Where to...?

So where am I going this time? As I said before, I am going back to South America. My first big adventure (the Aventura Magnificia - after whom the blog was named) was travelling through Central America and then around South America - from Quito in Ecuador to Rio in Brazil. At the time, I said I wished I could have continued and completed a full loop of South America but back then (over a decade ago in 2006), it simply wasn't possible. Fast forward twelve years and the company I travelled with then, Oasis Overland, have just started travelling 'over the top' linking Rio back to Quito in a full loop.

So at the beginning of January, I will be flying into Rio and then following the Brazilian coast north. I will cross into the countries of French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana before returning into the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Originally I was going into Venezuela but that seems very unlikely now given the crisis in the country so I will be staying longer in the rainforest. I will still head into Columbia before being dropped off again in Quito in Ecuador.

This is an overland truck trip. That means I will be bush camping - no organised camp sites with facilities. Arrive at a field, clearing, jungle - pitch your tent, build a camp-fire, cook your own food bought from the local market and dig your own toilet. There will be no electricity or hot showers. Occassionally we may be sleeping in a hostel but for the majority of the time it will be very basic and rough.

As this may very well be my last big hurrah - I'm not getting any younger and these bush camping trips do take it out of you, I've decided to make the most of my time out there. After the truck trip has finished, I am going to spend a couple of weeks in Quito before flying to Costa Rica and spending a fortnight revisiting that beautiful country. When I was in Central America, it was not possible to visit El Salvador, so this time I am taking a whiste-stop tour of El Salvador too. I will add in a week in Antigua in Guatemala because it is one of my favourite cities in the world and then I will take a hop, skip and a jump into Mexico.

Here I am going to join another camping trip, this time being driven around in a converted American school bus. From Mexico City, we will head north up the western side of the United States before crossing the Rockies into Canada and then ending up in Alaska. Along the way we will visit various national parks and see amazing wildlife - especially in the artic region of Alaska.

By this time it will be August and I suspect I will be exhausted. I will definately be broke. But as they say, you do only live once!