The Carretera Austral is a 1,247km route between Puerto Montt and Villa O’Higgins linking some of Patagonian Chile’s most remote towns and villages. 

The first 800km or so of Ruta 7 is mostly on tarmac but the last 400km south of Puerto Río Tranquilo is gravel and compacted mud making it the hardest road we have driven so far, solely because of the condition of the road.  We spent three weeks in total driving from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins and then to Chile Chico.

If travelling north to south, the route begins in Puerto Montt.  We didn’t spend much time here due to lack of parking places and moved on as soon as we’d topped up with fuel, water and food.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we should also have got LPG here but we didn’t even think about it.

From Puerto Montt we drove to Caleta La Arena for a 35 minute ferry ride to get us to Puelche from where we drove to Contao for a couple of quiet nights watching for dolphins.  We were essentially killing time in Contao as we had not been able to get an earlier reservation on the next ferry but it wasn’t really a problem.

The next stage was from Hornopirén to Caleta Gonzalo via two ferries which took about six hours and this was the only part of the whole Carretera we had to prebook. 

Having arrived very late and in the dark, we parked up immediately after disembarking from the ferry and awoke the following morning in Pumalín National Park where we had planned to do some hiking.  Unfortunately for us several of the trails were closed but the short Alerce Trail through 3,000 year old trees was open so we managed to stretch our legs a little.

We took a short diversion off Ruta 7 towards the village of Futaleufú, close to the Argentinian border.  The area is world renowned for rafting and kayaking on the River Futaleufú but the campsite had a small stretch of beach by a calmer section which was perfect for swimming.

We had intended to visit the Ventisquero Colgante (hanging glacier) in Queulat National Park but the weather wasn’t on our side. 

The park is a temperate rain forest and boy, did it rain that day, but it didn’t stop us getting out for a walk and the park was still beautiful.  The glacier wasn’t visible from the viewpoint but could be seen from the lake, however there was no way we were going to take an open rib ride in the pouring rain!

As we continued south to Puerto Rio Tranquilo, the weather began to improve and the sun was well and truly out for our trip on Lago General Carrera, the second largest lake in South America, to visit the marble caves, the biggest tourist attraction in this area.  The composition of the rocks and the sun reflecting off the water combine to create these colourful caves.  

We took the “Full” tour with Sur Nomade but from walking around the huts offering the tours, all the companies offered almost identical trips at the same price. The tour was about 2.5 hours and took us out to Isla Panichini to see a couple of shipwrecks before exploring the marble caves area.  Our boat was one of the smaller ones, holding just 10 passengers and our guide gave his commentary in Spanish and English.

We followed the turquoise Río Baker for some distance; it was one of the most intensely coloured rivers we have ever seen.  At its confluence with the Río Nef you can see the two distinctly different rivers as they merge.

Our last detour from Ruta 7 was to visit the small fishing village of Caleta Tortel where the Río Baker empties into one of the many fjords along the coast here.  The main part of the village sits along a boardwalk at the base of the mountain and just above the water.  No cars are permitted here.

After taking another ferry we finally arrived in Villa O’Higgins – the end of the road! There really wasn’t much to do here other than get our picture taken at the sign and collect our certificates from the tourist office once we had presented evidence that we had completed the full length of the Carretera Austral.

A lot of people then have to make their way back along the same route but we only went back as far as Lago Carrera General.  We followed the eastern coast of the lake this time to Chile Chico where we spent a couple of days before crossing the border into Argentina.

General information 

Ferries – you can’t avoid taking ferries when driving the Carretera Austral.  The Caleta La Arena-Caleta Puelche and Puerto Yungay-Río Bravo routes do not require reservations and you simply join the queue to get onboard.  A member of staff came to each vehicle so you could buy your ticket and we paid by credit card each time.  

The route from Hornopirén to Caleta Gonzalo actually involves two ferries with a 15 minute drive in between and does have to be pre-booked with the ticket covering both ferries.  Even towards the end of the season we couldn’t get a reservation for a couple of weeks and in high season you need to book months ahead. The first leg is about three hours sailing through the Canal Cholgo which passes through snow capped mountains and when we travelled there were two sailings daily.  The second leg is only about 30 minutes but the ship is half the size of the first one so it has to do two journeys so we were hanging around for over an hour between the two ferries.

There is also a ferry service running between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales which also stops at various points along the Carretera including not far, relatively speaking, from Villa O’Higgins but it only sails twice a week and fills up quickly! 

We had no problems with finding fuel and just kept topping up as we went along.  Understandably the fuel here was the most expensive we found in Chile at just over £1 per litre.

There was nowhere to fill our LPG tanks south of Puerto Montt nor in the area of western Argentina where we were heading to next but we managed to eke out what we did have for a lot longer than we thought possible!

We tend to fill up the freshwater tank when on a campsite or at a fuel station and had no problem with water.

We stocked up at the large supermarkets in Puerto Montt and Cochrane and picked up a few odds and ends at small tiends as we went along.  Away from the main towns, choice was obviously limited.

We had done quite a bit of research into what we needed to take with us and one of the warnings was to take plenty of cash.  Apart from a couple of campsites who wanted cash, we found that most places accepted cards.  We appreciate that people will have different interpretations of “plenty” but we probably spent no more than the equivalent of £50 in cash over the three weeks we were on the road.

What can we say about the roads other than it was an exhausting drive, even as a passenger!  None of the road is perfect but at least the section prior to Puerto Río Tranquilo is mostly paved but after that it’s a bit of pot luck alternating between gravel and compacted mud with long stretches of washboard surface.  They are trying to improve the road and there were long sections of roadworks at the time of visit.  Sometimes the road is totally closed for a few hours at a time, usually when they are blasting a new carriageway (the information is signposted and we were made aware through iOverlander).  On one occasion the roadworks overran as someone had been a little overzealous with the amount of dynamite needed and the diggers had to clear more of the road than originally planned.  Luckily for us we can sit in the van drinking coffee until the roadblock lifts!

Campsites used

We found all our campgrounds and free park ups with the app IOverlander.

Camping Aldea Puerto Espolón, Futaleufu: CLP12,000 pppn.  Forest campsite with a small open grassy area for motorhomes but access is via a steep track with overhanging trees. Shower block and kitchen area (we didn’t use).  River access for swimming.  Short walk into town. 

Las Tonvias Camping, near Queulat National Park: CLP10,000pppn.  Grass parking. We only stopped for one night so didn’t use any of the facilities (toilet and shower block and kitchen area).  Steep access road into the camping area and parking was a bit haphazard – we were lucky to park by the water.  Great for accessing the park.

Camping Río Chirifo, Puerto Río Tranquilo:  CLP15,000 pn on grass and we struggled to find a level area. There were supposed to be segregated zones for different camping types but it seemed a bit of a free for all to us. Hook up was available but it seemed only in one area.  There are a couple of toilet blocks, one with showers and a kitchen area but we didn’t use any of the facilities.  It was a short walk into town for restaurants and shops and boat trips to the Marble Caves – the campsite offered discounted tours but we found the cost was the same everywhere.  

Other overnight spots

Contao viewpoint: free.  Amazing waterside park up after taking the first ferry from La Arena to Caleta Puelcha.  We had a couple of peaceful days here watching dolphins and admiring the sunsets. 

Ferry park up, Caleta Gonzalo:  free.  Roadside park up on gravel.  Not the best but great for an overnighter if getting off the later ferry – we arrived about midnight.

Ruta 7 lay by – various: free.  By being a little later in the season we had no issues parking up overnight just off the main road and they were all very quiet. 

On entering Chile from Peru, the PanAmerican follows Ruta 5 south through the Atacama desert, occasionally touching the Pacific Coast, where we found some beautiful and peaceful park ups.  Most overnight stops inland were truck stops – not the most quiet nor scenic places! 

Finding ourselves ahead of our loose schedule we diverted off the PanAm to San Pedro de Atacama.  The town itself is not much to write about being very much a tourist town where every other building is a bar/restaurant or tour office.  However it is a great base from which to explore the surrounding area which includes large salt flats, stunning turquoise lakes, volcanoes, geysers and thermal hotspots.

We took a spectacular drive along the 23 which heads southeast out of the town,  stopping at Socaire to buy entrance tickets to a couple of places we wanted to visit – we bought the combined ticket which cost CLP15,000 for a foreign adult and CLP13,000 for foreign adults over 60 (total cost of just over £28 for the two of us). Our first stop was Piedras Rojas and Aguas Calientes. It is possible to view both these places from the road but by having the entrance tickets you are able to walk over the rocks and down to the edge of the water.

We continued along the road as far as Laguna Tayajto where we stopped to have lunch and spot flamingoes.

Our ticket also covered entry to Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques which are well worth the 6km off road drive to get to them!

The night sky in the Atacama is breathtaking even if you have no interest in astronomy and we took an astro tour where we had a brief, and uncomplicated, explanation of what we could see before taking a closer look through large telescopes.  The evening finished with a glass of wine around a fire.

Having sat around a lot we decided we needed to hike somewhere, so we went to the Valle de Catarpe (entrance CLP5000 for foreign adults and CLP1000 for over 60s) to do the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, hike through a narrow gorge.  At the end of the gorge it is possible to climb up (and it really is UP!) to a mirador for stunning views across the valley and the surrounding desert.

