OverlandSphere » Lost World Expedition

Beautiful Patagonia

Lost World Expedition — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:43:22 +0000

Oh, Patagonia. I can’t even come up with the words to describe your beauty. From your jagged granite peaks, flowing glaciers that reflect every color of blue imaginable, clean flowing rivers and lakes packed with trout and salmon, to your wild wind swept grasslands, with an abundance of grazing Guanacos and Rheas, Patagonia you have lived up to and exceeded…

Into Argentina-Our 13th Country

Lost World Expedition — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:17:07 +0000

Our first border crossing into Argentina was the quickest and easiest we’ve experienced on our entire trip. We crossed at a remote border called Paso Roballos. From the Chilean border post, where one guy -on a 30 day rotation and 2 weeks past due- was working and everything was done old school: paper and pens, we had to drive another…

The Carretera Austral-Part 2

Lost World Expedition — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 15:47:13 +0000

The town of Coyhaique is located about half way through the Carretera Austral and is also the biggest “city” with a burgeoning population of 50,000. After so long spent on empty roads and surrounding wilderness it was a bit jarring to pull into the main plaza and be surrounded by a bustling downtown. It was however a good place to…

The Carretera Austral-Part 1

Lost World Expedition — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:56:17 +0000

The Carretera Austral is a true overlanders dream; over 1200 kilometers (over 700 miles) of dirt road running through Chile’s southern region, where the land breaks off into hundreds of fjords and tiny islands, connecting Chile’s remotest region with the north. I read somewhere that the idea of the Carretera Austral is as big as the road itself, and I…

The Cordillera Blanca

Lost World Expedition — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:16:28 +0000

Leaving the narrow Cañon del Pato and the jagged mouthed tunnels behind, we climbed up into a big wide open valley between the two cordilleras. Whereas the Cañon del Pato is dry with very little vegetation, this valley is covered in a palette of greens stretching up both sides to the mountains. A few minutes into our drive through the…

The Cañon Del Pato (Canyon of the Duck) Doorway to La Cordillera Blanca

Lost World Expedition — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:57:12 +0000

We’re winding our way along a narrow dirt road in the mountains of Peru, passing through tunnel after narrow tunnel. Each tunnel has been blasted through the rock mountain side, the mouth a big dark jagged abyss as we enter. Some are so long and the road twisting though the mountain side there is nothing but darkness and the jagged…

Lima, Peru

Lost World Expedition — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:37:09 +0000

When we arrived in Lima, we thought we would just be spending a couple of days and moving on. As this is no doubt not the first time this has happened, I don’t know why we were surprised when we were still here a month later. A series of car problems and waiting for Lacey’s very important replacement Kindle to…

Festival de la Virgen in Huanchaco, Peru

Lost World Expedition — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:00:26 +0000

One morning while on our usual walk along the malecon in Huanchaco, we passed some guys building a big tower out of bamboo on the side of the road. We stopped to take a look and realized the bamboo structure was loaded with fireworks with fuses running all along the sides. It was maybe 30 feet tall, and had big…

A Visit to Minka Market and a Cooking Class in Lima, Peru

Lost World Expedition — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:21:46 +0000

I think we’ve made it clear that we love food and in fact a great part of our little travel experiment revolves around immersing ourselves in local culture and we believe trying local foods is an essential part of the “inmersion” process. Experiencing a culture is definitely enhanced by partaking in the local food, but in all honesty the food…

Cajamarca, Peru. The Resting Place of the Last Inca Emperor

Lost World Expedition — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:22:13 +0000

Before coming to Peru, the mention of the country brought a few things to mind. Mostly, Machu Pichu, Incans, and for us, food obsessed as we are, ceviche (or cebiche depending on who you ask). Peru is famous for its ancient ruins, or more like ruin in the singular. Machu Pichu and the Incan empire are the most famous civilization…

The Great Wall of Peru, The Ruins of Kuelap

Lost World Expedition — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:45:49 +0000

Our original plan was a 4 day hike/horseback ride to the pre-Inca ruins of Kuelap, but 2 days into the hike I (Luis) had a slight mishap involving my ankle (read about it and the hike here). So I made it to Kuelap by Mercedes Sprinter and Lacey arrived on foot . We had never heard of Kuelap before we…

Guest post: “Time is Honey” or “How Much Time do I Need to Drive the PanAmerican”

Lost World Expedition — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:10:14 +0000

This post was written by our friends Brianna and Logan of PanamNotes.com. The post is part of our series of guest posts by fellow overlanders and travelers. Enjoy. “25,000 miles . . . That’s not so far, certainly we could make it to Ushuaia in five months, nine months at a leisurely pace.” This is what we told ourselves back…

Walking With The Children of The Clouds: Chachapoyas, Peru and Pre-Incan Ruins

Lost World Expedition — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:36:11 +0000

The long drive to Chachapoyas proved to be well worth the fuel and time it took, a great town with a very interesting history. Chachapoyas is named after the Andean people who inhabited the area before the Incas and Spaniards came along is surrounded by the ruins of their settlements, dating back to in some cases AD 800. The Chachapoyas…

Driving to Chachapoyas

Lost World Expedition — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:12:59 +0000

Looking at a map, it is easy to understand that Peru is a very large country. However, it wasn’t until we started our drive to Chachapoyas that we really got a full understanding of just how large it is. Our route on the map takes up only a very small portion of the country, but the drive took us about…

Crossing the border to Peru

Lost World Expedition — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:45:23 +0000

