 | Home > Expedition & Overland > Calling experienced over landers too (or two) |
 
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| MagnersMick Member Since: 16 Feb 2015 Location: Overlanding America's Posts: 93  
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Hello to you all.
Thanks to Grenadier for the title! 
The wife and I are in the final stages of preparing for our overland trip to USA, Canada and South America starting in March/April 2016. (Central America is being avoided for security reasons... and so, we plan to ship the truck from USA to South America but I'm hoping to convince the wife during our trip, all will be well, and drive it through!) Our recent shakedown trip through Europe highlighted the need to better our electrical set up and the truck is being readied as I type (thank you Brendon for the recommendations). Other than this work she is ready to go. We, on the other hand, are not quite there. Our preparation is mundane ...Spanish lessons, First Aid courses, Visa’s, readying the house for rental, preparing tax returns in advance, inoculations, etc. ...and no where near as exciting as getting the truck ready. We plan to take our time through the Americas with the starting point (not set in stone yet) probably at New York, heading south for warmer climate and then west to a port (unknown, probably Houston) for shipping the truck to Ecuador. After exploring South America (mainly Ecu. Chile, Peru, Arg. Bol. Para. and western side of Brazil) we'll ship her back to USA/Canada and complete the round trip getting back to UK sometime in 2017. So our questions to you worldly wise lovely people.... And I thank you all for your contributions in advance (especially Eduardo, we love his posts) Any shipping advice for ports on the other side of the pond, good agents/handlers, shipping do's n don'ts over there? Not planning on getting a Carnet, is this wise? Research suggests it's not necessary. Any experiences? I think for the period we are travelling, we are bound to be in regions when the climate is not the best! Or is there a route, which is recommended for over landers so that we don’t get too cold or wet along the way? In South America, if we wanted to give small gifts as a 'thank you' is there anything readily available over here that would be well received over there? And of course, your experiences of places not to miss will be helpful for our route planning! |
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25th Aug 2015 10:11am |
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| Eduardo Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Región Metropolitana Posts: 2110  
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No carnet is necessary in South America (as far as remember). Only as Leeds said all the Defender papers in good order to make the temporary admissions in the customs.
If you asking me, and if you start in NY, I will be do first the USA east coast and ship the car from Houston (or other port in the gulf) to some port in Brazil (to avoid the Panama Channel costs) and from there start your trip in SA. Visit the western part of Brazil and from there going to Paraguay and Argentina (Buenos Aires) to head to Puerto Madryn (try to stay there between July and Nov to see the whales) and end in Ushuaia. After that, come back to the North to visit Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine and going north through Calafate in Argentina to see the Perito Moreno Glacier and entering again in Chile through Paso Roballos in the Carretera Austral in Chile from there, visit central Chile and then pass to the Atacama desert to entering in Bolivia, Peru and ends in Ecuador (or probably far north to Colombia). Then shipping the car from there to some port in the pacific coast of USA to visit the west coast and finally cross again to the east coast maybe using Canada to ship your car from USA/Canada (with that you can complete a nice round trip  ). Also and maybe to avoid one shipment, you can start in Brazil and ends in Houston...
Regarding the roads in South America you have almost all standards from high standard paved highways to nice washboards (most developed roads in general are found between main cities in Argentina, Chile and Brazil) some parts are quite isolated (Western Brazil, Patagonia and some roads in the Altiplano). Will be a good idea do the Patagonia between November and March to avoid the bad weather and don’t be freeze there. Regarding Atacama Desert, Bolivia and Peru, probably the best time to visit will be during our autumn (March - June) or spring (September - December) to avoid the Bolivian Winter (that happens in summer) and extremely hot climate. Brazil is a different animal and I dont have too much experience there. The mild season there is in November and March in the east coast but I dont know about the interior region. Don’t be too worry about gifts, probably a nice stickers remembering your trip or some magnet of UK (Except in Argentina  ) will be OK.
