Endlich ist es so weit – die Wagen können geladen werden! Die Wagen passten ganz knapp in den Container.
More than 2 years of preparation – the excitement is building with the vehicles finally getting under way.
Category: Preparations & Information
General information and thoughts
Preparation and Shipping
Als Teil der Vorbereitung haben wir für 3 Monate ein Spanisch Kursus bei José Hares von der Latin Connection belegt – wird es helfen uns in dieser Sprache ab Mai zurecht zu finden?
The day to containerise the vehicle arrived on Wednesday 23rd of March, all going well we should receive them in Montevideo on the 10th of May. The ship “Cap Cortes” will take the containers to Santos in Brasil from where they get transhipped to Montevideo in Uruguay (www.marine traffic.com is a site that allows easy tacking of a ship from port to port) . Until such time that the vehicles were driven into the Hi-cube container, we weren’t sure that the height would fit – worst case, we would have to take the all boxes on top down. Once in the container, could we still get out of the driver door? As it turned out, this was not possible and the exit through the back was the only way out – luckily we had designed the vehicle so that we can sleep inside in extreme weather conditions where we cannot open the roof tent. There was just enough height for us to crawl through.
For extra protection of the vehicles we added inflatable dunnage bags – for this the container had to be moved through the terminal at SACD in Cape Town to get to a compressed air supply connection- better would have been to bring a compressor along. Once in the container, all the battery connections had to be disconnected. Tanks have to be near empty ( less than quarter) for fire safety aboard ship. We felt great relief once the seal was in place and we aim to witness its removal at destination. Overall shipping duration Cape Town to Montevideo is just over six weeks.
Customs, Carnets, Clearing
Das WIE und mit WEM / How and with whom
Da wir niemanden kennen, der sein Wagen von Südafrika nach Südamerika verschifft hat, blieben bei uns viele Fragen offen: Export und re-import, Carnet gebrauchen oder nicht, welchen Spediteur und welchen Agenten in Uruguay?
It took us a few months to establish what the easiest route would be: forget all talk about export/import, ITAC, SARS etc. Get a Carnet from the AAofSA(Automobil Association of SA), pay your deposit and carnet fees (which depend on vehicle value) and find a suitable agent. In our quest we only came across two logistics companies that we felt comfortable with: CTC Worldwide Logistics and JH Logistics.
Shipping the vehicles to South America
Verschiffung / getting the vehicles to the starting point
In welches Land sollten wir die Wagen verschiffen? Nach einiger Recherche wurde uns klar, dass Montevideo in Uruguay die einzige gute Wahl sein würde.
Once we had decided to tour South America (SoAm) the question was how to get vehicle to where. We investigated several options including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela. The more we read and the more we investigated, the clearer it became that from South Africa the best option is Montevideo in Uruguay. Less corruption we were told and better organised.
The next question had been as to how: by ship, in a 40ft container of the Hicube type – this should accommodate both vehicles if we planned it carefully.
Welcome to our travel blog / willkommen auf unserem blog
Vorfreude ist die beste Freude. 12 Monate auf dem südamerikanischen Kontinent per Geländewagen zu reisen – unser Traum wird wahr.
To prepare a trip of approx a year on a continent with which we are not familiar has taken us a little longer than anticipated. For this reason our blog is late to make its appearance and we are only now learning how to set it up . Today is the day.
With our flight leaving on the 6th of May, it leaves us limited time to post some of the information we have gathered. We shall try to take you along on this journey over the coming 12 months.