adventuretrek
Adventurer
1,000,000 Kms on my Lance Camper (3 different Ford diesels) and set to conquer this route again in July! Alaska to Argentina via Pan American Highway is the longest highway in the world - such a great travel experience with visits to many small latin american towns and villages.
I recently received a letter from a fellow companion who wrote about how many times he had to "PINCH" himself to believe he was really where he was, and I want to share this with you!
****************************************************************************************************************************
From the start…….
We all met before the trek in Texas, socialized and inspected the vehicles, paperwork, and prepared to enter into the journey of a lifetime!
THEN it started…
You could not imagine driving into latin america in your own rv1
“I really don’t know how to put this DREAM IN REALITY, except make a list (maybe you would call it a BUCKET LIST?”
Here it goes (not always in chronological order:
The thrill of driving in Mexico, seeing the agricultural fields, stopping with the group for a break at a small store and fueling in liters, paying in pesos. We crossed the TROPIC OF CANCER.
On the first days we saw the mountains, the Gulf, and the fishermen - all from our RV.
On the second day, a real treat was our first visit to the Mayan Culture was to the site of EL TAJIN RUINS, and museum and witnessing the famous dance of the Voladores!
Then traveling to the Gulf coast beaches and river, we enjoyed a peaceful little village and beach town where we enjoyed excellent seafood, took a river tour, and visited a Vanilla Factory where we saw the plantation .
Gulf coast towns, then south to the isthmus of Mexcio, where we crossed over to the Pacific side and the lush jungle-like scenery north of Guatemala. What a change, passing the MANGO CAPITAL OF MEXICO.
WOW…actually going into “Central America”…entering the border of Guatemala, the people and surroundings completely changed. Colorful costumes, fresh fruits and veggies, Indian culture. Some said…..”Too bad Mexico is in-between”…freshness and mountain air, southbound on the Pan American Highway.
Three days at a full hookup campground, NATURAL HOT SPRINGS, 6 HOT POOLS, JACUZZI, VAPOR BATHS, WAVE POOL, green grass, barbecue pits, wow….we based camped here, where we traveled to tourist points such as Antigua, Pacific coast, and the Ruins of Copan.
Then, El Salvador Pacific Beaches, camped next to a Volcano at a mountain rain forest, star watched, from here you can see the Pacific Ocean. Here are orchids, blue birds, hummingbirds, butterflies , and amazing volcanic lakes.
Then a beautiful Passage thru the mountains of Honduras on the way to the Nicaragua border where we head south on the Pan American Highway
In Nicaragua we see Volcanic National Park, Hammock Making, stay on the shore of 100 mile long Lake Nicaragua, Ometepe Island, and sample the typical foods of the areas.
Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, beautiful beaches and on to Panama. Panama Canal Transit, city tour, and shopping in Largest Shopping Center of the Americas. New subway transit system in world class.
COLUMBIA….CARTAGENA BEST for four days, old forts, Columbia Foods, and a few days in hotel. Carriage ride in old historic town, introduction to South America meeting and review of the routing.
South through Columbia we see:
Cocoa Plantation, and packing plants with chocolate samples.
Stay on a Cayman Farm with hotel and restaurant and zoo.
Cross the highest mountain on the Pan Am route, waterfalls, and cheese country.
Visit Schools and give out school supplies.
Special Visit to mountain hamlet with gold panning in river.
!3,000 feet pass before leaving Columbia.
Columbia is where the policeman is your FRIEND.
Beautiful white beaches.
14. ENTER EQUADOR….Centre of the world.l
15. Visit the Indian pueblos , and mercados, along the Pan Am Highway.
16. Cross the EQUADOR at Quito Equador, visit the capital city. We stay at a Military School, where the President exercises in the morning.
17. Gasoline is $1.00 a gallon!
18. Pass through some out of the way villiages, and rural sights in Equador.
19. Stop and chat with the locals, restaurants and experience local cultures.
20. Prepare to enter Peru from Equador. Start of the Sechura Desert, later you will enter the Atacama Desert – a desert in Chile and Peru, the driest desert in the world!
21. Now I am in Peru….really hard to believe!…Pass arid areas on the way to the Pacific coast. Hundreds of “ghost towns” all over the area..we stopped at several and even had lunch there.