The Valle de la Luna lives up to its name as you enter the moonscape territory.  Tickets have to be purchased online and as foreigners we were charged in US dollars – $14 for an adult and $7 if over 60.  There are a couple of hikes in the park but it was hot when we arrived and we didn’t fancy climbing the huge sand dunes in the open sun.

From here we were making our way to Santiago from where we were flying home for a couple of weeks but on the way we stopped at one of Chile’s more well known pieces of art El Mano del Desierto, the Hand of the Desert.  There are three of these hands in South America so we are now on a mission to find the other two!

One of our last stops before Santiago was beach parking at Santuario Granito Orbicular, named for the patterns in the granite rocks.

After a couple of weeks at home spending time with family and friends, we returned to Santiago to meet up again with Roland and Coli, AKA MilaOnTour4x4. 

When they mentioned they were off to a vineyard we of course invited ourselves along and we had a great night at Viña Escondida, where we took a tour, tasted the wine and had a simple but tasty dinner.  The cost was CLP39,000 per person and we were able to stay over in the car park free of charge.  

We continued travelling with Roland and Coli on to Siete Tazas National Park.  Tickets need to be bought online (CLP9,400 per person) and as the park gets busy, we suggest a bit of advance planning.  The Siete Tazas, or Seven Cups, is a series of seven pools in a gorge through which flows stunning blue water – but only if the sun is in the right position!

Away from the pools there are several hiking paths, particularly in the Parque Ingles area.  It was definitely worth a visit.

We then said our goodbyes to Roland and Coli as they were heading east to Uruguay and we were continuing south on the Carretera Austral but that deserves its own post!

General information 

Fuel prices varied between CLP957 and CLP1223 (roughly 80p to £1) a litre, with the most expensive being in the far south of the country, but given its lack of roads, that’s to be expected.  This was the same for food and both were more expensive than Peru.

It wasn’t until we started to run low on the Carretera Austral that we found out LPG wasn’t so easy to find in southern Chile!  Sunlight was however, very abundant so we could rely on solar and also plug in at campsites to keep the kettle boiling (we have a small travel kettle just for such emergencies) and the food in the freezer, frozen.

Water was easy to find as most fuel stations also had a potable water tap.

The main roads were in reasonable condition, almost dreamlike after Peru!  There are tolls, especially on the PanAm road and it cost us a total of CLP100,450 (roughly £83) to travel the full length of the country, which is about 4,300km or 2,670 miles.

It was around CLP1,200 to £1 during our visit.

Insurance

We had 2 insurances for Chile. One for third party damages the other, HDI, for personal injury to others. In addition we have a policy from Germany that covers damage and theft etc to our van.

Campsites used

San Pedro de Atacama: CLP20,000 pn in what is a large dusty car park for the town. However it does have a separate parking area for motorhomes with access to water and electricity.  There is also a small shower and toilet but they are open to everyone using the car park.  Great location for walking into town and we were given a key to let ourselves in after a late tour as the car park shuts at 11pm.

Patagonfox, Santiago: CLP40,000pn.  Our most expensive campsite since Yellowstone National Park!  The tennis club has a small campsite attached and all the motorhome pitches are fully serviced with water, including grey disposal, and electric.  The bathrooms are immaculate and the whole site is very well maintained although the electric supply to the washing machine is a little temperamental!   The reason for staying was the proximity to the airport and the site offers storage for CLP10,000 a night (monthly rates are available and are considerably cheaper so we will come back here in the summer).  

Camping Izuelina, Santiago: CLP12,000 pppn.  A more traditional grass campsite with potable water,  just to the south of the city.  Hook up was available but we didn’t use it (it wasn’t obvious as to where we could plug in) and there was a shower/toilet block but again, we didn’t use it.  The site seemed to sell pizzas but it wasn’t open when we visited and there was also a swimming pool.   

Camping El Bosque, near Siete Tazas NP: CLP12,000 pn. Camping just outside the national park in the forest.  Very bumpy ground and difficult to get level.  Large shower and toilet block as the site allows day visitors as it has direct access to a river for swimming.  We arrived on a Sunday and it was busy but quietened down by the evening.  

Other overnight stops

Copec fuel stations/Service Areas/Truck Stops/Rest Areas: Free. We stayed in many of these places in Chile – all safe and great for an overnight stop on long driving days and a lot quieter than we expected. Some had water, all had toilets and most of the large fuel stations had restaurants.

Playa Hermosa, near Caleta Punta Arenas: Free.  Beach parking is plentiful and this was a level spot on a stoney area just off and below the main road, but far enough away for the waves to drown out any road noise. No facilities.

Hand of the Desert: Free. There is off road parking all around but at a distance from the sculpture (don’t want to block it for other people’s photos) but it was difficult to find a flat area.  No facilities.

Santuario Granito Orbicular, near Rodillo: Free but a donation is requested by the guardian who maintains the site.  No facilities.  Parking is right next to the rocks for which the site is named.  We walked over the headland to the nearby seal colony.  We stayed here three nights and could have stayed longer but needed to get to Santiago!

La Ballena: Free.  Parking in a small beachside car park and a short walk into the nearby town.  A permanently parked caravan has the best place and everyone has to park around it. No facilities.

Viña Escondida: Free overnight parking in the car park but you don’t find this place by accident!  It’s a small vineyard run by Martin, who does the tours, and his neighbour. It’s a bit of a drive to get there along a narrow track and definitely not suitable for large vehicles given the rickety bridges and overhanging trees. The toilets are left open overnight.

Siete Tazas National Park Visitor Centre: Free.  We had not booked our tickets in advance and couldn’t enter the park on the day we arrived so we stayed overnight in order to enter the park early the following morning.  The staff directed us to a specific area of the car park which was reasonably flat.  No facilities once the Visitor Centre closed.

Following on from the previous post, the reason for all our panic regarding the protests in Ecuador was that we had a trip booked to fly from Quito to  the Galápagos Islands and the insurance didn’t cover trip cancellation due to civil unrest, so we had to get to Quito no matter what!

Hans at Finca Sommerwind was providing us with up to date information and with the protests continuing we made the decision, along with another couple, to take a taxi back to Colombia and fly from Ipiales to Quito via Bogotá.  It was going to be a long and expensive day and we’d arrive in Quito earlier than we needed but it was still cheaper than losing the Galapagos trip.  What we didn’t bargain for was the Avianca desk in Ipiales insisting that we needed a confirmed flight out of Ecuador and despite all the explanations that we were driving and having proof our van was in Ecuador, the only way they were going to let us board, was to book a flight.  To top that we couldn’t book it online and had to use the onsite travel agent who was painfully slow but we boarded with about 40 minutes to spare despite arriving three hours early.  After a further delay at Bogotá and our pre-booked taxi not being available immediately, we finally made it to our first hotel in Quito around 4.15am!

We spent a day wandering around the Old Town by ourselves.  There are plenty of places to sit around the main square and watch the world go by and Uber is really cheap to get around.  We’d heard stories about parts of Quito not being safe so we stuck to the main tourist areas where there were plenty of very friendly and helpful tourist police.  

We returned a couple of days later on a Quito City Tour organised by GAdventures where we visited some of the city’s highlights.  We viewed the sprawling city  from the Virgen del Panecillo and the roof of the Basilica del Voto Nacional and tasted some rather fine chocolate!

The tour also included a trip to the equator which crosses just to the north of the city and we were able to stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere.  We also did a few fun experiments whilst there including balancing an egg on the head of a nail – Bob was the only one in our group who managed it!

The trip to the Galapagos began early the following morning with the airport transfers organised by GAdventures.  They had also arranged for our Galapagos Transit Control Card (USD20 each and paid in cash to the company).  Upon arrival in Baltra there is also a fee of USD200 per person for entry to the islands and again we paid this in cash – we’d seen some reports that cards might be accepted but that the card readers only worked intermittently and we didn’t want to risk not being able to get in!

After returning from the Galapagos we had one thing to do and that was get back to the van!  The protests were still ongoing but with the help of Hans, we took a shared taxi back to Ibarra.  On a normal day, that drive would be 130km and three hours maximum but we had to travel 700km via the coast and take 11 hours but after the experience we had just had in the Galapagos, it was worth every minute and kilometre.

Hotels

Hotel & Rooftop King Experience by David

We booked this as we needed somewhere cheap and cheerful to stay for a couple of nights and this hotel had the added bonus of being very close to the old town.  At time of booking and with discounts this was $52 a night for the room and included breakfast, albeit a very basic one.

Safe to say this was one of the quirkiest hotels we’ve ever stayed in – full size glitter horse anyone!, and it was a lot of style over substance but the location made up for everything with the main square being a short walk away.  The rooftop bar and restaurant gave great views over the city at night.

Hotel Hilton Colon

Booked as part of the GAdventures package (extra nights could be booked at £90 per night), it was a typical big chain hotel and we could have been anywhere in the world.  We did find a great Middle Eastern restaurant nearby but the hotel is a bus/taxi ride from the old town.  We were booked in Executive Rooms which, along with free wifi, gave us access to the Executive Lounge where we could have a drink and relax.

Galapagos Cruise

There are many more photos on our Facebook page here and here

After much deliberation (and confirmation from a friend in the trade that it was a good one) we decided to treat ourselves to the Central and East Islands cruise on the Reina Silvia with GAdventures.  We opted for cruising as a way to see as much as possible (we sailed between islands overnight) and we weren’t disappointed.  The 8 day, 7 night cruise took us to Santa Cruz, Española, San Cristobal, Santa Fe, South Plaza, Genovesa, Santiago, Bartolomé, Rabida and Chinese Hat.

