ALASKA TO ARGENTINA

Hasta luego

2009-09-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

We've had a fantastic adventure and it feels very strange to be back in the UK, but it's been lovely to catch up with friends and family, and to unpack - two years is a long time to be living out of the back of a Land Rover! So for now reality beckons, but we hope it will not be too long until we embark on our next Land Rover trip!

Hasta luego!

Lesley & John

Tilbury Docks

2009-07-12T12:59:00.047-05:00

Picking up the Land Rover from Tilbury docks. We decided to tow the landy as we were not entirely convinced it would pass it's MOT first time - so little faith!

Fellow overlanders

2009-07-01T09:59:00.000-05:00

Meeting up with fellow overlanders John & Denise in Yorkshire. The last time we'd seen them was in Panama City, at the airport. They were heading to Ecuador, and we were heading off to Colombia. We never did catch up with them! They are now planning a trip to Africa in their Toyota. See how they get on at www.coxmorganoverland.co.uk

John & Denise with their trusty Toyota Landcruiser!

Larry's visit

2009-07-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

We met Larry in the Yukon, and later spent some time with him at his home in Huntsville Texas. This was his first trip out of North America, so we were a little worried about what he'd think to London, travelling around on the underground, and the almost constant rain, but he looked happy enough when we found him a Mexican restaurant and a Margarita!

At leisure in Buenos Aires

2009-06-17T12:02:00.006-05:00

With the Land Rover safe in it's container we were free to explore Buenos Aires before our flight home

Palermo with Dorothee

Tango shoes

A farewell coffee with Chad

Shipping from Buenos Aires

2009-06-15T17:43:00.015-05:00

A sad day for us as the landy, our home for the last 2 years, goes into a container at the Terminal Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires. We'll be following it back to the UK soon!

With Luis & Mercedes. We shared the same shipping agents http://www.hubargentina.com.ar/ who we would thoroughly recommend. Our contact there, Octavio Javier Herreros, made the whole experience very easy and stress free, and took this photo!

Going home!

2009-06-02T18:08:00.006-05:00

Whose crazy idea was it to drive up to Iguasu?

We are finally back in Buenos Aires, tired and ready to go home. It was nice to be briefly back in the sunshine, the falls at Iguasu are amazing, but the Ibera Marshes were the highlight of the trip for us, beautiful, tranquil, with amazing bird and wildlife.

Now we just need to organise getting the landy and ourselves back to the UK!

The road to Iguasu

2009-05-22T20:53:00.018-05:00

Crossing the Parana River into Entre Rios Province

A Ford Falcon in the lovely old riverside town of Colon. You see these old cars everywhere in Argentina, makes you feel like your back in the 1970's!

Parque Nacional El Palmar

Capaybara crossing!

The amazing Ibera Marshes in Corrientes

The lovely campground at Ibera

Gauchos ahead!

Driving the Ruta 12, the earth turns red and and the road ahead hilly as we enter Missiones province.

The Jesuit Mission at San Ignacio Mini

John at Iguasu Falls

Buenos Aires at last

2009-05-17T18:18:00.006-05:00

We thought we would never get here. It's a long way from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires and there really is not a lot to do on the the way. Well, that's not quite true, there are some amazing things to see, and there would be more if all the penguins and whales and other exciting sealife hadn't already gone north to Brasil for the winter... we were late as ever! But Argentina is such a long country, the distances between places are huge, and there are hundreds of miles of literally nothing, perhaps a few guanacos and rheas running off in fright as you approach, if you're lucky. Forget Saskachewan, forget West Texas, Argentina wins on the long boring drives stakes! So for once we're glad to be back in a big city and feel the buzz of millions of other people around us. We're off to the cinema..

Buenos Aires Province

2009-05-16T04:27:00.019-05:00

At Viedma we crossed the river to Carmen de Patagones, which despite the name is in Buenos Aires Province. Finally we have left Patagonia behind, with less than 1000kms to go to Buenos Aires!

Hills ahead... the Sierra de la Ventana!

In this picture you can just about make out la ventana, the window that this area is named after.

Buenos Aires at last!

Puerto Madero

The sunday market in San Telmo

Life on the Ruta 3

2009-05-12T12:27:00.025-05:00

Puerto San Julian, Santa Cruz, alone in the campground at sunset

The Ruta 3 is the quickest route north to Buenos Aires but you can go mad from the monotony. Day after day driving the same flat featureless roads, looking out at flat empty plains, devoid of vegetation. In the summer months there is some amazing wildlife to stop and see but you have to travel a long way to get to it. At this time of the year there is only the odd guanaco and oncoming truck to look forward to. Luckily there are service stations every couple of hundred miles - long live YPF - and Guachito Gil to pray to, but not a lot else!

The penguin colony at Cabo Dos Bahias, Chubut. A month ago there would have been 30,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins here with their young, but now it is deserted. The penguins have all gone north to Brazil for the summer, except for this one little chap who had been left behind... we didn't like to think too much about it's fate.

Argentina - Los Glaciers National Park

2009-05-06T13:09:00.017-05:00

An early start after a chilly night in the back of the landy!

The Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciers National Park, near El Calafate in Santa Cruz

Leaving El Calafate behind we head back across to the Atlantic coast, taking the unpaved Ruta Provincial 9, which turned out to be an amazingly beautiful route following the Santa Cruz river to the town of Commandante Luis Piedra Buena!

Chile - Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine

2009-05-04T12:03:00.045-05:00

The colourful city of Puerto Natales is in a beautiful position on the Sena Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound!)

Torres del Paine National Park, 147kms north of Puerto Natales. We'd hoped to spend some time here walking but although it was sunny when we arrived, the weather quickly changed.

Lago Grey. We were amazed these photographs came out as it was so windy we could hardly hold the camera straight!

Salto Chico and the Explora Hotel. We were very tempted to check in but opted for the campground instead... not quite sure why!

We were hoping the weather would improve overnight but it didn't. After nearly being blown away just walking a couple of hundred yards from the car to a viewpoint (quite scary) we decided that Torres del Paine in winter was just a bit too wild and exposed for us!

Fin del Mundo

2009-04-28T11:05:00.005-05:00

We're here! Finally made it to Ushuaia, and it's worth the trip. After days of driving across flat empty steppe with nothing to look at but the horizon, Ushuaia is a bit of a revelation with it's mountain backdrop and strange stunted forests. When we arrived it was beautiful and sunny but today it is snowing. Still, it gives us an excuse to go and sit in the pub and have another pint of 'Beagle' beer, and contemplate the 3,000 plus kilometres back to Buenos Aires!

