Coast of Brazil to Bogota Colombia
 

Hey everyone. I am doing the South América tour in my versys 650. I am now in Buenos Aires and I will cross the cost of Brazil in the next 2 months. I am from Colombia and I want to return to Bogota with the Bike. I have heard it is kind of dangerous to cross Venezuela from Manaos (Brazil) but I don t see another option that is financionally viable. Does someone knows how is the real situation in Venezuela or others options to arrive to Colombia?

Dangerous? Not particularly, as long as you steer clear of Caracas. There is a lot to see in Venezuela in terms of scenery and wildlife, a reasonable infrastructure in place to help you see it, and people are generally friendly. I didn't have any serious trouble with officials, police or soldiers--just the usual smalltime hassles. Thievery seemed if anything more subdued than elsewhere, but that's subjective.

In fact, all of the above is entirely subjective. As a Colombian national you're aware of the enmity and saber-rattling between your country and Venezuela. You're probably aware of the periodic border closures and of the civil unrest which sweeps through one area, then another. And I assume you know about the currency black market, which will heavily favor you if you're able to bring quantities of US dollars (extracted from ATMs in Uruguay) or Brazilian reis.

Other standard options are probably not so appealing: up the river from Manaus, then overland through the Andes, or BR 319 to skip the river portion. There are descriptions on these forums and elsewhere.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

That all assumes you can get across the border between Venezuela and Colombia. Recent post about travellers in Venezuela facing the prospect of several thousand km detour back through Brazil and then west and north just to get a few into Colombia.

from UK travel