22. Finally reach the mountains with many geographic veins through out the rock formations before reaching the coast. Famous for seafood. We spend 2 days at one of the remote villages here…..fishing, total rock beaches, and sea lions. and visiting the coastal fishing towns, enjoy the seafood, and hear an occasional fisherman singing in the early morning in his boat off the coast! Really!
23. LIMA Peru is bypassed and we stay on the south side, optional fly out to Machu Picchu - Cusco for a couple of days . Land of the Incas! This is the No. 1 Tourist Attraction in the World!
24. South of Limas we visit the The Nazca Lines /ˈnæzkɑː/ are a series of ancient geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert, in southern Peru. They were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - Also we stay at the museum there! Option fly over in small plane.
25. More desert adventure enroute to Chile.
26. Enter the driest desert in the world, visit abandoned mines (World Heritage Site), and see llamas, and a coast of Sea Lions everywhere.27. Camp at a town campground, that has a fence built of SALT ROCKS, also view the Southern Cross in the night sky.
27 We stop and visit local cemeteries and read the headstones - lots of English Miners here. Amazingly preserved because of the dry climate, ahead we visit a old railroad yard and museum with a roundhouse. We stay here overnight, then early morning cross the TROPIC OF CAPICORN with a monument.
28. Traveling on the PANAMERICAN HIGHWAY (SUPER AUTOBON) it seems like we are in Germany with the super highway, Following the Chile Coast and visiting the coastal fishing towns, enjoy the seafood.
29. Several Valleys here are rich in Fruits and veggies.
30. ANACONDA COPPER MINE and it’s history, the big trucks dwarf our RVs, Petroglyphs, and ancient Indian settlements are scattered all over. …. I’am still “pinching” myself…have a sore leg!!! lol
31. The great Andes Mountains are visible with the snow covered caps to our east side before we reach Santiago camping at a military base there.
32. After Santiago, we travel in the wine country (and sample some too!) The vineyards stretch forever, you can almost smell the grapes, great trout streams, and historic towns with German Style buildings.
33. Before crossing the Andes into Argentina, we stop at a hot springs, and pass fields of bright colored tulips, painting the countryside.
34. Then we travel to the “pass” with snow on both sides of the highway, at the top is the official border of CHILE/ARGENTINA, however the border station into Argentina is a few kilometers ahead. We stop to get a view of “Reflection Lake” below, and then on to the border.
35. Out of the snow at the border station, and on to Barlioche - the winter capital of Argentina where we stay a couple of days .. first class restaurants, chocolate factories, and typical gift shops here… ice skating rink too. Lago Argentino here. Ski is a hour away if you want to.
36. El Bolson and Lago Guterrez…. after Barliloche we have a “Big Pinch” camping along beautiful Lago Guterrez, crystal clear drinking water in a National Campground, waterfalls, and campsites with electric and hot showers. Then on to the spiritual Capital of Argentina, El Bolson … homemade jelly and jams, beer, and lots of hippies.
37. Grand Canyon of Argentina
38. Historical Oil Fields and equipment
39. Califate National Park and Glaciers, flying Condors, wild horses, and more! This is where we camp and make HOT TEA OUT OF THE MELTING GLACIER ICE!
40. THEN, on to the famous fishing area of the brown trout, and on the the end of the Panamerican Highway, Ushuaia - World’s Southernmost City, we stay at the World’s Southernmost Campground in the National Park, near the sign reading: “Alaska-19,990 kms” Also a chance to play golf on the world’ s SOUTHERNMOST GOLF COURSE.
41. PETRIFIED NATIONAL FOREST, lots of Rheas, Foxes, Sheep, and petrified logs.
42. Atlantic coast camping on the shore - bowling in a 4 lane bowling alley with hand set pins.
43. Whale Watching, sea elephants , penguins (over a million), National Park and campground, visit a Welch Village.
44. Walmart
45. Buenos Aires, tango show, walking street, national monuments , ChoriPan, and more!
46. Car Ferry over the Rio Plata to Uruguay, duty free gift shop and restaurant on board, enjoy the ride.
47. URUGUAY……City Parks, River fishing, local wine tasting, thousands of old cars still on the road everyday. Visit rural schools.
48. BRAZIL - Southern border area of Brazil, local color and the visit to the city of two countries… Longest undivided beach in the world…over 300 kms you can drive on!
