...early trip/route planning - I'm budgeting 3 months total for Laredo to TDF (and up to BA for shipping home to Toronto). January to March 2010.

Thoughts on total time budgeted would be appreciated!

...also, specifically looking for advice on time to distance for Laredo to Panama City leg as I'm trying to time arrival for a sail crossing to Cartagena end of January.

I have been thinking of the same thing with same questions...3 months sounds like pushing it, but then I've crossed Canada in 5 days from Nova Scotia. Who you shipping bike back with, and how much? Sorry for questions instead of answers. My bike is in Nova Scotia and I am in Kenya/Thailand till early January and was hoping to get my bike down in southern states so can continue southbound journey in January. Have you checked the climatic factors for that time of year? I thought most people head down in October.

Cheers,
Larry (BMWR100GS)

Hi Larry,

I'll arrange shipping in BA on arrival - too hard to pinpoint at this time I think.

JAN FEB seems to be dry season for Mexico and Central America. FEB MAR may be a bit wet for Peru but temperature wise looks good. Bottom line for me is Jan to Mar is my window of opportunity!

Check out Jeff Smith's MotoTreks page for a great climate summary!
Central and South America Climate Overview | Planning

Hi Bob (?)

Cool. You traveling alone? Interested in company? I did some biking recently in Africa and Asia and it was something...
I am at larrynunavut@hotmail.com if you want to communicate that way.

Cheers
Larry

Hi Gaperbob,

Three months ís pushing it imho. Just riding and be able to say you've 'done' it, or be able too say you've actually see something of the beautiful countries you passed! But it all comes down to personal preferences and posibilities.

As for relevant advise...

For sailing from Panama to Cartagena you can contact Backpacker Hostel Wunderbar - Home a few weeks before you arrive in Panama to know which boat you can take with your bike. (from personal experience : try to stay away from the MetaComet!!) There are a few boats shipping tourists with enough room for bikes, but schedules are not fixed, so you might end up waiting.

Looking at your timetable, you might reconsider and skip the San Blas islands and fly from Panama City to Colombia, little more expensive, saves at least about 4 days. And spend those days in Colombia, you'll need them From my experience bike paperwork can take a day in the port customs and, from what i heard, is way easier when flying.

If you do decide to sail, make sure the captain covers your bike properly, salt water can do damage to your bike which can cost you days further down the road.

Hope this info is helpful.

Suerte!

Sander

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I'm expecting confirmation from at least one ride partner in the next week or so - I'll let you know thanks.

Sander,

I've looked at the Melody, Stahlratte and Metacomet - so far the Metacomet is the only boat operating around the end of January! Have you documented your concerns about them previously on the HUBB - or can you tell me about the problems?

Larry - it's Peter btw (GaperBob is an old skiing nickname)

We just took the Metacomet from Sapzurro to Puerto Lindo and there wasn't anything wrong with their trip. The food was good, they were nice, the trip was pleasant. My bike was well covered and cared for. The boat needs some paint, but other than that I would recommend it.

I took three months from San Antonio to Ushuaia. It meant skipping major and minor points of interest (Galapagos, most Amazon basin, most capital cities, the San Blas Islands, various trekking and diving paradises, etc. etc. etc.) and hustling quickly through others (Colombia, Ecuador and almost everyplace else). But I took roundabout routes here and there, back roads when I could, and took time out to oversleep and over-inebriate fairly often as well. If this suits you, you'll be fine.

On the other hand, I'm heading back to El Norte, so I get a second crack at it all. No way I'd have scheduled this as a three month trip otherwise. Plus: I then took a cheap, last-minute Antarctic trip out of Ushuaia, and I'm at least a couple more weeks from Buenos Aires. And I didn't have to wait for a boat in Panama (air freighted instead) nor arrange shipping my bike home. Your schedule will be significantly more tight than mine if you try to do even the limited amount of off-the-bike activities that I did.

You can certainly make it to Panama in a couple of weeks if you hustle. It's really only a week's hard riding...but just thinking about it this way makes me depressed. Too many borders and too much tailgating of slow-moving, black-belching trucks in the fog for very little payback at that pace.

Your call, of course. Your sore butt, frazzled nerves and incipient carpal tunnel syndrome, too. But most people would suggest that you cut back on your objectives somewhat unless you really enjoy long hours on the bike.

enjoy,

Mark

I think a reasonable amount of people make the trip in 3 months. I spent 6 months and pretty much hurried all of south America. I did feel like I saw quite a bit of the continent, but missed some key things like amazon, ruta 40, and iguazu falls.

As I've said over on some threads on advrider.com, my average pace was about 35 mph. So use maps.bing.com and figure out a route and run the division.

That speed considers any time that the bike was turned on (gps on!). So waiting half a day for a road to open up wouldn't have made the clock.

If all you have is 3 months, do it. It is possible. If you're running out of time.. just turn around! Ushuaia is nice and it is great to plant the flag, but is it worth missing something unique like the Salar de Uyuni.. no

Also, don't mess around with boats. That'll take atleast a week if you time everything perfectly. Fly from Panama city to Colombia via copa or girag.

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All the way south - Texas to Tierra del Fuego in '08-'09