South America
May 4, 2023 – after we have released Luis and cleared all the formalities we went on to Barranquillo and then to the Hotel El Prado, our cold called for a break
May 6, 2023 – Minca, Finca Simon Bolivar near Santa Marta, at the foot of the Sierra Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain range in the world with the highest mountains in Colombia, thanks to the constant haze we didn't see any of it
May 8, 2023 – Drive around the outside of the Sierra, along the border with Venezuela, stopping in Barrancas
May 11, 2023 – Guatape – the impressive rock in the middle of the landscape surrounded by a huge reservoir
May 13, 2023 – Continue to San Rafael and a few days in the mountain jungle
May 15, 2023 – Medellin, we will spend a few days here and immerse ourselves in the city
May 19, 2023 – there were more days than expected in Medellin, the city that impressed us so much. But we continue towards Villa de Leiva, the old capital in the mountains.
May 21, 2023 – we stayed until Sunday and got to know Ivan and his family and met Antonita and Henk from the Netherlands again, what coincidences there are
May 22, 2023 – Visit to Zipaquira, the Salt Cathedral, a cathedral carved into a huge sea of salt
05/23/203 – Arrival in Bogota and there are more days than expected
May 28, 2023
– Departure from Bogota towards Honda
May 30, 2023 – Salento and Valle de Cocora, we met Simon and Lucie again
1.06.20223 – Popayan, a beautiful city in the south of Colombia
June 3, 2023 – Ipiales – Las Lajas, the famous church on the bridge over the gorge
June 4, 2023 – Finca Sommerwind, Ibarra Ecuador
June 6, 2023 – Mitad del Mundo, the center of the earth, from now on we are in the southern hemisphere
June 6, 2023 – Quito, the capital of Ecuador, the second highest capital in the world at 2,850 meters
June 8, 2023 – Cotopaxi, the famous volcano that Alexander von Humboldt described but did not conquer
June 10, 2023 – we are in the jungle/Amazon region, this is where the famous river has its origins. The area is huge, stretching from Colombia, Ecuador to Peru, which means there are many springs that flow into the river
June 12, 2023 – Rio Verde, the famous “Pailon del Diablo” waterfalls
June 14, 2023
– Riobamba, we are back in the Sierra, at altitude
June 14, 2023 – Overnight stay at the foot of the Chimborazo, opinions differ as to whether Humboldt had reached the summit
June 15, 2023 – Visit to the Inca ruins in Ecuador, Incapirca, a very beautiful complex
June 16, 2023 – Cuenca in Ecuador
June 20, 2023 – we drive to Peru, border crossing in Macara/Ecuador and then straight on to Piura. Overnight stay in the beautiful Porto Verde complex
June 22, 2023 – Caraz, we drove along the coast until just before Chimbote and then turned into the mountains towards Huaraz, driving through the Canyon del Pato (Duck Canyon) and having some adventures. We stayed with Erik at Apu Ecolodge for two nights.
June 25, 2023 – Drive through the Cordillera Blanca (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordillera_Blanca) to Catac, visit the ruins of Chavin de Huantar https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav%C3%ADn_de_Hu% C3%A1ntar
June 26, 2023 – Lima, a few days of rest, no kilometers
July 4, 2023 – Ica, visit to the Huacachina oasis – sand, lots of sand and a small lake with palm trees, like in the best film
July 6, 2023 – Nasca, visit to the Maria Reiche museum. In 1986 we met her personally, a remarkable woman who had dedicated her life to the Nasca lines
July 7, 2023 – Overnight stay at Casa Lena. A project emerged from the initiative of a young couple who care about the development of disabled children.
July 8, 2023 – Cusco, a few days on the trail of the Incas, to Machu Picchu, but normally by train and not on foot along the trail
July 15, 2023 – Arequipa, the white city at the foot of the Misti, we drove from Cusco to the Rainbow Mountains and the Canyon del Colca and then arrived here
July 20, 2023 – Departure towards Bolivia
Another big part of our journey is coming to an end. We are moving further and further away from the equator and traveling further in the southern hemisphere of the earth. A new section begins with Bolivia and on to Chile. The average altitude of our trip is around 4,000 meters above sea level, it is indescribable.
Here is the link to the current Polarstep route - follow us on Polar step
https://www.polarsteps.com/KaiOlafDammenhain/5161546-panamericana
https://findpenguins.com/4bghekcxvpogd
July 20, 2023 – Puno on Lake Titika/ Peru-Bolivia border
July 21, 2023 – La Paz Bolivia
July 24, 2023 – Sucre
July 26, 2023 – Uyuni, overnight at Hotel Flamingo
July 27, 2023 – Drive to the Salar de Uyuni, overnight on the Isla de Incahuasi
July 28, 2023 – Overnight stay at Laguna Canapa
July 29, 2023 – Overnight stay in a hostel on the Laguna Blanca/Bolivia-Chile border
July 30, 2023 – San Pedro de Atacama
Aug 2, 2023 – Departure from San Pedro de Atacama, swimming in the Laguna Baltinacha
Aug 3, 2023 – Calama - a pure mining town with the largest mines in the world
08/04/2023 – Antofagasta
Aug 5, 2023 – Visit to the ESO Paranal Observatory, the southernmost observatory in the European Union...
Aug 8, 2023 – La Serena and Vicuna in the Valle de Elqui, visit to the Pisquera ABAhttps://pisquera-aba.cl/
Aug 9, 2023 – Casablanca – Casas del Bosque winery
August 10, 2023 – Santiago de Chile – we are staying here a little longer and from here we are also taking a short trip to Europe, more precisely to Birmingham for our daughter’s wedding
August 20, 2023 – Flight to London
August 21, 2023 – Landing in London and driving to Birmingham/short stop in Luton at Ashcroft Transmission and handing over broken gearbox
August 28, 2023
– Drive to London and departure to Santiago
August 29, 2023 – Landing in Santiago
09/06/2023 – Departure for skiing in Valle Nevado
September 10, 2023 – back in Santiago
and then we continued south...
