Out of USA

[RoadTripper 0311]

I Want To Go On A Adventure Of A Life Time I Live In New York City And I Wanna Drive Down To Mexico And Down To Belize And To Brazil Is That Possible? And How Can I Find Out The Routes And Get A Map To Get To My Destinations. How Long And How Much Money Do I Need In My Pocket Too. Please Help Me Because I Really Want To Know

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Driving from the US into Central America isn't that much of a problem. There are a number of legal headaches associated with driving in Mexico and points south, but they all can be overcome with some patients and planning.

The real problem would be continuing south into South America and overcoming the "Darien Gap." There is no road that runs from Panama into Columbia, so you need to find a ferry that will ship your car across the water.

The Driving to South America Thread, which is the first thread you'll see in the off-shore roadtrip section, has some good first hand advice from people who have actually done this trip.

For inspiration, I also highly recommend reading Road Fever, a book detailing a record setting drive from Argentina to Alaska. Its a great read that will certainly help keep you in the mood as you plan out your trip.

[jcoburn]

Are you looking for someone to share the ride to Mexico with anyone?

[Crazy Dutch]

An adventure of a lifetime it'll be..... I just returned home from driving Alaska to Ushuaia (southern tip of South America) which took me a leisurely 8 months. Actually I turned around after 7 and made my way up Argentina into Paraguay and Brazil. Central America is typically not an issue to drive around in (fuel availability, road conditions). That is, on the panamericana, by-roads tend to be a bit rough around Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Maps can be obtained locally but it is comforting to pick them up before you're actually in country. As for the Darien Gap, I have used a commercial shipping company and am still doing battle with them for items lost from my car (which went as unit cargo to Peru so not in a sealed container) and from what I learnt shipping options are more limited than they used to be a couple of years back. Panamanian border control upon entry was actually quite understanding, ordinarily you would need proof of onward journey to enter the country, in my case unavailable as I had to arrange all the shipping on site. I did run into a couple of others on their way to South America there and did not hear of any issues in their case either. Expect 2 days wading through red tape to get your car cleared for leaving though..... (visits to the police for verification of the car are a mess). For shipping and handling expect to pay between 1 and 2k USD, depending on where you are shipping to and how. As for making your way to Brazil, the north is pretty inhospitable from what I understand. You'd get to Manaus easily enough but I have not heard any direct info on possibilities of shipping a car on the Amazon. If that's the route you have in mind though you should investigate thoroughly, I don't suppose you want to get stuck on the wrong side of the amazon basin. Good luck.

[AZBuck]

That's not a section of road(?) that most of us have any experience with, and we greatly appreciate your sharing your expertise.

and: Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

AZBuck