OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
Trip Start: Trip End: .
SMITHERS, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA 3rd June 2013 N54° 49.711′ W127° 11.883’ No wonder the British Columbian have “Beautiful British Columbia” on their vehicle licence plates. This province is just that. After our brief and, as it turned out, unnecessary return trip to Port Angeles in Washington State in the US due to the nonsense with the vehicle liability insurance we…
15th May 2013 N48° 24.598’ W123° 19.869’ After Medford we wanted to drop by at Crater Lake, about 100 kms NW of Medford along the appropriately named Crater Lake Highway. Everyone who knew that part of Oregon told us it was perhaps the most beautiful lake in north America and definitely worth the trip. But being quite high up in…
MEDFORD, OREGON, USA 27th April 2013 N42° 19.410’ W122° 52.155’ No, we didn’t drive over a cliff into the Pacific, the cops didn’t arrest us and lock us up, and so far at least we haven’t suffered any crippling medical emergency. The reason we have been remiss in not getting our latest blog entry out sooner is quite simple. For…
Bryce, UT Where I stayed Foster’s Bryce Canyon Motel JUST OUTSIDE BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH, USA 29th March 2013 N37° 41.836’ W112° 11.085’ “WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES” said the sign at the US border post in Tecate. This was without doubt one of those milestone points in our journey that we had been anticipating ever since setting out…
MOTEL AMERICA, ENSENADA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO 13th March 2013 N31° 51.590′ W116° 37.073’ It was a long haul out of La Paz northwards on MEX1 more or less up the centre of the long peninsula that is the Baja California Sur or South, the whole peninsula being divided into two states – just plain Baja California and Baja California Sur…
La Paz, Mexico LA PAZ, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO 26th February 2013 N24° 09.546′ W110° 19.101’ Rosscos Hostel in San Cristobal de las Casas was inclined to be noisy at night due to them having no rules concerning noise from inmates after say 10pm. We were also kept awake till late there because of inconsiderate other dorm occupants banging the…
San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico Where I stayed <divclass=”” style=”padding-bottom:7px”> Rossco Backpackers Hostel San Cristobal de las Casas (San Cristobal de las Casas hotels) SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, MEXICO 8th February 2013 N16° 44.564′ W92° 38.370’ The run back up the Southern Highway from Placencia was speedy and uneventful. That is until we had briefly headed west and…
Placencia, Belize Where I stayed <divclass=”” style=”padding-bottom:7px”> Lydia’s Guesthouse Placencia (Placencia hotels) PLACENCIA, BELIZE 27th January 2013 N16° 31.241′ W88° 22.155’ Were we glad to get out of Guatemala City! Without being unkind, it really is a horrid place. If it had some interesting places to visit, some attractive old buildings, a park or two to stroll around these might…
Guatemala City, Guatemala 16th January 2013 N14° 37.944′ W90° 30.775’ There are few opportunities to camp in Honduras and later we found the same in Guatemala, so we stayed at the Los Arcos Hotel in Esteli (N13 05.625 W86 21.354). Not a nice town, spread out along the main road, and except for its impressive, well lit church with a…
Leon, Nicaragua LEON, NICARAGUA 31st December 2012 N12° 26.031’ W86° 52.722’ Los Malinches campsite at Junquillal definitely rates as one of our top favourites, not least of all due to its charming and gentle owner Manuel who has owned the property on which it stands for some 30 years and went out of his way to make us feel welcome…
Leon, Nicaragua Where I stayed <divclass=”” style=”padding-bottom:7px”> Hotel Austria Leon (Leon hotels) We have been asked a few times about the vehicle we are driving on this trip along with its equipment. So what follows is not about where we have been recently but is to provide some info on our Land Rover and the stuff in it. VEHICLE Ours…
