April 15, 2019 – May 12, 2019
Buenos Aires is often referred to as “the Paris of South America”. It is a multicultural city, full of parrillas (steak house), red wine, weekend ferias (craft/antique fairs), tango dancers and magnificent buildings.
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January 1, 2019 – January 7, 2019
The Carretera Austral is a 1,240 kilometre road that runs from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins, through mountains and forests, around fjords, lakes and glaciers, and relies on a couple of longer ferry crossings where the terrain is just too challenging for road construction. Work on the highway began in 1976. It was opened to traffic in 1988 and the last 100 kilometres to Villa O’Higgins were only completed in the year 2000. The road winds through remote areas of what is know as Chile’s Northern Patagonia region and we were very excited to be finally making our way into this region that is so famous for its beauty.
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November 24, 2018 – November 28, 2018
The next morning we drove through the tunnel, and officially entered Argentina….our 14th country of the trip since leaving Canada. The border procedures were quick and organized…we had read that this border can take 4 to 6 hours if you hit it at the wrong time, as Argentinians cross here to go shopping in Santiago, Chile. We got lucky and it wasn’t busy at all. We were stamped in in about 30 minutes. We began driving through a beautiful valley along a river lined by multi coloured peaks….red, yellow, orange, brown, purple-grey….stunning.
October 12, 2018 – October 18, 2018
In order to enter Chile with a dog you need to have a recent vet certificate stating that the dog is healthy and all of its shots are up to date, then you need a form issued by the government of the country you are entering Chile from, stating that you are allowed to “export” the dog. A lot of annoying paperwork, and the first country to really care whether Piper was along or not. We could drive to Potosi in Bolivia for the paperwork, but decided that we would sooner spend the time required for all the appointments in Sucre.
August 24, 2018 – August 27, 2018
We were headed back to the coast in order to take the longer, but faster, route toward Cusco. We stopped for breakfast in the town of Huaraz, which is an important tourism centre for trekkers making their way to the Cordillera Blanca. Much of Huaraz (90%) was wiped out by the devastating Peruvian earthquake of 1970 and many memorials exist in neighbouring communities to catastrophic avalanches and mudflows known as aluviones which roiled down steep mountain valleys from the glaciers in the cordillera above on other occasions over the last 300 years.
A beautiful church we passed before reaching Huaraz.
July 19, 2018 – July 21, 2018
Leaving Mindo we took a slightly longer route to avoid driving through Quito again. We were not sure what we would be getting into, as we were going to be off main highways. As it turned out, the roads were paved, nice and wide and had a decent shoulder. This made for an easy, enjoyable driving day. On average, the main roads in Ecuador have probably been the best we have experienced in all of Latin America.
April 24, 2018 – May 4, 2018
One more beach camp on the Nicoya Peninsula, this time near the town of Malpais. And again, heavenly. We walked down the beach one night for a drink and some ceviche as we watched the sun set. On one afternoon, we walked to the nearby town to a little store, then returned to our camp by the beach, not seeing another person until we neared our campsite. Riders on horseback would occasionally wander past between us and the shore. It was beautiful and peaceful and so, if you are not tired of seeing them yet, here are some more beach and sunset pictures.
We headed back to the coast for a couple of days of beach time, staying at a place called Balenario Zac-Ha. There were flush toilets and outdoor showers, and we had the place almost to ourselves, save for when a bus of cruise ship people came in for a few hours. The beach was not perfect, there was a lot of sea grass washed up on the beach and a fair bit of plastic litter, but our camping spot was awesome…..We read, we lay in the hammock, we walked on the beach…
We stayed a night in the small town of Punta Arista to break up the drive into the state of Chiapas. Someone had recommended a campground called Jose’s, so we had checked in to the campground and cabanas. The owners’ were nice and welcoming but the campground had probably seen better days…maybe it had been hit hard by recent tropical storms? There was quite a bit of debris everywhere, many of the brick grilling stations were beat up and broken down and the cabins didn’t even come close to enticing us out of our little camper for the evening. The showers and toilets were however well maintained and clean.
Oaxaca (pronounced Wa-ha-ka) is both a state in Mexico and the capital city of the state. We drove through some beautiful high mountain terrain to Oaxaca city. The roads were quite good, if not all the drivers. I have dash cam video of two cars, a semi and a pickup truck, all shoulder to shoulder trying to pass each other, going up hill and around a corner…..again, wish I had the internet power to upload the video, maybe one day.