After an amazingly long time traveling in Ecuador, our visas were finally running out which meant it was high time to get moving. We choose to cross into Peru by the coastal border crossing because we had heard that it was the biggest and busiest border crossing and we were hoping that the more people and stuff going on, the…

El Cajas National Park

Lost World Expedition — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:18:20 +0000

About 30 kms outside of Cuenca lies El Cajas National Park, one of the jewels of Ecuador’s park system. It’s only about a half hour drive from Cuenca, so it is pretty amazing what a dramatic shift in scenery you get in such a short drive. Leaving Cuenca the road winds through green valleys and hills with lots of agriculture.…

Monkey Sanctuary in Ecuador

Lost World Expedition — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:24:58 +0000

While visiting Baños we heard of a monkey sanctuary in the nearby town of Puyo. Now there is something you should know about Luis; he loves monkeys. He has always wanted a pet monkey, so monkey sanctuary is a must visit for us. The sanctuary is actually in the outskirts of Puyo, and as it turns out there is other…

Luis Attacked by Piranhas in Ecuador!

Lost World Expedition — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:38:26 +0000

Well, the truth is he was attacked by one piranha, while fishing for piranha and it was a tiny (maybe 5 inch) piranha… but the title is a lot cooler, no? So the story goes as follows: We spent a week in Reserva Cuyabeno a National Park that is part of the Ecuadorian Amazon (more about this wonderful place in…

On The Road Again

Lost World Expedition — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:36:39 +0000

After nearly three months of being back in the States, Lacey, Luis, and The Landcruiser finally rendezvoused in Quito, Ecuador. After a day of recovering from the flight and getting used to the idea that we weren’t in Kansas anymore Toto, we got one of our famous early morning starts (yes, we left at 11), and headed south. It only…

A party in Machachi, Ecuador

Lost World Expedition — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:48:50 +0000

While working at Secret Garden Cotopaxi (SGC) we where a bit isolated from civilization. No internet, no landline, a single cell phone with one bar of reception and no people (other than guests and a couple of employees). That is one reason we were quite happy to be invited to a party in Machachi. The city/town of Machachi is the…

Rodeo Time in Loreto, Pedregal

Lost World Expedition — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:00:58 +0000

During our stay at Secret Garden, there was a rodeo in the local village that we had the opportunity to attend. Now you have to understand that the local village basically consists of a few houses in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn’t a huge event. It was, however, THE EVENT for the locals. There was roping, wild horse…

Livin the Life in the Highlands of Ecuador

Lost World Expedition — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:10:49 +0000

After two weeks in the Galapagos and nearly two years on the road, we decided it was time to take a break and save some money. Our friend Dan Grec had volunteered at a hostel in the mountains of Ecuador and had really enjoyed the experience, so we contacted the hostel looking to volunteer and recoup some of the money…

Cruisin’ The Galapagos

Lost World Expedition — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:08:16 +0000

A note to readers: While going through the insane number of photos from the galapagos, we realized there was no way we were going to be able to widdle the photos down to just a few, so we decided to just post all the ones we like. We were also going to break our post up into a few posts,…

The Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Lost World Expedition — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:00:54 +0000

There are a few animals that automatically make us think of the Galapagos Islands, first and foremost is the giant Galapagos tortoise. A visit to the Galapagos isn’t complete until you’ve gotten up close to these guys. We took a trip to the highlands outside of Puerto Ayora to a farm where the tortoise wander around wild and went for…

Getting to the Galapagos-Part 1

Lost World Expedition — Fri, 20 May 2011 23:30:08 +0000

A visit to the Galapagos Islands has long been a dream of ours. The Galapagos with its wide variety of species found in only one place on the planet are a pretty irresistible destination. If there is one thing we’ve gotten good at, it is living our dream, so we spent a lot of time doing internet research on the…

Andres Carne de Res Chia

Lost World Expedition — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:15:43 +0000

If you’ve been to Bogota and did not spend at least one evening at “Andres Carne de Res” your visit to Bogota was truly incomplete. Really, we are not exaggerating. We did not know what to think when every single person we met on our way to Bogota would say: “Do not miss Andres in Chia, it is awesome!” They…

Hiking the Beautiful Valle de Cocora

Lost World Expedition — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:43:28 +0000

When I think of tall towering palm trees, I generally picture myself relaxing on a peaceful white sand beach, gazing at turquoise water and relaxing in the shade of a coconut palm. It is nice to think there would be a fruity drink with a little umbrella in my hand as well. The last place I would think of is…

Horseback Riding and Tejo in Salento: A Guest Post

Lost World Expedition — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 03:42:24 +0000

This is our first guest post. We think this is a really great idea because it offers a different point of view and style from our writing and most importantly it means we don’t have to write a post This is good news for our lazy asses! Tom and Jenny are the first friends to take us up on our…

Villa de Leyva is a Must! (Our humble opinion)

Lost World Expedition — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:06:12 +0000

While driving around the Caribbean coast of Colombia many proud Colombians mentioned that the towns within the department of Boyaca are beautiful and very inviting. We have since discovered that they were not lying, there are many truly beautiful towns peppered around the countryside. We believe that in Boyaca the king of these towns is Villa de Leyva. Founded in…

Parapente in San Gil

Lost World Expedition — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:46:28 +0000

The area around San Gil and Bucaramunga is well known for its paragliding. We even got rave reviews from our friends Les Globetrotteurs about their experience while taking a paragliding certification course in the area. Thus paragliding was on our mind when we arrived in San Gil. After a bit of research we realized the courses were a bit over…