Tierra del Fuego

2009-04-28T04:36:00.010-05:00

Crossing the Magellan Strait - the ferry from Punta Delgada to Bahia Azul

The road to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world

The beautiful and remote city of Ushuaia... worth the trip for a pint of Beagle!

Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego & the Beagle Channel, a special and tranquil place

But it's definately time to head north to warmer climes!

Sheep ahead on the road back to the ferry at Bahia Azul

Atlantic Patagonia

2009-04-22T12:54:00.029-05:00

The Atlantic coast near Rada Tilly, our first view of the Atlantic since Colombia (if the Caribbean counts?)

Oilfields near Comodoro Rivadavia

The road to Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz Province.

In 1909 a railway line to Puerto Deseado was opened, it closed in 1978, but you can still see the stations and the water towers that were needed every 20kms for the steam engines.

The fishing port of Puerto Deseado. We came to see the penguins but we didn't find any... even though we wished for them!

Looking for fossils on the beach at Parque Nacional Monte Leon

An orphaned guanaco being looked after by the wardens at Monte Leon

Another day on the Ruta 3, heading South!

Petrified tree trunks and foxes at the very remote Monumento Natural de los Bosques Petrificados.

There are memorials to Las Malvinas (the Falklands) in almost every Argentine town, this one is in Puerto San Julian. It was the first time on this trip that we'd felt uncomfortable about being British, but it didn't seem to cause a problem. Only a few people mentioned the war to us. One elderly gentleman explained how he had travelled all over Europe but not to Britain, because of the war. However, he was sure the people of Britain were very nice, we just needed to sort out our prime minister... indeed! But many of the people we came across in Patagonia spoke very good English, their grandparents having emigrated from Britain in the 1880's, one lady we met still retained a Scottish accent(!) so it's not a straightforward relationship.

Rio Gallegos, the capital of Santa Cruz Province, with photographs of European settlers at the Museo de los Pioneros. Settlers didn't start arriving in this part of Patagonia until the 1880's, and the town still feels very temporary. 2636kms south of Buenos Aires, but only a couple of hundred kilometers to the ferry at Punta Delgada to Tierra del Fuego... almost there!

Argentina - Andean Patagonia

2009-04-16T17:34:00.003-05:00

The ferry pier at Villa La Angostura, in the Nahuel Huapi National Park, Neuquen Province

Ruta Los Siete Lagos

With Ana & Chad in San Martin de Los Andes

The church in Junin de los Andes

El Bolson, Rio Negro Province, known for it's unusually temperate climate and it's hippy population, which today means lots of lovely artisanal food and beer!

The road to San Carlos de Bariloche

Parque Nacional Los Alerces, Chubut

Guachos on the road to Trevelin

The Trevelin Museum. Trevelin means 'mill town' in Welsh, and the town was built here in the 1880's by Welsh settlers. You can still find Welsh chapels and tearooms, although the tearooms keep Argentinian time - closed mid-afternoon!

Inside the museum are some fascinating photographs of the Welsh settlers and the native Mapuche people

The town of Esquel, where we planned to turn west back into Chile. However with winter fast approaching we had to make some difficult choices. Tierra del Fuego was always our end goal, so we decided to head there as quickly as possible, which meant crossing to the Ruta 3 on the Atlantic coast of Argentina. We would miss out on the Carretera Austral in Chile, but we still might be able to make it to Torres del Paine on the return trip north... if the weather held.

The Bosque Petrificado (Petrified Forest) near Sarmiento, heading east and suddenly it's all very flat!

Back to Argentina!

2009-04-14T09:11:00.003-05:00

We thought we'd give the weather one last shot and it paid off. We crossed back into Argentina and had a lovely sunny week in the Argentine lake district. We caught up with friends Chad & Ana in San Martin de Los Andes and even contemplated spending the winter there as it is so pretty. The autumn colours are lovely and there are lots of chocolate shops! At the moment we're still heading south, hoping the weather will hold - Tierra del Fuego here we come!

Chilly in Chile

2009-03-31T13:45:00.003-06:00

We are in Valdivia, Chile. We've had a lovely time on the coast near Valparaiso and in the Lake District but a recent cold spell has caused a little wobble in our plans. The autumn here is beautiful, but when it rains there is not a lot to see or do and the nights are cold. We're just trying to decide whether we can face a Patagonian winter or whether we should about turn and head up to Iguasu and Brazil! Decisions, decisions...

Argentina at last

2009-03-18T15:00:00.002-06:00

It's taken us a long time but we've finally made it to Argentina and tarmac, beautiful tarmac! We crossed the border into Argentina and were met with smooth wide roads and traffic signs, both very welcome after the last few weeks in Bolivia. By Salta we'd dropped over a thousand metres and we could breathe again, and it was lovely and warm and humid. Every town in Argentina seems to have a campground so we are camping in the tent again and meeting lots of other overland travellers.

Argentina seems quite different and we have met some people who have spent twelve months just travelling around Argentina and Chile. The beef and wine is as good as they say and so we spent some time sampling both before deciding to leave Argentina behind for the time being to visit Chile and the Pacific ocean.

North West Argentina

2009-03-14T14:07:00.006-06:00

Argentina, and paved roads at last!

Humahuaca, our first stop in Argentina

Purmamarca, where we met Hans & Marion with their truck... John getting ideas for the next trip!

The coloured rocks of the Quebrada de Humahuaca at Maimara

The city of Salta, la linda (the pretty one) as the Argentinians say

The Municipal Campground in Salta. It's a while since we've had any campgrounds so Argentina is a bit of a shock to the system... and we are no longer alone, the whole of Argentina seems to be on holiday!

Quebrada de las Conchas

John waits to taste the wine at Bodega El Esteco, Cafayate

... and at Bodega Nanni

Quilmes Ruinas, a pre-Incan religious site that nobody seems to know much about. There is however quite a lot of controversy over who now owns the site!

The road to La Rioja... which way now?

Argentinians drive Land Rovers! We haven't seen so many since Colombia. Jorge gave us the Land Rover Argentina website details, just in case we have any more problems... as if?
http://www.landroverclub.com.ar/

You see roadside shrines everywhere in South America, but these one's in Argentina are different as they seem to be places to ask for protection or good luck. Elsewhere they tend to mark where someone has had an accident and died, very cheering as you're driving along!

Parque Nacional Talampaya, red rocks and ancient petroglyphs

Camping at Talampaya. Argentinian beef is as good as they say!

Fossils and strange shaped rocks at Parque Provincial Ishchigualsto.

Some of the oldest dinosaur fossils have been found here, but they only have copies in the museum.