As an important information. Some custom office in Chile put some troubles to accept the entrance of RH vehicles. is better ask for a permission before. There are LR clubs in Argentina, Chile Brazil, Colombia and Peru that are very friendly and can help you if you have some trouble in the road. Cheers! Eduardo MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64' MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo"  Click image to enlarge |
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25th Aug 2015 8:52pm |
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| MagnersMick Member Since: 16 Feb 2015 Location: Overlanding America's Posts: 93
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Thank you both for your wisdom.
Well the Land Rover is being put in a container between Xmas and New Year and then going on the sea in early Jan. Paper work is in order...except insurance! Does anyone know who, in the USA will insure (for most of the mainland States) our truck for two Brits with non US driving licenses for Third Party Liability as a minimum or even fully comprehensive? Happy Xmas everyone and all the best for the New Year. Mick and Gina www.rove-overland.com |
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24th Dec 2015 1:23pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8581
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Using the mantra that local knowledge is best, I would suggest you ask on defender source.com or contact someone like Mark at Rovers North or East Coast Rovers now know as ECR these days in the States
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25th Dec 2015 10:09am |
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| MagnersMick Member Since: 16 Feb 2015 Location: Overlanding America's Posts: 93
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Thanks B n B
You two have a great Xmas and 2016. Been doing a bit of research and I have a couple of leads through expat forums. But will join your suggested forum and see what turns up in the new year. I'm hoping that because we are not pioneers and others have the t-shirt already, it is possible to get insurance! Happy Xmas to all reading. M and G www.rove-overland.com |
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25th Dec 2015 10:24am |
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| VeeTee Member Since: 06 Mar 2011 Location: Somewhere Posts: 1512 
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Also join http://www.expeditionportal.com . Great source of knowledge!
Happy Chirstmas! Cheers, Vincent 1959 Polynorm 1/4 Ton Trailer, Olive Drab Green (sold) 1970 M416 Military Trailer (Camping Trailer Conversion), Epsom Green (sold) 1975 Series III 88 V6, Light Green (sadly sold) 1996 Defender 110 CSW 300 Tdi, Epsom Green (sold) 2000 Freelander 1 TD4 3-drs, Silver (sold) 2006 Freelander 1 TD4 5-drs Facelift Automatic, Tonga Green (sold) MySite |
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25th Dec 2015 4:18pm |
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| Eduardo Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Región Metropolitana Posts: 2110
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Good luck guys.
Just drop me a note when you arrive to the south cone Cheers! Eduardo MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64' MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo" Click image to enlarge |
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2nd Jan 2016 9:37pm |
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| MagnersMick Member Since: 16 Feb 2015 Location: Overlanding America's Posts: 93
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Thank you Eduardo....we've arrived in USA ahead of the Defender which (hopefully) arrives at the end of the month. It'll be about six to seven months until we reach your lovely part of the world.
I said up there that our paper work was in order...ha ha ha....It is... but not over here! We finally have motor insurance but not without major stress and many worrying times. At home we have spotless paperwork for our car and can trace it back to its original owners (her majesty's government aka our military services) so we know the VIN is correct but over here in the USA, their own self made database of UK VIN records says we own a 3 Door Range Rover! This anomaly will likely give us problems temporarily importing the car, headaches when stopped by the police (a common occurrence probably, when they see the smoke coming from the tail pipe) and who knows where else. According to the insurance industry, the USA VIN records are a grey area for overseas vehicles. I'll let you know how we get on in about two weeks. Cheers everyone reading |
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20th Jan 2016 8:23pm |
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| shaggydog Member Since: 12 Aug 2012 Location: Kent Posts: 3347 
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Happy travels
Running Restoration Thread http://www.defender2.net/forum/post323197.html#323197
Self confessed mileage hunter  |
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20th Jan 2016 8:29pm |
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| Lord Hemming Member Since: 02 Feb 2015 Location: Kent Posts: 125 
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Good luck, I look forward to reading about your adventures and obviously seeing the photos
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20th Jan 2016 8:32pm |
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| williamthedog Member Since: 29 Dec 2012 Location: south wales Posts: 3441 
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I ain't jealous.one bit ,well ok I AM JEALOUS
Happy Travels |
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20th Jan 2016 8:53pm |
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