The Reina Silvia takes 16 passengers and a crew of 10 for whom nothing was too much trouble.  Our days on board consisted of breakfast, an activity, a snack, maybe another activity, lunch, free time, activity, snack, free time, briefing for the following day, dinner, free time and bed.  The food was tasty and plentiful, all freshly cooked and served either in the dining room or up on the sun deck, which is also where the jacuzzi was located. 

Our cabin was spacious with a private bathroom and balcony.   The rooms were cleaned and tidied a couple of times a day and the towels washed regularly.

The activities were optional and included hikes, snorkelling and kayaking – all part of the package (as were the flights to and from Quito so we had absolutely nothing additional to organise ourselves).  We also had the services of a National Park guide, Omar, whose knowledge about the fauna and flora of the islands was phenomenal.

We came to the Galapagos to see wildlife and each island had something different to offer.  The highlight was probably the snorkelling where we were joined, at different times, by sea lions, penguins, turtles and sharks.

We spent no cash whilst at sea but ran a small bar tab for the trip which was settled on the last evening by card or cash.  The only other cash needed was for tips for the crew and guide.

This was a once in a lifetime trip and we can certainly recommend this tour.  It wasn’t cheap, even with it being on sale, but we felt it was worth every penny and were spoiled rotten.  

There are many more photos on our Facebook page here and here

We entered Ecuador during a period of fuel protests particularly in the north and centre of the country; in fact we couldn’t get to our first campsite due to a road block springing up making us take a diversion across the mountains.  

The blockades were on ALL routes south to Quito, the capital, and this was worrisome as we had a trip to the Galápagos Islands booked which departed from Quito a week or so later.

Not being able to get to our first campsite turned out not to be so bad as we headed up into the mountains to the Mirador del Oso where we were able to watch the Andean bears across the valley.

A day later than planned, we reached Finca Sommerwind where we were able to make our plans to get to Quito as the strikes were showing no signs of abating.  It was quite a trip but we’ll cover Quito and the Galapagos in a separate post.

After returning to Finca Sommerwind from our Galapagos trip, the protests were still ongoing so we had no choice other than to head to the coast as this was the only route south.  This meant that we had to miss a few places we had pinned on our map but we hope to visit them on our way back north.

We followed the coast south stopping at several sites along the way and crossing the equator for the first time in the van. 

We arrived in Puerto Lopez, gateway to Isla del Plata, billed as an equivalent to the Galápagos Islands. Maybe it was the time of year or maybe it was because we had just been to the actual Galapagos but we were quite disappointed with what we saw there – just blue footed boobies and a snake.

However on the boat ride to and from the island we saw humpback whales and had dolphins swimming alongside us so not all was lost!

Having reached a point south of all the protests we turned inland to Alausi where we took the recently reopened scenic train ride to La Nariz del Diablo, or the Devil’s Nose.  Currently the train only runs at weekends so booking in advance is advisable and we’d really recommend this trip.  It’s quite a feat of engineering as the train moves down the steep valley sides through a series of zigzags and sweeping turns.

Our final stop in Ecuador was Cuenca, where we arrived during torrential downpours.  The van was booked in for routine break maintenance but a three hour job took all day (not the fault of the garage).  That along with the weather meant that we didn’t get out to see the city but again, will do that on the way back.

We did however have a very nice fish and chip dinner at La Yunta; it was the closest we’ve come to proper fish and chips since being on the road!

There is so much we missed in Ecuador and we’re looking forward to returning to explore further.

General info

Diesel USD2.80 per gallon (converts to approximately 56p a litre). 

Ecuador uses the US dollar and the exchange rate was around USD1.33 to £1 at time of visit. 

Campsites were all well equipped and reasonably priced.  The roads on the whole were in reasonable condition although some showed the marks of past landslides (only to be expected).

Campsites used

Finca Sommerwind, Ibarra: USD7pppn including hook up, or USD1 pn for storage.  THE place to go when crossing the Colombia/Ecuador border!  Run by Hans, originally from Germany, the campsite has everything you need including a restaurant offering German food and beer.  The pitches are grass, not really defined and very sloping in places but the hospitality and other facilities more than make up for that.  Hans is also an integral part of the WhatsApp group which provided updates and advice on all the protests.  We stayed here before and after our Galapagos Trip and left the van here whilst we were away.

Chiringuito, Mompeche: USD5pppn in a grass field.  Hook up and water, shower and toilet available and the restaurant, run by the owner Raul and his wife, is open at the weekend.  The nearby fishing village of Mompeche is easily walkable along the beach at low tide.  A very restful site.

Samvara, near Don Juan: USD15pn (price varies depending on season) including hook up.  Water, toilets and showers available.  We parked on the upper level on hard standing – great views of the sunset.  The site is run by Benno, originally from Switzerland and he cooks in the restaurant.  There is also a pool and children’s play area.  It was very quiet when we visited but we were out of season.

Nativa Whale Domes Glamping, Puerto Lopez: USD5pppn including hook up.  The site has toilets, good showers and a small pool but no water.  We parked in a small car park area.  Lots of communal areas including seating, hammocks, a kitchen and a bar but as we were the only ones there, it felt a little flat. Easy walk or tuk tuk ride along the malecón into town for shops and restaurants and tours to the Isla del Plata.

Killa Wasi Campspot: USD5pppn including hook up.  There are two camping areas and we were parked by the owner’s house on hard standing (the other option is a large grass field a short walk away from the house).  Toilet and shower on site plus water available.  The field doesn’t have facilities yet but Victor, the owner, has plans to develop them.  Uphill walk into town for the Devil’s Nose train.

Cabañas y Camping Yanuncay, Cuenca: USD15pn including hook up. Very small grassy area on a larger property.  Water is available and the owner said there was a toilet and shower but we tend to use our own in the van.  We had planned to walk into the old city but with the constant rain we changed our mind!

Other places stayed

Mirador del Oso Andino, near Pimampiro: USD20pn.  Two parking areas on either side of the road with only toilets available.  The fee to park is as much a donation to the work of Danilo, the host, who also guides the bear viewing twice a day, early in the morning and late afternoon.  It’s worth every penny to be able to see the bears in their natural habitat.

Hostería Pacific Stone, Las Piedras: USD7, parking on a cliff top grass area which seemed mostly sloping.  The larger site has cabanas, a restaurant and a pool but we didn’t use any of these.  Good for an overnight stay.

Huaquillas Border: Free.  A surprisingly quiet night in the Ecuadorean Aduana car park by the border.  There was a shop, small restaurant and toilets nearby but we didn’t use them.  Great for the border crossing in either direction.

We had a four day stay in a small hotel in the old town area of Cartagena whilst we waited for the van to be released at the port.  It’s only a one day sail from Colon, Panama to Cartagena but there are several days either side whilst the van sits in the ports undergoing inspections and customs procedures. 

Whilst it’s a pain to be without our home, it did mean that we had time to explore more than we might have done if we’d been in the van.

The Old Town area of Cartagena is vibrant and filled with shops,bars and decent (and reasonably priced) restaurants.  We followed a self guided walking tour to see some of the city.

Getsemani is an area of the city once renowned for criminal activity but which has now reinvented itself as a hip hotspot.  The streets are adorned with huge murals and various items hanging from strings across them.  Of course we had to stop for coffee there, something we did several times a day in Cartagena! 

The hilltop fortress of San Felipe de Barajas dominates the Cartagena skyline and is considered to be one of the finest examples of colonial constructions by the Spanish.  It’s a large sprawling fortress with a large network of tunnels underneath the structure to allow movement between areas without being seen.

After picking up the van and putting everything back in place and a visit to Mercedes for routine maintenance, we headed out to the Pacific coast.  This proved to be an expensive stop and we didn’t notice the low hanging tree branch as we drove on to the site and proceeded to wreck the skylight over the bed! 

We’ve been carrying a sheet of Perspex since leaving the UK and it finally came in handy!  A quick repair saw us almost watertight (soon rectified to fully watertight after a downpour!) and yet again, the heat sent us scurrying back to the mountains. 

We took a bit of a white knuckle ride through the centre of Medellin before making the steep climb up to Al Bosque which is about 4,000ft above the city.  We didn’t explore too much of Medellin as the city is strung out along a valley and the walking tour we followed was centred on one area and only took about 90 minutes.  This did leave us plenty of time to meet up with a former colleague of Bob who now lives in the city.

One thing Medellin does have is a good Metro system which also includes the cable cars which take you up the hills surrounding the city.  You need to buy a rechargeable card (we only needed one between us) and it’s a cheap and efficient way to get around.

We got very excited as we were leaving Medellin and spotted IKEA on the map.  We didn’t really need anything but opportunity to get meatballs was too good to ignore but we were sadly disappointed as the only parking was underground with a maximum height of 2.20m. 

Our next stop at the El Recuerdo Coffee Farm helped to quell the disappointment from the previous day.  This was a real gem hosted by Don Carlos, a real gentleman and farmer.  We took the coffee tour (cost COP45,000 per person)around the plantation where they aim to be as close to organic as they can.  They grow fruit and other trees to help with the coffee – both the pollination and protection of the plants by attracting bees and other insects.

The colectivo service stops right outside the plantation and for COP4,000 the jeep will take you right into the centre of Salento.  It’s worth doing just for the ride itself but the town also has a few shops and restaurants.  The “Menu del Día” is a cheap and filling option offered by several restaurants.