Mud, flood and carnival in Bolivia

2009-02-28T17:21:00.004-06:00

We arrived in Bolivia, at Copocabana, just as Carnival season was getting underway. The first few nights were fun, but the joys of brass bands at 2am quickly wore a little thin and we were craving a decent nights sleep. The Carnival continued in La Paz so we decided to drop down from the altiplano to Cochabamba, and then right down to the lowlands of the Amazon, to Villa Tunari and Santa Cruz. We encountered friendly monkeys and roads under water, but it was a nice change to be able to breath properly and to be warm at night, and sleep. We left Santa Cruz with new tyres, at last, and drove to Samaipata where we found a very relaxing and peaceful little hill town.

It is fair to say that the roads in the south of Bolivia (all dirt) are some of the worst we have encountered on our journey. It has to be bad when even the local bus gets stuck in the mud. As an example, on one of our more interesting journeys from Samaipata to Sucre, it took us 4 days, 3 landslides, torrential rain, and lots of mud to get there, and we got to use our winch - the first time in almost 2 years!

We drove to Potosi and visited the silver mines and then drove to the Salar de Uyuni, an incredible expanse of salt flats and then slowly crawled our way to the Argentine border.

We look back on Bolivia as memorable but hard work.

Uyuni and South West Bolivia

2009-02-26T21:26:00.033-06:00

In the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world, and firmly on the tourist trail

The Landy lost in a sea of Landcruisers at Isla Incahuasi near were we camped for the night

Luckily for us by 5pm all the tourists had left and then the silence was amazing!

Back in Uyuni town getting all that salt removed!

The road from Uyuni to Tupiza... sheep in the desert?

The Tupiza area is very beautiful and reminiscent of the southwest USA, all red rock canyons and cactus. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their end nearby in 1908 after holding up an Aramayo mine company payroll, but unfortunately we didn't really have much time to explore, we had other problems.

All that bouncing around on Bolivian roads had caused a crack in a spring housing so we had to get that welded in Tupiza (actually this was the 2nd time, we'd already had it welded in La Paz!)

Everyone gets stuck in the mud on the road to the Argentine border at Villazon

Would you let us in?

Sucre and Potosi

2009-02-20T21:39:00.009-06:00

The city of Sucre, Bolivia's official capital

Women of the revolution at the Casa de la Libertad

Looking at dinosaur footprints uncovered by the Cal Orcko cement works near Sucre

The bizarre architectural folly that is the Castillo de la Glorieta

Potosi, and the streets are overrun with children celebrating Carnival, which seemed to us simply an excuse to throw water bombs and cover each other (and anyone else in firing range) with foam!

The Casa Nacional de Moneda in Potosi, were since 1572 they have turned silver from the fabled Cerro Rico mine into coins. Potosi was once the largest and richest city in the Americas and the silver from this one 'rich mountain' funded the entire Spanish Empire.

Dressed for the part at the Cerro Rico mine. Lesley lasted about 5 minutes in the dark narrow tunnels, but John stayed the course emerging an hour and a half later. The coca leaves are a present for the miners, you also take dynamite and Coca-cola.

Not a lot to see inside! The conditions are so bad the life expectancy of a miner is about 35. They also lose 1 or 2 miners a month to accidents. In retrospect we can't understand why on earth we thought we might enjoy going down a mine in Bolivia!

Samaipata and La Higuera

2009-02-16T21:11:00.001-06:00

Sleepy Samaipata in Eastern Bolivia

More monkey business at the Zoologico El Refugio

A landslide on the The Ruta del Che to La Higuera

Luckily there were lots of people to help and our high lift jack came in useful, it's first outing in almost 22 months

La Higuera is were Che Guevara was captured and killed, and is the end destination on the bizarre Ruta del Che. Apart from a very small museum there is really no other reason to go to La Higuera, but we did however enjoy our best meal in Bolivia at the Casa del Telegrafista, were we also camped for the night.

Unfortunately for us it had rained overnight and the following morning the route out was blocked again. This time there was only us and one other vehicle to clear the mud, and we had to resort to the winch!

The Lowlands and Santa Cruz

2009-02-10T21:16:00.001-06:00

The Refugio de Animales Inti Warri Yassi in Villa Tunari

The road to Santa Cruz... just a little flooded!

New tyres! We'd searched 5 countries for new BF Goodrich tyres for the landy, so finding them in Santa Cruz was cause for celebration

... with a cup of tea!

Bolivia - Titicaca and La Paz

2009-02-06T21:17:00.000-06:00

Copacabana, on Lake Titicaca

Saturday morning in Copacabana and cars line up in front of the cathedral to be blessed

The Virgen de la Candelaria festival in Copacabana

La Paz and the Mercado de Hechiceria (witchcraft market) with it's charms, herbs and llama foetuses!

Camping at the Oberland Hotel with Isa & Jurgen (in their converted Land Cruiser)

... and with Ana, Chad & Tibi (Ana's dad). We hadn't crossed paths since Cusco and it was good to see familiar faces again.

Southern Peru

2009-01-30T13:25:00.002-06:00

Lima brought us to a bit of a halt. We stayed in Miraflores, a rather upmarket end of town and we had people to talk to, ice-cream to eat and sunshine. After a week of this however, we felt we had to move on.

We headed south towards Nazca, and the famous lines in the desert, stopping to view mommias(mummies) on the way. We also visited Puerta Inca, a coastal Inca site where runners would relay dried fish inland to Cusco in a day or two.

We finally left the coast behind knowing it would be some time before we saw it again and went via Arequipa to Colca Canyon to see the Condors soaring, as well as a lot of fog.

We then drove for days to get to Cusco and yet more days to visit Machu Pichu, which really is quite spectacular. However, Aguas Calientes and the attendant tourist hassle and cost is a bit of a pain.

There was now no excuse to stay any longer in Peru, much as we had enjoyed it, so we went to Puno to visit the floating islands on Lake Titicaca before crossing the border into Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca

2009-01-29T16:14:00.000-06:00

A trip to the floating Uros islands on Lake Titicaca. It's fascinating to see how these people lived on man-made reed islands, but today it's really only done for the tourists. Still the reed boats are a lovely tranquil way to travel.

The chullpas (pre-Columbian funeral towers) of Sillustani, near Puno - John tries one for size!

Cusco and the Sacred Valley

2009-01-28T22:27:00.010-06:00

John gives the landy a quick checkover at Camping Quinta Lala in Cusco.

If you think we're the only mad one's doing this kind of trip then check out their website http://home.hccnet.nl/helmie.paulissen/

Saqsaywaman on the outskirts of Cusco, the ruins of an Incan ceremonial centre built with some very big stones!

