Recommendations for books (or other info sources) for traveling by car from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego?

Question

I think I'd like to take some time off work and travel by car (4x4) from NY through Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. I was doing a search on Amazon and there are several books on this topic with regard to doing it on a Motorcycle (such as Odyssey to Ushuaia: A Motorcycling Adventure from New York to Tierra del Fuego).

Are there any similar books (or websites) chronicling such an adventure by 4x4? Or should I just use the motorcycle books for planning purposes and consult country specific travel guides for the details?

I'm mostly concerned with the Mexico to Panama leg of this journey. Once I get to Colombia, I have friends who are in 4x4 clubs and would journey with them on south to Tierra del Fuego.

Answer 1

Check out:  99 Days to Panama: An Exploration of Central America by Motorhome, How A Couple and Their Dog Discovered this New World in Their RV.

Link below.

Answer 2

Try contacting these people.They just returned from their trip.

They also speak English and can give you current first-hand information.

http://www.vlinderen.com/finchroad/

Answer 3

There is no road between Panama and Colombia (for obvious reasons the FARC) so you would have to go by air or by boat.

Costa Rica and Colombia driving at night can be dangerous.

Mexico-Guatemala border also dangerous.

Carry a copy of your passport when cops ask for it (unless it is the border) and always have a couple of dollars to bribe cops.

You should be fine with the Mexico to Panama part. Just drive mostly during the day the roads don't have lights and it is a lot of mountain terrains, get a good updated map, and a spare tire.

good luck!

Answer 4

One good book a bit out of date is Road Fever by tim Cahil.

You will have to get your vehicle on a boat somehow between panama and columbia. Driving between the two countries is not practical although it was done once 30 years ago. (and took dozens of local helpers and several months to basically cary the vehicle). More recently the political situation makes the area (darien Gap) too dangerous to even travel by foot for a gringo.

In terms of driving from the USA to panama, I have done it myself and outside of the normal tedious border crossings and a few mechanical problems with my pickup I had no problems 2004. I don't even speak much spanish and I traveled alone. A bit of the main road was still unpaved in Nicaragua, but it was decent gravel (maybe 80 miles total).

Overall expect winding low quality two lane roads most of the way, south of mexico and dont expect to average much more than 35 mph at best. In general dont expect any serious road hazards and very bad roads that require 4x4 on the main road unless there has been recent major storm damage.

The border between el-salvador and honduras is a bit of a hassle and I ended up giving a few bribes to drive through and spent nearly 6 hours and $200 at the border.

In Mexico much of the distance can be traveled on their freeways that are not much worse than in the USA, easy to average 65mph for long periods on them, but expect a bit of tolls.

Generally no difficulty finding gas, food or hotels on the main road, but off the main roads it can be harder.

GPS helps a lot but the digital survey data on the roads is poor and the gps may show you a couple of miles off in the jungle from the road you are on. (Garmin GPS, but they all use the same databases). It helps a lot to just point you in the right direction. Road signs are nowhere near us standards.