hi
in september/october 2001 i took a boat (or rather several boats) down the amazon from peru to brazil. friends have since asked me for info/comments. having written to them, it is easy enough to put it on the hubb to share with everybody:

you have to take a boat TO and from iquitos. there are 2 options from yurimaguas and from pucallpa. from lima to pucallpa there is a good(ish) road.

i went from yurimaguas. there are several routes to the yurimaguas-turn-off from the main highway. take your pick. if you fancy adventure (and a 'direct' route via kuelap ruins) head inland just north of trujillo (i think the town on the way is called cajamarca). i did this and it was fun (and a little 'muddy'). you know the weather patterns and your itinerary.

the 'safer' route goes up the coast further north and then cuts inland. from the turn off to yurimaguas, the road is truely horrible and bike breaking. i did it (and also broke my bike :-( ).

the boat route to iquitos from pucallpa is longer and you would miss lots of stuff north of lima (unless of course you went up there and doubled back).

the boat trips are a real adventure and unmissable. this way you would miss colombia (as i did, intentionally). it is 'fun' getting the bike on and off these cargo boats. bike crammed in with fruit/veg/wildlife.

you sleep on deck in a hammock. the cabins are too hot. stay on deck with the locals. lots of fun and photo ops. take comfort food because the food supplied is basic and insubstantial.

take lots to read. there are a couple of book swap places in iquitos (on/near main square: talk to the british and canadian consuls; they both own bars/restaurants).

iquitos is fun and worth a few days to hang out. from yurimaguas boats go 2 or 3 times a week to iquitos. from iquitos to the border (colombia/brazil/peru) boats go daily except sunday.

you must change boat at the border. the peru boat stops at the peru side (santa rosa) and there you leave peru (immigration). do your customs for the bike at iquitos. they will give you a note so that the customs officer at the border will let you out. iquitos customs was very helpful and efficient.

from santa rosa you take a motorised dugout (my boat had a winch to lower the bike into the dugout) across the river to tabatinga (brazil). do immigration at the policia federal. gb citizens don't need visas. not sure about americans. do your bike customs at tabatinga also(office in port). if the man can't do it, make sure you get a written permission that you can do the formalities in manaus. i didn't and got unreasonablely hassled at as check point on the river.

i did my paperwork in manaus. it was a pain in the arse.

brazilian customs and police are the biggest class-a shits in this solar system.

there are 3 or 4 boats a week to manaus. the boats are better than the peruvian boats too. bar and music every night.

costs per person per boat: about 30 bucks in peru, bike is the same as the person, ie. 60 bucks for 1 person and 1 bike per boat journey.

in brazil things were more expensive: tabatinga to manaus was 90 bucks for me and the same for the bike. in brazil you MUST bargain, otherwise they will rip you off. peru seemed to have published prices and were not in the business of shafting gringos.

there are helpers everywhere to assist embarcation and disembarcation. they are keen, but not gifted and have no idea about balance and gravity of motorcycles. choose a couple of less ungifted-looking ones and tell the rest to get lost. helpers of course would like payment.

you can get cash in tabatinga at an atm. buy supplies there.

it was a great adventure, except for brazilians in uniform.

from manaus you can drive north on pavement to Venezuela, or take yet another boat to belem and drive south through brazil.

Timing:
2 days from yurimaguas to iquitos
3 days from iquitos to border.
5 days from border to manaus
5 days from manaus to belem

Upstream it takes MUCH MUCH longer :-((
ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
chris

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

The road to Yurimaguas was an absolute nightmare, especially considering it was raining...

Took me from 10.30 am in Moyobamba to 10.30pm in Yurimaguas

Arrrghhhh......

Yours, head to toe in mud

Jeremy

Here is what i wrote in my mail above:

"from the turn off to yurimaguas, the road is truely horrible and bike breaking. i did it (and also broke my bike :-( )"

Bet you didn't see any other Gringos either. When I did it, it was dry too... So all character building stuff, tally ho, jolly hockey sticks etc etc.

Get yourself to Iquitos and enjoy....

