What about overland in South America?

[DuckCL-LC120]

I haven't found any posts from members overlanding in South America on this forum. Maybe I haven't searched hard enough.
Probably my fellow South Americans have not posted due to difficulties with the English language, but I do know that there are many people in this region of the continent who share this lifestyle, as I have met several on and off the road, some of whom have even become very close friends.
Having said that, I invite those who have experienced overland routes in the region to share their experiences in this thread. I intend to do so.

Greetings from Santiago, Chile!

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi Patricio,

I have traveled a lot around in different regions around the world and never to South America. It's pretty high on the wish list as soon as Covid 19 allows it again! Maybe you have some good tips for me then?

By the way, this sub-foum South America is still quite new, so there is not much here yet. But check out @Gustavo Amaral ´s great pictures from Brazil that he keeps sharing here from his overlanding trips. The photos are really beautiful! Take a look here for example:

South America - routes and locations

Hiking on "Chapada dos Veadeiros" (Veadeiros National Park, Goiás, Brazil). Some amazing waterfalls and gorgeous springs in the "Cerrado" biome. Everything in my last overland trip.

www.overlandbound.com

Cheers, Björn

 

[DuckCL-LC120]

Hi Patricio,

I have traveled a lot around in different regions around the world and never to South America. It's pretty high on the wish list as soon as Covid 19 allows it again! Maybe you have some good tips for me then?

By the way, this sub-foum South America is still quite new, so there is not much here yet. But check out @Gustavo Amaral ´s great pictures from Brazil that he keeps sharing here from his overlanding trips. The photos are really beautiful! Take a look here for example:

South America - routes and locations

Hiking on "Chapada dos Veadeiros" (Veadeiros National Park, Goiás, Brazil). Some amazing waterfalls and gorgeous springs in the "Cerrado" biome. Everything in my last overland trip.

www.overlandbound.com

Cheers, Björn

Thank you for your reply Björn.

I was just enjoying @Gustavo Amaral‘s photos, they are great!
If you decide to come to Chile, let me know and I'll give you info and recommendations.
Anyway, I intend to share the routes I have traveled here.

Cheers!

 

[El-Dracho]

If you decide to come to Chile, let me know and I'll give you info and recommendations.
Anyway, I intend to share the routes I have traveled here.

That's very kind of you, Patricio. Thank you very much! I will be happy to come back to it!

 

[Gustavo Amaral]

Thank you for your reply Björn.

I was just enjoying @Gustavo Amaral‘s photos, they are great!
If you decide to come to Chile, let me know and I'll give you info and recommendations.
Anyway, I intend to share the routes I have traveled here.

Cheers!

Hi Patricio! I hope you are well! I've just arrived from my last overland trip (to Pantanal). Nice, you enjoy my photos. BTW, I encourage you to post your trips, photos, etc. in the thread "South America - routes and locations". It's not "mine thread". I create it for all of us who travel in South America, only to share routes, photos, and locations. Please, feel free to post there what you want in this approach! Best!

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi guys,

If I see it correctly, Chile and Uruguay's borders are open to tourists and Argentina is following on November 1, right? So it seems that the situation is moving in a good direction for us overlanders. That's great and probably we will be able to travel South America again soon. But I think it makes no sense as long as only a few countries are open, shipping from Europe is not worth it, there must be a real chance to travel the continent. And also Central America should be open in perspective.

So what is the actual situation on the ground? How do you assess the situation? Will it be possible to travel around South America next year? What do you think? Clearly, none of us can predict this exactly. But I am interested in information from the ground. Thanks a lot.

Bjoern

 

[Alanymarce]

Hi guys,

If I see it correctly, Chile and Uruguay's borders are open to tourists and Argentina is following on November 1, right? So it seems that the situation is moving in a good direction for us overlanders. That's great and probably we will be able to travel South America again soon. But I think it makes no sense as long as only a few countries are open, shipping from Europe is not worth it, there must be a real chance to travel the continent. And also Central America should be open in perspective.

So what is the actual situation on the ground? How do you assess the situation? Will it be possible to travel around South America next year? What do you think? Clearly, none of us can predict this exactly. But I am interested in information from the ground. Thanks a lot.

Bjoern

Argentina's land borders are open now (since Oct 1). Many others remain closed (Colombia to anywhere for example).

re shipping - costs have gone through the roof - we had a quote for Cartagena to the USA which was double what we paid from Cartagena to Australia in 2019!

Will we be able to travel freely next year? I'm guessing that it will vary, as Covid-19 case rates go up and down, as vaccination percentage increases, and as doses become available for boosters, etc. I would plan on being flexible, and perhaps simply exploring one country at a time.

To respond to the original (implicit) question - "I haven't found any posts from members overlanding in South America on this forum" - We've travelled around a bit, everything from weekends and weeks at home in Colombia (and Venezuela, when we used to live there), to short trips in Argentina (Patagonia a few times for a few days), to our 11 month wander around all of South America some years ago (Sur América contra el reloj ):

 

[El-Dracho]

Argentina's land borders are open now (since Oct 1). Many others remain closed (Colombia to anywhere for example).

re shipping - costs have gone through the roof - we had a quote for Cartagena to the USA which was double what we paid from Cartagena to Australia in 2019!

Will we be able to travel freely next year? I'm guessing that it will vary, as Covid-19 case rates go up and down, as vaccination percentage increases, and as doses become available for boosters, etc. I would plan on being flexible, and perhaps simply exploring one country at a time.

