Planning

"What is life if not the pursuit of our dreams?"

Current location:  click here

When I talk to old friends about this trip I hear them saying that this planning is already taking 40 years, and they are right. At the same time, when I talk to newer friends, neighbors and work fellows, the majority of them seem surprised with this sudden idea, and they are right too.
 

The truth is that the idea of travelling along the Pan-American Highway is quite old, from the time I was studying, but then it went into a sort of incubation mode as the basic pre-conditions for such a long and remote tour were simply not there for me. The situation has gradually changed over the years as life evolved, the family grew up, the infrastructure and social conditions in SA improved, and last but not least one's owns situation improved. Still, it was not until the last few months that some personal decisions made it possible for this "dream" to turn into a "plan", something where preparation can take place, something that can be booked, that can be described on a map.

Trip planning usually starts with questions such as where do I(we) want to go? when? who is coming with? how long should it take? how much should it cost? There are many other questions for sure, but these here are always among the first or at least they are in my case.

And they all have an answer in the meantime: this is going to be a 6 months land tour around South America beginning Jan 2014. Fly in/out point will be Lima (Peru), the land route will roughly follow the south american coast line to the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean sees, and will include all countries in the subcontinent except Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. A tour that google maps estimates to be around 30.000 kilometers long across some of the bigger deserts (Patagonian, Atacama), higher mountains (Aconcagua, Huascarán), most amazing lakes (Titicaca and Uyuni), massive glaciers (Perito Moreno), largest rivers (Amazonas) and impressive waterfalls (Iguazú) in the world. With Machu Picchu, Ceviche, Galápagos, Caipirinha and Tango in the program one can say that climate, fauna, food, culture and people will be as diverse as the scenery.

Eventhough my wife Gina will join for some sections (Lima for sure, others to be defined), travelling will be mostly by myself, and yes, it should be a low cost trip which means I won't be looking for 5* accomodation.

Does it sound like a good plan? It does to me!  Central and north america are not covered this time (both crossed by the Panamerican Highway) but that's not a problem, there will be a follow-up!

Preparation can start...