Does anyone have any information or experience in freighting their bike from Columbia to the Guyanas. I want to explore northern Brazil but going from Columbia to Brazil via Venezuela at the moment is not an option.

Enter Brazil via Cuzco, carretera interoceanica in peru ,transamasonica in brasil

No specific experience shipping from Colombia to Guyana. There are many container ships servicing Cartagena. And a few ships make scheduled port in Barranquilla. You might find an 'open cargo' boat by visiting the docks in Cartagena...

I have a contact via the Stalhratte who organizes containers between Panama and Colombia. Perhaps he can assist. I will send the details to you via private message.

In 2012 I rode Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Venezuela was tricky at the time to travel through (or so they say), I didn't have any problems. Is the border closed from Colombia? Even if you could get in, I hate saying this, it might be best to give Venezuela a pass for now given the level of unrest. My route took me from Venezuela to Brazil then into Guyana due to the border issue between Venezuela and Guyana (there isn't an agreement on where the border is due to the oil and gold that lies below the surface.) Entering Guyana at Lethem, I rode perhaps half the length of the country, south to north. There are a few nature sites to see along that road, but a shortage of cash (the ATM in the south didn't work with my US bank) made me focus on getting to Georgetown and not stray from the main road. Its seem that tourist usually take small planes to get to the cool places (water falls, nature reserves) as they are off the beaten path. Chances are you aren't going to go deep into southern Guyana.

There is only one major road that more or less skims the coastline. I had an interesting time in these countries, but it wasn't the highlight of a larger tour of South America. Your experience may be better. Try to get into the interior of these countries, if you can. I'm a plan ahead kind of guy, so I recommend that you do you research and figure out what you *might* want to see in the Guyanas. I found the 'coastline' generally uneventful. If you search hard there may be beaches, but I didn't find them by tripping over them. Lots of mangrove coast, until you get to Brazil, then its all different...that was my experience.

Getting short term motorcycle insurance in French Guiana is hard, Only 6 month policies were available at a high rate. If you have coverage from the EU, then you should be fine. Otherwise, promise the border officials that you will buy insurance... They didn't check for insurance at any point in the country or when I left for Brazil.

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

I had the same dilemma 6 months ago and ended up taking a boat down the amazon from Yurimaguas in Peru to Manaus in Brazil, and then rode north from Manaus to Guyana.

Obviously adds on a whole load of time doing it this way, but well worth it if you can.

I agree, its a good and relaxing trip over the Amazonas. But you can also get another boat from Manaus to Macapa and than go up to French Guyana, Suriname and Guyana.

Maybe contact some of the cargo companies at Bogota airport and ask them to fly your bike to Georgetown. Girag is one of this companies that just comes to my mind now. Maybe you could even fly the bike into Caracas and than go down to the border with Brazil, but pls confirm with somebody that this border is open.

All the best. Greetings from Bolivia mika

I also agree that traveling by boat on the Amazon is the best solution. You might be able to fly with your bike to Leticia, Colombia. Then get on a boat at the triple frontera headed towards Manuas. Then in Manuas, get a boat to Belem or Macapa - depending on if you want to go to the Guyanas or not.

Maybe you can catch a boat at Puerto Asis on the Putumayo river. The Putumayo river empties into the Amazon. It is possible to drive to Puerto Asis. There are cargo boats on the Putumayo because it is a large river and there are many small villages on its banks. The passage might take 10-20 days to travel. Good luck! http://amazonasleticia.co/como-llega...ru-y-colombia/
http://miputumayo.com.co/2011/09/06/...n-el-putumayo/

It's a pity that you are unable to visit VZ. If you go to Manaus, i highly recommend that you disembark and drive north to Boa Vista and onward into the southern portion of VZ if you can. The Gran Sabana is an incredible part of the world and not to be missed.

While this is a solution, i'd recommend leaving it as the last resort option since if you enter Brasil this way you will not be very close to northern Brasil. and you will have to drive the very long and very bad Transamazonica highway to get to northeast Brasil.

In Puerto maldonado now road from cuzco to here is brilliant for a bike, perfect asphalt , crossing border to brazil tomorrow .

Well Venezuela has opened it's borders this month after a year of having them closed. We will be in Colombia in a months time and will try and get a feel on the situation there, whether it is sensible to scoot across the southern part of the country into Brazil from Colombia.

You don't have to go across the southern portion of VZ. It's possible to travel over the northern portion and avoid problems. In 2014 we drove from Maicao, Colombia into Maracaibo and spent the night in a hotel with a security garage. Next day went to Coro and again in a very nice hotel with security. Next day went to Colonia Tovar which is incredibly beautiful and safe. Then next day stopped in Santa Fe near Mochima - again in a secured lot. Then following day headed south to the Gran Sabana where we camped out in the open for a number of days - very safe area.

Just have a hotel destination in mind ahead of time so that you don't get messed up looking for a place to stay. If you stay in very nice hotels, you will be fine security wise. And on the road, it's hard to get into trouble when you are traveling 100km/h.

No, be careful border is only open for pedestrians, Venezuelans or Colombians.
NO vehicles.

"Well Venezuela has opened it's borders this month after a year of having them closed. We will be in Colombia in a months time and will try and get a feel on the situation there, whether it is sensible to scoot across the southern part of the country into Brazil from Colombia."

Be prepared for a lot of pothole dodging once you get into Brazil. Many potholes go right across the road and the trucks weave all over the road dodging them


Any resemblance between conditions in 2014 and conditions now in Venuzuela are purely illusory

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Tony
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How do I follow your travels? I'm very interested in this section. Cuzco to Porto Velho then boat to Manaus.