​

View from the balcony in May 2026 Around 17 months after we left to go on our trip of a lifetime, we were back where we started from. We left winter and darkness, and returned to spring and light. It will take time to process the experience, and to actually believe it - we have done this amazing thing. We have been appreciating our enormous luck to be in a position to be able to do this trip, as well as luck in quite a few situations along the way. No matter how cautious y

Country Border entry Stays Costa Rica Started there Sixaola-Guabito (returning to where we started from) San José Quetzal Cerro de la Muerte Dominical Ojochal San José Panamá Paso Canoas (1st entry) Panama Airport (2nd entry) David Santiago Panamá City Colon Boquete Bocas del Toro Colombia Cartagena Airport (1st entry) Puente Internacional Atanasia Girardot (2nd entry) Cartagena Historic Center Cartagena Manga Barranquilla Buenavista Medellin V

When we entered Panama in 2025, we needed to move on as we had a ship to get to. We saw the west of the country, but nothing of the east. Panama is a small country and there is one road to go to Panama City. Now we drove this same road in the other direction to get back to David, and from there we turned east to reach the border from Bocas del Toro in Panama to Limon in Costa Rica. Our first stop was Boquete. This area in the mountains was completely different from what w

To do a road trip you will need wheels. This is so obvious it is a bit like saying you will need oxygen, but what kind of wheels? In our case we went through a process over several months when we investigated the trip itself, as in what route to take, what place to start in, what the best country to buy a car in would be, etc. We landed on, after a lot of thinking, that we would do a figure 8, starting and finishing in San Jose, Costa Rica, and that the initial trip would b

Once the car was loaded, we couldn't wait to leave Cartagena. Not because we were not having every service there, but because we had really spent enough time in the stifling hot weather. The hotel we were in both in 2025 and in 2026 had come to feel like home, and the staff gave us desert on the house and a lovely card before we left. The car was loaded on a Thursday, and Friday we set out to get tickets to fly to Panama. This turned out to be easier said than done. Again

Remembering the long wait we had in Cartagena when we arrived in Colombia in 2025, we were now waiting there again - this time to load the car back on a ship to get it sent to Panama. However, we were now more experienced, and knew where to stay to be conveniently close to the port. There are lots of other parts of Cartagena, but to be safe from floodings with heavy rain, tourist traffic and whatever other event that could stop us, we stayed again in Manga. We were 8 minute

The first place in Colombia, on this second part of our stay there, was Cúcuta, the border city where we entered from Venezuela. We stayed a couple of nights just to sleep and recover a bit from the stress of the border crossing. We did a city walk on our own, and enjoyed the scenery and the fact that in Colombia you get vegetables for breakfast. Good ones! From Cúcuta we booked the car shipment from Cartagena to Panama, and we now had about a week to make our way and be

In order to reach the border with Colombia, we drove from Caracas to San Cristobal. Daniel, one of our receptionists in Brasilia, and his father had put together a safe route for us to take, but we ended up changing one leg after advice from our tour guide in Caracas. We drove from Caracas to Barquisimeto, then to Barinas, on to Merida, and to the last stay in San Cristobal. Well, that was the plan. The first section was surprisingly dry, and there were a lot of fires fi

Our next stop was Caracas, the capital. This was the last capital city on the tour and we didn’t want to miss it. The drive from El Tigre was long, but the roads were good and at least in parts the scenery was beautiful. Harold had imagined nature to be green and lush, but instead we got mainly tropical dry forest, with little vegetation and the ground being very dry as it was the peak of the dry season. Arriving to the hotel was easy, and the road we were on took us str

There was a sense of familiarity, and at the same time a difference, getting back to Brazil. This time entering from Lethem, we arrived in Boa Vista in the northern part of Brazil, with the car limping along after the rough drive in the mud and on the dirt road. Even after the car wash in Lethem, the mud was stuck everywhere underneath, causing a rattle so we had to drive slowly. Boa Vista was a different Brazilian city. We needed another car wash, and as we arrived on a S