Chantal and Thomas on the road
(The information is listed consecutively and contains some very interesting details. Just scroll through for more details).
Big service at Km 200’000 (198’944 Km)
Allrad Pauli in Oy-Mittelberg/Germany
After the many adventurous kilometres and the problems we had experienced on the American continents, a major service and repairs were planned for our Jeep. The Gazell camping cabin has so far proved to be very robust and reliable. Read More
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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
… Baja California Sur
We enjoyed La Paz to the full before heading further south. The agglomeration extended far into the nearby mountains. The houses became fewer and fewer, but the mountains of rubbish became bigger and bigger. Entire stretches of land were filled with rubbish or objects that had no further use were dumped in the countryside. It is a real shame that the local population disregard their wonderful landscape in this way. Read More
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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
Introductory part on Central America; see Part 1
….Guatemala – Belize – south-eastern part Mexico
Crossing the border into Guatemala was easy in retrospect, but when you’re standing at the counter and the customs officer asks for copies again, you soon wonder where all those paper documents go. Chantal had once again taken precautions and was always able to pull the desired copy out of the goody bag. After a stern look at our car by the official, the barrier opened and we could finally continue our journey on the Panamericana. Read More
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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
Introductory part on Central America; see Part 1
….Nicaragua – Honduras
The effort to cross the border coming from Costa Rica into Nicaragua was considerable and many illogical checks were made. Of course, some amount of money had to be laid out again and again for some paper. And also at this border; don’t skip a step or take the wrong approach, you would have to return to the starting position immediately. But, although we left the camp at the end, we were able to leave the border station before various early risers in our group and enter the Nicaraguan traffic hustle and bustle. Read More
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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
….Panama – Costa Rica
With the exception of Panama and Costa Rica, all Central American countries were plunged into deep crises by domestic conflicts until recently. The consequences of these long-standing conflicts are still strongly felt today and can be seen everywhere. The countries suffered greatly from their own development and parallel societies formed almost everywhere. This was fertile ground for the formation of criminal organisations, and today these countries are fighting this almost insoluble problem. Personally, we also had the feeling that we were once again driving through developing countries: Next to mansions were entire village or city districts that looked more like slums than developed housing.
And, dirt and rubbish everywhere; whole mountains of rubbish lay along the roadsides, disfiguring their wonderful landscape. It is a pity that the people concerned do not react a little more sensitively to this and blame the state for it, but at the same time dump their rubbish over the roadside. Whether it comes with education or from the people themselves; where people are educated, it was usually much cleaner than in areas where mainly the indigenous population is at home. Costa Rica abolished the army in 1949 and used the money freed up for education and health; the fruits of this decision can truly be seen and felt today. Read More
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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
…..the last days in Chile
The flag of Argentina became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror as we headed west from “Paso Cristo Redentor” over the gravel road towards the tarred strip further down. Yes, our days were numbered in the southern part of South America and the date for the car drop-off in the port of “San Antonio” was sent to us via WhatsApp a few hours ago. Read More
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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
…further in the waiting loop!
Our additional loop stretched from Bolivia further into the northern part of Argentina, with the hope that the impossible would still be possible. It is true that our travel organisation in faraway Germany was under heavy pressure, but as long as the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany did not reduce the travel warning, a further journey northwards through Peru is hardly possible – as far as the legal situation is concerned for an organised trip by a German company. Despite all these problems and inconsistencies, we would like to pay tribute to the person in charge of Panamericana and his team on site; they responded to almost all our wishes and suggestions and turned the almost impossible into an acceptable onward journey again. Read More