Hi,

I just shipped my bike with James Cargo from The UK to Caracas. James Cargo did a great job of the getting the bike there, but getting it out of customs was a nightmare! Days spent in the customs house, etc, etc. In the end my total cost was around 250Euro including paying for ~25 hours of a receiving agents time, but the wasted time spent dealing with it was the real pain. Finding anyone even at the international airport who spoke English was almost impossible.

General info:
-No problems at all with the police or military, even at road blocks. I couldn't get insurance and was never asked for it.

-Roads are in generally good condition, though there was some flood damage that they were still working on.

-Fuel might as well be free at about 1 cent/litre. Yes, 1 US cent a litre.

-The back market rate for foreign is at least double the official rate at banks, proper money changers, etc. USD gets a much better rate than Euro. Right now USD is at around 1-8 and Euro are around 1-10.

-Non-Venezuelan cards do not work in any bank machine I tired and every other traveler reported the same. They keep asking for a pin and the 'last 2 digits of your Identification'. So bring lots of cash and change it on the street.

Places info:

-N10 15.059 W64 27.208 Is a good place to explore the coast around Barcelona from is a place run by a French Canadian (speaks great English too). Just above a beach along a fun riding road (traffic permitting). Camping depends on how busy he is, but assume around 3USD at above exchange.

-N8 05.460 W63 29.370 Just outside of Cuidad Bolivar is a proper campsite. A bit pricier at around 7USD to camp. But a proper site with laundry, resto/bar, internet, arranges tours, etc

Crossing into Brazil:

The border town of Santa Elana is actually a fairly cool place and not at all a normal crappy border town. Most tourists come for the hiking, so there is some infrastructure.

-N4 36.222 W61 06.433 There are a couple of cheap places on this street, with posada Michele being cheap, clean, and allowing you to park your bike inside the building.

-N4 35.890 W61 06.517 The Brazilian consulate. Prices and times for a visa vary by nation, but my Canadian one took about an hour and a guys US one was ready the next day. One photo, a credit card (proof of funds), and yellow fever card required

-Around N4 29.246 W61 08.900 Just past the border is a Brazilian bank machine that takes most cards. You can just ride through and use the machine and then ride back- no border stuff or need for a visa.

-The border crossing was casual and very fast on both sides. No insurance asked for on the Brazilian side.

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DRad
http://gsguy.wordpress.com

I'm curious what made you decide to ship into Caracas: it sounds as difficult as its reputation. Was it cheap? Did James Cargo recommend it?

If you stayed in Cuidad Bolivar, maybe you went to Salto Angel....(?). There's at least one rider headed in the opposite direction who might want to know whether it is worthwhile this time of year. Last year there'd been a drought and the falls were supposed to be very minimal until the rains started (just before I got there, of course).

Thanks.

Mark

I heard they were decent right now, but late last year/early this year they were supposed to be amazing.

I decided to skip them since I've made a bit of a rule to only go to things I can see on the bike. I'm almost 2 years and 110,000km into this ride and so I've had to draw the line and things I could do as a 'normal' tourist some other time.

Flying into Caracas was me being an idiot and planning based on a map instead of doing any kind of proper research (story of my trip). James Cargo hadn't sent a bike to Venezuela before so didn't have an opinion (it wasn't cheap either at 1,600GBP all in). They have excellent contacts in Ecuador, but since I want to ride down one side of SA and up the other it seemed to make sense to start in Ven and then end the SA ride through Ecuador to Columbia before crossing The Gap.

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DRad
http://gsguy.wordpress.com

Ah, got it. Thanks for the response.

Mark

Just heading that way, thanks for the great info.

what's your plan now in Brazil ?

'ride' the BR-319 ?????

we drove Manaus to Porto Vehlo first week of december 2010

planning on Guyanas ? could be a nice alternative route and down the coast.

phil.