18 COUNTRIES COVERING SOUTH, CENTRAL AND NORTH AMERICA STARTING 7TH APRIL 2004 (WELL THAT'S THE PLAN!) Click here to see our current location

Initial Plan

To land in Valparaiso, Chile then cross to Argentina and head north through Bolivia into Peru as far as Cuzco. From here to turn south east and return to Bolivia and on to Paraguay and Brazil. From Rio de Janeiro hug the east coast of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina as we make our way to Tierra Del Fuego and our most southerly point.

Coming north again we would criss cross the between Chile and Argentina and then continue to follow the west coast as we travelled through Peru and into Ecuador from where we would ship to Panama.

The aim was to visit as many of the Central American countries as possible and cross from Mexico to the USA. Money permitting we would continue up the west coast as far as Vancouver in Canada where we would traverse the country to the east coast and our final destination of New York.

The Trip So Far!

Lolly landed in Valparaiso Chile on April 7th 2004 and due to recommendations from fellow travellers we crossed into Argentina further north across Paso San Francisco. Our route took us back to Chile via Paso Sico and then into Bolivia via the Salar de Uyuni and onto Cuzco in Peru. Our plan of returning to Bolivia was thwarted by Political unrest which closed the major border crossings. So we re-routed to Chile and northern Argentina (via Paso Jama ) into Paraguay. On the road we heard really good reports of the Pantanal and Brazil in general and therefore our three weeks eventually turned into three months.

From Brazil we made a reasonably fleeting visit to Uruguay crossing back into Argentina from Fray Bentos. After some respite in Buenos Airies we followed the east coast through Peninsular Valdes and Patagonia to reach our most southern point of Ushuaia on Tierra Del Fuego.

We left Tierra Del Fuego from the Chilean port of Porvenir to Punta Arenas on the ferry, then headed north through Torres Del Paine for a spot of walking and on to El Calafate (Argentina) to visit the glaciers. Next stop was the Fitzroy Massif (El Chalten) and more of the persistent Patagonian wind! We went off the beaten track to the National Park of Perito Moreno (no where near the glacier) and crossed back to Chile through Chile Chico. Our northwards journey then followed the Carretera Austral as far north as the private reserve of Park Pumalin. Then it was back to Argentina (yes our passports are filling up!) via Futaleufu and north to El Bolson for the Raspberry beer and on to Bariloche for some chocolate

Our 22nd border crossing brought us into the Chilean lake district and we turned south to visit the island of Chiloe. We spent Christmas near Lake Llanquihue and New Year in Pucon (with a climb of the local volcano on New Years Eve).

The new year saw us heading northwards again through the top of the lake district before returning to Argentina for the last time. Our route took us via Lago Blanco, Cavihue and Malargue to Mendoza where of course we sampled the wines.

A brief detour near to the Chilean border allowed us to visit Puente del Inca and see Aconcagaua (the highest mountain in southern and western hemispheres). Our final border crossing between Argentina and Chile was the Paso Agua Negra (our highest pass so far) which took us to La Serena and completed our South American circle. After a marathon stint behind the wheel we arrived in Arica.

After a longer than planned stay in Arica due to mechanical issues we crossed to Peru at Tacna and continued to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon). After the cool of the canyon we returned to the heat of the coast and continued north to Nasca and its world famous lines. Only one word describes these, Incredible!

Our northward journey continued to Huaraz with a few brief stops along the way on the coast. We missed Lima as many people had warned of its dangers and there wasn’t anything in particular to draw us in. Huaraz is beautiful although very wet due to being in the middle of the rainy season.

To return to the coastal plain we chose the longer route via the Canyon del Pato and then followed the Pan-American Highway north until Chiclayo where again we turned east up into the mountains. Our destination was Chachapoyas a beautiful little town and also the base for visiting the amazing Kuelap ruins.

We decided to remain in the mountains and chose a little used border crossing between San Ignacio and Vilcabamba in Ecuador. An interesting ‘track’ that is mostly in cloud forest. We spent a couple of days in Vilcabamba a very chilled, relaxed little town nestled amongst hills covered in cloud forest.

Our last driving leg in South America took us through the beautiful colonial town of Cuenca and down (an almost 11,000 foot drop in one go) to Guayaquil our, or at least Lolly’s, exit point of South America. We spent a week in Guayaquil sorting out the shipping (if you need this type of service please see our Links Page for recommendations) and then flew to Quito for a few days.

We enjoyed the old city of Quito but the new part is too touristy! Our flight to Panama was uneventful and entering Panama was easier than we expected. However, getting Lolly out when she arrived was far more complicated but we did succeed eventually. From Panama city we tried to visit the Caribbean coast but a large mud hole thwarted that plan. So we returned to the Pan American and headed to Peninsula Azuero to visit a beautiful pacific beach as well as some of the beautiful colonial towns.

Further along the Pan American we called in at Playa Las Lajas before heading for the cool of the mountains at Boquete and Cerro Punto. Here we visited a most amazing orchid sanctuary. Our crossing into Costa Rica was easy albeit disorganised especially on the Panamanian side!

Again it was straight to the hills to a little Italian town called San Vito. Needing to give Lolly a little TLC we headed to Golfito and some lovely Cabanas. Then it was beach time again when we visited Peninsula Oso and the Corcovada National Park.