CB

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Following the Chris´s footsteps ( 0r wheel tracks ), here are the facts and figures of what I encountered travelling from Lima to Yurimaguas by road, and Yutimaguas to Iquitos to Manaus by Banana boat. There are Gringo traps to be avoided , and hopefully some useful tips.

LIMA TO YURIMAGUAS
One hell of a ride for the unsuspecting. Once you turn inland the road gets progressively worse, and like Chris said, the last 150 km´s approaching Yurimaguas is bike and butt destroying. ( And even worse when it´s raining ).

Lima to Casma , 300 km´s
Casma to Motupe , 500 km´s
Motupe to Moyobamba, 500 km´s
Moyobamba to Yurimaguas, approx 200 km´s

Thats right folks, it´s approx 4 days Lima to Yurimaguas, which I mistakenly thought was quicker than riding to Pucallpa and taking the boat from there. Lima to Pulcallpa is possible in a day, and the boat from Pucallpa to Iquitos is roughly the same as from Yurimaguas.

BANANA BOAT FROM YURIMAGUAS TO IQUITOS
First up, you will need a manifest document from the shipping agency handling the boat which you choose. (Conocimiento de Embarque). If you choose the Eduardo II, the agency is "Agencia Fluvial Dos Mil", Mariscal Castilla 925. For 20 Soles (6 USD) they will issue with the paper. You might get it for lessif you go independantly, as the uniformed rep who took there was handed 10 soles over the counter when the lady thought I wasn´t looking.

Bringing the bike to the port, I was stopped by the security guards who charged me 20 soles just to get in the gates. As no receipt was issued, I´m sure I was conned thanks to my helper. I reccomend going independantly, and if asked for anything like I was, demand a boleta de venta , or something which forces them to make it official. If they cant , I would refuse to pay. (In Iquitos the same charges were only 50 centavos )

Then comes the charges, 40 (12 USD)Soles for me, and 65 for the bike. Originally they quoted me 50 soles (15 USD) without having seen the bike, butthen when I tried to leave the boat, they wanted 100 soles as they said the bike was so big. Quite pissed off I got them down to 65 Soles (20 USD)

As Chris says, there is no such thing as free lunch, so choose your helpers and negotiaite a price before getting the bike lifted on or off the boat.

Yurimaguas to Iquitos 3 days ( two nights )

Arriving at Iquitos you have to watch your stuff like a hawk, or preferably just sit on it until the mayhem dies down. The boat is invaded with porters and people selling crap a couple of minutes before sliding on to the mud. Once it´s cooled down you can make your move. I stayed in Hospedaje "La Pascana" fir 9 USD, Calle Pevas No. 133

I tried following Chris´s advice about clearing customs in Iquitos, although after many spins around the beauracratic wheel, I realised this is NOT reccomended. As soon as I spied some Carnet receipts which had been stamped at Santa Rosa ( The frontier with Brasil and Colombia ), I apologised to the customs guys in Iquitos, and set sail.

IQUITOS TO SANTA ROSA
Leaving Iquitos you have to survive the port again. Since I was travelling alone I did the load in two shifts, first the bike, and then all my stuff via moto taxi. As I neared the boat I was practically linched by about 20 porters who actually started fighting eachother to get my bags, it was diabolic. I chose one guy I recognised form the day before. At the peak of the frenzy I caught a guy trying to swipe my wallet, and I gave a look of death as I let him know that wasn´t going to happen.

Again you will have to have a manifest for the bike, and for the boat Kiki, the agency is " Agencia Loreto", Av. La Marina 546, cost 30 soles (9 USD)

This time it was 50 Soles (15 USD)for me and again they tried to up the charge on the bike after a low quote, and I could only get them down to 80 soles (24 USD). (really felt a duped Gringo at this stage)

Iquitos to Santa Rosa 3 days

Immigration and customs for Peru at Santa Rosa

Canoe with bike to Tabatinga 20 Soles

Lifting bike out at Tabatinga 15 (5.70 USD)Reals (a "real"rip off )

Note : Customs in Tabatinga is closed ALL weekend, including Sat AM. I had to ask the Police Federal to radio upstream about this so I could do the necessarys in Manuas.