The church in the town of Chinchero is built on the ruins of another Incan temple.

The circular terraces at Moray are pretty amazing and according to some they were used by the Inca as a sort of open air crop nursery, each level having it's own microclimate, but really nobody knows.

These salt pans near Urubamba have been in production for thousands of years, and still are, we just visited on a sunday when there was no-one there!

Northern Peru

2008-12-30T10:27:00.003-06:00

In Ecuador, we teamed up with an American couple Chad and Ana, in their 1977 VW Combi, and drove off together to explore the highlands and lowlands of northern Peru, finding interesting places to camp and even more interesting places to visit.

Our first goal was Chachapoyas and the pre-Inca site at Kuelap, which seemed to take several days to finally get to, and then another week to escape from the mountains and reach the coast! It was well worth the effort though and we saw a part of Peru that most people don't have the time to visit.

We had some rest back on the coast and our first run on tarmac roads for a couple of weeks. We took the opportunity to visit the Lord of Sipan museum and the Chan Chan archaeological site, as well as catching up with a friend we met in Phoenix who seems to be building a business empire in Haunchaco.

After the coast we hit the dirt roads again at Canyon del Pato, where we had more excitement than we planned when Chad and Ana had problems with the VW, before arriving in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range for spectacular views and mountain hiking.

All good things have to end and we said farewell for the present to Chad and Ana, and headed back to the coast, finally reaching Lima in the New Year.

Trujillo and the coast

2008-12-17T15:25:00.001-06:00

Huanchaco, a seaside town on the Pacific coast near Trujillo

Shopping at the market in Trujillo with Philippe. No shopping trolleys here, just a nice man with a wheelbarrow who is also essential to help you find your way around this huge market!

North Coast - Gold & Desert

2008-12-15T16:10:00.002-06:00

Cajamarca

2008-12-13T15:22:00.006-06:00

The city of Cajamarca

Los Banos del Inca aguas termales (hot springs)

Chachapoyas, Peru

2008-12-06T15:02:00.061-06:00

Chachapoyas at last, and a very mucky landy!

Chachapoyas means “people of the clouds”, and we found ourselves driving up into the clouds to visit the sites left by these pre-Incan people.

Cruz Pata, where we stopped to see the Karajia Sarcophagi

We were joined by 12 year old Delcia who seemed intent on decorating us all with flowers... I guess there's not a lot else to do on a wet saturday afternoon in Cruz Pata!

The Chachapoyans buried their dead in these wooden sarcophagi which are actually 2 meters tall, but it's difficult to tell when they are perched half way up a cliff!

Perched on top of a 10,000 ft mountain the fortress of Kuelap was inhabited by the Chachapoyans for over 700 years, until about 1540. There are more than 400 stone buildings - homes, palaces, temples - enclosed by a 70 ft tall stone wall. Most of the buildings are circular in design. We were quite impressed!

Our next stop was Leymebamba, but the road is only open for a few hours a day, and we were out of luck. The roadworks had caused a land slide, so we had to wait until the next day. Nobody seemed to mind that we went and had a closer look!

Back at the road block the next day, with Andreas and Susana, a German couple we met in Tingo, also travelling in a VW camper... feeling a little outnumbered by all these VW's!

Leymebamba is a lovely friendly little town with an excellent museum.

The Leymebamba Museum houses 200 mummies found nearby at the Laguna del Condores in 1996. The museum also has a collection of knotted Quipu, the record-keeping device of the Incas.

Ecuador

2008-12-04T16:24:00.003-06:00

We spent a long time travelling through Colombia and felt we may need to speed up in Equador to enable us to get to Argentina before the winter. However, for such a relatively small country, we found an awful lot to do, and the speeding up didn't really happen.

Ecuador had a lot more tourists than we had seen for some time, which reflected the range of activities and scenery on offer. We spent our first few days in the northern hills and in Quito before visiting Cotopaxi, our highest drive and highest walk to date, it was also cold.

This prompted a drive down to the Amazonas for jungle and heat before visiting Banos for thermal baths and relaxing hiking. We pondered long and hard about visiting the Galapagos, but in the end decided we could easily do that as a separate trip sometime.

We headed south at last following the volcano route with a final stop at Vilcabamba before taking the much less travelled mountain route to Peru. A long day of rough dirt road later we finally said a fond goodbye to Ecuador.

Vilcabamba and the road to Peru

2008-12-04T15:46:00.024-06:00

The Christmas decorations go up at Hosteria Izhcayluma near Vilcabamba... is it that time already!

In Vilcabamba, we bumped into Chad & Ana again and decided to travel to Peru together. It's only about 70 miles to the border at La Balsas but it took us all day! It was to take us another 2 days to reach our destination in Peru - Chachapoyas and the pre-Inca fortress at Kuelap.

Cuenca

2008-11-29T19:04:00.019-06:00

The Inca ruins at Ingapirca

The city of Cuenca

With Chad & Ana at Cajas National Park. They've driven Mango, their 1977 VW Combi, from Colorado http://www.chanatrek.com/

Riobamba

2008-11-27T18:40:00.003-06:00

Finally we see a volcano... Chimborazo, at 6310 metres the highest in Ecuador!

Banos

2008-11-25T21:39:00.022-06:00

Banos sits in the shadow of the active volcano Tungurahua, which of course we never saw, it was always lost in the clouds, but we still had a lovely time relaxing in the hot springs and... well, eating! Banos has a lot of good restaurants and cafes.

We did do some work too... well John did, with the help of Paul from Hostal Timara

School race day!

At Hostal Timara with the parrots, parakeets and Gringa the dog!

Tena

2008-11-19T21:39:00.028-06:00

Staying at the Shangri-La Lodge, overlooking the Rio Anzu

Tarantula... one of the other guests!

A new fashion accessory? Ariel is far braver than us!

Floating down the river with Lindsey, Noel and the French girls

We just had to lie there while our guide, Rodrigo, did all the work!

Visiting the Kichuwa community of Santa Monica

Trying 'chicha' a drink made from yucca... Lesley wasn't too impressed!

Children at the primary school learn Spanish and Kichuwa

Misahualli

2008-11-16T21:37:00.027-06:00

Misahualli on the Rio Napo in the Ecuadorian Amazon. At the weekend, the river is the place to be!

John gets mugged in the main square!

Boat trip to the Amazoonico Wildlife Rescue Centre

Giant trees and spikey spiders at the Jatun Sacha Biological Station

A very curious capuchin!

Cotopaxi

2008-11-14T21:34:00.004-06:00

Cotopaxi, at almost 5,900 metres is the highest active volcano in the world, impressive if you can see it!