Carrying on north and west to the Capital we chose to stay in the smaller town of Alajuela for a few days. Leaving the capital behind we visited Lago and Volcan Arenal where we had a lovely days walking in the national park.

Just before the border with Nicaragua is Peninsula Nicoya which is famous for its American Tourists and Turtles. It was the latter we wanted to see but alas it was the wrong time of year. We did have two nice days exploring the peninsula though.

Another fairly straight forward border crossing and a short ferry ride brought us to the Island of Ometepe on Lago Nicaragua. Here we stayed on a working coffee plantation and hiked on a cloud covered volcano. Following a slightly fraught crossing back to the mainland we headed for Granada where we celebrated 365 days on the road! Granada itself is one of the prettiest towns we have seen so far in Central America.

After a brief stop in the mountains again at Jinotega we crossed over to Honduras (our most expensive border crossing yet on the trip!). We spent two days in Park Nacional La Tigra which is only 30kms from the capital. The only disappointment being the hazy smoke that hid many of the hills from sight. Then it was cross country to La Union and another park La Muralla.

From there we have crossed to the Caribbean coastal town of La Ceiba where we are staying in a jungle lodge for a few days whilst giving Lolly a service and letting Linz go horse riding on the beach!

Staying close to the coast we spent one night at Omoa and saw our first Caribbean sun set. Then it was south to Copan Ruinas for a few days looking at the ruins and visiting a coffee finca. Continuing south and crossing into our thirteenth country, El Salvador.

Due to its size we only spent a couple of days in El Salvador but we loved the people and enjoyed some time in the highlands and visited one of the national parks. We crossed into Guatemala and spent our first night in Monterico, which involved a boat trip through the mangrove swamps on a ferry not much bigger than the Land Rover!

After a hot and noisy night in Monterico we climbed back to the cool of the highlands and the lovely town of Antigua. We spent 3 nights in Antigua a lovely town with terracotta tiles and cobble stones before heading to Quetzaltenango where we sought out a “habitat for humanity” house built by friends.

Next stop was Todos Santos which was in the highlands and continues to follow Mayan traditions including their language and dress. We drove the lesser used route through rural Guatemala to Coban through small towns and beautiful highland scenery.

A short drive took us to Lanquin and its famous caves and Semuc Champey, a natural stone bridge with swimming holes on top of it.
A Northwards drive took us to Tikal, a sunset, sunrise and an incredible storm in between. Then we crossed into Belize our first English speaking country in 13 months. After a short sojourn here which included Belize City and the ruins of Lamanai we crossed into Mexico where our first stop was the coastal ruins of Tulum.

After a short spell of seeing how the other half live in Playa del Carmen which included diving the awesome Cenotes we headed west to Chichen Itza. Our journey through the Mayan world continued with visits to Uxmal, Calakmul, Belamku and finished with Palenque.

From Palenque we climbed into the cooler highlands to visit the 2 towns of San Cristobal de Las Casas and Oaxaca. The latter being plagued by protesting teachers.

After a brief stop in Oaxaca due to car problems we returned to the coast at Puerto Escondido and then followed it northwards through Acapulco, Playa Maruata, Sayulita and Los Mochis. This coast line is beautiful and its still possible to find uncrowded beaches and coast line.

We followed the coast for several days before coming inland to Nogales where we crossed over into the USA. We’d dreaded the crossing but it proved much easier than we thought it would be. We spent 3 days in Tucson, Arizona before heading north to the Grand Canyon.

Next stop was Bryce Canyon via Lake Powell then the glittering lights of Las Vegas where we were able to camp on the “strip”. We did a quick side trip to the Hoover Dam so we could drive Lolly across. We then dropped down into Death Valley where it was 50 degrees. Lolly decided she needed a rest here so we were towed to Ridgecrest the nearest town to get her fixed. We continued our journey north from here to Mono Lake and then crossed over the Sierra Nevada Mountain range over the Sonora pass and down to Yosemite National Park. We had 2 days here before heading west to the Californian coast and San Francisco.

We visited Alcatraz and drove Lolly over the Golden Gate Bridge before sticking to the coast all the way to Seattle. On the way we visited the Redwood National Park, the Oregon Dunes and Olympic National Park.

We stayed a week in Seattle with our friend Mark who very kindly put us up while we got Lolly fixed. Once she was sorted we crossed over into our final country of the trip, Canada. We spent 2 days in Vancouver before heading east over nighting in Kamloops before reaching Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks. We spent 2 days exploring these and Yoho National Park before arriving in Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies. We drove up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper and then returned to Lake Louise.

From there we went to Calgary where we fortunate enough to catch the last day of the Calgary Stampede which was fantastic. We drove south back into the USA and Glacier National Park where we drove across the Going to the Sun Road which takes you straight through the middle of the park. It was here that we discovered another big engine oil leak. We weighed up our options and decided that it was probably best to finish here due to money constraints and the difficulty of getting parts to us, finding somewhere to do the work and then there was no guarantee that the seal would last since it only lasted 1000km this time. So we drove back to Seattle where Mark very kindly put us up for a second time. We parcelled Lolly up into a 20ft container and put her on a ship and we flew back to the UK via New York so at least we made it to our finishing point! Despite all the problems we'd do it all again!
The End

Current Location: Seattle, USA