Trek of the Americas review

[BE]

Hi all,

I am posting this as a warning and to hopefully save some others from making the same mistake we made.

My wife and I traveled in our truck and camper on the Trek of the Americas caravan trip in 2013.
I would rate it a 1 out of 5.
Extremely poorly run and way overpriced.
The owner/tour guide from Adventure Trek is not trustworthy nor reliable.

We paid for the 120 day Trek of the Americas to the tip of South America.
We traveled to Panama in less than 35 days where things with the tour really fell apart.
We spent the month of September traveling back to the US.
Much of Sept was spent waiting for the tour operator to obtain parts and repairs for his vehicle.

July 26, 2013 - this was called the rendezvous day near McAllen, TX
Aug 30, 2013 - it became very apparent in Panama that the tour was not going to be fulfilled.
(we were the only RV left to continue travel to South America)
Oct 1, 2013 - back to the US

Although the guide purported to travel by Ford diesel pick-up and Lance camper on this forum, he was using an older Class C when we traveled with him.
My wife and I were as prepared as we could be for travel in Central and South America.
We had full servicing and upgrades done to our truck and carried numerous spare parts.
However, the tour operator was not at all prepared.
All of the mechanical issues and significant delays were a result of the tour operators unpreparedness.
He did not carry any spare parts, nor was his vehicle ready for this kind of travel.

Please, please, please ask for RECENT references if you decide to look into this caravan trip.
We were promised the tip of Argentina but never made it past Panama.

Also, please meet this guy in person and make your own assessment of his character before committing to this tour.
Your assessment of his character will NOT improve as you travel along with him.

In hindsight, there were many red flags that I ignored because of my strong desire to make this trip.
I'm hoping others will complete their "due diligence" prior to handing over their hard earned money to this outfit.

He also tries to sell Relocation (Ex-pat) tours to Panama on his websites - buyer beware!

...best regards, brad

PS:
He operates under the following names, as well;
Pathfinder Adventure Services, LLC
Adventuretours
Norman Yelland

Please do not confuse Adventuretrek (singular) with another company named Adventure Treks (plural) - mainly geared to teens

[bka0721]

jefe_4x4, as always you share sage advice.

Like you I have learned that I enjoy meeting individuals, but pine for the solitude and remote camps. So much so my NPS duty station, this summer, will again be removed from where I will be camped with my TC/camp. I will be able to work and share with the visitors to the park, but then retreat far away.

The Overland Expo was an awakening to me in how I plan, meet up and how often. I don't want to ever experience that feeling again. Life is too short to repeat things that doesn't work for you.


b

[jefe_4x4]

Brad,
Interesting post. Caveat emptor! I'm really sorry that you had such a bad experience. The Tour of the Americas was on my radar when I was younger but I put it down by making multiple trips to Baja California in the 60's -80's.
People who ply off-road style truck campers (XTC's) are by and large a solitary lot. Why is this? Experience. Almost every time Jeanie and I took a neophyte TC-er out, or tent camper, or hard core jeeper out on a remote pleasure cruise, there was inevitably a clash of style of operation that forced us to make up the difference and pick up the pieces. Yes, your close circle of friends who are of the same TC- ilk are like old shoes. No problem to big to be solved on the fly. Our antidote to this is to rely more on our own devices and just go off by ourselves. It's not that we are unsociable, but just been stung too many times with people who don't have a clue. My College saying says what I need to say: We know what we know. We don't know what we don't know. The problem is, we don't know that we don't know what we don't know.
IF....i were to do the Americas I would find someone who has done it before and anxious to do it again. Then, I would limit the group to maybe three rigs. The very important part would be the woe that you eluded to, namely the importance of thorough preparation. When i was a hard core jeeper, I carried a LOT of spare parts along including an on-board stick welder, axles, tie rods, bearings, u-joints, plates and angle, a 2-ton come along, winch, 12 ton jack, scissor jack, 60 inch farm jack, distributor cap, fuel pump, full oil change, spare transfer case, all hoses, a couple main springs, and....you get the idea. preparation for any contingency. Used most of it over a 30 year period.
Thanks for the heads up. If just one person is spared because of your post, it was time well spent.
jefe

[BE]

Hi again,

Thanks for your comments.
There IS much more to the story.
However, with this post, I am simply trying to caution others from making the same expensive mistake we made.
The reason I am posting now is because the owner of the company has recently been posting on both the Truck Camper forum and the RVing in Mexico and SA forum using various aliases (against forum rules). His posts try to gain interest in a subject. Then there is a subtle follow-up mention of his company/tour "Trek of the Americas".
Instead of responding to each post, I've decided to make one of my own.
Some of his past posts that I commented on were deleted due to his "advertising" against the rules of the forum.
My post is intended to give others a heads-up when dealing with this company and individual - while staying within the rules of the forum.
You can be the final judge.

By the way, the people of Mexico and Central America we met were terrific, friendly, giving people. There are many ways to do this trip without using a disreputable firm. Don't make the same mistake we made.

...best regards, brad

[Reality_Check]

2+ years later for the TR/review, there just has to be more to the story/saga???

Just more curious now.

[fpoole]

Interesting and helpful, thanks for the post...
I've always wanted to do it, but it'll have to wait for the "Next Life"..
Hope the trip to the Canal was at least a good one... aside from the repairs he needed...
fun.. sorta..?
thanks..