This was the best view we got!

John with a well deserved cup of hot chocolate!

We walked up to the refugio at 4,800 metres and felt very proud of ourselves, it was hard going with the altitude, but not quite as hard as it sounds... we cheated and drove up to the car park at 4,500 metres!

The way back down

Cotopaxi traffic jam!

Quito

2008-11-13T21:23:00.008-06:00

The Old City

Land Rover suppliers in the new city!

Otavalo, Ecuador

2008-11-10T13:48:00.015-06:00

Camping at the La Luna hostel near Otavalo

The walk down into town

The saturday market in Otavalo

John and Bill at Lagunas de Mojanda where we nearly got the landy stuck in the mud!

Colombia

2008-11-07T18:02:00.000-06:00

Our decision to go to Colombia turned out to be one of our better ones. We met some of the friendliest people so far and the country was a joy to travel round in terms of the scenery. The hills however were another matter, the old landy struggled with the altitude and the severe climbs. Colombia gave us hot and steamy in the lowlands and somewhat colder days in the highlands, we had to break out the fleeces for the first time in quite a while.

We stayed with a friend in Bogota which spoilt us a little as we had a real home to live in for a few days and the thought of heading back to hotels and campsites wasn´t very appealing, but we soon got back into it again.

We also had to get used to big countries again after Central America, suddenly it took us days to travel to places, not hours. In the end we had to leave in order to give ourselves a chance of getting to Argentina for their summer.

Popayan

2008-11-05T21:38:00.007-06:00

Popayan 'the white city' and news of the US election results

Pre-Colombian tombs and sculptures at San Agustin archaeological park

The road there was interesting, 5 hours of dirt and potholes... but the scenery was worth it

After 5 weeks in Colombia we head for the border!

Salento

2008-10-31T18:16:00.009-06:00

Salento in the Eje Cafetera, the coffee growing area of central Colombia

A perfect cup of coffee at Cafe Jesus Martin

Walking in the Cocora Valley with Luke, Gavin and Jana

Halloween in Salento... John handing out sweets

In Salento we stayed at The Plantation House hostel, run by an Englishman, Tim and his wife. They'd recently bought a coffee finca and Tim gave us all a tour.

Bogota

2008-10-21T11:48:00.025-05:00

La Candelaria, the historic centre of Bogota

Lesley & Cristina at the Botero Museum

A whole street of Land Rover parts specialists in Bogota... John very happy!

Beautiful Villa de Leyva

Laguna de Guatavita, one of the origins of the El Dorado legend. The lake was sacred to the Musicas people, who left gold offerings. The lake is a lot shallower today than it was as the Spanish conquistadores attempted to drain the lake in 1580 in order to find all the gold!

The Salt Cathedral at Zipaquira

Guatape

2008-10-16T19:05:00.000-05:00

La Piedra del Penol, and the view from the top

Colourful Guatape

At El Penol we'd met a group of Colombians from Anolima. We bumped into them again in Guatape and they invited us to join them for a boat trip on the lake. We thought things would be pretty sedate downstairs with the more mature crowd... how wrong you can be! But it was fun!

A farewell photograph the next morning... not looking our best at 7am!

Medellin

2008-10-14T11:50:00.022-05:00

Breakdown at Valdivia on the road to Medellin

Propshaft...

Wheel bearings...

What next?

On the move again, climbing slowly up to Medellin

Fernando Botero sculptures outside the Museo de Antioquia in Medellin

Waiting for the metro

Cartagena

2008-10-06T18:10:00.013-05:00

Old town Cartagena de Indias

3 days after we land in Cartagena the ship arrives and John heads off to the port with Markus & Walter.

They get the vehicles out of the container on day one, but it took another day to sort out all the paperwork and get the vehicles out of the port.

Looking less stressed at the insurance office - the final hurdle!

After a week we reluctantly leave the comfort and safety of Cartagena, unsure about what we will find in the rest of Colombia!

We spent our first night in Tolu on the Caribbean coast, overcast and raining, but the sea is still warm

Decision time

2008-10-05T18:46:00.002-05:00

We arrived back in Panama City after our slightly extended break in the UK, having decided to continue to South America. For some time we felt we may not have enough time and so we were going to turn around and travel back up to Canada, however, having got this far and also met several other travellers on the southbound route we opted to follow on.
This meant that our time in Panama City was a seemingly endless round of meeting with helpful shipping agents, visiting police, customs and container yards and finally arranging a flight out to Cartagena to meet the boat from Panama.
In between this we managed to meet another fun British couple in their Toyota Landcruiser also heading south and a couple of great German guys on their BMW motorbikes who we ended up sharing a container with. We also got to view the Panama Canal in action and what an impressive spectacle it is, the size of the ships it can accomodate has to be seen to be believed, and they are building a new canal to manage even larger ships.

Return to Panama

2008-10-03T18:16:00.023-05:00

Panama Central Terminal, the bonded warehouse in Panama City where we had left the landy for a month while we went home to the UK.

Luckily the car was still there, it just needed a little hand getting started again!

Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal

After several days of paperwork in Panama City, we finally made it to Colon docks to load the Land Rover into a container, for shipping to Cartagena, Colombia. We were sharing the 40' container with Markus & Walter, a couple of German bikers, and a Brazilian in a Mini Cooper!

Waiting in the rain for something to happen...

A lovely spot for lunch!

Finally the container arrives and we can start stuffing (a technical term)

We arrived in Colon at 10am and the container was finally sealed at 5pm. We are on our way to Colombia... well, the car is!

Fellow British travellers Denise & John at Tocumen airport. They are driving a Toyota Landcruiser from Alaska to Argentina, so we had a few good nights with them comparing experiences!

www.coxmorganoverland.co.uk

Leaving Panama City on a 38 seat Aires flight to Cartagena, the only way to travel!

A UK holiday

2008-09-22T10:05:00.002-05:00

It felt very strange to leave our home for the last 16 months in Panama and return to the UK for family celebrations. We arrived in London on a grey damp morning and wondered what we had done.
However, once reunited with family and friends, we had a lovely time catching up and explaining why we were going back to continue with the trip rather than staying to get a job!
Stayed a little longer than planned but looking forward to getting back to Panama, but not the flight(s).

London

2008-09-21T10:46:00.013-05:00

Back home to London, and slightly warmer weather, where we stayed with friends Sam & Helen and their 2 girls Cora & Aila

A walk along the river Thames in Richmond with Sue, Michael,
Erin & Iris

Edinburgh

2008-09-08T10:22:00.009-05:00

Freezing in South Queensferry! Yorkshire had been chilly, but we were really beginning to miss the heat in Panama by the time we got to Scotland.

