unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!

[TRegasaurus]

There is an endurance run called the TDI Panamericana. A VW Touareg is enroute right now and is near Panama City, Panama. They started at the trip July 2nd at southern-most the tip of Argentina and will finish in Dead Horse Alaska in 14 days. That's about 16,000 miles.

You can track them in real time at http://www.tdi-panamericana.com/

[bobDog]

I must admit that the "flight comment" had me worried you were done.....as I check on you folks first thing every morning....glad to know you will be around a while longer exploring the interesting parts of SA that most people never see.
The mummies you showed I believe were in 'National Geography' just a few months ago.
cool stuff.....thank you so much for sharing.

[unURBAN]

Great photos E&M. We've been looking forward to this part of your trip...

FYI we've saved a whole folder of PDFs to our computer, all made from your border crossing guides. Thanks for sharing the info!

We hope it helps! I guess the challenge is that this could change quite often, and some details can depend on the guy you end up talking to. However, the broder crossing guides will give you a very good idea of what it takes, and it is basically the same at every border. Out passport - out vehicle - in passport - in vehicle. And when I hear about people that have had trouble and had to pay bribes, most of these had hired helpers! Don't bother! It is easy, but will take you a little bit of time (and that is the same when using the helpers!).

Safe travels!!
E

[unURBAN]

...and by the way, a new record for the good ol' Patrol!



(16004 feet)

E&M

[trailsurfer]

...and by the way, a new record for the good ol' Patrol!



(16004 feet)

E&M

Awesome!

[unURBAN]

Waking up in the morning in Leymebamba we started the day in a restaurant for breakfast. After shopping some bread and other supplies we were ready for the road. Leymebamba expected a visit from a minister or the president of Peru later in the day (we had different answers when we asked the locals about the visit) and it would be good to leave before the town got crowded.



From green Leymebamba at about 2600m it we drove up, up, and up through some small villages. The Peruvian women are incredible at using all their available time. While walking in the streets in the village they are knitting or spinning yarn. We got up to the Barro Negro pass at 3680m and we were driving above the clouds.





The road was narrow and was winding down the mountain side. From our chilly stop at the pass in 7 degrees Celsius it got warmer and warmer until it was actually too hot to make a lunch stop at Balsas at 1200m. Down by the river crossing at Balsas it felt more like a desert, and we were surrounded by cacti in 31 degrees Celsius.





We drove up again until the temperature dropped and we could have lunch. After lunch the climb up the road continued, and we got to a pass at 3700m before heading down towards Celendin.



14 kilometers out of Celendin a women dropped a heavy bag full of corn on the ground and turned towards us to get a lift when she heard us coming. In our five hours of driving the 120 km from Leymebamba we had meet 11 cars/busses and two motorbikes. It would not be right to pass this woman so we gave her a lift down to town. When we got to town she pointed out where her house was, so then it was just to take her there. In front of her house she asked how much she owed us for the ride like she would do with colectivos (cars and minivans that operates like busses). When I told her it was for free I got a big hug.

The road continued up again from Celendin and we were back up in the highlands where all the houses had bright green toilets outside.



Our guess was that they were the product of a sanitary project. El Indio at 3620m was our last high pass for the day and after about 9 hours on the road we were back down at 2700m in Cajamarca. Hacienda San Vicente just outside town let us camp in their parking lot, and we were their only guests. Then suddenly a group of men came rolling in with their suitcases. They all got their rooms and disappeared. At dinner we saw them again when they had a quick meal before leaving the hacienda. When they left some locals kids was approaching them asking for their autographs. The kids came to our table and asked for our autographs when all the men were gone. After willingly writing ours we asked who the men were, and we learned that they were a famous Peruvian band called Grupo 5. We had to google Grupo 5 and found this video of them.


This was one good day on the road in Peru and we hope that it will be several days like this.



E&M

[valeriano]

How did the car behave with the lack of air?

...and by the way, a new record for the good ol' Patrol!



(16004 feet)

E&M

[XXXpedition]

How did the car behave with the lack of air?

i've never been up that high, but i was at almost 15000 feet. i didn't feel much difference. supposedly the computer does compensate (?)

[deepmud]

Turbo-diesels can compensate a lot with the turbo-boost at altitude. I'm surprised your no-turbo gas powered XJ wasn't weezing tho'. The computer compensates for the lack of air by cutting back the fuel.

[unURBAN]

There is definitely a loss of power. On the 3-liter we can feel it already at 2000 meters, maybe even lower. The first signals of power loss is the automatic transmission not gearing correctly. On a small diesel with turbo, even a small loss of power can have a significant effect when the transmission changes gear just before the turbo kicks in. This "first" effect at not so high elevation would probably not be noticeable with a manual transmission. However, when going higher the loss of power is more and more evident. At 4800 meters it is SLOW. The ZD30 engine has a MAF and a barometer, and it cuts down on the fuel. There is almost no black smoke even at this elevation.
.
Driving up to Pico de Orizaba in Mexico (previous post) we had to use low gear to get up, but this was a pretty steep and rough trail. At the pass where we went up to 4800 meters, the road was good and not to steep, so it wasn't much of a problem. In a month or so, we should be our way up to Uyuni in Bolivia, and there we'll see if it can handle 5000+ meters. Driving up shouldn't be a problem, but I'm a little concerned about being able to start it in the morning...

E