OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
We are now in Honduras, after a few days in which I made a coolant pressure testing device with a bike pump and some hose: MacGyver would have broken an egg inside that tank and called it a day. Not me. Then patched a leaking tank with a lot of epoxy and plastic from a water jug: Then drove to…
The past few days we have been driving the loniest road of America. This is the US50 that runs from Sacramento, California to Ocean City, Maryland and is called the loniest road since 1986 by Life Magazine and later on used by Nevada as marketing slogan. I must say that this road is indeed not very exciting nor busy.…
The journey to the ancient Inca citadel that is Machu Picchu is very easy if your wallet knows no restraint. The real challenge is to get to Machu Picchu without having your wallet or credit card raped. We spoke to numerous ‘English speaking’ tour operators during our investigation into every available option open to us, we also explained in great…
We left San Diego Monday morning and made our way up a very busy Highway 101 to Los Angeles, a quick stop in Hollywood to get a photo of the iconic sign before heading to Malibu Creek National Park for a nights camping. A couple of things struck me, first Hollywood wasn’t as glamorous as I thought it would be…
It’s been an interesting week for us. The sunshine that welcomed us back to the northwest was simply too good to hold true for long. Last week it was replaced by somewhat a reminder of portland weather- grey and overcast all week. Now it’s just plain cold on top of it and were it not for warm clothing donations from…
We did not plan to drive the Sonora pass. After visiting Yosemite, we thought the Sonora pass was not open yet and we thought we had to drive the CA88 to get to the Eastern side of the Sierra Mountains. We decided to camp at a Wallmart, where after a few minutes a car stopped with a very nice…
So I have to back track in order to bring the blog up to date. The next few blogs concerning Peru covers what turned out to be the most challenging and adventurous rides on the trip. After escaping across the border from Ecuador into Peru the first town we came across was Jaen. What an introduction to Peru! It was…
Toda fronteira é complicada, pois vários fatores envolvem a travessia, mesmo nas fronteiras mais remotas na cordilheira entre Argentina e Chile, onde imaginei ser tranquilo e rápido, fomos submetidos a uma revista mais rigorosa, mas essa fronteira bateu todos os recordes de fiscalização e demora. Foram mais de três horas nos procedimentos burocráticos de saída da Bolívia e entrada na…
Depois de Copacabana, deveríamos tomar uma decisão; seguir pela Bolívia até Uyuni, para visitar o maior deserto de sal do mundo ou desviar o caminho e voltar para o Chile onde as condições são bem melhores para viajar. Já na saída de Copacabana um pedágio era cobrado em nome da conservação da cidade e uma taxa adicional, a título de…
Laguna Quilotoa, Ecuador Quito, Ecuador [by Jeremy] It’s often said to be an endearing quality in a man to be able to show emotion, to be able to shed a tear. It’s not quite so endearing when the man in question is on all fours, clinging to a rock and blubbing uncontrollably. I am that man. Before setting out on…
Once again this year, we headed southwest to Newport, Oregon and South Beach State Park for the Rogue Brewery’s Memorial Ale Fest. Brewer was the beloved Rogue black lab mascot who worked his way up to CEO. After his death the brewery began throwing an annual doggie brew fest in his memory. South Beach State Park, quite frankly, is…
We have always wanted to spend a month in New York City and with the onset of the rainy season in Central America we had the perfect excuse to spend May there. Arriving there on May 1 it was on a spectacular spring day. To be honest the scariest thing that has happened to us since we left Vancouver and…
Nossa última noite antes de entrar na Bolívia foi em Puno, onde chegamos já no final da tarde vindo de Cusco. Como o hotel já estava reservado anteriormente pela internet, não tivemos muitos problemas para montar acampamento. O estacionamento estava incluso na diária, mas a vaga ficava a 3 quadras do hotel, em uma rua muito estreita e que exigiu…
A saída de Arequipa deveria ser rápida, mas o maldito programa de GPS que compramos na hora H não funcionava e tivemos que sair da cidade pedindo informações, o que te leva para diversas direções menos para a certa. Recebemos várias informações erradas inclusive de policiais. Depois da difícil saída de Arequipa, e o congestionado trânsito na periferia, encaramos uma…