Celebrating Lesley's birthday at 'The Wee Restaurant' in North Queensferry

Yorkshire

2008-09-02T10:56:00.003-05:00

John with his parents

90th Birthday celebrations at The Three Acres!

John and Penny, the dog! Hay making with John's family in Yorkshire. The harvest was late because the weather had been so bad. We were home for 5 days before we saw the sun shine!

Panama at last!

2008-08-27T09:51:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to the end of Central America, as far as we can drive at least before having to ship to South America.
When we arrived in Panama we headed into the hills near David, to the town of Boquete. We visited hot springs and had to break out the warmer gear for the evenings.
From here we headed down to the coast to spend a couple of days on the island of Boca Brava which was very relaxing indeed. We met a few more travellers and decided to return to Boquete with them to walk the Quetzal Trail, no Quetzals but lovely scenery.
A stop over in David before heading south towards Panama City with a camping stop at XS Memories, our first real trailer park for some time and other overland travellers.
Then on to Panama City to arrange to leave the Land Rover whilst we headed back to the UK for a short 'holiday from our holiday'.

Panama

2008-08-24T16:52:00.001-05:00

Panama City... the old and the new

Casco Viejo (the old town)

Pancakes for breakfast at Cafe Coca Cola

Avenida Central

XS Memories trailer park in Playa Santa Clara, where we met Agnes & Chimi. They are driving their converted VW van from Mexico City to Patagonia on bio diesel - recycled kitchen oil!

More info on their website www.laboratorioenmovimiento.com

Walking the Sendero Los Quetzales in the PN Volcan Baru

The landy becomes a taxi! John loading up Colin & Linda's luggage

Isla Boca Brava

Playing cards at Frank's place (the hotel on Boca Brava) What else is there to do on a rainy night in Panama?

The road to the Caldera hot springs near Boquete. The lovely hot water made it worth the trip and the $1 dollar entry fee!

David, Panama's second largest city, and the rain clouds are still with us!

A new country, a new puncture...

Costa Rica with friends

2008-08-12T18:58:00.001-05:00

We had arranged some time ago to meet some friends from the UK in Costa Rica, and we also promised we would investigate the area before they arrived. We failed in the research so the four of us set out on a voyage of exploration together.

Costa Rica has a vast range of terrain from cloud forest to surfer beaches and we tried to do it all justice. Anne and Mandy had fun canyoning, surfing, white water rafting and horseriding, whilst we lived the dream through them. Fifteen months of travel makes you count your pennies and Costa Rica is the most expensive country we have visited in Central America. However, that does not detract from the scenery and wildlife and we had a good time with our friends.

Costa Rica

2008-08-12T18:11:00.031-05:00

A farewell meal with Anne & Mandy in Quepos before we leave for Panama

Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio

John makes friends at Ronnie's Place in Quepos

A little luxury in Mal Pais

...house guests!

Finally, a campsite in Playa Samara on the Nicoya Peninsula. Sadly not one we'd recommend!

Selvatura canopy walk

Our cabana in Monteverde, home for a few days

Monteverde cloud forest, creepy crawlies and sloths - apparently! We never did get a decent photograph of a sloth.

The road to Monteverde, and an amazing view of the Nicoya Peninsula and the incoming rain

Our friends Anne & Mandy arrive in San Jose and start to read the guide book!

Nicaragua in a hurry

2008-07-25T22:47:00.001-05:00

After Honduras we set off to explore Nicaragua. We did not know what to expect as we could not find many people on our travels who had spent a lot of time here. It proved to be a very beautiful country and we enjoyed our time here a lot, so much so we plan to go back.

We found volcanoes(still active), huge lakes and very nice colonial towns, we even looked at property in Granada, but the current government is causing a few concerns for the locals.

Nicaragua

2008-07-25T21:28:00.032-05:00

San Juan del Sur on the Pacific coast

Playa Marsella

The colonial city of Granada on Lago de Nicaragua

Clouds of suphurous steam escaping from the Santiago Crater at Volcan Masaya, named 'the gates of hell' by the Spanish conquistadors!

Still celebrating the revolution in the colonial city of Leon

The view of Volcan Momotombo from Leon Viejo, the original site of the city, abandoned in the 17th century - a little too close to those volcanoes!

Esteli in northern Nicaragua

El Salvador to Honduras

2008-07-14T17:35:00.002-05:00

El Salvador turned out to be a bit of a gem of a country, with some of the friendliest people we had met. The country may be small but it has some spectacular scenery and we were sad to leave.

We were even sadder to leave when we got stung for $45 just to get into Honduras, our most expensive border crossing to date. We first went to the hill town of Gracias, where we failed to find a cash machine or any real reason to stay for long, so headed to Copan Ruinas which is a lovely town set in a valley and with the famous Mayan ruins adjacent to the town. The call of the diving eventually forcing us to leave.

La Ceiba, the jumping off point for the Bay Islands, has all the amenities and a place to leave the Land Rover. We had a week on the island of Utila, two days to recover from the awful ferry crossing and 4 days to qualify as an Open Water diver.
We returned to find the Land Rover still there but missing our camp chairs and table which we foolishly left strapped to the roofrack with no padlock and chain.

After this interlude we had a bit of a whirlwind trip through Lago de Yojoa, with the obligatory stop at the only micro brewery in Central America, then to Comayagua and Valle de Angeles before heading to Nicaragua and our next adventure.

Honduras

2008-07-14T12:48:00.019-05:00

Comayagua, the old capital of Honduras, and a bit easier to say than Tegucigalpa!

Birdwatching amongst the coffee plantations of San Luis Planes near Lago de Yojoa. How many people does it take to read a field guide?

We continued on up into the cloud forest of Parque Nacional Santa Barbara. The scenery was beautiful but it was very difficult to spot the birds, never mind photograph them!

A moment of luxury at the Pico Bonito Lodge - could just about afford a cup of tea!

Flight back to La Ceiba on the mainland. We weren't too convinced by this old Russian plane, but it could only be better than ferry journey out to Utila - never again!

Utila Cays, where we went to learn to dive

John on his first open water dive

Tela, back on the Caribbean coast

The town of Copan Ruinas

The archeological site at Copan. The ruins are not as spectacular as others we've seen but the detail in the stelae and sculptures is amazing.

New friends - a rather large grasshopper in Gracias!

