The end…. temporarily!

This has been a fabulous experience. We have seen so much “art of God” – and we have met so many good and interesting people willing to share their experiences and give us advice and suggestions when needed. And, thankfully, this time we have followed all the advice we have been given. We have greatly enjoyed numerous conversations with our “sponsors” Florencia and Ricardo in Atlántida. Their guidance was of great help, and they know that we literally ended up following their route suggestions almost to the letter.

On our part, we early made the decision to travel slowly and spend the necessary time and make the effort to reach very remote areas, often on precarious roads. And we´ve truly enjoyed it to the fullest. Our conclusion is the more remote and untouched the destination – the more beautiful!

On a social- and interpersonal level, it has been nice again to experience that “on the road”, we are all equal – fashion, status, color, and style do not count for much. Naturally, some travel faster and with more comfort than others (carrying their little house in the back of their truck, using a camping car, or hauling a trailer), but in the end, it is the joy and excitement of the travel itself that matters. Certainly, having a small “tent-house” do make everything lighter and easier when the tarmac ends… and you end up on narrow dirt roads…  

This trip has been a once in a lifetime experience (though we ate lots of Calafate…… 😉, so who knows…) – 30000 km so far onboard the resilient and wonderfully sturdy old Toyota Land Cruiser (1997, HDJ80) – on gravel, stone, sand, and tarmac. So far, nothing has stopped neither the vehicle nor us!  

At the end, as indicated in an earlier post, instead of shipping the vehicle back to Europe, we opted for parking it for 12 months in Uruguay. During this period, we will arrange to change 4 tires, do minor repairs and maintenance – before again returning in 2025 to pick up the vehicle and continue our trip north towards Colombia.  

Hasta la vista!