We had originally planned to visit the Corcora Valley which is famous for its giant wax palms, the national tree of Colombia, but at El Recuerdo we were given the details of a local guide, also called Carlos, and we took his trip to La Carbonera instead.  

The Carbonera Valley is home to more of these palms than Corcora and we had a great day out with Carlos and his driver, Tio.  This wasn’t a cheap trip at COP250,000 each (about £95) but it was a full day having been collected at 8.30am and returning at about 6pm and included lunch.  It also saved any wear and tear on the van as the road was mostly mud and gravel and included areas with steep gradients.

La Bonanza camping is one of THE places to stop on the Pan-American and is run by Kika and Anouar, a couple of travellers originally from Morocco who made Columbia their home.  We missed Kika as she was away at the time but Anouar is a great host and cook – we shared a selection of his delicious tagines one night with Karen and Adrian, a Swiss couple also doing the Pan-Am but going in the opposite direction to us. 

We extended our stay at La Bonanza to ensure we could visit the indigenous market in the nearby town of Silvia.  Anouar drove us into town, took us around a few places and gave us a map and information before leaving us to explore on our own.

The area is famous for strawberries and we visited a house which grows them hydroponically.  They have a large veranda and gardens where you can sample the fruits with cream.

The Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Las Lajas was our last stop in Colombia and is probably one of the most photographed places in Colombia.

It is possible to drive there but we took the cable car from higher up in the valley as we could stay there overnight.  The church is free to enter but the cable car costs COP32,000 per person for a return trip.

General info

Diesel approx COP11,000 per gallon (converts to 56p a litre!). 

The exchange rate was around COP5,400 to £1 at time of visit. 

The main PanAmerican highway is often no more than a two lane road through the mountains and is used by trucks so adventurous overtaking is the norm.  City driving is manic to say the least! Tolls are common but not massively expensive – it cost us just over £80 to cover the full length of the country.

The coast is hot and humid so head to the mountains for more comfortable nights. 

For shipping information please see our separate post.  It wasn’t until we started putting the van back together after shipping that we realised it had been broken into at some point in the process, probably on the docks. The kitchen window had been forced open and the main lock on the hab door had been damaged where they tried to get in that way.  It was partly our fault as you are told to put everything away out of sight and we’d left a small speaker visible but it’s frustrating that this is considered just part and parcel of the shipping process. 

Campsites used

Camping El Manantial, Turbaco: COP50,000 pn grassy parking area on a small farm run by Graham, a Brit who has lived in Colombia for over 40 years. Basic showers and toilets on site.  Shops are a tuktuk ride away and a delivery of (expensive) LPG can be arranged. A great first/final stop in Colombia due to its proximity to the port. 

Casa Del Mar, Tolu: COP60,000 pn (COP50,000 without hook up).  Parking is on a grassy area (wet and muddy when we visited) in front of holiday cabins – be careful of low hanging trees when entering! We were offered toilets and showers but didn’t see or use them. The site is just across the road from the beach and a short walk into town for shops and restaurants.

Al Bosque Hostel & Glamping: COP26,000 pppn including hook up.  Parking is on a grassy area.  Showers, toilets and washing machines are available and the site has great communal areas.  The campsite is high up in the hills overlooking Medellin and the website offers the different routes to get there- it’s highly advisable to follow them!  Short walk to a supermarket and restaurant.  Local buses/taxis can take you to Medellin or to Parque Avi from where you can take the cable car into the city.

La Bonanza, Silvia: COP50,000 pn plus COP15,000 pn hook up.  A beautifully maintained site with parking on a gravel area.  Multiple water points, both 110v and 220v power points available, a dump station, toilets and showers plus a washing machine.  Lots of communal areas around the main house and in the gardens.  Great onsite restaurant offering Middle Eastern food and they also bake bread you can buy. On a Tuesday they provide a free guided tour to the market in Silvia.

Note: after our visit we saw that the site was for sale so some of these details may change in the future.

Hostel Padua, near Chachgüi: COP25,000 pppn.  Parking in the sloping, hard standing car park of a hostel and garden centre.  Toilets and showers available and a small restaurant/cafe.  A decent and secure overnight stay after a long day on the road.

Other places stayed

Parque los Minero, near Otu: free as we did not need to use the showers or toilets.  This is a large car park behind a couple of restaurants with overnight security.  Good spot for one night.

El Recuerdo Coffee Farm, near Salento: COP25,000 pn. Parking is in a small grassy area next to the reception for coffee tours.  Toilet available.  Easy access to the nearby town of Salento by colectivo (shared public transport and in this case, a jeep).  Very quiet and we really liked this place

Las Lajas Cable Car car park, near Ipiales: free.  We stayed in one of the upper car parks after using the cable car to visit the church in the valley. The lower car park is hard standing but the upper ones are grass.  No facilites once the visitor centre is closed (they have toilets and a restaurant).

After the bureaucratic nightmare of leaving Nicaragua it was smooth sailing at the border into Costa Rica and we picked up our drone from DHL in Liberia without any issues.

Despite another visit to a garage we continued to have clutch problems so we booked an appointment with Autostar, the Mercedes Benz garage in San Jose, the capital.  This meant our time in Costa Rica would be determined by this appointment especially as they need three days to diagnose the problem before they could start to fix it.  On the upside this meant we spent a few nights in hotels plus an Airbnb making the most of running water and most importantly, air conditioning!

Although expensive and the fact they need three days to diagnose a problem, we were happy with the service we received from Autostar.  Once they started work they kept us up to date by WhatsApp, sending us photos of our broken clutch so we could see that it definitely needed changing. 

We could go on forever about the places we visited and our Facebook page is the best place to go to see the photos.  People come to Costa Rica for the wildlife and we were certainly not disappointed even if our time was limited.  We manage to cram in the following:

Manuel Antonio NP

Nauyaca Waterfalls

Carara NP

Jose’s Crocodile boat trip, Tarcoles

Irazu Volcano NP

Caribbean Rainforest Sloths

Cahuita NP

Corcovado NP

Beaches on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts

Unless it was compulsory we didn’t take guides in the parks and if you’re vigilant you soon learn to spot the wildlife.  You don’t need to be in a park though; simply sitting outside was enough and we found ourselves comparing iguana sightings to seeing squirrels back in the UK. Our favourite place was the smallest and owned by Jose.  At Caribbean Rainforest Sloths Jose has cultivated his land to attract sloths, birds and at night he takes you out on a night walk to spot brightly coloured frogs.

General info

Diesel was about 80p a litre and water and LPG were easily available. Food on the other hand we found to be expensive and don’t ask about the van repairs! Costa Rica doesn’t have an army and instead the government has invested money in infrastructure so the roads are in good condition (a major change for Central America!).

At time of visiting £1 was approximately C670.  The currency is colones. 

Campsites used

Célébra Liberia,near Liberia: C4000/$8 pppn.  A grass field with toilets not far from the city of Liberia, just off the main Pan-Am Highway.  Fine for an overnight stay.

Eco Camping Papagayo: C5000 pppn.  Camping spaces around the edge of the restaurant car park with hook up and water points.  Hard standing but not flat.  Toilets and showers available when the restaurant is open.  Across the road from the beach.

Playa Brasilito: $16pn including water and hook up.  Small beachside campsite with parking on grass between trees – not big rig friendly.  Close to shops and restaurants.

Casa Mango, near Puntarenas: $20pn including water, hook up, toilets and cold showers.  Hard standing parking next to a river estuary (we had a crocodile swim past one day!).

Reggae Bar, near Cahuita: C3000pp.  Grass parking area for the bar/restaurant.  Toilets and shower available.  Across the road from the beach and surprisingly quiet!

Monkey’s Camping, Drake Bay: $20 pn.  Small grassy campsite not suitable for big rigs.  Shower and toilet available 

Other places stayed

Inn on the Park hotel, Manuel Antonio: prices vary and we booked a breakfast included deal through Booking.com.  Breakfast is offered at the sister hotel just up the hill.  Great location for visiting Manuel Antonio National Park as the main entrance is less than 100m away.

Tarcoles Birding Lodge: prices vary and again we booked through Booking.com.  Accommodation is in large bungalows with breakfast and dinner available if pre booked – more restaurants can be found in the nearby town.  Property has a swimming pool and a bird watching tower.  We loved it there and would have stayed longer than two nights if we could.

La Uruca Sports Square,San Jose: free parking at the back of a sports field. A little noisy but great for getting easily to Autostar, the Mercedes garage in the city.

Caribbean Rainforest Sloths: $20pn. Overnight parking in the car park. Water available. 

Punta Uva: free parking in one of several spots alongside the beach.  No facilities but not too far from restaurants, bars and shops.

Hotel Best Western Zima, San Isidro de General:  C10,000 pn.  We parked in the overflow car park which is flatter than the main hotel car park.  The overnight price also allowed us to use the hotel pool (we didn’t).

We left Guatemala and sped through the next three countries.  We had to be in Panama City to fly home mid-June and wanted to spend some time in Costa Rica, so that, along with the van developing a clutch problem, meant that we had to limit our time here. In Guatemala we had the luxury of being in the mountains at around 5,000ft but we soon found ourselves at no more than 500ft with 30°+ tropical climates and sleepless nights due to heat and humidity.

The roads on the whole were in reasonable condition and we found ourselves sharing the carriageway with every type of vehicle including animal drawn carts.  We only bought fuel once and that was in El Salvador where we could still buy ultra low sulphur diesel.  The cost was around 78p a litre. 

