Pan-American Road Trip Memories 4
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.
“ Chile is a long, narrow country: we’re driving through it from south to north ”
Team 21
Day 16: Temuco – Santiago
We’re still ‘blasting’ along Ruta 5. We’ve got an iPod on board, packed full of hard-hitting heavy metal. When I put it on via the car radio, there’s an outcry: ‘The music sounds like the car’s falling apart!’ This calls for a different approach. Last week I started with a very mild category: Bon Jovi. Later followed by the quieter albums by Guns N’ Roses. It’s essential not to turn the volume up too high.
Things are going well so far, and today I thought it was time to take things up a notch. I’ve put on some Iron Maiden. Hard rock that’s easy on the ear, but a notch heavier. I haven’t discussed it with anyone, but I’m not hearing any complaints and my tactic seems to be working. If I carry on like this, we’ll be listening to death metal in three weeks’ time. But let’s not get too carried away – I’ll play Iron Maiden for another day or two and gradually turn up the volume. After that, I’ll carefully switch over to Metallica.
We’re driving to Santiago. The Andes mountains, with their snow-capped peaks, are always visible on the right-hand side. The temperature is rising slowly; it’s now 30 degrees.
Day 17: Santiago
Team 21
Chile is a long, narrow country: we’re driving from south to north. South of Santiago, the landscape is mainly green and rolling; north of Santiago, it quickly becomes arid and barren. Santiago has a turbulent past. We walked to the government building where Pinochet’s coup took place and where Allende took his own life rather than fall into Pinochet’s hands. Allende’s statue stands in the plaza. It is striking that Chileans view it through two different lenses. A young person we spoke to confirmed our impression. Dubious despots usually give their country a massive economic boost. That’s probably part of the reason. We saw something similar in Russia earlier. ‘Father’ Stalin was often praised.
Day 18: Santiago – Caldera
In the Netherlands, we’d simply call it the A5, but here it’s known as the ‘Ruta cinco el norte Pan Americana’. And today we’re back on this ‘A5’. The next stop is Caldera, 920 km further on. It’s a motorway where the hard shoulder is used very efficiently: you can cycle there, there are food stalls, people are walking along with wheelbarrows, horse and cart, and so on… And stray dogs – we see them everywhere and in all shapes and sizes: big, small, standing, lying down and run over. I wonder if those stalls I mentioned earlier actually sell hot dogs as well?
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 about LatinAmeriCar
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.