and your 2 AT's! Will you be at the HU meet in June (which I think is I quite close to you?)

No Mark

Not doing anything this year but will be back in action next year

I'm about 120 miles north of the event but unable to go

Post script
We've now been back home for a few weeks and have reflected a lot on our trip of 5 months & 15,000 km. The route we took is as below, with each place we stayed overnight or longer being pinned.
Would we have changed anything or done anything differently? Definitely no. Go with the flow and good things tend to happen, even when one has a problem of some sort.
Will we do another, similar trip? Definitely yes. Hopefully later next year through into 2020. Possibly N. America/Mexico. Or maybe the top half of S. America. And definitely with our old Africa Twin.
The cost actually worked out quite inexpensively at an average of £566 per person per week, which includes shipping of the outfit and our own flights. Day to day expenses could be less depending on what type of accommodation is chosen. We used all sorts - camping, ferry cabin, hostels, hospedajes, hotels, apartments and cabanas. The best - camping next to the beach on the edge of the Atacama desert. The worst - even this we look back on with fond memories since the people we met were good, and the vast landscapes awe-inspiring.