My Overland Adventure
Around the world in a Land Cruiser
Manuel Antonio National Park
8th November MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK Having read online about problems with people parking their cars at the national park and safety issues, we weren‘t too sure what the situation would be and if we would be able to visit one of Costa Rica's most famous...
Tree of Life Rescue Centre
5th November TREE OF LIFE RESCUE CENTRE We explore further down the coast, driving to the small village of Manzanillo hoping to go snorkelling. When we get there, we find the waters are really choppy and the beach is deserted so we have to give the snorkelling a...
Jaguar Rescue Centre
2nd November A drive down the coast brings us to Puerto Viejo, sandy beaches, palm trees and an endless amount of boutique hotels, cabinas, sodas, restaurants and tourists riding around on bikes. We stop at a bakery (with slow bad service) for breakfast. It looked...
Caribbean Costa Rica
CARIBBEAN COSTA RICA The 205km drive to the port city of Puerto Limon takes us around 5 hours on jammed roads, having to continually overtake slow moving trucks and cyclists. The route takes us via a toll road through Braulio national park and the busy highway 32 all...
Monteverde Cloud Forest
28th October MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST RESERVE The towns of Monteverde and Santa Elena sit between two cloud forests which straddle both sides of the Continental Divide. Warm and humid winds from the Caribbean sweep up the mountain slopes where they cool and...
Costa Rica to Panama – Border Cossing – Paso Canoas Quebrada Grande
The Costa Rica to Panama (Paso Canoas, Quebrada Grande) border crossing was quite time consuming for us; on the Panama side there were a lot of trucks also trying to enter the country at the same time while only one person was dealing with the TIP. [singlepic id=3584...
Costa Rica – Arenal
In the morning, the sight of the looming Volcano Arenal is a majestic one, standing like a huge sentinel overlooking the serene waters of Lake Arenal and pastured green hillsides.
The volcano was dormant for hundreds of years before unexpectedly erupting in 1968, destroying three small villages on its western side. The town of El Borio on the eastern side was untouched and renamed La Fortuna (the fortunate).
Costa Rica – Volcano Tenorio National Park
We wake up to a lovely sunny day, it’s an 80km drive to Lake Arenal along a slow-going long stretch of road which is under construction, hundreds of orange-clad workers, mud and heavy machinery for miles. The road takes us around the shores of Lake Arenal and up to Lake Arenal Brewing Company where we stop for some lunch and a taste of their pale ale and dark beer which is not too bad but a long way off from British beer.
Northern Costa Rica-Monkeys and baby sloths!
After escaping a Nicaraguan scam (and with our second flat tyre in the space of two days) then subsequently arriving at the border at lunchtime where we wait around for hours to get through, we arrive in Costa Rica, country number 44, completely exhausted!
Nicaragua to Costa Rica Border Crossing – Penas Blancas – La Cruz
We found the Nicaragua to Costa Rica border crossing quite time consuming. Normally an exit is quick and easy, but when a few coach loads of tourists turn up and it's lunch time, you can end up waiting and waiting….. The Costa Rica side was quite straight forward...
Kaikoura – Giant Sperm Whales
3rd February KAIKOURA WHALE WATCH TRIP Kaikoura first attracted Maori who came to harvest the abundant seafood and were followed by European whalers and sealers. The town is built on the site of a whaling station established in 1843. Giant Sperm Whales are...
Honduras to Nicaragua – Guasaule / Somotillo Border Crossing
We found the Honduras to Nicaragua border crossing quite relaxed, exiting Honduras was a breeze and entering Nicaragua was not difficult at all. The local kids gave us a chance to practice our Spanish and kept us entertained while the paper work was processed....
El Salvador to Honduras Border Crossing – El Amatillo
We woke early to cross the border from El Salvador to Honduras and then on to Nicaragua, 2 border crossings in one day! We had read that these borders were a bit of nightmare, with lots of photocopying needed, possible RHD issues, an overlanders worst nightmare. The...
Guatemala to El Salvador – Valle Nuevo / Chinamas border crossing
We decided to cross from Guatemala into El Salvador at the Valle Nuevo/ Chinamas border at it was the closest entry to the Ruta de Flores, and also much quicker than following the Pan Am to the border. There are three border crossings between Guatemala and El Salvador...
New Zealand – The Rainbow Road
5th February THE RAINBOW ROAD From the spa fun in Hanmer Springs, we drive via Jacks Pass on a bumpy gravel path to the remote and majestic Lake Tennyson formed from a glacial moraine dam, where we camp up for the night under a blanket of stars. As we are up at...
New Zealand- Molesworth Station
4th February MOLESWORTH STATION Molesworth Station is New Zealand’s largest farm, covering almost half a million acres with the country’s largest herd of beef cattle (up to 10,000 in winter) and also its most remote. At 900metres, it is the highest occupied year...
New Zealand South Island – Clarence Valley
31st January SOUTH ISLAND-MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS We leave early to catch the Interislander ferry across the Cook Strait through the Marlborough Sounds to the South Island. After a short wait at the port, we drive on and head upstairs to the seating area which is...
NZ Wellington & Around
26th January As we had already been to Hawkes Bay to the east of the island on a previous trip, we decide to head south 170km and 2 hours to the coast and Himatangi Beach driving the scenic roads out of the national park. Finding a self-contained cabin, we relax for...
Rotorua & Tongariro National Park
19th January ROTORUA It’s 89km inland and just over an hours drive to Rotorua, NZ’s famous geothermal region which is home to spurting geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pools. We had been to Rotorua before on a previous trip from Australia where we lucky to...
Belize to Guatemala Border Crossing
We were expecting the Melchor de Mencos border crossing from Belize to Guatemala to be trouble free. Exiting Belize was easy; we paid the exit fee, had the passports stamped, cancelled the Temporary Import permit and we were off. The issues happened on the Guatemalan...