TABATINGA TO MANAUS
Costs a whole heap more, 100 Real ( 37 USD )for me, and the same for the bike. The boat is much nicer, cleaner, food and toilets useable, and there is even a bar on board. An A/C cabin with private toilet and fridge and double bed would have been 500 Real ! (189 USD)

If you have the misfortune to arrive in Manaus without having done customs in Tabatinga, you will be faced with a hafl day of paper work at the "Predio de Alfandega, room 106".

To my surprise a German issued Carnet was not valid ( as Brasil is not listed on the back - so check yours ), and a complicated temporary vehicle importation document had to be drawn up. Very frustrating.

Tabatinga to Manaus 3 nights

In general, the boats in Peru are crap, and the ffood and toilets will have you heaving. Ear plugs are a good idea, as is insect repellant, and of course you will need a hammock.

It´s a good idea to make friends with your neighbours, keeping an eye on each others stuff when one of you has to go the loo or whatever. Try and find a hammock at the front of the boat, and be prepared for a different kind of travelling.....

If anyone needs info on travelling from Macapa to Oipoque to French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana and then back down to Boa Vista before turning north to Venezuela, give me a buzz, I have lots of info from a French Guiana couple.

Cheers

Jeremy

Thanks for the tips Jeremy.

I have decided against Paraguay , partly as my ticket home is from caracas , so I will be trying the Pucallpa route when I have a new tyre on Monday .

Chris

hi guys,

we are two guys from israel traveling on KLR`s. we are in iquitos now and want to get to ecuador.
1.does anyone know something about getting to ecuador from iquitos on the rio napo?
2.are there any roads from yurimagaus to northern peru and not to lima?
3.is there any other way to get north without using the iquitos-pucalpa or iquitos-yurimagaus routs?

thanks,

eyal & eyal

Hi Eyal and Eyal,

I have my map of Brasil etc in hand, as far as I can tell, you have only 1 option if you don´t want to go to Yurimaguas or Pucallpa.

On my map there is a road from Tempested ( along the Rio Napo) which heads in a South West direction ( mostly south) . The road runs parallel to the Peru / Equador border, but then it runs off of my map, and I´m not sure if it lands in Peru or Equador.

North on the river Napo there is a place called Pantoja, although the road from there appears to be a dead end.

Now hows about an answer to my e-mail regarding Caracas to Panama !!!

Cheers

Jeremy

[This message has been edited by Jeremy Andrews (edited 15 June 2002).]

Hello again,

thanks for the information.

A few details about shipping the motorbike and more.
We shipped the bikes to venezuela by boat becuase to do so by air is very expensive.
we shipped them from panama to venezuela so i hope my information will be good for you also.

By air – the cheapest way that we found is by “Aeroservicios”. they have offices in panama city, don`t know about caracas.
Aeroservicios panama – (507) 2267955

By boat – the company we worked with is the chepeast company in panama. It cost us only
$330 for two bikes to venezuela and i think the price to panama is the same. They
charge by cubic meter and not by kg. The company ("servicarga") has a very nice manager called “Gladys”.
She does not speak english but other people there do speak. The office is in Colon
and not in panama city. (as most of the shipping companies). It`s located in the “Zona Libre” in colon which is a very big sort of “duty free”. You can call her or email her. if she sends you to "palumbo" shipping company in caracas by saying that they are the company that works with them in caracas (you might need them to get the shipping bill), be very careful and tell "gladys" that you will pay all the shipping costs in panama after the bike gets there. don`t pay to palumbo nothing. do all the price talking with gladys. she charge about 110$ for cubic meter but for us she charged 90. venezuela custom wasn`t so bad as we was told before and they know what to do. no extra charge for getting the bike in venezuela, don`t know about getting it out of the country. the custom located in "la guira" which is 45 min from caracas.
The company is:
Servi Carga – also known in the zona libre as “Ti”- Transcontinental inc.
Tel. 4415816,4415917,4414040,4417980
email - don`t have it here, i`ll send you ASAP.
Direction: Zona Libre of Colon. Main
entrance, first right go one block, than
take right again to the end, at the left hand side. Permits to enter are issued upon showing passports.

