TC in South America / Design choices
My wife and I just returned from a 21 month trip, 12 months of which were spent touring South America in a TC. Yesterday I had posted a link to our route, you can find that posting here in the RV'i...
Forum Discussion
Jefe - We did call the folks who are arranging the Overland Expo, but the program was already full. Who knows. perhaps next year.
I fully agree with the "run watcha brung"; the fact is you can do the same trip we did in almost any vehicle. Sure, some are better than others, but no matter how bad the road is in South America, you will always see a Toyota or VW van of some sort, used as a mini-bus (collectivo), that made it down the same road (the passengers may have to get out and push from time to time though). To be noted is that we did not seek out true 4x4, rock-crawling tracks - we have many of those in Colorado - but we would go down most any other road.
And if we give an overland presentation, that will be the gist of it: anyone can do this. At times I think we all get too caught up in, or are too fearful of, the vehicle / equipment side of the equation, and thereby don't get around to actually making the trip.
Below is a pic from the Oberland Hotel in La Paz, Bolivia. The Oberland is a well known place where overland vehicles are welcome, hence the number of vehicles in one place. From left, you have a Swiss MAN based vehicle ($500k+), ours, a Mercedes panel van based camper, and a Toyota HiLux based, rented, truck camper. I'm sure they all worked fine. That said, I still think a truck camper on a 2500/3500 truck, is a great choice for these types of trips. Very capable, rugged, comfortable, and comparatively inexpensive.
Cheers, Henrik
I fully agree with the "run watcha brung"; the fact is you can do the same trip we did in almost any vehicle. Sure, some are better than others, but no matter how bad the road is in South America, you will always see a Toyota or VW van of some sort, used as a mini-bus (collectivo), that made it down the same road (the passengers may have to get out and push from time to time though). To be noted is that we did not seek out true 4x4, rock-crawling tracks - we have many of those in Colorado - but we would go down most any other road.
And if we give an overland presentation, that will be the gist of it: anyone can do this. At times I think we all get too caught up in, or are too fearful of, the vehicle / equipment side of the equation, and thereby don't get around to actually making the trip.
Below is a pic from the Oberland Hotel in La Paz, Bolivia. The Oberland is a well known place where overland vehicles are welcome, hence the number of vehicles in one place. From left, you have a Swiss MAN based vehicle ($500k+), ours, a Mercedes panel van based camper, and a Toyota HiLux based, rented, truck camper. I'm sure they all worked fine. That said, I still think a truck camper on a 2500/3500 truck, is a great choice for these types of trips. Very capable, rugged, comfortable, and comparatively inexpensive.
Cheers, Henrik
