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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

The last country in the Guyanas, was Guyana. This is the biggest of the three, both counting the area and the size of the population. Our first stop after the ferry across the Courantyne River was New Amsterdam where we spent the first night. The border crossing took a very long time as there was only a couple of ferries per day, and it was a long time to wait in the queue. We also spent a considerable amount of time buying the mandatory car insurance, with a person from

Arriving in Suriname via the last ferry for the weekend, at around 6pm, was to say the least, stressful. The immigration process was friendly and easy going, but slow, and the officers were held up by the young woman who sold car insurance (mandatory) as she also had to crack a few jokes with everyone in the queue. In the end they all worked at the same time, sort of ignoring the protocol, and they were finally free to go home for Friday partying. We had no such fun to do,

It is said that a loved child have many names, and so it is with French Guiana. Locals call it Guyane, and some say French West Indies. It is a french overseas department of France, and therefore part of the European Union. This is very noticeable with the availability of food brands, the use of the Euro for the currency, and the official language being French. As a bonus we could use our UK mobile accounts as if we were roaming in Europe. Crossing the border from Brazil

This involved a ferry ride, a surprise experience in Macapá, and a long drive on roads that were much better than their reputation. We spent a couple of days in Belém, the city on the edge of the delta of the Amazon River. This is the last city on the south end, and known for being a place where you have to be awake with what is going on around you. We arrived late on a Tuesday, organised a taxi to take us to buy ferry tickets on the Wednesday, and were ready to sail on the