Note:

This trip happened in 2000. It's long over, but the pages are being kept here as a reference for future travelers.

our route to tierra del fuego and back


    The route will begin in Venezuela and circle South America in a clockwise direction. The primary reason for this is climatic.

    What follows is a list of the countries we will pass through on our journey. Click on any country name to see that segment of the itinerary.

 

First Reach
(southbound)

Km

 

United States

6151

 

Venezuela

1465

 

Brasil

9476

 

Paraguay

442

 

Argentina
(Tierra del Fuego)

5337


 

Second Reach
(northbound)

 

 

Third Reach
(northbound)

 

 

Chile & Argentina

8134

 

Panama

739

 

Bolivia

1850

 

Costa Rica

710

 

Peru

3320

 

Nicaragua

360

 

Ecuador

554

 

Honduras

605

 

 

 

 

Guatemala

652

   

 

 

Belize

444

 

 

 

 

Mexico

5489

 

 

 

 

USA

 

The total planned route kilometers are 45,728, or 28,414 miles. Of course our route may vary depending on road conditions, weather, and political coups.

The details of this route are being worked out via our mailing list. If you have experiences that you wouldn't mind sharing, we'd love to hear from you.

Ground Rules

    1. Travellers will ship their vans from North America to Venezuela. While the trip will officially start at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, unofficially folks can start anywhere and we'll have a second starting date and meeting place in Venezuela.
    2. We'll drive south through Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego.
    3. We'll spend both Christmas and New Year's 2001 in Ushuaia.
    4. Heading north, we'll travel the western route, with an inland detour through Bolivia.
    5. On the northern trip, we'll ship our vehicles from Colombia to Panama, and drive north through Central America and Mexico.
    6. The trip duration will be in the 7-8 month range.
    7. We'll rest at least one day for every 6 days of travelling. This has the double advantage of keeping us sane and allowing us to do laundry, stock up on groceries, etc.
    8. We will try to keep daily travel to under 300km.

Copyright © 1997-2010 Ron Lussier. All Rights Reserved.

vanagon.com is not affiliated with Volkswagen of America, Volkswagen AG, or Westfalia AG. 'Vanagon' and the VW logo are trademarks of Volkswagen.