We left Guatemala with little fanfare, having passed through the country in four weeks. Our last couple of nights we spent with Juan’s friend Rodolfo in Guatemala City. We got to tour his animation studio, and to see some parts of the city that we would not have seen otherwise, including his family’s lovely ranch. Our last morning in Guatemala…
Voilà une liste des endroits qui nous ont plu à BA. This is it: the trip is over. Tomorrow morning we climb on the airplane and we jet back to the ‘real world’, to friends and family (good) and to work (bad). Here is a list of places and activities we enjoyed during our transitional time in Buenos Aires that…
We left Santa Rosalia and had quite a long day through the Baja desert to Rosita, including a 200 mile stint with no gas, however we were told in Catavina we could buy petrol at the side of the road, that was correct so we got a gallon each fom the roadside vendor which kept us going to Rosita. All…
A good few nights wild camping and driving quite quickly we stayed one night in a rather expensive campsite in Hotel Huanchaco Gardens Hotel. It was OK. I’ve posted some photos. For the price is could have been better but it was quiet so probably worth it.I might not have mentioned the attempted robbery in Puno in Peru. Well We’ve…
I was taken aback immediately to my school days when I saw the first old Blue Bird school bus rolling through the Belizean countryside. With their bright colors, roof racks, ladders and souped up engines and transmissions these old buses will get you just about anywhere you need to go in the county. It’s funny after carting thousands of US…
“Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour tour. A three-hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the” … I was trying to shake the theme song from Gilligan’s Island from my head, but it was not working. You see normally I’d like to kind of have a…
So after hours of working on this short film, its ready, Central America, hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you enjoy it!…
We reluctantly left Loreto this morning, amazing place to chill out and the 1697 resturant rocks, if you are in the area they have great rooms for rent and do brilliant food, thanks to Kieran, Norma and their son Patricio (Paddy) for a great time and fantastic hospitality. We had a great run up to Santa Rosalia, only around 130…
After a few days in northwestern Nicaragua (Somoto Canyon and Esteli), we made a beeline to the coast for some surf. We stopped at a town called El Transito, and instead of surf, we found a really sketchy little fishing town with one very aggressive drunk. That night, we asked to park at a hotel and they told us it…
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…
Nós chegamos ao Canadá em uma época do ano não muito popular para turistas: o inverno. Muita gente nos perguntou o que estávamos fazendo por lá no inverno e porque não tínhamos ido no verão. Acredito que Montreal deva ser sensacional no verão mas eu gostei muito da cidade no inverno também. As possibilidades de atrações ficam bem limitadas mas…
We came back down to the coast after exploring the Valle Europa and decided that it was time to find a nice beach to rest up on for a couple of days. We drove into a peninsula called Porto Belo in search of our perfect beach. The first town is Porto Belo itself where the beach front is built up…
Santiago foi uma parada especial para nós, pois fomos recebidos na casa dos primos Ricardo e Mariana, e das pequenas Catarina e Victória. A grande vantagem de estar com alguém que mora no local em que você é turista, é conhecer pontos que nenhum guia te levaria.Passamos a tarde de sábado em um complexo turístico no vale do maipo, onde…
Not much to report from our week “off” really, had a nice ride up to San Javier (about 25 miles away in the mountains) on Saturday, this is a small misson town (very small) and Saturday was their festival, that basically meant a load of Caballeros rode into town, posed for pictures in front of the very pretty church and…
The Belize dollar (BZD) is Belize’s national currency and is pegged at the U.S. dollar at 2 BZ$ to 1 US$ since the 1980s. U.S. dollars are generally accepted throughout Belize because of this peg. It is considered a waste of time to exchange USD to BZD. Belize dollars are also easily accepted in towns outside but close to the…
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…