To respond to the original (implicit) question - "I haven't found any posts from members overlanding in South America on this forum" - We've travelled around a bit, everything from weekends and weeks at home in Colombia (and Venezuela, when we used to live there), to short trips in Argentina (Patagonia a few times for a few days), to our 11 month wander around all of South America some years ago (Sur América contra el reloj ):

View attachment 212695

Thanks for your reply. With regard to shipping prices you refer to container and not RoRo I assume?! The prices for containers are incredibly high, that is right. But for RoRo I got the information that it did not changed that much.

 

[cartagena Pirate]

Hello, new to the board. I am in Medellin Colombia. I am pretty sure the Colombian borders are open but it may just be for Colombians. I did read that Argentinas borders are open as of Oct 1st but only for residents and citizens as well as any neighboring Country so if you dont have Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay or Bolivian Passport you will likely not cross. They did say this is set to change on Nov 1st. I am doing a build right now and planning a trip to Chile and Argentina. Really happy to see some activity on this board. Saludos a todos!!

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi Alfred,

Welcome to Overland Bound! Enjoy! Check out the different forum sections and I guess you will find plenty of information for your build and trip planning. Please tell aus more about your travels in South America if you like. Thanks.

Bjoern

 

[cartagena Pirate]

Thanks!!

 

[Gustavo Amaral]

Hi Alfred,

Welcome to Overland Bound! Enjoy! Check out the different forum sections and I guess you will find plenty of information for your build and trip planning. Please tell aus more about your travels in South America if you like. Thanks.

Bjoern

Hi Bjoern, I agree with the predictions above (What about overland in South America? ) - I'm considering to travel to Argentina in December. If I travel there I will have some news for you. But next year I bet the borders will be open for all tourists. We will see.

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi Bjoern, I agree with the predictions above (What about overland in South America? ) - I'm considering to travel to Argentina in December. If I travel there I will have some news for you. But next year I bet the borders will be open for all tourists. We will see.

Hello Gustavo, I am glad to hear from you. That sounds great. I am curious about the news in December! Where are you heading to in Argentina?

 

[Gustavo Amaral]

Hello Gustavo, I am glad to hear from you. That sounds great. I am curious about the news in December! Where are you heading to in Argentina?

Bjoern, I don't know exactly where. But, probably to the Andes Mountains in the Catamarca Region. I'm considering, on another hand, visiting the Chapada Diamantina (table Mountains) in Bahia/Brazil. It's awesome. We will see what happens! ;-)

 

[El-Dracho]

Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy and bring some photos, please.

I just read that today the border between Argentina and Paraguay will be opened in Encarnación. So there is really some movement coming. Great.

 

[Alanymarce]

Thanks for your reply. With regard to shipping prices you refer to container and not RoRo I assume?! The prices for containers are incredibly high, that is right. But for RoRo I got the information that it did not changed that much.

It's not just containers, boats are tied up and prices have gone up. Having said that I suspect that you're right that the impact on Ro-Ro is less, and on "ferry routes" (as opposed to ad hoc Ro-Ro shipping) the prices are probably about the same. Unfortunately there are no "ferry routes" from Central America to South America (or back), and also if you're shipping out of Colombia (as we are to get to anywhere other than South America) Ro-Ro is a really bad idea...

 

[El-Dracho]

It's not just containers, boats are tied up and prices have gone up. Having said that I suspect that you're right that the impact on Ro-Ro is less, and on "ferry routes" (as opposed to ad hoc Ro-Ro shipping) the prices are probably about the same. Unfortunately there are no "ferry routes" from Central America to South America (or back), and also if you're shipping out of Colombia (as we are to get to anywhere other than South America) Ro-Ro is a really bad idea...

Thanks. Yes, impact on Ro Ro is definetly less. It is crazy. On the other hand for example container from Europe to North America are crazy expensive now while the otehr way round you can get quotes with quite reasonable prices. Interesting times. And yes, shipping around the Darien Gap Panama - Columbia is quite expensive despite it is 1 day only. A better route which works quite well for many overlanders going that way is Columbia - Mexico.

 

[El-Dracho]

Oh, by the way, if this is also of interest to others. As we had talked about shipping here. For a long time it was uncertain, then last week came the news that this year there will be no opportunities to travel as a passenger on the RoRo freighter with their own vehicle. Neither ACL (Europe - North America) nor Grimaldi (Europe - South America) will offer this option in 2022. Too bad.

@Gustavo Amaral How is your trip to the Andes going?

 

[Alanymarce]

An update on travels within Argentina. We entered the country by air on Nov 3rd (left home on the 2nd). Permission to enter as tourists was from Nov 1st. Getting there in our own vehicle was (as remains) impossible. We spent 6 weeks in Patagonia, rented 3 different vehicles (it was supposed to be 2 but the agency lost the 4x4 we had booked so gave us a regular 4x2 car initially. This was mainly for work, however we managed a lot of time exploring during the first 5 days (waiting period to fulfil client's pandemic protocol) and subsequent weekends (with one long weekend). If interested, details are at https://alanymarcemoreexploration.blogspot.com/2022/01/six-weeks-in-patagonia.html .

 

[GBGCR4x4]

Not exactly South America, but Costa Rica is a great, great place for overlanding. full of beaches, national parks, rivers, roads, etc. It doesn't have that many camping spots, but plenty of virgin beaches where you can park, camp and stay for a few days. I'm originally from there, have done it many times, and it's very, very nice.