Water was a little trickier but we filled up a couple of times in El Salvador which we made last until Costa Rica. 

El Salvador

We entered El Salvador without too much trouble and headed into the rolling hills where we spent a couple of nights surrounded by coffee plantations.  

We had done very little hiking in recent months having decided we weren’t fit enough to take on the volcanoes in Guatemala, we opted to do the Santa Ana volcano in western El Salvador.  We met up with our German friends Boris and Tanja to do the early morning hike up to the top of the volcano – it took a couple of hours to get there but well worth it! 

We then had an uneventful journey across the country but not stopping to explore anywhere. 

Places stayed:

Buena Vista Camping, Juayua:  US$30 pn.  RV/camper parking is on a large open concrete area formerly used for drying coffee beans.  Breakfast is included and provided in the restaurant next to a small garden centre and beyond that building is a camping and glamping area with toilets and showers.  It’s a short walk into the town of Juayua. 

Casa de Cristal, near Santa Ana: US$7.50 pn.  Large uneven grass area with showers and toilets a short way away.  A great place from which to start the Santa Ana volcano hike and the views were definitely better here than from Cerro Verde.

Cerro Verde Car Park, near Santa Ana:  US$1 pn plus national park entry fee of $6 each.  The car park is surrounded by a few restaurants and souvenir shops so it’s busy during the day but quiet at night.  No facilities once everywhere closes.  There are walks from the ranger hut but all need guides.

Finca Macedonia, San Miguel Tepezontes: US$5 pppn. A  restaurant and small camping area in the hills surrounding Lake Ilopango. Toilets onsite and a shower in the owner’s house available.  The restaurant is definitely worth a visit for the pupusas. 

Truck stop at border with Honduras: US$3 pn. Large gravel lot used as a rest point for trucks crossing the border.  Nothing there but quieter than expected as we parked up as far from the entrance as was possible.

Honduras

Following tit-for-tat action between the UK and Honduran governments, we had to get a tourist visa for Honduras despite it being a CA4 country for which we didn’t need one.  In Guatemala we submitted reams of online documents to the Honduran Embassy and a week attended the embassy in person to get the visa and collect our passport the same day.

Although we had a 30 day tourist visa, a miscommunication at the border meant we ended up with a 3 day transit visa so it was just as well that we hadn’t intended to see anything!  Our only brief stop was in the town of Choluteca and the DHL office to hand over our drone as they are not permitted in Nicaragua; DHL Choluteca have a well oiled service shipping drones and other electronic equipment over Nicaragua for collection in Costa Rica. 

We spent one night in a truck stop just before crossing into Nicaragua and it was pretty much the same as the one in El Salvador. 

Nicaragua 

Our most eventful border crossings since we started this journey were in entering and exiting Nicaragua!  All the borders we’ve crossed so far seemed to have been job creation schemes, high on bureaucracy and low on logic, but in this instance we also had to deal with a list of prohibited items.  We knew about drones but there was a lot of Spanglish back and forth between us and customs to ensure we retained ownership of our kitchen knives and ancient walkie talkies! 

On our way south through the country was when we first had a clutch problem.  The van was still drivable so we continued to a campsite where there was a highly rated mechanic nearby.  We contacted him and he said he would come to us but after five days of waiting, and a quick check by another local mechanic we decided to push on to Costa Rica where we knew we could definitely get to a Mercedes garage, even if on the back of a tow truck.  Having hung around so long for the original mechanic we didn’t get to see too much other than the campsite!

Campsite used:

Southern Nights Hotel and Camping, San Jorge: $15 pn including EHU. Large area at the back of the hotel with five concrete pads for RVs and campers. Each pad is huge and has its own electric point and concrete table and benches. Non-potable water.  Showers and toilets available. Right on the bank of Lake Nicaragua and easy access to the ferry terminal for the island of Ometepe.

As well as Guatemala being a favourite place to visit, the old capital of Antigua was also high on people’s lists.

The former colonial city sits in a valley surrounded by volcanoes, including the active Fuego, and along the cobbled streets the brightly coloured buildings house every type of business.  With many foreign visitors the food choice is amazing and you’ll find every diet well catered for. 

The city was founded in 1543 as the Spanish colonial capital but after a devastating earthquake in 1773, the capital was transferred to Guatemala City.  Much of the city was rebuilt in the colonial style and some pre-1773 ruins also remain.  

Our main reason for visiting was to experience the Semana Santa festival and also for June to attend a Spanish school for a week – four years of Duolingo provides plenty of vocabulary but not all of it relevant to life on the road!  After 20 hours over five days of one on one tuition and conversation, I can definitely say the confidence in speaking has grown.

We arrived well ahead of Semana Santa, or Holy Week, to secure a good spot on the campsite which we knew would be busy.  Boy do they pack them in!  But despite all the rigs on site, we were not disturbed except for when one of the processions passed along the road right behind the van.

Semana Santa was like nothing we had ever experienced before; the sights, sounds and smells were an assault on the senses, all commemorating the final days of the life of Jesus.  There were daily processions involving thousands of people from the city and surrounding villages and vigils held in the churches.

The huge wooden andas, or floats, each weighing up to 3,000kg, were carried on the shoulders of over 100 cucuruchos (bearers) dressed in long robes with the main floats being followed by smaller ones carried by female cargadoras.  The highly decorated floats are surrounded by people swirling incense burners as they parade through the streets for hours at a time.

One of the joys of travelling is being able to immerse ourselves in new cultures and this was certainly an experience not to be missed.

There are places along the PanAmerican where travellers seem to congregate and Vagamundo Camping is one of them.  We are by no means alone on this route and in Antigua we met up with several other vans whose paths we had previously crossed on the way here: Roland and Coli who we last saw in Canada, Boris and Tanja with whom we spent Christmas, Seb, Franzi and family who we visited in Mexico after the birth of their daughter, and Bernie and Rolf who we saw just before we briefly returned to the UK at the end of 2024.  A few beers and long lunches were enjoyed, exchanging travel tales and future plans.

We returned to Antigua after our second trip to Lake Atitlan as we were still waiting for a delivery which had now been delayed several times. We walked over 20km in two days exploring the city now that the crowds of Santa Semana had gone.  We visited ruins and museums, punctuating our wanderings with good coffee and food.

We haven’t yet really touched on the restaurant scene; you can eat in small family establishments or opt for fine dining in restaurants up in the hills with views across the city. And as for the bakeries, well we weren’t deprived of good bread or cream cakes!

We had some amazing meals here mainly down to recommendations from Neil, a fellow Brit traveller who with his wife Pat, has spent a long time in Antigua.  We were hoping we’d actually manage to finally meet up in person but we missed each other by a few days.

The climate here was perfect – hot days and cool nights, and it was hard to drag ourselves away from Antigua, it really had everything we could have wanted and we will return.

For more photos take a look at our Facebook page ClewleysOnTour

Camp site 

Vagamundo Camping, Antigua: Q160p/n, Q140p/n for stays over 5 days.  Large grass campsite for any type of camper, RV, truck, and tents plus glamping in the various vehicles around the site.  Electric points and water taps are scattered around and there are no fixed pitches.  The site has toilets, showers, a pool and decent bar/restaurant, offers a laundry service and is a short walk from the city centre.  They are also happy to receive deliveries for those staying at the site.

Many people told us that Guatemala was their favourite Central American country and having spent six weeks there, we now understand why.

The crossing from Belize to Guatemala was straightforward if a bit admin intense.  Like many of these borders, you move between booths, cross the street for copies of the last stamp and back to another booth to get the final document in place.  We already have multiple copies of our documents but often customs want a copy of the stamp immigration has just put in your passport.

The eastern side of Guatemala is relatively low lying and covered in jungle so very hot and humid.  After a brief stop in Flores to restock the fridge and cupboards, and top up the water and LPG tanks we headed to one of Guatemala’s top tourist attractions, Tikal.

We’ve written a separate post on Tikal covering the process for entering the park and the tour we took. If you want to read that then click here.

After Tikal we moved south to the Rio Dulce for a few days in the marina there – we had use of the marina swimming pool and it was wonderful!  From here we took the collectivo boat service (basically a public bus equivalent) out to Livingston, a Garífuna community on the Caribbean coast.  The boat takes a couple of hours to get there, making stops along the way to pick up passengers and also to show the local flora and fauna.

The Garífunas descend from African slaves who were often survivors of shipwrecks and the indigenous people of San Vincent. In the late 18th century they were exiled from San Vincent by the British and now a few Garífuna communities are found along the Caribbean coasts of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua.  

We spent a couple of hours in Livingston and enjoyed a typical Garífuna meal whilst there.

As usual, after a few days the heat got to us so it was time to head to the mountains.  The drive was broken up by a couple of stops on the way before we arrived at Lake Atitlan and between here and Antigua Guatemala, the old capital, we’d spend the next five weeks.

Lake Atitlan is a huge volcanic lake, known as the deepest in Central America, and is surrounded by steep hills home to old Mayan and communities.  Access to several of these towns is only by boat and water taxis crisscross the lake all day. The taxis are easy to flag down and are a cheap way to explore the lake.

We visited the towns of San Marcos, San Pedro and San Juan with the latter being our favourite.  The first two are very much backpacker destinations but that’s not to say they are not worth visiting and in all three towns we drank good coffee and ate well!

