The route
I guess we should start with a quick summary of where we're planning on going:
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Washington, overland up through New York, Boston and New England, up to Montreal (probably via Torronto), back down to Miami for a few days, Cusco (via Lima), then overland through Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Then hop back to Santiago for a night before going on to Tahiti, then New Zealand, Australia (Melbourne, Tasmania, then down the coast from Cairns to Sydney), Singapore, Malaysia, and finally back via Hong Kong.
The route we're taking is a little unconventional, largely because we're starting our trip with a visit to Suriname. Suriname is a name that usually conjures up images of.... blank faces. Even the travel agents rarely know much about it. The look of panic on the Trailfinders agent when we asked him about it was great.
Anyway, for those of you with hazy knowledge about Suriname, it's a country on the north coast of South America, between Guyana and French Guiana. In the UK, we used to call it Dutch Guiana which should give you a clue that it's an ex-Dutch colony. Just about the only way to get there from Europe is with Dutch airline KLM from Amsterdam, and the only way out is back again. Not very useful on a round-the-world ticket. So we'll be entering Suriname via Trinidad and Tobago.
We're planning on doing some diving in Tobago; Esther's going to get her PADI Open Water, and I'll give the advanced diver's course a go.
The South America bit is with an "overlanding" company called Dragoman. It's basically a two month tour with about 20 other people in a truck. The truck is kitted out with proper seats, a fridge, kitchen bits and pieces, a fresh water tank, and a seat at the back where your head sticks out the roof. We'll be spending about 40% of the time camping, and the rest in hotels/hostels/villages. You can get an idea of what we'll be up to from the Dragoman web site.
The rest of the trip is still pretty vague - we'll be in Sydney for New Year, be travelling with a camper van in New Zealand, hopefully doing some more diving and sailing in Australia, and visiting the rain forest in Malaysia.
So, that's the plan. I guess we can look back at this in Feb 2007 and see how much it changed.
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Washington, overland up through New York, Boston and New England, up to Montreal (probably via Torronto), back down to Miami for a few days, Cusco (via Lima), then overland through Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Then hop back to Santiago for a night before going on to Tahiti, then New Zealand, Australia (Melbourne, Tasmania, then down the coast from Cairns to Sydney), Singapore, Malaysia, and finally back via Hong Kong.
The route we're taking is a little unconventional, largely because we're starting our trip with a visit to Suriname. Suriname is a name that usually conjures up images of.... blank faces. Even the travel agents rarely know much about it. The look of panic on the Trailfinders agent when we asked him about it was great.
Anyway, for those of you with hazy knowledge about Suriname, it's a country on the north coast of South America, between Guyana and French Guiana. In the UK, we used to call it Dutch Guiana which should give you a clue that it's an ex-Dutch colony. Just about the only way to get there from Europe is with Dutch airline KLM from Amsterdam, and the only way out is back again. Not very useful on a round-the-world ticket. So we'll be entering Suriname via Trinidad and Tobago.
We're planning on doing some diving in Tobago; Esther's going to get her PADI Open Water, and I'll give the advanced diver's course a go.
The South America bit is with an "overlanding" company called Dragoman. It's basically a two month tour with about 20 other people in a truck. The truck is kitted out with proper seats, a fridge, kitchen bits and pieces, a fresh water tank, and a seat at the back where your head sticks out the roof. We'll be spending about 40% of the time camping, and the rest in hotels/hostels/villages. You can get an idea of what we'll be up to from the Dragoman web site.The rest of the trip is still pretty vague - we'll be in Sydney for New Year, be travelling with a camper van in New Zealand, hopefully doing some more diving and sailing in Australia, and visiting the rain forest in Malaysia.
So, that's the plan. I guess we can look back at this in Feb 2007 and see how much it changed.
Comments
Ciao
Alb