South America - Busted

So if you were one of the many people I talked to the end of August or beginning of September, you knew I was making a trip to South America on my motorcycle. This time of year would be perfect because as long as it’s winter here, that means summer in South America. Well, after talking to some that had families in South America that wouldn’t even visit them because it wasn’t safe and since I couldn’t find a place that would ship my bike there, the only other option was to drive through Mexico to Central America and see if I could get it shipped from Panama to Columbia. Well, I found with a bit more research that even that might not be as simple as I first thought. It is turning out that planning a motorcycle trip to South America likely takes more than just a month or two and would be better traveled with a group of riders than on my own. The other is the roads in all of these third world countries aren’t necessarily built for a touring bike like mine, but better travelled on an Enduro like the BMWs with the aluminum bags or other bikes that can handle pot holes, dirt roads and a little off roading. 

Ok, so I have done a little off roading while in Alaska and Canada a fews years ago and will travel dirt roads when needed, but those are places a little more forgiving to someone like me, someone otherwise known as a Gringo south. The other thing that I’ve found with all of my research is there isn’t really a safe place for me to ride even to get to Panama to ship a bike across the Darien gap. Ah, the Darien gap, the most dangerous (Absence of a) road consisting of jungles, swamps, guerrillas and corrupt military - all in the most intense 90km on earth. Here is the writeup on the Darien gap: This area is a forbidding mountainous jungle on the Panama side; full of swamps, guerrillas, drug traffikers and kidnappers on the Colombian side, making travel through the area not just a struggle against a hostile environment but also a maze of bribing the right people for passage and ducking bullets. 

I digress and back to even a trip to Panama for a gringo like me on a motorcycle. Well even according to a search for travel  in Mexico, it says: The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens about the risk of traveling to certain places in Mexico due to threats to safety and security posed by organized criminal groups in the country. After reviewing the advisories on the Mexican states that may be safe to travel, there is only one that borders the US and that is Baja California. That is all well and good because if I can make it to Cabo then I can take a ferry from there to Mazatlan and be on my way to Central America. Again, not as easy as it may seem because from there across the country there are still a number of Mexican states that the US department warns against travel. 

Great, so what is a guy like me suppose to do? I figured talk to some Mexican families I’d plan on visiting on my way through to see what they have to say. They all said pretty much the same thing that if I’m lucky enough to get far enough away from the US border into the heart of Mexico, I might be able to weave my way toward Central America, but once reaching Guatemala, all bets are off. If you’ve been listening to any of the news on who's trying to cross the border into the US, it’s the kids from Guatemala being shipped up by their families because the drug lords are either kidnapping them or killing them so they have no choice but to run. So go figure, how would a gringo like me look to them? my thoughts exactly!

As you might suspect by the title of this blog, yes, South America is a bust that I won’t be enjoying their summer while everyone here at home enjoys the lovely Minnesota winters. I might even need to update the title because after I started telling those keeping track that South America was out, my plans were to still travel through Mexico to Central America where I could enjoy some of Costa Rica and Panama. As you might’ gathered from all the babble above, even that has been busted. 

So, this is my plan and you are more than welcome to ride along. I am planning a Mexican motorcycle trip though the safest part of Mexico for an Gringo like me, Baja California and Baja California Sur to Cabo. I will be spending 2 weeks in Ensenada staying which a Mexican family going to Spanish school starting on the 19th of October and after my 2 weeks I’ll take my time heading south. Yes, Cabo was battered by a hurricane and some of the roads on the way were washed out, but by November, they should be in order and much of the chaos in order for me to enjoy a little of what Cabo has to offer. It’s still more of an adventure than you would think because there is a lot more to driving through Mexico than one might think. Not only is there an International drivers license that I’ve had to purchase, but my motorcycle insurance is no good in Mexico that I also have to purchase Mexican motorcycle insurance. With that there is the tourist card no different than what everyone vacationing in Mexico has to get, but because I’ll be taking a vehicle into the country I need a permit for it so they can make sure I return with the same vehicle. Now that is where I hope to be able to make it without the bike from under me being stolen, but you never know.

Have bike will travel, even I don’t know what each day will bring.