A short walk from our campsite in Panajachel was the Atitlan Nature Reserve.  We didn’t see too many of the resident monkey troop, in fact we saw just the one, Thomas, but the butterfly house was well worth the visit.

The reserve also offers “extreme” activities including zip lining and BiciCable, where you “ride” a suspended bike along wires over the valley and jungle.  As we’re always up for something different, we gave the latter a go.  The wire is only 250m long (you cycle it twice, there and back) but riding up the second half each time was hard work but great fun and we’re glad we did it.

After our second visit to the lake we took a short trip north to the town of Chichicastenango, home to the largest market in Central America.  We found the same arts and crafts that we have seen in other places, not that that stopped us buying a couple of things! 

We wandered back into town again the following day to see a little more of the town without all the market stalls.

When not at Lake Atitlan we were in Antigua Guatemala but we did and saw so much there, I’ll leave it for another post!

Motorhoming in Guatemala

The roads varied from well maintained and smooth to tight cobbled streets, some with holes and many with túmulos (speed humps).  Local drivers were on the whole OK but never get in the way of a chicken bus enroute to somewhere – they don’t stop for anything! 

We were able to buy purified water and filled the tank either with a hose or if desperate by emptying 5 gallon containers (garrafons) into it. We did also fill from campsites as we have a filter system onboard and there were no repercussions from that.

LPG was widely available.  We are going through gas quite quickly but it’s for the fridge as we’re not hooking up often.

We use ultra-low sulphur diesel and we found plenty of Puma fuel stations stocking the fuel as “Ion Diesel”.  Nice price too – about 70p a litre!

Campsites ranged from very basic to all singing and dancing but there was not one we wouldn’t use again.  A number of restaurants and visitor attractions also allow overnight parking, often free to encourage you to eat there.

Campsites used

Camping Tikal: Q50pppn.  Camping on a large grass field a couple of minutes walk from the entrance to the ruins.  There are showers and toilets on site plus a couple of restaurants nearby.  It can be noisy but that’s from the sounds of the jungle rather than other campers!

Mar Marina, Rio Dulce: Q200p/n.  There is a small gravel car park by the yacht club reserved for RVs.  There are toilets, showers and electric hook up (available on request and at extra cost) and you also have access to the pool and restaurants.  Great location for accessing the boat trips along the Rio Dulce to Livingston.

IPasaj Cap, San Marcos, Lake Atitlan: Q100p/n for a grass pitch with water and EHU.  A tricky site to get to and get into;  there are lots of hairpins down to the lake and then the campsite is on a steep slope on the lakeside.  There was a large overland truck on the site and we can imagine it was quite an adventure to get there!  But once there it’s a great campsite within easy walking distance of San Marcos.  Pierre, the owner, butchers his own meat and also sells local fish – both were very reasonably priced.  They offer a laundry service and the site has its own dock from where you can flag down water taxis to get across the lake.

Camping Bahia Atitlan, Panajachel: Q200p/n.  Large grass area right on the lake.  Scattered electrical sockets attached to trees (hate to think what happens in the rain!), as well as a pool and restaurant on site.  The town of Panajachel, from where you can take water taxis across the lake, is a short walk away as well as the Atitlan Nature Reserve.  There was more rubbish across the site than we’d normally see but there had been some sort of festival there the previous week – we are aware of other RVs that had been hemmed in by the tents!

Casa Tzocoma RV Ecopark, Chichicastenango: Q100 p/n.  A great little forested campsite with lots of electric points, toilets, showers and most unusually, a proper dump point!  Really friendly and helpful owners.  The campsite is a 10 minute walk to town (all uphill on the way there) which is famous for holding the biggest outdoor market in Central America – the big market is Thursdays and Sundays.

Other park ups

El Centro Cultural Y Deportivo car park, near Flores: Free.  Large open car park for the sports ground.  No facilities but close to a large supermarket and a short walk to the island town of Flores.

Restaurant Marea Rojo, El Rancho: Free.  Large popular seafood restaurant on the main road across the country.  The restaurant was really busy when we arrived (it was a Sunday) but once it closed at 7pm, it was very quiet.  No facilities.  We ate in the restaurant and had enough leftover food in a takeaway box for lunch the next day!

Cabana Suiza Restaurant, near Guatemala City: Free.  A Swiss style chalet restaurant with a great view over the city.  Parking is on a grass field and there are toilets nearby.  We ate breakfast in the restaurant the following morning (it came recommended) and can confirm that it was a good recommendation.

There are so many stories about travelling in Mexico that we thought we’d put together a summary of our time there.  We spent six months in total, from September to March, travelling the length of Baja from Tecate before heading to the mainland where we turned south, then east across the Yucatán peninsula and finally exiting Mexico into Belize.

Security

Probably the first thought for anyone thinking of driving to Mexico – we had plenty of warnings about cartels and corrupt police!  We do take our safety seriously and set ourselves up to receive warnings from the UK Foreign Office to receive security updates on the country via email.  We also had a map of the country downloaded from both the UK and Australian governments to give us a visual image of the areas to be avoided due to cartel activity.

The police and military are highly visible and we’d see pick up trucks carrying armed personnel on a daily basis.  Checks on the road are common but we were not stopped very often and when we were, we were asked a couple of routine questions before being waived on.  

We had a plan between us for dealing with any difficult situations but we can gladly say that we never had to use them and felt safe for our entire time in Mexico.  

Roads and driving 

It’s safe to say that covering long distances in a motorhome in Mexico takes far more time than any sat-nav will tell you.  The toll roads are not too bad but other than that expect roads littered with potholes and topes (speed bumps).

Fuel stations are plentiful and we’d heard plenty of stories of scams operated by the attendants.  We almost exclusively used Pemex because their diesel was ultra low sulphur and they accepted credit cards.  One of the scams involves not zeroing the pump but the attendants we met usually pointed out that the pump showed zero.  They also bought the card machine to us so our card was never out of our sight.

Weather

Along the coasts it was either very hot or very hot and humid with nighttime temperatures of 23° to 28°C.However by heading inland and getting up into the mountains we found the perfect combination of warm days and cool nights.

Shopping

It’s probably quite shameful to say that we mostly shopped in Walmart and Costco, mostly because it was easy and we knew what we were getting. We did top up in some local markets but was a bit hit and miss with the small stores as to what stock they carried.

Food

We loved the food here and as it was so cheap, we ate out often.  We also learned not to be put off by the appearance of a place – we had some great food out of small family restaurants that you could easily walk past. 

Water

Even the locals don’t drink the tap water in Mexico and instead buy large 20l garrafones of water from a purification shop.  We were able to find plenty that had hoses so we could fill the tank directly.  We spent about £10 a month on water and we use the water from our tank for everything in the van – drinking, cooking, washing up and showers.  We do have a filter system and everything that comes out of our taps is filtered so in a few places we did fill up on campsites without any issues.

Campsites

Most of our favourite campsites were run by Europeans and former travellers – they know from experience what makes a good place to stay.  That’s not to say that non-European run sites were bad (some were exceptional), they were just different – usually not so well organised or maintained to such high standards but there’s nowhere we would not go back to.

For those with cassette toilets, dump stations are rare; we have a separating toilet which makes things a lot easier and emptied our grey tank on wasteland away from towns and rivers. 

Van storage 

We came home to the UK for a short visit and left our van on a campsite without any problems.  Many campsites offer this service. 

In Mexico we had a 10 year Temporary Import Permit as we are registered as a Motorhome on our registration document. We did not need to suspend our TIP.

The final leg of this tour of Mexico began with two weeks based in Santa Maria del Tule, a short drive from Oaxaca city, where we were joined by June’s daughters who had flown out from the UK for a holiday. 

We picked the campsite because it also had rooms for rent (as do many campsites here), had an airport nearby and most importantly, due to the number of personal recommendations we received!

Tule itself has a number of attractions including the world’s widest tree and some great food.  We ate at the Mercado Gastronómico several times as well as having lunch at Casa Embajador, a local mezcal producer.

With the hire car (it’s so good when the children are old enough to drive abroad!), we were able to explore the local area including the ruins at Mitla, the Zapotec’s main religious centre, known for its intricate geometric patterned architecture.

At Hierve El Agua two waterfalls are encrusted with petrified calcium carbonate and other minerals giving the impression that they are frozen.  

Oaxaca city is a great place to visit and has something for everyone. We took a taxi from the campsite and spent a day wandering around the major sites before lunch in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre and a drop or two of mezcal, accompanied by chapulines (cooked grasshoppers) overlooking the main square.

The hilltop Zapotec ruins of Monte Albán give great views over the surrounding countryside and are a fascinating place to visit.  

The girls and I also did an afternoon’s cooking class at Dos Corazones, learning to cook a few dishes passed down to Chef Adhey from her grandmother.  We booked this trough Tripadvisor and can highly recommend the activity.

Having bid farewell to the girls we headed to the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, avoiding the main town of Puerto Escondido to stay in San Agustin, a small village a little further south along the coast.  We were however defeated by the heat after a few days so started heading north and east as we moved inland.  

The Cañón del Sumidero was carved by the Río Grijalva and was formed about the same time as the Grand Canyon.  We took a boat trip along the river between the 1,000m walls, spotting the local wildlife.

We arrived in San Cristóbal de las Casas on Valentine’s Day and we’ve never seen anywhere decorated to celebrate all things love quite as much as here.  The town is located in the. mountains at almost 7,000 ft in altitude which made for the perfect weather of warm days and cool nights.