49. LAND of hot springs, Cranes (the bird), and hidden fishing spots.
Note: we travel with about 8 other rv s on the trek.
I recently received a letter from a fellow companion who wrote about how many times he had to "PINCH" himself to believe he was really where he was, and I want to share this with you!
****************************************************************************************************************************
From the start…….
We all met before the trek in Texas, socialized and inspected the vehicles, paperwork, and prepared to enter into the journey of a lifetime!
THEN it started…
You could not imagine driving into latin america in your own rv1
“I really don’t know how to put this DREAM IN REALITY, except make a list (maybe you would call it a BUCKET LIST?”
Here it goes (not always in chronological order:
The thrill of driving in Mexico, seeing the agricultural fields, stopping with the group for a break at a small store and fueling in liters, paying in pesos. We crossed the TROPIC OF CANCER.
On the first days we saw the mountains, the Gulf, and the fishermen - all from our RV.
On the second day, a real treat was our first visit to the Mayan Culture was to the site of EL TAJIN RUINS, and museum and witnessing the famous dance of the Voladores!
Then traveling to the Gulf coast beaches and river, we enjoyed a peaceful little village and beach town where we enjoyed excellent seafood, took a river tour, and visited a Vanilla Factory where we saw the plantation .
Gulf coast towns, then south to the isthmus of Mexcio, where we crossed over to the Pacific side and the lush jungle-like scenery north of Guatemala. What a change, passing the MANGO CAPITAL OF MEXICO.
WOW…actually going into “Central America”…entering the border of Guatemala, the people and surroundings completely changed. Colorful costumes, fresh fruits and veggies, Indian culture. Some said…..”Too bad Mexico is in-between”…freshness and mountain air, southbound on the Pan American Highway.
Three days at a full hookup campground, NATURAL HOT SPRINGS, 6 HOT POOLS, JACUZZI, VAPOR BATHS, WAVE POOL, green grass, barbecue pits, wow….we based camped here, where we traveled to tourist points such as Antigua, Pacific coast, and the Ruins of Copan.
Then, El Salvador Pacific Beaches, camped next to a Volcano at a mountain rain forest, star watched, from here you can see the Pacific Ocean. Here are orchids, blue birds, hummingbirds, butterflies , and amazing volcanic lakes.
Then a beautiful Passage thru the mountains of Honduras on the way to the Nicaragua border where we head south on the Pan American Highway
In Nicaragua we see Volcanic National Park, Hammock Making, stay on the shore of 100 mile long Lake Nicaragua, Ometepe Island, and sample the typical foods of the areas.
Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, beautiful beaches and on to Panama. Panama Canal Transit, city tour, and shopping in Largest Shopping Center of the Americas. New subway transit system in world class.
COLUMBIA….CARTAGENA BEST for four days, old forts, Columbia Foods, and a few days in hotel. Carriage ride in old historic town, introduction to South America meeting and review of the routing.
South through Columbia we see:
Cocoa Plantation, and packing plants with chocolate samples.
Stay on a Cayman Farm with hotel and restaurant and zoo.
Cross the highest mountain on the Pan Am route, waterfalls, and cheese country.
Visit Schools and give out school supplies.
Special Visit to mountain hamlet with gold panning in river.
!3,000 feet pass before leaving Columbia.
Columbia is where the policeman is your FRIEND.
Beautiful white beaches.
14. ENTER EQUADOR….Centre of the world.l
15. Visit the Indian pueblos , and mercados, along the Pan Am Highway.
16. Cross the EQUADOR at Quito Equador, visit the capital city. We stay at a Military School, where the President exercises in the morning.
17. Gasoline is $1.00 a gallon!
18. Pass through some out of the way villiages, and rural sights in Equador.
19. Stop and chat with the locals, restaurants and experience local cultures.
20. Prepare to enter Peru from Equador. Start of the Sechura Desert, later you will enter the Atacama Desert – a desert in Chile and Peru, the driest desert in the world!
21. Now I am in Peru….really hard to believe!…Pass arid areas on the way to the Pacific coast. Hundreds of “ghost towns” all over the area..we stopped at several and even had lunch there.
22. Finally reach the mountains with many geographic veins through out the rock formations before reaching the coast. Famous for seafood. We spend 2 days at one of the remote villages here…..fishing, total rock beaches, and sea lions. and visiting the coastal fishing towns, enjoy the seafood, and hear an occasional fisherman singing in the early morning in his boat off the coast! Really!