Hotels in panama city with parking lot: (i`m sure there are more....)
1.“hotel marparaiso”. Is located in calle 34 between avenida cuba and avenida
peru.
They charge $16.50 for two persons (if you will tell them you are friends of the two israelies guys with the
motorcycles). They have good security in the parking lot including camera. Good
place,
good coffee in the morning.....

2. ”hotel latino”. Is located in calle 36 between avenida peru and avenida
cuba. They charge less than marparaiso but it seems to us not secured as marparaiso. Our
friend stayed there also with motorcycle.

If you will stay in one of these two places, cheap internet place near by is
located in avenida peru between calle 37 and 36.

Have fun and if you have more questions i`m here.

Eyal

This is for the BB of Horizonsunlimited.com


Hi Chris, Hi Jeremy, Hi El Penguino, Hi Eyalchuck, Hola Travellers


Thank you guys for all the information we could get for our journey on the Amazon River, here are some of our experiences as additional information for other travellers.

Pucallpa (Peru) to Manaus (Brazil)

About 3000kms on boats. We slept 12 nights on the boats. We paid 370 Euro (around 370 USD) for us and the bikes (XT600Tenere + XR200R).

It was an interesting journey and we met a lot of nice people, but now it is time to ride the bikes again. If it happens that I travel the same route again, I built my own raft powered by Yamaha Tenere.

1.Boat : Pucallpa – Iquitos (1 Euro = 3.5 Soles)
M/N Sandra (3 days , 4 nights) – simple boat, nice and helpful people, good value, recommended, 60 Soles each person
Bikes: documents: *La Sirove* 24 Soles each bike, *Manifesto* 30 Soles both bikes, Transport 50 Soles each bike, Loading on/off the boat 5 Soles
Total: 303 Soles (87 Euro)

2. Boat: Iquitos – Santa Rosa (1 Euro = 3.5 Soles)
M/N Aquilles (1 day, 2 nights) – shit boat, rip off, avoid this boat, 50 Soles each person
Bikes: *Manifesto* 30 Soles both bikes, Transport 75 Soles each bike, loading on/off 13 Soles
Total: 293 Soles (84 Euro)

3. Boat: Santa Rosa – Leticia (Colombia) (1 USD=1 Euro)
by canoe with outboard engine (15 minutes), 15 USD for us and the bikes, loading in/out 7 Soles + 1 USD
Total: 18 USD (18 Euro)

4. Boat: Tabatinga (Brazil) – Manaus (1 Euro = 2.7 Real)
M/N Manoel Monteiro II (3 days, 3 nights) – very good boat, good food, clean, not the cheapest, recommended. 100 Real each person
Bikes: no special documents needed only custom papers, transport 140 Real each bike, loading off 5 Real, port tax 5 Real each bike
Total: 495 Real (185 Euro)

Tips:
- hammocks can be bought cheap in Pucallpa (up to 20 Soles)
- bargain hard for all bike transport costs
- document *La Sirove* shows that it is your bike and you are allowed to take it on the boat – you get it at the police office in Pucallpa
- you can sleep on the boat before it leaves or after it arrives for free
- hang your hammock as early as possible
- watch your stuff
- if you bargain harder in Brazil you can get the last boat a lot cheaper, like our friend we met in Manaus Kefir from Israel on a Transalp
- enjoy

Mika Kuhn + Damaris


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Hi Guys!

But,what about boats from Equador,Puerto Francisco de Orleana and on to Manaus?

I dont want to missout Equador!

cheers
jondoe

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cheers

jondoe

Thanks for all the good info. Should arrive Pucallpa tomorrow or Wed. and will put some of your info to use. Any changes anyone knows of since 2003?--PW

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on the road(almost)
and lovin' it!!
KLR650-A13 'BURRO'

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on the road(almost)
and lovin\' it!!
KLR650-A13 \'BURRO\'

Hi guys,
I am considering taking this route from yurimaguas to manaus. Does anyone have updated information on this...adventure?

This information is fantastic.
I am also planning to travel this route, however the opposite direction Manaus to Ecuador. Any updated info would be appreciated.
Is it best to know spanish in order to bargain?

Portuguese in Brazil, Spanish for the rest, but many thatr pass between the two countries can communicate in either language.

__________________
Tony
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