The Americas Tour
In and around World
My tour of South America
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler The Patagonians
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1
The End of the World
So after a mamouth 28 hours travelling I finally arrived at the end of the world. Even managed to get a cheesy stamp in my passport to prove... Continue reading »
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2
Torres Del Paine
So after visiting the end of the world and seeing the worlds most southerly lighthouse, postbox etc we headed north crossing the Magellan Straits i... Continue reading »
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3
El Calafate - The Petito Morreno Glaciar
So crossed back into Argentina. Border crossings are hilarious by the way - we are not allowed to take over fresh fruit and vegetables so we... Continue reading »
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4
El Chalten - Trekking Town
Moved on to our next national park El Chalten which is much much smaller and very few tourists. A little tired of the camping so upgraded to... Continue reading »
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5
Bariloche - The Party Town
So after two horrendous driving days (improved by finally buying some new tapes to replace the George Michael and Elvis ones we had on repeat in th... Continue reading »
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6
Pucon - Adventure Town
So we drove to Pucon after a particularly heavy drinking last night in Bariloche which involved singing Voyage Voyage and dancing in a very sweaty... Continue reading »
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7
Santiago - KFC and Football
So travelling further north along the Pan American Highway we headed back into civilsation. One overnight stop in Salta de Lajo next to a wat... Continue reading »
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8
La Serena - 320 Days of Sunshine a Year
So we moved on for a day by the beach in La Serena, a traditional Chilean holiday resort which according to Lonely Planet has something like 320 da... Continue reading »
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9
San Pedro de Atacama, Geishers and Alain the Astronomer
We spent two days on the road with overnight bush camps. It was finally what I had expected camping to be like - the first night we camped on... Continue reading »
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10
Altiplano and Pee Stops
We made our way through the wild barren area called the Altiplano which was the highest altitude we were going to be at. This meant we had to... Continue reading »
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11
Uyuni - Pink Hats and Photos
Arrived into Uyuni to much excitement when we discovered we had a room with actual sofas in it. Small luxuries mean alot when you are away fo... Continue reading »
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12
Potosi - New Cork New Cork
Did Dave tell us that alcohol and altitude don't mix? If he did, I guess we somehow forgot. We got into Potosi - the highest city in Bo... Continue reading »
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13
La Paz - Terrorists as Shoe Shiners
We had a really long drive into La Paz but were entertained by "Quizmaster Tony" and Aimar´s somewhat alternative answers to many of the questions.... Continue reading »
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14
Cigars, Rum and Che
So after a horrendous day with 3 connecting flights none of which went according to plan (note to self, do not fly Copa Airlines again) I finally t... Continue reading »
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15
Autopista? What Autopista?
First we checked out a true working tobacco factory with no sales push at the end - in fact there isn´t even a shop to buy the cigars - has to... Continue reading »
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16
Where are all the guests?
We then spent a couple of days chilled out on the beach at Playa Ancon. The beach itself was really pretty and the hotel wasn´t bad although... Continue reading »
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17
Saturday Night Salsa and Caves
Our next stop was Vinales and fortunately we were getting much better at guessing where the main roads were and made it in just a few hours.
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18
Labour Day Celebrations
We left Vinales on Labour Day after some relaxing massages in a nice hotel and seeing the locals all getting ready for what looked like it was... Continue reading »
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19
Flamenco
We took ourselves back to Havana and were amazed to discover that if you drive to the end of the motorway it just finishes, literally, with no warn... Continue reading »
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20
Antigua Guatemala. Can I count Panama too?
So Copa Airlines managed to do it again and cancelled one of my flights leaving me holed up in the Marriott Hotel in Panama City for a few hours (d... Continue reading »
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21
Lake Atitlan in the rain
We continued on the same day along some windy roads to Panajachel where we picked up a local small boat to take us to El Jaibalito where we were st... Continue reading »
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22
Chichicastenango Markets
The next morning was market day so we set off early for Chichicastenango. We arrived and the town was in chaos so we stopped for a sedate bre... Continue reading »
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23
Tikal, Tucans and Howler Monkeys
After another night in Antigua and a very early start (4am) we flew to Flores and got taken straight to Yaxha which is a very remote Mayan sight.&n... Continue reading »
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24
Antigua - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
So we got back to Antigua late on Friday night and Karen and I had our last dinner together. In the morning it was time to say goodbye and mo... Continue reading »
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25
Copan - Ruins, Pinatas and Free Tequilla
So with my new group of youngsters we all crammed into a very hot minibus and made our way across the border into Honduras. Our stop for a co... Continue reading »
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26
Tela - Drunks and Dirty Hotels
We left Copan and had a couple of 2nd class buses to take us to Tela. They weren't too bad by local standards - everyone got a seat and there... Continue reading »
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27
Roatan - We're on Holiday!
