Panamericana road trip memories 3

20 January 2021 | Sapa Pana Travel | |

The Pan-American Road Trip began in December 2011. A road trip through South America with 83 classic Volvos. Over 35 days and 16,000 kilometres, these Volvo enthusiasts drove from Buenos Aires in Argentina, southwards to Cartagena de Indias in Colombia. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing memories of this memorable journey on our blog.

Day 13: A day on unpaved roads

Team 61

We covered just under 700 kilometres today, mostly over cobblestones. As there was no petrol along the way, Sapa Pana Travel arranged for a refuelling point about halfway. With our large fuel tank and two 20-litre tanks on board, we didn’t actually need it. But everyone had to take 15 litres, so we spent an hour waiting in the middle of nowhere with lots of other Volvos. There were plenty of breakdowns today. We’ve got a second chip in the windscreen thanks to a passing car. Lots of flat tyres, worn-out tyres and broken brake lines.

130 kilometres before the town of Perito Moreno, I decided I wanted to visit La Cueva del Manos after all. The Cave of the Hands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I felt just like my mum, wanting to be fun and ‘just taking a little detour’. It wasn’t really a road, more of a track. Leendert was already getting fed up… After 15 kilometres, it suddenly turned into a well-maintained clay track and the scenery became breathtaking. We saw red mountains and, all of a sudden, a green river winding through them. There were also lots of animals all of a sudden, such as guancos and emus. We arrived just in time for the guided trip. Those handprints on the rocks were magnificent.

Once in the village, we headed for the football pitch. We’re going to camp – in the car. It’s raining; this is no all-stars pitch, but a dusty patch with no changing rooms or anything else. We fled to a hotel for a coffee (all the hotels were full). At 8 o’clock, we’d plucked up all our courage when suddenly the film crew walked in. And what do you know? Without realising it, they had five rooms! You can see where this is going: we’re now in one of those rooms. SO GRATEFUL! Because sleeping in the car is fun, but you do miss having a loo or a shower. What’s more, we’ve got an 800-kilometre drive ahead of us tomorrow.

Watch a video about the homemade petrol station here

‘Petrol for another 30 kilometres’

Day 14: Perito Moreno – San Carlos de Bariloche

Team 68
We had 795 kilometres to drive, and as we made our way to the cars, I’d already come across a few very pale faces. Fortunately, there were only 50 kilometres of gravel road, but it was one of the most challenging sections. Paralysed with fear, I could hear stones hitting the underbody of the little car. Mel remained fairly stoic. “They’re shooting at us, Gijsje,” he beamed at me. After a few hours, something changed. Trees began to appear in the landscape; it took another few hundred kilometres, but then: imagine a lake in northern Italy. Swap the bougainvillea for gorse and lupins, and picture dozens of kilometres of dense woodland. We rode through fresh green forests, seeing lakes to the left and right. Like an old tulip that’d been watered, I sprang to life. What a treat. And all the while, the snow-capped foothills of the Andes travelled alongside us.

Day 9: On the way to Temuco

Team 41

We’ve had a ‘quacking’ sound in the car for a day now. It’s as if there’s a little duck in there: quack, quack, quack...Egbert has heard this sound before and suddenly he remembers: the wheel bolts! All the vibrations on the dirt tracks have made them a bit loose. You should check the wheel bolts on old cars every now and then anyway. What’s more, we’ve already covered 6,500 kilometres. We pull over and sure enough: the front wheel bolts in particular are too loose.

We’re driving straight towards the Andes. Crossing little wooden bridges and winding roads, we make our way to the Chilean border. It’s absolutely stunning here. We’re now in Chile, although getting here wasn’t exactly straightforward. When we left Chile a few days ago, we used a different border post to the rest of the group. There was no one at the Chilean booth at the time, so we carried on. As a result, we missed out on an exit stamp. That’s why they can’t give us an entry stamp now. In short, it was a right mess. We could already picture ourselves in a cell on bread and water. In the end, it was sorted out with some paperwork and a few more stamps.

We’ve been seeing the Andes for days now, but we’re really getting closer. It’s like driving through Norway. The Andes are different. We haven’t used our spare tyre yet, but as mentioned earlier: they’re going like hot cakes, and the tyre size for the Duett, Katterug and Amazone (165/80 R15) is rare and therefore very hard to come by.

Book a Pan-American Highway road trip

The book ‘Panamericana Road Trip’ has been published as a memento of this memorable journey. The story is told through the stunning photographs of travel photographer Thijs Heslenfeld, accompanied by a selection of the many stories written by the heroes of this journey. For anyone who didn’t make the journey, this is a wonderful book to lose yourself in. The proceeds from the book will go towards the special projects run by the HoPe Foundation. This organisation – founded by Walter Meekes – focuses primarily on developing education in the remote mountain villages around the Peruvian city of Cuzco.

More information

Would you like to join one of these exclusive road trips yourself? Then take a look at our LatinAmeriCar page. Do you have any questions about a unique trip of Latin America, would you like a bespoke travel proposal, or would you like to arrange an appointment at our office? Please feel free to get in touch with us. Send an email to info@sapapanatravel.nl or call +31 73 610 62 04. We’d be happy to help.

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