I only have two seconds to write to you, but wanted to inform you that
it will be impossible to leave your motorcycle in Brazil and fly home. The
validity of the temporary importation of your motorcycle is linked to the
tourist permission that is stamped in your passport. You can get NO more,
and if you leave the country without the motorcycle, the permission for the
motorcycle expires - it will be illegal at that point and impossible to make
legal again upon your return (inside of the country). If it is illegal,
aduanas has the legal right to confiscate it from you and you probably will
never see it again. I have been stopped many times and had my papers
checked. The knowledge of policeman varies widely, but there are some
(especially around bigger cities) who are very sharp and know the paperwork
quite well. Even if the policeman don't catch you, you will have serious
problems with aduanas when you try to leave the country if your paperwork is
long expired. I have talked with several aduanas agents about this and they
are very serious. The law says that the motorcycle must be confiscated -
and there is no way to get it back. You may be able to bribe your way out
of it or get lucky and get a sympathetic aduanas official, but at the very
least you will have to pay a significant amount of money. The longer that
the paperwork is expired the worse it gets (they may make an exception if it
is only a month or so out of date if you tell them that the bike broke down
and you were delayed in leaving the country - but you can't even count on
that. Aduanas officials are well paid and take their job very seriously -
they are not likely to accept a bribe... Personally, I wouldn't want to try
it.
Do you know that you need a visa for Brasil? You can get one in Chuí,
Uruguay or any Brazilian Consulate (it's better to get one down here because
it allows you multiple entries and is good for five years). It costs $110.
Plan on spending a day running around and pay close attention to the size of
photos needed etc. as they are not standard. Here is the way
immigration/aduanas works: Even a five year visa only gives you the right
to be in the country a total of 180 days per year. If you leave and
re-enter the country, immigration (Policia Federal - also very serious) will
add up all of the days in your passport to determine how many you have left
for that year. In NO way will you be permitted a total of more than 180
days as a tourist.
When you enter, you are given 90 days. If you want to stay longer, you
must go to the Policia Federal AND Aduanas within the space of a week before
your expiration date to ask for the one time extention. If you let your
tourist permission expire, you will not be allowed to extend and be forced
to leave the country within three days. DON'T LET YOUR PERMISSION EXPIRE!
But don't go in too early either as they won't let you renew until a week
before expiration.
I have to go because they are closing here. I just wanted to give you
a heads up on this. Brasil takes some planning because if you're in, say,
Bahia, it's not an easy country to leave by motorcycle!! You need to allow
time to get out!
Quickly, apart from the Pantanal and a place called Bonito, the center
of the country has little to offer. It's much like driving across Nebraska,
but the people aren't even as nice. I wouldn't even include Brazilia in my
plans - unless you like concrete or are fascinated by cities. Florianopolis
is a paradise in March and the Northeast is spectacular - but be aware that
the rainy season there is from around April/May to August/September
depending on where in the Northeast. Plan to get rained on!
Gotta' run - they're kicking me out!!
More another day
Happy riding,
Chris
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