El Salvador

2008-06-23T11:15:00.003-05:00

For such a samll country, even smaller than Belize, it is surprisingly difficult to get into. It took us 3 hours to get through customs, an hour of which was waiting for the officials to finish lunch! However, once we had our inportant bit of paper we set off to see the Pacific coast again, last seen in Mexico several months ago. It did not dissapoint, crashing waves, black volcanic beaches, grey water and rain, wonderful. We spent our first night in El Salvador listening to the sound of the sea, something both of have missed, the Carribean lacks the ferocity of the Pacific.

However, as neither of us surf, and we think it's a bit late to learn, we headed inland back to the hills and the more tranquil surroundings of Lago de Coatepeque, a crater lake formed in the remains of a long extinct volcano, surrounded by a number of active volcanoes. We like to live dangerously.

El Salvador

2008-06-23T10:28:00.016-05:00

Suchitoto and breakfast with Angie

Boat trip on Lake Suchitlan. We were given a lift to the lake by this family from San Salvador and their German guests Uli & Gabi.

Horseriding trip to the old guerilla hideouts in the hills around Suchitoto

Barrio de Santiago and an early morning boat trip through the mangroves. Our guide with blue crab and obligatory machete!

Santa Ana, el teatro, and relaxing at hostel Casa Frolaz, we've had to give up on camping for now!

Colourful Juayua, and lunch at the weekly Feria Gastronomica

Lago de Coatepeque, and the view from our hotel

The black sand beaches of Playa El Tunco

Return to Guatemala

2008-06-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

Once more fully mobile, we headed off to Guatemala (again), this time to continue. After the customs formalities we had a decision to make. Our destination was Coban and we had two choices. Take a quick road to Poptun, where we knew we could camp then cut across the country to Coban, or take a longer route through areas we didn't know. We took the Poptun option, which in retrospect wasn't necessarily the smartest move. Finca Ixbel certainly was a wonderful place to stay and camp, but the following two days of dirt road, driving through mud and rain through the hills to Semuc Champey and Coban, negated the benefit. It did give us reason to use some of the toys on the Land Rover and we saw places we wouldn't otherwise have seen. Some would question whether we would have been the worse for it!

After this adventure, we decided to stick to the tourist trail and went to pretty Lake Atitlan where we had a lovely 5 days camping on the edge of the lake and sampling the many cafes in Panajachel.

From there we hopped over to Antigua, which is a little travellers oasis, populated by expats and brimming with money. We made the most of our time here, helped by the advice from a couple of Canadian traveller we had met in Belize. Before we left we realized how easy it would be to just stay put.

Guatemala

2008-06-18T19:09:00.014-05:00

Antigua

Lake Atitlan and Panajachel

Chichicastenango Market

Lanquin

The road to Semuc Champey, 2 days of dirt track and roadworks!

Semuc Champey

The road from the Belize border - welcome back to Guatemala!

Back in Belize

2008-06-07T20:11:00.015-05:00

Old Belize after the storm. John demonstrates our new bedroom, a little bit cosy, but waterproof!

Our new fuel tank arrives in Belize City

Back at Adventuretrex in San Ignacio, John fits the new tank

After several failed attempts to leave, we finally bid farewell to Joyce & Graham, and to Belize!

Guatemala for a day or two

2008-05-31T17:43:00.001-05:00

Whilst we waited for our shiny new tank to arrive we braved the Guatemalan border to visit Tikal and Flores for a couple of days. As it turned out we saw Tikal and Flores and a lot of rain, as the rainy season had finally caught up with us.

In El Remate we met a volunteer medical group from the US who had been working in some of the remote villages in Belize and were now relaxing in Guatemala. We travelled with them for a day which was fun and for us new people to talk to.

Peten, Guatemala

2008-05-31T11:04:00.004-05:00

At Ixpanpajul with Bruce and the Project Belize team. John went off for a jaunt on the ziplines while Lesley had a more leisurely walk in the canopy with Bruce and Terri. We both got wet!

Lesley with 3 week old orphaned Scarlet Macaw

Flores in the rain

Tikal in the mist - we got up at 4:30am for this view!

Would you Belize it!

2008-05-27T17:45:00.000-05:00

Our arrival in San Ignacio was accompanied by a hole in the fuel tank. As luck would have it San Iganacio also has a garage devoted to Land Rover Defenders, we think the only garage in the whole of the Americas! The owners Graham and Joyce were incredibly helpful and let us use their workshop to remove the tank and took us round to try and get it welded.

As it turned out we could only get a temporary fix, but it was enough to let us get about and see more of San Ignacio and the surrounding area whilst we ordered a new tank from the UK.

San Ignacio

2008-05-27T11:12:00.026-05:00

Removing the old fuel tank at Adventuretrex in San Ignacio

Isidro gives us a lift to Spanish Lookout where the local Menonite welders are able to temporarily repair our tank. The hand-winched ferry is the quickest route across.

The Land Rover Salon! Joyce gives John a much needed haircut.

San Ignacio town and market

Xunantunich and Caracol

2008-05-25T17:59:00.004-05:00

Taking the ferry to the Xunantinich ruins

The road to Caracol was interesting!

And we bumped into Michael & Mary again. Fellow Brits, we first met them at Old Belize in their converted fire truck. Their truck is much bigger than ours and they've been on the road for 7 years!

Caracol, and more pyramids to climb. Although this green iguana was more interested in climbing up my trouser leg!

Dangriga and Tobacco Caye

2008-05-16T11:11:00.020-05:00

Laid back Dangriga

Tobacco Caye

AC's boat trip to the reef, with Sonia. We met Sonia in Dangriga and took the boat out to Tobacco Caye together. There were about 2 other visitors on the island so she was kind of stuck with us! We saw lots of fish, but the eagle rays were the most photogenic.

The water taxi back to Dangriga

Belize at last

2008-05-14T17:49:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Belize to be greeted by English speaking customs officials and a distinctly carribean ambience. Belize has a small population, around 250,000 people and very little traffic on the roads, although we did see a number of Defenders, the most we have seen in the whole trip.

Our first stop was at Orange Walk, a short drive from the border to get cash and supplies. We camped overnight at a hotel/restaurant which had been recommended. This turned out to be a by the hour room rental. We left early and went to Belize City where we found a great place to stay in the Old Belize marina.

This was our base for many days while we visited Caye Caulker and re-designed the interior of the Land Rover. What else do you do in Belize?

Belize City

2008-05-13T11:10:00.001-05:00

Belize City

At Old Belize Marina, working on a new interior for the landie - just for fun!

Caye Caulker, Belize

2008-05-05T11:05:00.012-05:00

Sun, sea and pyramids

2008-04-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

We left Palenque and headed for the Yucatan peninsula, where we handed over our oranges to the Campeche border police as a peace offering. Then made our way to the Calakmul ruins, deep in the rainforest and 200km from anywhere. The pyramids poked out over the treetops, and the view from the top was amazing, the whole of the Yucatan spread out before us, or so it seemed.