We were also recommended a great place to eat by fellow travellers which was close to the campsite.  You could quite easily walk past Comal but we had one of the best meals we’ve eaten in Mexico here, all cooked over a fire with the kitchen open to the diners.

We continued north from San Cristóbal following the scenic but previously too dangerous to drive, Highway 199, stopping at the Cascadas de Agua Azul, where the water really does live up to its name.

At the end of the highway lay the ruins of Palenque, one of Mexico’s most important archeological sites and definitely our favourite Mayan ruins.  The process for getting into the site was a little convoluted with us having to visit three different cashiers (job creation scheme?) before taking the shuttle bus to the entrance.  We loved the fact that on this mostly reconstructed site, we could really get amongst the ruins and climb on a couple of the pyramids.  We didn’t use a guide and found the site easy to navigate including the stretch through the jungle.

After a couple of days on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and meeting up with friends and fellow travellers in Merida, we began our tour of several cenotes, large water filled underground caves.  

Los Tres Cenotes de Cuzama are linked by a narrow gauge railway where you are pulled along the rails on rickety horse drawn carts.  The journey to the cenote was as much part of the fun as swimming in the beautiful clear waters of the cave.

Our last cenote was Choj Ha and we definitely left the best to last!  This was a large open cave with the roof completely covered in stalactites and the clearest water.

Our biggest disappointment was Chichén Itzá, Mexico’s most famous Mayan ruins.  The site was smaller than we expected and even by arriving as it opens, there was no escaping the crowds.  Unlike other sites you cannot get too close to the ruins and they allow hundreds of souvenir vendors to set up stands.  We were there a little more than an hour before deciding it was time to leave.

Our penultimate stop in Mexico was a couple of nights next to Bacalar Lagoon, the longest freshwater lake on the Yucatán peninsula. The lagoon is home to stromatolites, one of the oldest forms of life and thought to provide the earliest source of oxygen for life to begin on earth. 

Our final stop was a campsite/beach club and restaurant in Calderitas on the Caribbean Sea.  Not our usual type of campsite but a great place for us to gather everything we need to move on to our next country.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our posts from Mexico and we will do a summary of our time here shortly.

Campsites used

El Rancho, Santa Maria del Tule: MXP350pn on a fully serviced level grass pitch.  The site has toilets, showers, a well equipped kitchen area, a washing machine and lines, a swimming pool and a couple of rooms to rent.  It is a 10-15 minute walk into Tule for its restaurants and attractions, 20 minutes to Oaxaca city centre and 30 minutes to the airport, both by taxi.  

Camping Don Taco, Bahía de San Agustín: MXP350 pn. Beachside so parking on sand. Some sockets around to plug in, showers, toilets, kitchen area and large palapa with tables and hammocks.  Small area for van parking but lots of communal space and short walk to shops and restaurants. 

Camping & RV Park San Nicolás, San Cristóbal de las Casas: MXP350 pn on a fully serviced grass/gravel pitch.  Showers, toilets, kitchen and a large communal room with a pool table  – the town is at 7,000ft so the nights are cool. There’s a laundry close by and the town is about a 15 minute walk away.  Lots of trees around. 

Costa de Sol Camoung, Champotan: MXP100pppn basic beach camping (power available at extra cost) but you can still use the showers, toilets and swimming pool.  A fair distance from any town so you need to have anything you need with you. 

Cenote Xnuuk: MXP200pppn.  Small campsite with its own cenote run by a couple of German travellers.  No power except in the palapa.  Outdoor hot shower and composting toilets.  They offer a laundry washing service and they sell fresh bread when they bake.  Access to the cenote whenever you want.  

Yax-Ha Cabañas and Trailer Park, Calderitas: MXP350 pn.  Grass pitches with hook up, several water points (filter needed) and unusually, a dump point!  Access to the sea but it was a little rough when we visited so we didn’t try.  The site is shared with a restaurant which is open to the public and runs more like a beach club with a resident DJ blasting out music poolside from lunchtime until close.  Luckily for us we visited midweek and the music stopped relatively early.  Toilets and showers are used by both the campsite and the restaurant. We had a good meal at the restaurant but it was relatively expensive for Mexico; there are several more restaurants within easy walking distance but we were being lazy! 

Other park ups

Agua Blanca: MXP100pppn.  Small grassy, sloping parking area next to an event venue and the beach.  No services.  Quiet when we visited.

Pemex, Zanatepec: Free.  A bit of road noise but relatively quiet until the night attendant decided to blast the radio through the tannoy system in the early hours for a couple of hours!

Cañón de Sumidero car park: Free.  Car park for the canyon boat trips.  No services except toilets during the day.  The security guard closes the gate at night so it’s very quiet.  

Cascadas de Agua Azul car park: Free (you pay a fee to enter the park).  Large car park area for the falls where it is possible to stay overnight.  The area is full of shops and restaurants but they are quiet at night. 

La Chiapaneca Restaurant, Palenque: MXP250 pn.  Parking in the grounds of the restaurant, a short drive from the ruins.  Electric is available at an extra cost.  There is a pool but it didn’t look too clean when we were there.  A little road noise.

Los Tres Cenotes de Cuzama car park: Free.  Large grass field used for parking for the cenotes tour.  Toilets available during the day and very quiet once everyone had left for the day.

Near Chichen Itza: Free parking next to a large sports field.  Nothing there but a great location from which to get to the ruins first thing.

Cenote Choj Ha: MXP100pppn.  Overnight parking in the cenote’s small car park so again quiet once everyone has left.  Toilet and showers on site but possibly only when the cenote is open.

Laguna Bonanza, near Bacalar: MXP150pppn.  You are allowed to camp in their car park (we were in a grassy area so as not to block the main parking area) which also has a toilet and shower block.  Located right on the lagoon and the restaurant is open at weekends.  Insect repellent is a must!

This entry is titled as such as we loosely followed a tour with the same name in our Lonely Planet guidebook taking a large loop around the northern central highlands.  This area takes in colonial cities, Mayan ruins and beautiful natural spots.

We began by spending New Year in San Miguel de Allende, a former colonial town now inhabited by artists and North American expats.  The orange hued houses and cobbled streets make this a great place to wander around or just sit in the main square, drink coffee and watch the world go by. 

We went to the main square for the New Year celebrations and the Mexicans certainly know how to party!

The next colonial city was Guanajuato, a former centre for gold and silver mining nestled in a steep sided valley.  Whilst in the town we encountered some of the Three Kings Day celebrations – lots of music, dancing and parades in this case.

Puebla is known for its Talavera tiles which have created some of the most decorated churches we have seen and for its mole, a sauce made of a blend of chillies, nuts and other spices.  The typical mole here is brown, rather than the black Oaxacan version, using raisins to sweeten the dish rather than chocolate.

The geology of Mexico with its volcanic history has created stunning scenery and many spots for outdoor swimming, either in cenotes, flooded limestone caves, or in thermal rivers.

Our first spot was at Puente de Dios, a cenote with a collapsed roof so open to the sky.  We didn’t swim here as it was raining and comparatively cold, but we did explore some of the site on foot.

Our next stop was El Salto, but unfortunately for us our timing was off and the water which cascades over the waterfall was literally turned off by the hydroelectric company at the end of the falls.

We headed to the town of Tanchachin, driving mile after mile through fields full of sugar cane.  From here we took a boat trip to the Cascadas de Tamul where the water was definitely flowing.  It’s a trip we really enjoyed but word of warning, you have to row the boat yourself! The boats usually take a minimum of 8 passengers but we were with just two others so had to work a little harder to get to the falls.

A little off the beaten track is the Sótano de las Golondrinas, the largest known cave shaft in the world and the second deepest pit in Mexico, which twice a day is witness to the fight of thousands of white-collared swifts.  Just after dawn they slowly spiral out of the cave and fly away,  and just before dusk, they return.  We paid to enter twice to see both events.

The gardens of Las Pozas, near Xilitla, are the creation of eccentric Englishman Edward James.  He took inspiration from many sources to construct weird and wonderful concrete structures in the jungle.  The site was left to decline but is now slowly being restored and definitely worth a visit.

The Grutas de Tolantongo is a real tourist attraction (and charges accordingly) but we visited midweek when it is considerably quieter.  The site consists of caves, thermal pools and a warm, blue river along with shops and restaurants.  We try to avoid busy places but we couldn’t not visit here!

We found Mexico’s version of the Giant’s Causeway in the San Miguel Regla area.  The Prismas Basálticos are in a large park and you are able to walk in next to the columns.

Reading about the region’s mining history we were surprised to find references to Cornwall (yes the one in the UK).  The miners came over to share their expertise in the gold and silver mines but also bought with them, the Cornish pasty.  The pasty continues to be eaten today, although now containing fillings to suit Mexican tastes, and at the Museo del Paste, you can make your own and leave it to bake whilst you take a tour of the museum.  

For some Mayan history we headed to the east of Mexico City, to Teotihuacan, the region’s most significant archaeological site.  We didn’t take a guide but as many of the information boards are also in English we don’t feel we missed anything.  The site consists of three pyramids, the Pirámide del Sol, the Pirámide de la Luna and the Templo de Quetzalcoatl, linked  y the Calzada de los Muertos, the Avenue of the Dead.

The following morning we took a sunrise hot air balloon trip over the site (not expensive we thought at about £95 each which included, for us a flight of 45 minutes, tea/coffee with biscuits beforehand and a buffet breakfast afterwards).  This was definitely the way to see the entire Teotihuacan site and appreciate it’s splendour.

