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Final Post…

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

Good news! The minivan arrived completely intact, even with 6 bottles of wine, 3 bottles of champagne, 5 bottles of Pisco Sour, one bottle of Pisco and one bottle of Fernet. Getting the minivan back is like an early Christmas present; we are delighted to open the bags of souvenirs that we bought in Chile and Argentina, as well as have our “old” stuff back.

Here are some factoids about the trip:

Travelled 7 months and 1 week
Visited 12 countries
Slept in 91 different places
Spent $68,000 (only $3,000 over budget)
Took 5 flights (Panama-Cartagena, Galapagos, Nazca Lines, Santiago-San Francisco)
Took 2 ferries with the car (La Paz to Mazatlan and Lake Ometepe, Nicaragua) 

Here is an overview of the best and worst…

Best meat
Paul: Filet from finca in Argentina
Karen: Parrilla (grill) from finca in Argentina
Connor: Ostrich meat in Portillo, Chile
Quinn: Parrilla (grill) from finca in Argentina 

Best seafood
Paul: Seviche and locos (abalone) La Serena, Chile
Connor and Quinn: Dad’s clams in Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja 
Karen: Nothing

Best sweets
Paul: Alfajores from Termas de Rio Honda, Argentina
Karen and Quinn: Chocolate from Bariloche, Argentina
Connor: Nothing

Best wine
Paul and Karen: Malbec from Argentina

Best cold beverage
Paul: Tona (beer) from Nicaragua
Karen: Pisco sour from Chile
Connor and Quinn: Postobon soda from Columbia

Best hot beverage
Paul and Karen: Tinto (coffee) from Columbia
Connor: Coffee from plantation in Jinotega, Nicaragua
Quinn: Mate from Argentina

Best land adventure
Paul: Hiking Masaya volcano in Nicaragua
Karen and Quinn: Rappelling down a waterfall in Los Banos, Ecuador
Connor: Caving in San Gil, Columbia

Best water adventure
Paul: Snorkeling with the sharks in Galapagos, Ecuador
Karen: Snorkeling in Boca de Torres, Panama
Connor: Snorkeling with sea lions in Galapagos, Ecuador
Quinn: Kayaking in Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua

Scariest adventure
Paul: Tipping the boat into shark infested waters in Boca de Torres, Panama
Karen and Connor: Swimming with the sharks in Galapagos, Ecuador
Quinn: River rafting in San Gil, Columbia

Best lake
Paul and Quinn: Laguna Coatepeque in El Salvador
Karen: Laguna de Apoyo in Nicaragua
Connor: Lago Atitlan, Guatemala

Best beach
Paul and Karen: San Patricio – Melaque, Mexico
Connor: Cartagena, Columbia
Quinn: Monterrico, Guatemala

Best modern attraction
Paul: Yoko Termales hot springs in Costa Rica
Karen and Quinn: Panama Canal
Connor: Botero exhibit at art museum in Medellin, Columbia

Best ancient attraction
All: Machu Pichu, Peru

Scariest place
Paul: Getting lost at the Guatemalan – Mexican border
Karen and Connor: Santa Ana, El Salvador
Quinn: No where – “I was never scared.”

Weirdest attraction
Paul: X2 at Magic Mountain, California
Karen: Mud baths in volcano in Columbia
Connor: Fried ants and ant statue in San Gil, Columbia
Quinn: Bidets in every bathroom in Argentina

Best resort
Paul, Karen and Quinn: Portillo, Chile
Quinn: Hotel Punto Condor in Bariloche, Argentina

Best hotel
Paul, Karen and Connor: Barcelo, Guatemala City
Quinn: Hotel no name at Ojo de Agua, Argentina (where we stayed on Quinn’s birthday)

Best campsite
Paul: Playa Azul, Mexico
Karen: Bahia de la Concepcion, Mexico
Connor: Bahia de Los Angeles, Mexico
Quinn: None

Best shopping
Paul: Lider supermercado in La Serena, Chile
Karen: Artisan markets in Cuzco, Peru
Connor: Shopping malls in Medellin, Columbia
Quinn: Gaucho pants and hat in Termas de Rio Honda, Argentina

Most beautiful women
All: Columbia

Most handsome men
Karen: Argentina

Friendliest people
Paul and Quinn: Argentina
Karen and Connor: Columbia

Best dueno (hotel owner)
Paul and Karen: Enrique from finca in Argentina
Connor: Hotel owner at Hotel Camino Real Turistica in Puno, Pero
Quinn: Marcelo at the no name hotel in Ojo de Agua, Argentina

Best host
All: Carlos from Medellin, Columbia

Best drivers
All: Chile

Worst drivers
Paul and Quinn: Guatemala
Karen: Ecuador
Connor: Costa Rica

Easiest border crossing
Paul, Karen and Quinn: Chile – Argentina
Connor: Ecuador – Peru

Worst border crossing
All: El Salvador to Honduras

Hasta luego a nuestra proxima adventura!

Posted in Travel | 2,435 Comments »

Our Travel Plans

Friday, August 6th, 2010

We finally made it to Chile, our original destination! Here is an update on the remainder of our trip. Patrick left on Monday, after spending 3 ½ weeks in Ecuador and Peru with us. Connor leaves from Santiago on August 22nd so that he can start his freshman year of high school with his classmates. He will spend his last week of the trip snowboarding in Portillo, Chile with us. He will stay with our friends/neighbors, the Kellermans, until we return.

Quinn, Paul and I will return home on October 5th. We will spend the last two months of the trip in Chile and Argentina, then either sell or ship the minivan. Our original plan was to reach Portillo, Chile, then drive home, resulting in a nine month trip. Our feeling now is that we absolutely do not want to drive all of the way home and deal with shipping our car from Columbia to Panama. We are starting to get tired of being on the road and think that we will be very ready to return in a couple months. Yet, we are excited about some upcoming new adventures: skilling/snowboarding, wine tasting and ranch stays.

Posted in Travel | 4 Comments »