We saw more ruins at Edzna and Uxmal before hitting the big one, Chitchen Itza, inevitably a bit of a disappointment after so many others. Time for rest and relaxation and shopping with a trip to Cancun. (Who needs Spanish?) We actually quite enjoyed it in a strange way as it was very easy. After Cancun we moved from beach to lagoon to beach finally finding paradise near the Belize border where we plan to say Adios to Mexico after nearly four months.

Yucatan Peninsula

2008-04-30T18:00:00.003-05:00

Our last night in Mexico, camping at the Yax Ha Resort

Tulum

Camping at Paa Mul near Playa del Carmen

Valladolid

Chichen Itza

Uxmal

The old port town of Campeche

Calakmul ruins

Zapatistas, chickens and monkeys

2008-04-17T18:44:00.002-05:00

With a squeak free braking system, we left the hills again and found ourselves in jungle and steamy heat. Not for long though, we then climbed, and climbed, and climbed all the way to San Cristobal de Las Casas, famed for the Zapotista movement and colorful local Mayan villages still practising their own beliefs, which seemed to involve coca cola offerings, chicken sacrifices and lots of eggs and candles. It felt very different to the rest of Mexico and it was cool at night.

Downhill for the final time in Mexico to Palenque and the famous Mayan ruins. These are in a wonderful jungle setting complete with howler monkeys, very atmospheric in the pouring rain. We liked Palenque but it also really felt that we were back on the tourist trail with tour buses and hippy hangouts.

To round off our stay in Chiapas, we headed towards the Guatemalan border to see the Bonampak and Yaxchitlan ruins. Yaxchitlan was our favourite site as it involved an hour long early morning boat ride in the mist and we had the site to ourselves for a good hour or two.

Chiapas

2008-04-16T12:10:00.009-05:00

Early morning boat trip to Yaxchitlan ruins with Mike & Kate

Bonampak and it's famous murals

Palenque in the rain

The market at San Juan Chamula

Backstrap loom weaving in San Lorenzo Zinacantan

San Cristobal de las Casas

The road to Oaxaca

2008-04-08T18:25:00.002-05:00

After a very short stay in dirty and overpopulated Acapulco, we headed down the coast to Puerto Escondido, a lovely fishing town, with a lively ex-pat community and our first real beach experience for a while. Down the tope (speed bump) ridden mex200 to Zipolite and more beach living (we could get used to it) before heading into the hills again to Oaxaca, which really is in the middle of nowhere. The ride over was spectacular with rain storms, verdant landscapes and fog, before hitting the plateau which is Oaxaca.

The campground in Oaxaca was very laidback with several long term campers. We met some interesting and fun people during our time here, which turned out to be longer than planned as we decided to do more repairs to the Land Rover. We ordered parts from the UK again, which arrived via good old UPS.

Still in Oaxaca

2008-04-07T11:46:00.018-05:00

Our last supper at the campground in Oaxaca with Grant, Patty & Laddy

And Bob & Alice

Rebuilding the brakes

The Santo Domingo Church, cultural centre and botanical gardens

Shopping for alebrijes, colourful wooden animals, in San Antonio Arrozola

John, Kate and Mike tasting mezcal, a spirit made from the agave cactus

The ruins at Mitla

Oaxaca

2008-03-22T10:38:00.008-06:00

Semana Santa (Holy Week) procession with the Quebec contingent - Lise, Robert, Andre & Susanne

Monte Alban with Patti and Grant

San Felipe and the campground, with friendly rabbit!

The city of Oaxaca

Acapulco & the Oaxaca Coast

2008-03-13T10:37:00.014-06:00

San Augustin - John off snorkeling

Laid back Zipolite Beach

Puerto Escondido - the mornings catch

Our campsite in Puerto Escondido. The Mexicans take our security seriously!

Acapulco - looks better in the photographs!

Escape from Mexico City

2008-03-04T18:32:00.000-06:00

After our course, we returned to Mexico City to hopefully pick up our spare parts and continue on our journey. This turned out to be wishful thinking. Once we realised that Mexican Post were not going to deliver quickly, if ever, we had a new set sent out UPS, thankfully arriving 4 days later, as by this stage we were desperate to escape from Mexico City. They say you get older and wiser, well not us!

We eventually fitted the parts and set off, only to find that we stopped again. The fuel pump wasn’t the cause of the fault after all. We managed to limp on to a campsite in Cuernavaca to re-think. After a couple of failed attempts we finally made our way to Acapulco and the open road once more.

Taxco, Guerrero

2008-02-28T10:35:00.001-06:00

With Leo and Judy in Taxco. We decided to take a taxi to the top of the hill, 3 of us just about managed to squash into the back of the VW Beetle with John in the front, where the passenger seat used to be! The view was worth the few extra grey hairs.

Cuidad de Mexico, tambien

2008-02-26T10:41:00.012-06:00

Back in Mexico City

Travelling on the metro. Felt like being at home on the London Underground, except John had never had his wallet stolen on the Underground!

The lovely courtyard at the Museo Franz Mayer

John at Pasteleria Ideal our favourite cake shop!

A day trip to Xochimilco

John with Alfredo at Picacho Automotriz, the Land Rover dealer in Mexico City, who kindly kept our Land Rover safe for us for 4 weeks.

Tlaxcala

2008-02-19T10:45:00.005-06:00

Morelos

2008-02-11T13:27:00.020-06:00

Cuernavaca, where we spent 2 weeks studying Spanish

Instituto Chac Mool and our maestra Nallely

John with Maria, the lady who looked after us in Cuernavaca

Carnaval at Tepoztlan with Chinelos dancers in their embroidered masks and headresses

Breakdown in Mexico City

2008-01-28T14:02:00.000-06:00

Back in Tepotzotlan, we had a couple of quiet days before heading off to Cuernavaca to do a Spanish language course. This should have been a straightforward drive but we finally broke down on the outskirts of Mexico City, after getting hopelessly lost and being stopped and 'fined' by the police. Luckily we managed to limp to a Land Rover garage where we were able to leave the landy awaiting spares. We continued on to Cuernavaca by bus.

Breakdown on the periferico

The mechanics at Picacho Automotriz didn't quite know what to make of our diesel Defender, a bit of a novelty in Mexico.

Tepotzotlan, Mexico

2008-01-26T10:44:00.003-06:00

With so much food around we're not losing any weight in Mexico.

A VW combi - public transport!

Aztec conchero dancers in the zocalo, the main town square