South America

The Dog.O.Mobil was only a little dusty when I picked it up near the airport. Jose Luiz, the owner, had even sent me a video that weekend. He took his job seriously.

...Or however you describe a round trip around Lima. Clara arrived at the hotel at 6 a.m. and after a small breakfast we set off to explore the city

I didn't want to continue north on the Ruta 2S as I wanted to visit a few more Inca sites and see a bit more of the country.

In Khasani on Lake Titicaca I crossed from Bolivia to Peru. Bolivian customs was completed in 15 minutes. The 200 m between the two customs stations was a small marketplace. No idea what rules applied here.

What can I say, I was afraid of entering Bolivia. When I arrived at the FRONTERA TAMBO QUEMADO, I was amazed. Directly at the border, there was a complex for entering Chile and a few meters further on, on the other side, the same for entering Bolivia.

Paso Jamas is the northernmost road border crossing between Argentina and Chile. It connects the R27 (Chile) and RN52 (Argentina) and the cities of Purmamarca in Argentina with San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.

Salta was my first major city since Santiago and the first thing I noticed was that the city was surrounded by greenery. It was drizzling, but that didn't bother me because I had a few things to do

After crossing the border at Las Flores, I wanted to end the day at Lago Cuesta del Viento and post a few pictures. I was proud of myself. My first pass over 4'000 m.a.s.l. As the name suggests, the lake is known for its wind and kite surfers.

After dropping Marcus off at the airport, I travelled north on the Panamericana Norte (Ruta 5) towards the Pacific. I had decided against Valparaiso and Viña del Mar as I had had enough of cities for the time being.

When I picked up Marcus, the country became denser and denser the closer I got to Santiago. As I had time, I drove overland and not on the motorway. I found an interesting pass near Santiago, the Cuesta Lo Prado - Pudahuel .

There are several active volcanoes to the east of Temuco, such as Villarrica (2'840 m.a.s.l.) in the southeast and Llaima (3'125 m.a.s.l.) in Conguillo National Park. I wanted to go a little further northwest to Lonquimay. 

It took only about 45 minutes from Chacao to Puerto Montt. Had paid 3 € for the highway, like in France or Italy. What can I say, it took me another 45 minutes to reach my parking lot near the Intendencia Regional de Los Lagos building.

After a 4-hour ferry ride, I arrived in Quellón in fine weather. I did not only arrive in Quellón I also entered the Región de Los Lagos. After Región de Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo and Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena, this was my 3rd province.

After the Paso Roballos, I was hoping for a good Chilean road. Too bad. The road through the Patagonia National Park (Chile) is pretty battered.

In Puerto Río Tranquil I turned off onto the X728. Pitches were a dime a dozen and the North Patagonian Ice Field was my backdrop.

After I had crossed the border in Cerro Castillio on 1.1.25 in the morning at 9.30 a.m. in 40 minutes. The Chileans had checked my van on entering Chile, but no Argentinian wanted to look at it.

On 20 December, I took the Dog.O.Mobil in the direction of Mont Aymond. After I refueled the van I left Rio Gallegos towards the Border

As we travelled on from El Bolsón, I knew that El Bolsón was/is the hippie capital of Argentina. As in Germany, it dated back to the 60s and 70s. I certainly didn't notice much of it. 

Ute and Stefan had checked the whole thing out in advance and Darwin Expediciones had gathered enough people to drive to Isla Pingüino. 

On the weekend north of Lago Ñorquinco, I tackled all sorts of things. Saturday was just perfect in the sunshine to carry out repairs, clean the van and take a dip in the Rio Remeco.

After the disappointment of buying wine, we headed south on the RN40. We travelled via Tunuyan and San Carlos on the RN40 to Pareditas.

I was having breakfast at the El Mangrullo campsite in Mendoza when I realized that I hadn't made any notes over the last few days. 

When you see the usual posts on Instagram, YT or Pinterest, you think Argentina consists of the Andes and Patagonia. Together with the Hyggies, I made my way to the mountains

The Parque Provincial Ischigualasto was the first national park in which we planned to do a guided tour with our own cars.

I hadn't found much about Uruguay beforehand, and hadn't actually done much searching. The few things I did find didn't send me into raptures. I would have done Montevideo in 3 days if I hadn't had to pick up the van.

Montevideo has around 1.3 million inhabitants and is the capital of Uruguay. The city was founded by Spain in 1724, where the Ciudad Vieja stands today.

First of all, a little information about Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The city is located on the west bank of the Río de la Plata, has around 16 million inhabitants and is an autonomous district. ‘Buenos Aires’ is Spanish and means ‘good air’.

A friend of mine highlighted to me that 27 of the world's highest volcanoes are located in South America and have an elevation greater than 6,000 m

When I started looking around on Insta, TripAdvisor, Pinterest etc. for potential stops, I realized that one of the two, either Salar de Uyuni or Salinas Grandes, is normally part of a typical South America tour. As usual I was wandering if this are the only salt flats and as usual seeking for less-touristic options

The Dog.O.Mobil is on the vessel and I am waiting for the flight to Buenos Aires. Preparation completed ✅

My journey to travel with a van started a few years ago with an off-road training and the idea of driving down the Pan Americana from Alaska to Patagonia. It was the  book and blog of Dan Grec who in one go inspired and scared me away.