Bike Is Missing In Action!

Bike, My Trusty Sidekick, Is Missing

I think it would be putting it mildly when I say I was surprised to discover that Bike was not waiting for me at the cargo terminal as promised. Let me refresh your memory. When we last saw Bike I was saying goodbye at the cargo terminal in Buenos Aires. I was told by the Navicon representatives that everything was set and I’d see Bike again when I landed in South Africa. But now, it appears that Bike is missing.

“Your bike is probably in London.”

I was eager to get on the bike this morning and explore Cape Town. I booked a cab and headed to the IAG Cargo terminal to pick up Bike and get going. When I arrived the person behind the desk, who was extremely nice, told me that no motorcycles had arrived. She then did some investigating and told me that she was confused because the tracking system showed that my bike had been booked and rebooked on multiple flights. She thought the my bike was “probably in London.”

Although the local agent was very nice, she didn’t really have the information I needed. Specifically – where the hell is my motorcycle? I expected it to arrive in Africa two days ago. I was mentally prepared to go through customs and the entire import process today. I was not prepared to discover that my bike was missing in action.

Bike Is Where?

I returned to my hotel and made some phone calls. I have learned that my bike is not in London, it never made it out of Argentina. According to IAG Cargo (the cargo division of British Airways) my shipping agent, Navicon SA, changed the flights due to reasons unknown. They suspect there might be an issue with customs or the fact that the bike is dangerous cargo. They didn’t know.

It gets a bit more confusing since I made the arrangements through Dakar Motos who in turn made the arrangements with Navicon who in turn booked British Airways who used their shipping department, IAG Cargo, to fly the bike to South Africa.

Dakar Motos -> Navicon -> British Airways -> IAG Cargo.

You see how fun this is?

Getting Local Help

I’ve contacted Dakar Motos to help with things in Argentina, they still have a few hours before they are awake. I’d call Navicon myself, but I don’t speak Spanish and I’m sure that conversation would put me over my frustration limit. I’ll let Sandra and Javier work it out for me.

According to IAG Cargo my best case scenario is to see Bike arrive on September 22nd. But they aren’t sure that Bike will actually fly out of Buenos Aires today. The flight is booked for 13:10 local time, that’s over 8 hours from now. Until then, I won’t know anything for sure.

The good news is that Cape Town is terrific, the weather is perfect, and the people are amazing. I’ll just relax, catch up on some work, and enjoy the time while Bike has a nice vacation.