Junquillal, Costa Rica LOS MALINCHES, JUNQUILLAL, COSTA RICA N10° 10.489′ W85° 49.000’ 19th December 2012 We stayed at Hostel Gaia in Boquete (N8 46.402 W82 25.948) and a very nice place it was too with a couple of comfy dorms with just 4 beds each, a great kitchen for us to use, nice bathroom and as usual, most importantly,…
Goodbye south America, Hello central America – Boquete, Panama Boquete, Panama Where I stayed Hostal Gaia (Boquete hotels) What I did Hills and rivers above the town BOQUETE, PANAMA 24th November 2012 N 8° 46.402′ W 82° 25.948’ Yep, we made it by yacht from Cartagena to Panama but not on the catamaran called Jacqueline owned by the German guy…
The wild north of Colombia – Taganga, Colombia Taganga, Colombia TAGANGA, COLOMBIA 22nd October 2012 N11° 15.964′ W74° 11.228’ Wow, we have been really remiss at not updating this blog. The reason? A combination of plain laziness and failure to get stuck in with it plus a perhaps slightly more forgiveable one which is the weather up here in northern…
The wild north of Colombia – Taganga, Colombia Taganga, Colombia TAGANGA, COLOMBIA 22nd October 2012 N11° 15.964′ W74° 11.228’ Wow, we have been really remiss at not updating this blog. The reason? A combination of plain laziness and failure to get stuck in with it plus a perhaps slightly more forgiveable one which is the weather up here in northern…
Ecuador to Colombia – Guatape, Colombia Guatape, Colombia Where I stayed Hostel El Encuentro Guatape (Guatape hotels) What I did El Penol or La Piedra EL CUENTRO HOSTAL ,GUATAPE, COLOMBIA 27th September 2012 N6° 13.704′ W75° 09.330’ We sat with Chris & Janet at Casona de Mario with the maps, guide books and GPS waypoints in front of us setting…
Ecuador around and about – sierras to sea – Quito, Ecuador Quito, Ecuador Where I stayed Hostal La Casona de Mario Quito (Quito hotels) QUITO, ECUADOR 4th September 2012 S0 12.436 W78 29.127 We left Marc and Sue at Pequeno Paraiso with regret as has happened before when packing up and moving on from really nice places to stay. But…
Ecuador, beautiful Ecuador – Banos, Ecuador Banos, Ecuador Where I stayed Hosteria Pequeno Paraiso Banos (Banos hotels) What I did Tarabitas – spectacular cable cars across the gorge BANOS, ECUADOR 9th August 2012 S 1° 24.126′ W 78° 17.278’ It was really a tussle leaving Izhcayluma and Vilcabamba. Izhcayluma had to be one of the highlights of the trip so…
From Peru to Ecuador – the rough way – Vilcabamba, Ecuador Vilcabamba, Ecuador Where I stayed Hosteria Izhcayluma Vilcabamba (Vilcabamba hotels) VILCABAMBA, ECUADOR 25th July 2012 S 4° 16.688′ W 79° 13.440’ In a perverse way it was a little sad to say goodbye to Lima. Why? Because we are not great fans of big cities in general, especially on…
Disaster strikes-but we are over it – Lima, Peru Lima, Peru Where I stayed Hitchhikers Backpackers Lima Hostel(aka. Hitchhikers B&B Backpackers Hostel) (Lima hotels) LIMA, PERU 11th July 2012 S12⁰ 07.351´ W77⁰ 02.171´ Well, I guess there was a statistical chance on this trip through south and other bits of the Americas that we would be unfortunate and hit a…
Crazy Bolivia – ups and downs, mainly ups – Copacabana, Bolivia Copacabana, Bolivia Where I stayed Ecolodge Copacabana (Copacabana hotels) What I did Stunning sunsets over Lago Titicaca COPACABANA, LAKE TITICACA, BOLIVIA 16° 10.756’S 69° 05.965’W 21st June 2012 We enjoyed Sucre even if its crowded streets and narrow pavements stuffed full of vehicles belching exhaust smoke over everyone walking…
Many contrasts – fantastic to awful – Sucre, Bolivia Sucre, Bolivia Where I stayed # Pachamama Hostel Sucre (Sucre hotels) What I did Recoleta Mirador and the Franciscan Convent SUCRE, BOLIVIA 14th June 2012 We had a great time relaxing at the 7Duendes Twin hostel in Salta. Note the name anyone reading this also travelling to Salta and looking for…
Probably our last entry from Argentina – Salta, Argentina Salta, Argentina Where I stayed 7 (Siete) Duendes Hostel Salta (Salta hotels) What I did The Cathedral, Inca child mummies exhibit, Iglesia san Francisco, San Bernardo Convent, Teleferico cable car SALTA, NORTHERN ARGENTINA 28th May 2012 We were in a way quite sad to leave Mendoza. It’s one of those cities…