After escaping the drunks of Tela we moved on by school bus and ferry to Roatan Island. It was a true caribbean paradise with pale fine sand... Continue reading »
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28
Tegucigalpa - Chinese Food to Feed the Five Thousand
So we left Roatan with heavy hearts and made our way to Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. I was impressed with Michelle and Andy's d... Continue reading »
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29
Granada - Volcanos, Markets and Rabies Jabs
We left Honduras behind on yet another first class buss and crossed the border into Nicaragua. The local rum in the duty free shop is only $5... Continue reading »
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30
Ometepe Island - Insects, more Volcanoes and Poker in the Dark
We left Granada on another old US school bus and headed to the port of San Jorge to pick up our ferry to Ometepe Island in the middle of Lake Nicar... Continue reading »
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31
San Jose - Welcome to Costa Rica Baby!
So we left Ometepe Island at 4am to catch the first ferry (it was so early they were still cleaning it on our journey across) and picked up our nic... Continue reading »
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32
Volcano - Can Anyone See the Lava?
Next stop La Fortuna, a small town at the base of the Arenal Volcano. Personally I have never quite understood why you would populate an area... Continue reading »
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33
Monteverde - In the Cloud Forest
Our next stop on the eco-tour was Monteverde National Park which we got to by crossing Lake Arenal by boat. We checked out the local not so f... Continue reading »
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34
Manuel Antonio - On the Set of Outbreak?
My last stop on my Central America tour was Manuel Antonio National Park, a beautiful protected area on the pacific coast with forests and lovely b... Continue reading »
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35
San Jose - Take Two
So back to San Jose to say farewell to the beautiful lush Costa Rica, Central America and to the Tucan group -it´s back down Sauff for me now.... Continue reading » -
36
Quito - Reunions
Arrived back in South America - everything seemed pretty easy in Quito - baggage there when you get off the plane, no queue at immigration, officia... Continue reading »
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37
Jurassic Park - Galapagos
Next stop, one of my all time ambitions, the Galapagos Islands. I stupidly thought they were just off the coast of Ecuador so was a little su... Continue reading »
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38
Back Home in Quito
So one night back in Quito to be reunited with Cameron, the Dragoman truck, and all my old friends and new ones joining. We spent the night very cu... Continue reading »
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39
Markets, Mora Pie and Cockfights
So after my first day´s drive on the truck for a while travelling via the Equatorial line we arrived in Otavalo - an Ecuadorian town close to the C... Continue reading »
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40
Birthdays and Bangers and Mash in Bogota
So we crossed the border into Columbia which passed without so much as a hint of trouble - I told the guy at immigration that we were staying for a... Continue reading »
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41
Old World Columbia
We headed straight out to Villa de Leyva from Bogota visiting the Salt Cathedral on the way through beautiful countryside - I had no idea Columbia... Continue reading »
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42
Photos with Riot Police
So we got back into Bogota, Columbia´s capital city, with some time to explore. First stop was the famous gold museum which was pretty intere... Continue reading »
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43
Columbia´s Jewel Cartagena
So what to say about Cartagena? How is it possible not to love a city that has old colonial architecture, sunshine, beaches, enthusiastic peo... Continue reading »
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44
Merida - Hellish Journies and Parachutes
Getting to Merida in Venezuela was a bit of an adventure in itself. It is too dangerous to cross the Columbian/Venezuelan border by land so w... Continue reading »
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45
Catatumbo Lightning
Escaping the city 5 our us went off on a two day trip to see the Catatumbo lightning phenomenon. No-one really knows what causes it even thou... Continue reading »
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46
Los Llanos - Team Dolphin!
Next stop the lowlands of Venezuela - Los Llanos, full of cattle ranches and wildlife. Got off to a rough start by getting the truck stu... Continue reading »
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47
Rafting Captain
Our next stop was the rafting camp at Barinas. We spent the afternoon playing in the rapids in the river and having competitions to see who c... Continue reading »
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48
Caribbean Beaches of Puerto Colombia
After a very long drive where we entertained ourselves playing games like "beans" - I was baked bean (against my will obviously as baked beans are... Continue reading »
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49
Caracas - Scary? Nope, just huge shopping malls
So I will admit, not without a little hesitation we headed back to Caracas. We hadn´t heard great things about the place and our first stop t... Continue reading »
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50
Copa Amerrrrrica, Reunions, Poker Championships and Hammocks
Our next location was Playa Colorada - a beach deserted during the week and at weekends overrun with Venezuelans enjoying the sunshine, fresh grill... Continue reading »
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51
Oil Birds and the Odd Rat
Our en-route stop was Cueva del Gaucharo known as the Oil Birds´ cave in English. The birds used to be harvested once a year b... Continue reading »
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52
Set that Parrot Free!
