OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
To most, Machu Picchu is a bucket list destination, right up there with the Great Wall and the Pyramids of Giza. It is a destination that defines an entire continent. But what often comes with such a designation are the precise things one tries to avoid when traveling: crowds, inauthenticity and price gouging. If Jill and I were going to…
Torres del Paine has the reputation as being one of the best places to hike in the world. It also has the reputation as having some of the most changeable and wild weather in the world. When we arrived in the Park, from the quieter Western side, the famous mountains were covered in clouds which were raining – hard. We…
This week we completed a six day hike around the mountains of El Cocuy National Park in Eastern Colombia. This turned out to be a very educational experience for us, with some of the major lessons being: Driving through Central America eating Pringles and Fajitas does not prepare you for hiking at 4000+ metres. Just because we drive our van…
(By Alex, with Nattie’s help to wrap it up. WARNING: LONG READ) The solidly branded and well-oiled tourism machine that is Costa Rica astounds with its natural beauty, annoys with its good manners and impresses with its fine-tuned business model. The country that has been surveyed as ‘the happiest in the world’ and lauded as “Latin America’s Switzerland” is indeed…
The persistent fog was all around us. It had completely enveloped the mountain landscape, stealthily hiding the thousand-foot sheer drops and allowing our location on this craggy peak to be forgotten. Originally we were hoping for the dense clouds to clear but we had come to realize how perfectly fitting they were. Deep in the northern Peruvian highlands, we were…
Most long term travelers have in the back of their minds a fantasy of a place that they imagine they could find themselves getting stuck in. These fantasy scenarios often include opening up a hostel or some other small business to sustain a lifestyle abroad. As we travel through city after city we have come across a great number of…
We started February off with our first camping trip of 2013. We needed to get away, clear our heads, and remind ourselves of all the things in our life to be grateful for. A forecast of mid-50′s and sunny didn’t hurt, but we were determined to make our escape no matter what. The last month has been an emotional…
I awoke from my slumber feeling relieved. My fears of being violated by cockroaches during the night did not come to fruition and, to my surprise, I had slept peacefully. Of course that could be due to my position in the hammock. Zach might not have been so lucky, as he had offered to sleep on the bare wooden floor…
In the last installment we started the Maya Rally 2012 and had a blast racking up points in Guanajuato. As much as we would have loved to stay in this awesome city a little while longer, we knew we had to lay down some miles if we ever hoped to cross the finish line by December 20th. We packed up…
Having spent the day in the Peak District, we drove across to Wales. Lars was keen to bag a peak, so it had to be Snowdon. We had an easier time finding a campsite in the dark and even chanced upon a pub serving cheap curry, which sounded (and tasted) far better than the noodles we had. The next frosty…
As evening set in, I stood outside of the van loading supplies into our backpacks. I divided the tent, sleeping bags, stove, and other supplies carefully into each of our bags so as to equalize the weight. We had removed every ounce of unnecessary material, eliminated a tent stake or two, all in the interest of saving weight. Finally it…
We hadn’t planned to do too much in Guatemala due to time constraints and safety concerns on smaller roads with Fred, but it’s definitely somewhere we would love to return to – friendly people, great food, a rich indigenous culture, beautiful landscapes, stunning towns, impressive ruins etc etc… And it didn’t feel any less safe than anywhere else we’ve been…
A late lunch was quickly turning into an early dinner as Jill and I wandered through various small towns looking for the right place to eat. Our hunger was distracted by the beautiful scenery of the mountains surrounding Volcan Baru in the NW corner of Panama. We entered the one horse town of Cerro Punta and soon passed what looked…
It seems that each “start” of the trip for us comes with a test of our convictions, a “prove yourself” diversion that would make even the most confident travelers question whether they could hack it (remember our first series of unfortunate events). After four cushy months living in CT, our first few days back on the road did just this. …
After our hike in El Imposible, we decided to stick together as a group a bit longer and visit the renowned feria gastronomica, or food festival, in the small mountain town of Juayua. I mean, who doesn’t crave some freshly grilled iguana after a long hike in the sweltering heat? We arrived in town just in time to watch the…
After leaving the Llanganuco Lakes area and driving back through Yungay we headed up the main road through the Callejon de Huaylas to the town of Huaraz. This is the biggest town in the valley but still not enormous. We had planned to spend a night here but were unable to find anywhere to stay in town, so we decided…
Chimanimani en de Bvumba mountains liggen in het oosten van Zimbabwe in de Eastern Highlands. De natuur is er prachtig. We hebben er gewandeld naar watervallen en een berg beklommen. We waren de enigste bezoekers in het nationaal park sinds enkele dagen. Het was er prachtig. Maar zoals je op de foto`s kan zien was het ook erg koud… De…
earthcircuit.org It’s not often that we write so specifically about what we are doing – I really wouldn’t want to bore you with our day-to-day. And it’s not often that we’ll go on about a particular restaurant, hotel or bar – basically because we don’t go to any of them that much. But as it was my birthday, we thought…
Our plan to make it to Parque Nacional El Imposible before dark seemed reasonable enough. Distance-wise, it wasn’t far and the border crossing into El Salvador went smoothly, leaving us plenty of daylight for the trek. Between the four of us we had three maps and a handheld GPS. The fact that the road to El Imposible was in a…
We were both annoyed when our alarm went off at 4:50 am on our first Saturday in San Pedro. Sleep weighed heavy on our eyes and we wanted nothing more than to roll over and ignore the incessant beeping. Still groggy, I forced myself out of bed and began preparing our packs for the day. We had to hurry if…
After the heat of El TUnco our weekend break was up in the mountains at an altitude of 2000m. We drove up to the National park of Cerro Verde which is a collection of three large volcanos. The change in temperature was immediate. Falling from the mid 30’s down to the mid 20’s. We arrived at Cerro Verde late in…
What a difference a day makes! (Read about Day 1, and Day 2) Overnight temperatures were in the mid-50s with strong winds that brought a light weather front through Southern California. The rooftop tent, though a bit noisy, held up well in the winds as did our new ARB Awning that we staked out well the night before. Waking up…
After over a month of city-hopping, we were more than ready to hit the famed Oaxacan countryside. The mist covered mountains in this region are dotted with dozens of indigenous villages, most of which are only accessible via remote dirt roads you won’t find on any map. We had our sights set on a small village by the name of…
My US centric perspective left me surprised by the fact that, although Whitney may be the tallest mountain in the lower 48, Mexico owns a number of peaks that supersede 15,000 ft. One of those peaks is Toluca Volcano in the state of Mexico, which happened to be along our route to Mexico City. The mountain has good signage from…
Deciding which places to visit and which to skip is one of the hardest things about traveling for an extended period of time. You will undoubtedly have less time than you plan for and you simply cannot see everything. While much of our trip is spontaneous, deciding one night where we hope to end up the next, we also have…
Disclaimer: This post is to assist fellow travelers who wish to hike to the summit of Santa Cruz on the outskirts of Guanajuato. If you are not of this category this post will provide little entertainment. Every morning spent in Guanajuato began as we watched the sun crest over Santa Cruz. Being the highest peak within the town’s vicinity…