We also tried to visit the Pirámide Tepanapa in Cholula.  This pyramid is the world’s largest yet it looks nothing more than a small hill which is because almost the entire building is underground.  Unfortunately when we visited the tunnels into the pyramid were closed but we did walk up to the 16th century Santuario Nuestra Señora de los Remedios Catholic church which sits atop the pyramid.

Campsites used

San Miguel de Allende RV Park and Tennis Courts:  MXP500 p/n for a fully serviced, gravel pitch.  This is expensive by Mexican standards but has a well kept shower/toilet block and is in an ideal location for walking into town, so worth the extra money in our opinion.  Entrance is a bit tight through the small streets and larger rigs should follow the instructions on iOverlander as to the best route in.

Morrill RV Park, Guanajuato: MXP300 p/n with electric and water available on some pitches.  Has a decent shower and toilet block. This is nothing more than a car park really and vans are packed in and some areas are on quite a slope.  However again it is within walking distance of the town centre; downhill all the way there and definitely a workout on the way back if you don’t take a taxi.

Campamento Puente de Dios: MXP260 p/n but we’re not sure what this actually should have included as the one person we saw wasn’t very communicative!  It’s a forested site and it was raining so we didn’t venture too far from the entrance gate (also needed no trees for Starlink!).  We had intended to stay for two nights but the weather was showing no sign of improving so after visiting the cenote we moved on.

Campamento Tiempo & Espacio, Tanchachin:  MXP200 p/n including water and electric.  We received a really warm welcome to this little site nestled in amongst sugar cane plantations.The pitch was grass so a little muddy after the rain and we were able to use blocks to even out the slope.  They were great in helping us sort our trip to the Cascadas de Tamul and provided lunch for us when we returned which prompted an unexpected cooking and spice lesson from Lucy, one of the owners. The town has a good selection of restaurants all within easy walking distance.

Casa James Hotel, Spa & Museum, Xilitla: MXP300 to park overnight in the hotel car park which is close to Las Pozas. There is a toilet block in the car park and we spent a quiet night there.

Grutas de Tolantongo: MXP50 per day to park which allows for an overnight stay but on top of that it is MXP230 per person entry each day and a two night stay actually means three days of charges.  Camping for vans is in the car park so no facilities but the wider site has toilets, showers, water, small stores and restaurants.  We had a great couple of days there but best to avoid weekends when it gets very busy.

Prismas Basalticos Ecopark, Regla: MXP100 per person, per day entry. Like several other attractions, overnight parking is allowed in the car park and there is a grassy camping area but you pay for two days’ entry.  The park has toilets, showers, a swimming pool area, shops and restaurants. We had a quiet night once the bars closed (about 11pm). 

Teotihuacán Trailer Park: MXP300 p/n including water and electric.  Parking is on grass.  Site is a little bit messy with some old vehicles there as well as some vans in storage but the owner is really friendly and helpful and the site is within easy walking (3km flat) of the ruins.

Other park ups

Pemex fuel station near Ráyon: Free.  We stayed overnight at the back of the fuel station to break up a long drive.  There were a few dogs around but it was a quiet night.  

El Salto car park: Free. We asked to stay overnight after visiting the waterfall and it wasn’t a problem.  The site was very quiet.

Cave of the Swallows car park: Free.  When we visited it was very quiet and we were able to stay in the small roadside parking area next to the cave entrance.  We were on quite a slope however!

Pemex Fuel station near Zimapán: MXP50 – not sure if this was an official fee or it went straight into the attendant’s pocket but for £2 we were happy to pay it to break up another long driving day.  We parked at the rear of the fuel station and had a quiet night.

Pirámide Tepanapa car park, Cholula: MXP200 per night.  One of the car parks for the pyramid allows overnight parking.  It has toilets and the attendants are very keen to offer car washing, at a price!

Walmarts car park, Tehuacan:  Free.  It’s a Walmart car park so not much to say other than it was surprisingly quiet! 

Jardín Botánico Zapotitlán Salinas: MXP200 per night.  This is part of a larger nature reserve and we were able to park in the area of the cabins.   No services but very quiet and amazing dark skies for stargazing. 

Having safely crossed the border (see previous post) it was straight into the mayhem of Tecate and finding our way around a Mexican supermarket.  

From there it was on to our first stop which was recommended to us by @giasa.inviadi who we “met” on Instagram but who we’d meet for real at the ranch. It was great to be able to sit down with them, Raul (one of the ranch owners) and a map to plot out a route for Baja.

We basically zigzagged across the peninsula from one beach to another, moving from the heat on the Sea of Cortez to the humidity of the Pacific with one stay in the mountains for a couple of cool, dry days.

Baja is known for its beaches but the forested mountains of the Sierra de San Pedro Martin were a welcome change of scenery and at over 8,000ft a blessed relief from the sun and heat.

A little south from the Sierra is the area around Cataviña, a weird landscape of huge boulders and larger cacti.  

The landscapes have certainly been very different to what we expected and much of the central area is remote desert and extinct volcanoes.  

Motorhoming on Baja

The most difficult thing so far has been negotiating the pot holes in the roads! It doesn’t matter if you’re on the main north-south road or in a small town – every so often the tarmac is broken up, undulating or just not there. 

And if you dare to explore a little further then it’s dirt tracks and topes, speed bumps to us Brits, in a multitude of sizes.  On the plus side we’ve encountered no road rage and driving, on the whole, is quite a leisurely experience.  

No-one drinks the tap water here so we’re buying all our water from Agua Purificada shops and they are everywhere.  We are using iOverlander to find those which have a hosepipe rather than using the 20l “garrafon” containers used by locals – think the big bottles on office water coolers.  In most places it would have cost us under £5 to fill our 120l tank and despite our water filter system, we think it’s a price worth paying!

We’ve had no issues with finding fuel and all but two garages have accepted our credit card.  We are aware of a number of potential scams involving fuel stations so are extra vigilant each time we fill up but so far, we’ve had no problems.

You definitely need a constant supply of cash! Most fuel stations and large grocery stores will accept cards but for campsites it has been cash only.  We both each have Monzo and Revolut accounts so can easily withdraw sufficient cash without any UK charges but there are local fees to pay.

Wild camping is not easy in our vehicle as we cannot get too far off the beaten track but campsites are, in relative terms, cheap.  We are also conscious of our security so only wild camp where we feel safe. We’ve paid between MXP150 and MXP500 per night, the equivalent of £5.80 to £19.30 at today’s rate and what you get for that varies widely – just don’t try to compare with any sites back home. We are dry camping so no hook up and we don’t use the campsite water to top up the tank.  It has been a little difficult to truly rate the campsites as we are still very early in the season so have had most places to ourselves (not that we are complaining about that!) and a lot of places are still preparing to open fully.

Campsites used

Rancho La Bellota: no set fee but a donation is appreciated. Our introduction to Baja and a great start.  This is a working ranch and has accommodation for fee paying guests but also a small area set aside for passing travellers with its own toilet and shower.  Spring water is available and the spring also feeds a small swimming pool. All very clean and well looked after. Raul is a font of knowledge for Baja and recommended places all along the peninsula.  He and his wife Caroline made us feel very welcome.  Only downside is the 17km of off-road driving to get to the ranch.

Campo Meneses, nr Ensenada: MXP500 p/n. The most expensive site we’ve used so far but wasn’t really much more than a car park for the beach. Basic showers and toilets.

Don Eddies, San Quintin: MXP325 p/n.  As we didn’t need hook up (extra cost) we were able to park on the water’s edge.  We had access to a shower and toilet.  Restaurant and bar on site.

Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Martin: MXP60.67 per day entrance fee to the park which includes camping.  The access was a bit bumpy and probably not for big rigs.  Forested campsite and we noticed a couple of Portaloos.  Well worth the 100km drive from the main road.

Quinta Cristina, south of San Quintin: MXP200 p/n. A small seaside campsite but a bit of a gem – we planned two nights but stayed for five! There are no specific pitches but there are several palapas scattered around, each with a water tap, table and BBQ grill.  There are also a couple of Portaloos. No beach to speak of but the sea is accessible.  The owner came round a couple of times a day to check everything was ok.  It’s a local fishing point and families would come to fish and have a BBQ.

Papa Fernandez, near Willard: MXP150 p/n.  Beach camping on the Sea of Cortez.  Several toilets  (Portaloo or pit toilets – it was hard to tell!) but the reviews said not to use them so we didn’t.  Restaurant has good reviews but was closed when we visited.  Great beach for bird watching.

Guerrero Negro Campground: MXP350 p/n on a fully serviced pitch. Toilet and shower available.  Nothing more than a large, open car park which was fine for a stopover as we headed south.  The campsite is behind Mario’s Restaurant which was recommended to us.  We ate there and the food was fine but as we were the only ones there, the atmosphere was lacking a little! 

Wild camping spots 

Condor viewpoint – on the road to San Pedro Martir.  Sadly no condors but a great spot with amazing views out to the Pacific.

Cactus camp, Cataviña – a night hiding in amongst the boulders and cacti.

Playa La Gringa, Bahia de Los Angeles – a large area of wild camping on the beach with the town not too far for amenities.  Toilets available as you enter the beach but follow the road round for parking on more solid ground. Great place for bird and wildlife watching.  We took a wildlife boat trip with a company in town and it was amazing – blue footed boobies, ospreys, pelicans, sea lions and whale sharks.