A one-nighter at Rancho San Andreas on the way to the Orinoco Delta. Spent the afternoon trying to eat lunch in a fly storm - yuk, and the ev... Continue reading »
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53
A Few Spots of Rain Won´t Stop Us
Next stop the Orinoco Delta for some jungle / river activities. We had to get there by boat and started off in bright sunshine, soon the clou... Continue reading »
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54
Historical Cuidad Bolivar, Shoes Shops and Drunks
Onwards to Cuidad Bolivar, our base for visiting Angel Falls. We arrived at our Posada via a trip to Makro (why do I get so excited about lar... Continue reading »
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55
It's A Long Way Up - Angel Falls
So with only a short delay due to our new Tour Co-Leader forgetting his passport and then taking all of our paperwork as he said he was the "respon... Continue reading »
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56
Cuidad Bolivar again
So we returned to our Posada trying to avoid our drunk host and chilled out in the swimming pool while Aimar did his best to fix our truck which wa... Continue reading »
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57
El Dorado?
So we were now en-route out of Venezuela but still alot of miles to cover. We drove through the Grand Sabana - rolling hills as far as you ca... Continue reading »
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58
Kama Meru Falls - The Sand Fly Dance
We drove on through the Grand Sabana, with a quick stop by the National Guard who had a very large gold sword to match his gold tooth. Fortun... Continue reading »
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59
No Hay....
We had a morning spent messing around at Jasper Falls - so named after the beautiful rock and then finally arrived at our final stop in Venezuela -... Continue reading »
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60
Welcome to Brazil!
So finally we crossed into Brazil - the difference between the two borders couldn't have been greater - from the filthy moth-ridden Venezuelan side... Continue reading »
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61
We're in the Yungle!
So why can't native spanish speakers tell the difference between J and Y ? We arrived in the jungle only to find Aimar saying "Yungle" at eve... Continue reading »
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62
Show Me the Way to Porto Velho
Our next stop was a taster of real Amazonian life - travelling by public ferry for 5 days down river to Porto Velho. It should have been 4 da... Continue reading »
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63
Dry Land
So we, the puppy and the 5 baby parakeets finally made it in to Porto Velho port and managed to make our way off the ferry through a cargo hold ful... Continue reading »
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64
The Centre of South America
We had an overnight stop in Cuiaba - our first taste of civilisation for some time - a real town with shops, restaurants and yes, even a MacDonalds... Continue reading »
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65
Bird Paradise - The Pantanal
So off we set for out three days in the Brazilian Pantanal. The Pantanal is the world's largest wetlands area and covers around 150,000 squar... Continue reading »
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66
Always Ask the Price
One more night back in our cockroach hotel in Cuiaba where we learnt the most important lesson about travelling - always ask the price first. ... Continue reading »
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67
Ghost Towns and Shiny Stuff
After some serious bush-camping, we moved on to Chapada Dos Veadeiros national park arriving at the small town of Sao Jorge which seemed like a dus... Continue reading »
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68
Brasilia - The City of the Future or Milton Keynes?
So here we were in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
In the 1950's the President Continue reading »
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69
Are We Still in Brazil?
Up in the hills between the new capital Brasilia and the old one Rio there is an old colonial town called Ouro Preto (ouro is spanish for gold) whi... Continue reading »
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70
RIO !!!
We left Ouro Preto as the most gorgeous man I had seen in 5 months appeared at our hostel - great timing huh.
We stopped for lunc... Continue reading »
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71
Pinga Festival and the One Handed Man
With heavy hearts we headed out of Rio and drove down the beautiful coastline to Parati, a beautiful old port on the coast. The centre of the... Continue reading »
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72
Somebody Left the Tap On
We drove for two full days to get to Foz do Iguazu as soon as we could with a bush camp where we sat around listening to music from westerns in pre... Continue reading »
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73
Three Countries in One Day (Well Almost)
The next day we took a visit to the Itaipu Dam which is on the border between Paraguay and Brazil which uses the 7th largest river in the world - t... Continue reading »
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74
More Water
The next morning with sore heads we made our way across the border into Argentina on a strange bus with garden benches as seats. Unfortunately N... Continue reading » -
75
San Ignacio - "Mini"
The next morning we drove to visit the San Ignacio Mini Jesuit mission ruins - we never found out why they were called "mini"! There wasn't much... Continue reading » -
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Gaucho Time!
So here we were at our Estancia stay. The Estancia is very exclusive and luxurious but unfortunately we were staying "on the cheap" and campi... Continue reading »
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77
A Convertible Truck?
After a very windy night where one of our tents got blown clear across the field we set off for Cordoba - the university capital of Argentina.
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78
Buenos Aires & The End
So my final drive on the truck was over. We arrived into Buenos Aires in the evening and drove down the famously huge 9 Julio Avenue (it is t... Continue reading »
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