September 17, 2023 – Gear and Luis ready, trip to Mendoza Argentina
September 18, 2023
– Visit to Dieter Meier’s “Ojo de Agua” winery
September 22, 2023 – Return journey to Chile
September 23, 2023 – Vina del Mar
September 24, 2023 – Valparaiso and back in Santiago in the evening
September 25, 2023
– Departure from Santiago heading south on Ruta 5
September 26, 2023
– Constitution
September 27, 2023 – Conception
September 28, 2023
– Salto de Lajas
September 29, 2023
– Termas de Trancura at the Villarrica volcano
September 30, 2023
– Camping Hans - Pucon and Villarrica (Villarrica National Park) and the 7 lakes in Chile
10/1/2023
– Moncopulli, the car museum of Don Bernardo near Osorno
10/2/2023 – off to Argentina to Bariloche, we stayed here for 3 days, hike up Cerro Otto
10/5/2023 – Return to Chile, Puerto Montt, start of Ruta 7 – Carretera Austral
10/5/2023 – Puerto Montt, start of Ruta 7 – Carretera Austral
October 7, 2023
– Hornopiren – ferry ride to Leptepu and finally Cateta Conzalo (5 hour ferry) – Ruta 7 is a bimodal road, meaning it goes overland and sometimes only by ferry, approx. 1,500 km through wild nature and fjords. .
October 9, 2023
– Caleta Tortel, a small town a little off Ruta 7
10/10/2023
– Villa o Higgins, the end of Ruta 7, Carretara Austral
October 11, 2023
– Start of the adventure at Paso Rio Mayer, overnight at Lake Christie
October 12, 2023
- Overnight stay in the mud hole in no man's land between Chile and Argentina on Paso Rio Mayer, re-entry into Chile on October 13th, 2023, adventure aborted
October 14, 2023
– Overnight stay in Argentina in Perito Moreno
October 15, 2023
– El Calafate, visit to the glaciers
October 18, 2023
– Arrive Torres del Paine back in Chile, visit the national park
October 20, 2023
– Arrival in Puerto Natales
October 21, 2023
– Punta Arenas/Puerto del Hambre/Estrecho de Magalanes National Park
October 22, 2023
– Punta Arena City
October 25, 2023
– Ushuaia, the southernmost city in Argentina and, next to Puerto Williams/Chile, the southernmost city in South America – we have reached our destination, Alaska Prudhoe Bay to Tierra del Fuego Ushuaia
Here is the link to the current Polarstep route - follow us on
Polar step
https://www.polarsteps.com/KaiOlafDammenhain/5161546-panamericana
https://findpenguins.com/4bghekcxvpogd
October 30, 2023 – the journey north begins. From the southernmost point of our trip, Ushuaia, we start the journey towards Buenos Aires and then to Montevideo/Uruguay. Luis travels from Montevideo in a container with a colleague to Antwerp.
We will spend two weeks in Buenos Aires and fly home by plane on December 15, 2023. Let's go…
October 31, 2023 – Drive to the Argentine side of the small Bellavista border crossing. Unfortunately the crossing is still closed and will not open until December 1st, 2023
11/1/2023 – San Sebastian, back for a short stretch in Chile. The border lines down here are very torn, none of the countries can travel overland to their southernmost point.
11/2/2023 – Visit to the King Penguins at Povenir
11/3/2023 – Visit to Monte Leon National Park
11/4/2023 – Puerto San Julian, this is where Magellan set up his winter quarters
November 7, 2023 – Peninsula Valdes – an entire peninsula as a national park
November 9, 2023 –Las Grutas
11/10/2023 – Visit to the parrots, Balneario el Condor
11/11/2023 – Thermal baths one last time – Termas de Medanos We drive further north via detours and then have to go to the workshop again
November 13, 2023 – Villa Ventana – Pampa Taller Land Rover, Santiago and his family take us in and we straighten the front axle of Luis
November 15, 2023 – a short visit to Dieter Meier’s Ojo de Agua cattle farm
November 16, 2023 – Visit to the Juan Manuel Fangio Museum in Balcarce
November 17, 2023 – Montevideo – Paraiso Suiza with Heinz and Sylvia, our last campsite before shipping home
November 21, 2023 - Drive with Luis to the port of Montevideo
November 21, 2023 – Arriving in Montevideo, we first move into our quarters for the next few days and then we go to the port. Luis comes into the container. Everything is wonderfully organized. Many thanks to Alejandro from Overland Embassy and Rachida from Wave Logistic. Everything works wonderfully, Luis fits in and we close the container after his buddy has parked another Land Rover.
We would now explore Montevideo until November 30th, 2023. We immediately bought concert tickets for two events at the Solis Theater.
12/1/2023 – Travel by boat from Montevideo directly to Buenos Aires. We considered taking the route via Colonia del Sacramento. Definitely worth the trip, but it's easier this way with all the luggage
12/1/2023 – Arrival Buenos Aires, Selina Hostel and now enjoy more days of culture and museums. And we will see many new friends again.
December 15, 2023 – Departure from Buenos Aires to Frankfurt with a change in Madrid. We'll all work out
December 16, 2023 – Aidlingen, we are back home. Jan-Frederik picked us up and brought us home safely.
End of adventure, end of journey!
and then we can pick up Luis in Antwerp in the new year
Here is the link to the current Polarstep route - follow us on Polar step
https://www.polarsteps.com/KaiOlafDammenhain/5161546-panamericana
https://findpenguins.com/4bghekcxvpogd
