Two and a half years with our motorhome thru South America       A resume  

We`ve started our world tour end of March 2013 and our first destination on the list was South America. At this point in time for us a totally unknown part of the world with a foreign language and a lot of negatives in the press. It was a long discussion for us where to start and whether or not it`s better to start with a more known area like North America. However lastly Karin pushed it forward and today 2,5 years later we are happy and found it the right decision.

South America is an absolutely fascinating continent. Very often people ask us what we`ve liked most so far.  The answer is difficult or impossible. All countries are so manifold, the nature is unique and the people are always friendly and helpful. Also it`s a paradise for campers as you can stay for free almost everywhere. We took our time and enjoyed this luxury after a long working life. We`ve met many like-minded people who live their dream like ourselves but also many young people who took a break from work for one or two years. Some are also on the road with their kids and teach them during the journey.

Everywhere on our journey we see a lot of poverty. In areas of 3000m and higher we meet people barefoot working on the field and live in simple huts without water and electricity. We get clearly visualized how privileged we are. 

What we didn`t like so much was the garbage which is all over. What`s obviously missing is a general mindset. Garbage is disposed everywhere or better said it`s dropped where people stand. Especially in Northern Peru we could not bear with it any longer at some point in time. 

Also the armed robbery in Ecuador counts on the negative side. In addition many travelers reported about thefts in Ecuador and Northern Peru and Northern Chile. In general  you should be watchful but this doesn`t impact the holiday pleasure. We were surprised about Colombia which is often negatively reported in the press. We felt always very save due to a high military and police presence.

All travel reports can be found on our homepage. So far we`ve published 37 blogs with pictures and 20 videos. 10 blogs out of the 37 are available in English and can be found in the archive section in chronological order. Blogs before December 2014 are available in German language only.

In the beginning the wonderful nature of Esteros del Ibera in Argentina, the waterfalls in Foz de Iguazu, the mission route, the salar de Uyuni and the ruta de lagunas in Bolivia followed by the Atacama desert in Chile.

On the way South the wales on the island of Valdes, pure nature in Patagonia, the Carretera Austral, the glaciers and the end of the world in Ushuaia.

And on our way North the Easter Island, the ruta de la Puna in Western Argentina, the Incas and Macchu Picchu in Peru, the volcanos in Ecuador, our holiday on Galapagos and the different landscape in Colombia with the old Colonial cities, the coffee region and the Caribbean coast. 

For statistical purpose we`ve recorded the following information. We drove 47.000km with 88 stops on a gasoline station and consumed 12.600 liters of Diesel with an average price of 0.80€/liter. Our monthly budget (not included the special expenses for Easter Island and Galapagos) was 1500€. We had no major trouble with the car apart from five flat wheels always at the right back and some minor defects. In Santiago we bought 4 new tires and in Colombia 3 new AGM batteries and two new shock absorbers for the front.  Regular service was lubrication all 3000 to 4000km and oil change all 15.000km. We spent many days in a lot of countries. Longest was Argentina with 236 days, Chile 122, Brazil 16, Bolivia 68, Uruguay 10, Peru 72, Ecuador 132 and Columbia 134 in case we can leave the country as planned on next Sunday. We`ve made 2 times home holiday in Germany with 132 days in total and after 25 border crossings our passport has only some free pages left. Now we continue our journey in Central America beginning of November. Certainly we will further maintain our homepage and are glad if you still accompany ourselves virtually on our journey. Sign up for the newsletter and like us on facebook. Hasta Luego.