23. LIMA Peru is bypassed and we stay on the south side, optional fly out to Machu Picchu - Cusco for a couple of days . Land of the Incas! This is the No. 1 Tourist Attraction in the World!
24. South of Limas we visit the The Nazca Lines /ˈnæzkɑː/ are a series of ancient geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert, in southern Peru. They were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - Also we stay at the museum there! Option fly over in small plane.
25. More desert adventure enroute to Chile.
26. Enter the driest desert in the world, visit abandoned mines (World Heritage Site), and see llamas, and a coast of Sea Lions everywhere.27. Camp at a town campground, that has a fence built of SALT ROCKS, also view the Southern Cross in the night sky.
27 We stop and visit local cemeteries and read the headstones - lots of English Miners here. Amazingly preserved because of the dry climate, ahead we visit a old railroad yard and museum with a roundhouse. We stay here overnight, then early morning cross the TROPIC OF CAPICORN with a monument.
28. Traveling on the PANAMERICAN HIGHWAY (SUPER AUTOBON) it seems like we are in Germany with the super highway, Following the Chile Coast and visiting the coastal fishing towns, enjoy the seafood.
29. Several Valleys here are rich in Fruits and veggies.
30. ANACONDA COPPER MINE and it’s history, the big trucks dwarf our RVs, Petroglyphs, and ancient Indian settlements are scattered all over. …. I’am still “pinching” myself…have a sore leg!!! lol
31. The great Andes Mountains are visible with the snow covered caps to our east side before we reach Santiago camping at a military base there.
32. After Santiago, we travel in the wine country (and sample some too!) The vineyards stretch forever, you can almost smell the grapes, great trout streams, and historic towns with German Style buildings.
33. Before crossing the Andes into Argentina, we stop at a hot springs, and pass fields of bright colored tulips, painting the countryside.
34. Then we travel to the “pass” with snow on both sides of the highway, at the top is the official border of CHILE/ARGENTINA, however the border station into Argentina is a few kilometers ahead. We stop to get a view of “Reflection Lake” below, and then on to the border.
35. Out of the snow at the border station, and on to Barlioche - the winter capital of Argentina where we stay a couple of days .. first class restaurants, chocolate factories, and typical gift shops here… ice skating rink too. Lago Argentino here. Ski is a hour away if you want to.
36. El Bolson and Lago Guterrez…. after Barliloche we have a “Big Pinch” camping along beautiful Lago Guterrez, crystal clear drinking water in a National Campground, waterfalls, and campsites with electric and hot showers. Then on to the spiritual Capital of Argentina, El Bolson … homemade jelly and jams, beer, and lots of hippies.
37. Grand Canyon of Argentina
38. Historical Oil Fields and equipment
39. Califate National Park and Glaciers, flying Condors, wild horses, and more! This is where we camp and make HOT TEA OUT OF THE MELTING GLACIER ICE!
40. THEN, on to the famous fishing area of the brown trout, and on the the end of the Panamerican Highway, Ushuaia - World’s Southernmost City, we stay at the World’s Southernmost Campground in the National Park, near the sign reading: “Alaska-19,990 kms” Also a chance to play golf on the world’ s SOUTHERNMOST GOLF COURSE.
41. PETRIFIED NATIONAL FOREST, lots of Rheas, Foxes, Sheep, and petrified logs.
42. Atlantic coast camping on the shore - bowling in a 4 lane bowling alley with hand set pins.
43. Whale Watching, sea elephants , penguins (over a million), National Park and campground, visit a Welch Village.
44. Walmart
45. Buenos Aires, tango show, walking street, national monuments , ChoriPan, and more!
46. Car Ferry over the Rio Plata to Uruguay, duty free gift shop and restaurant on board, enjoy the ride.
47. URUGUAY……City Parks, River fishing, local wine tasting, thousands of old cars still on the road everyday. Visit rural schools.
48. BRAZIL - Southern border area of Brazil, local color and the visit to the city of two countries… Longest undivided beach in the world…over 300 kms you can drive on!
49. LAND of hot springs, Cranes (the bird), and hidden fishing spots.
Note: we travel with about 8 other rv s on the trek.