Caracas to Cusco in 7 days

[Tucan viajero]

Been noticing the speeds you reach. How do the rest keep up with you?

Hi!

I get what you mean. But no one needs to keep up with me or anyone else in our group, as we usually travel together at moderate speeds. It's pointless to take any risks while being so far from home, and we enjoy “through the windshield” sightseeing too much to move at unreasonably high speeds.

However, the top speed info I provide for each day of travel may be misleading. I gather each day’s data by resetting the GPS device (Garmin 276c) trip computer every morning when we start driving and writing down everything at the end of the day, when it’s time to put the Land Cruiser in bed. I say it may be misleading because the recorded top speed is usually reached briefly while overtaking other vehicles or other similar situations.

[Tucan viajero]

Friday, December 23, 2,012
San Fernando de Apure to Caracas
Distance: 354 miles (409 Km.)
Total Time: 5 hours and 58 minutes
Time Moving: 5 hours and 42 minutes
Average Speed: 42.6 mph (68,6 Km/h)
Top Speed: 88.3 mph (142,1 Km/h)





They spent the night at the Soleos Hotel in San Fernando. Curiously, despite this being a hotel of certain category, it was, together with the modest accommodations in Ińapari, the only place where they didn’t have wireless internet access during this trip.

The return to Caracas past Calabozo, El Sombrero, Camatagua was very fast and uneventful, with just one stop for fuel. Supply problems were evident in several places along the way.

By the way, seeing all the military personnel controlling fuel stations, revealed what is surely Chávez’s secret strategy: Infiltrate and subdue the enemy by emptying their grocery stores, selling them rotten chickens and leaving them without fuel supplies. So far, Venezuela has just been their training camp.







They arrived to El Alazán Restaurant in Caracas, where a group of friends was waiting to close, with this welcome party, the activities dedicated to the 70th birthday celebration of our very special friend.






After this, it’ll be ready for its next trip.

After the trip, it was time to take care of the trusty 200 series, which rolled by the 40,000 km. mark on its odometer during the trip (40,000 km. is the first major maintenance indicated by the manufacturer for General Spec. models). Satisfactorily for those who traveled in it, it didn’t have a single failure or problem of any kind, throughout the entire journey.

And this is it. This trip report is now over. I’ll just leave a trip statistics summary table that may serve as a reference for anyone making plans to travel to South America.

[HumphreyBear]

[haven]

Thanks so much for sharing your journey in such detail. One figure is missing from the trip statistics: Your fuel consumption. I realize that gas is so inexpensive in Venezuela that no one cares about l/100 km (or miles per gallon in USA ). However, the cost of gas is high in other countries on your route, and it becomes a major trip expense. Any comments would be helpful.

[Tucan viajero]

Thanks so much for sharing your journey in such detail. One figure is missing from the trip statistics: Your fuel consumption. I realize that gas is so inexpensive in Venezuela that no one cares about l/100 km (or miles per gallon in USA ). However, the cost of gas is high in other countries on your route, and it becomes a major trip expense. Any comments would be helpful.

Hi ,

Thanks for the comments.

Here is the fuel consumption and fuel cost information for Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. It was gathered by the friend that made the trip with me using an iPhone app. Please allow for some error and for rounding. I didn't include Venezuela as for all practical purposes gas is free.



I’m truly surprised to see the great mileage we got during this trip, as I never approach these figures when I travel inside Venezuela, where what I usually get is below 9 mpg. I guess this was due to the fact that we took it calmly while we enjoyed all the sights and places, in contrast to the high speeds we normally use at home (there are speed limits but no enforcement here) where we usually drive as fast as we want or can, depending on traffic conditions. And of course, as you can see in our pictures, no RTT and traveling light also helps.

One big advantage I had is that my 200 series has the stock dual fuel tanks (36.5 gallon total capacity). I don't understand why Toyota chose to market the single tank (25 gallon) version in the U.S., particularly considering that you get the largest engine.

Hope the information above is useful for someone planning to travel to this region.