Max and Christine

As mentioned in the last posting, we have had a couple of days to relax and explore Ushuaia and its surroundings. It has been sufficiently fantastic that I am moved to post another blog. This is mainly due to our visit yesterday to a Penguin reserve. Not only were the Penguins themselves superb, the journey to the island along the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego was an absolute treat from a scenery perspective. I'll let the pictures do the talking - hope you enjoy them... PS - interesting factoid - Ushuaia was founded as a penal colony on the remotest island available off the south of the land mass. A bit like the Isle of Wight.... read more

Literally. Since riding into Patagonia, both Chilean and Argentinian, the temperature has plummeted. Our first clue as to the coming change in climactic conditions was during a border crossing, where as we climbed up across the Andes once more, the rain began to turn to snow, and the temperature gauge on the bike dropped to 1 degree Celsius. Not great on a motorbike. At least we had changed our now bald road tyres for full on knobblies in advance of the dirt roads ahead, affording at least some modicum of grip in the thick snow. Since then, the weather has been somewhat up and down - sunny and cold on some days, allowing spectacular views, and rainy and foggy on others, leaving us riding through allegedly incredible scenery unable to see much beyond the end of ... read more

Entering Peru was a bit of a shock after the varied and generally colourful landscapes of Colombia and Ecuador. As soon as we crossed the mountainous border into the north, we dropped down to the coastal desert, which stretches all the way down the country to the West of the Andes. Frankly, it's a bleak, sunblasted and windblown place, the monotony of the endless sand landscapes being livened up only by the frequent piles of landfill at the side of the Pan American Highway, and the occasional semi-ruined shack or building. The towns in this region, which are well off the beaten tourist trail, can best be described as 'real'. No complaints, though; it's all part of the whole 'adventure motorcycling' thing. It's there to be ridden through, so you get the whole experience, warts and ... read more

'Nuff said - simply being able to come and ride through this fantastic country is a major result, as up until recently, there's no way that Foreign Office advice would have allowed an overland bike trip like this to take place (insurance etc). Here's the story since Panama... Crossing the Darien Gap This is one hundred miles of swamp and jungle that separates Panama from Colombia. For economic/geographical/logistical/political reasons (choose one or more of the above), no-one has yet built a road through it, so we had to park ourselves (and our bikes) into planes for the one hour flight to Bogota. Riding Colombia! The tourist industry for Gringos is steadily trying to get back on its feet here, after a number of years of 'issues'. Hence, the BMW bike dealerships in Bogota and Medellin were ... read more

Excuse me while I dust off the old 'you couldn't make it up' cliche, but that really is the name of the (ex) President of Honduras, who was unfortunately (for him) removed by military coup a few months ago. However, it wouldn't have felt like an authentic trip through Central America if there wasn't some kind of large scale political turmoil underway, so hats off to Honduras for stepping up to the plate and giving us a good old fashioned military backed junta-state to ride through. Apart from being stopped at army checkpoints every now and again, and having to negotiate the occasional pro or anti coup demonstration, it didn't have too much of an impact on us, and gave us plenty to talk to the locals about. Near the border with Guatemala, we visited the ... read more