Well, we’ve completed our first trip to South America in fine style. Limping just a bit at the end perhaps, but happy nonetheless. I say limping only because both La Tortuga and ourselves were a bit tired out after a largely uninterrupted eighteen months of travel in Latin America. Various minor odds and ends on the rig were no longer operating at their best and we were both feeling the effects of lingering colds, general aches and pains, and a need for a bit of a rest. All that aside, we are very pleased with our experience and will enjoy reliving the memories of places seen, people met and lessons learned for a long, long time. It has been a marvelous experience and we feel very fortunate to have been able to accomplish most of the goals we set for ourselves two years ago. From Colombia in the north to Patagonia in the south, South America has opened itself up for us in a wonderful way, and we’ve truly enjoyed our stay. We had always felt that coming to South America would probably be a once in a lifetime deal for us, but now we’re not so sure. Instead, having met many travelers who have returned again and again to continue their explorations of this large and varied continent, we believe that we may well do the same. Specifically, we want to return in order to see Brasil and Bolivia, two countries we did not get to this time; as well as revisiting favorite places and finding new ones in many of the countries we have been to. Who knows whether or when this return visit will happen, but it’s out there for us if we so choose. If you are new to this web site, go to our South America page in order to link to the stories we have shared over the past year. Our plans for now call for us to spend the next nine months or so in the US enjoying our own country for a change, taking care of various sorts of personal business and doing some needed refitting work on our Tiger. Then, in spring of 2010, we hope to ship La Tortuga over to Europe and begin our exploration of all that wonderful continent has to offer. As you have time, we hope you’ll visit some of the other sites listed on our Links Page to connect you to other travelers you might enjoy, and our own Our Vehicle page continues to expand with added technical information as it comes to mind. To see more Photos of any country, use the link at the bottom of any narrative page, or go to the Photo Album Menu. Finally, for fellow travelers, we have posted our detailed Camping Logs for Central America, and South America where you can see where we’ve stayed and get information on fuel costs, propane availability and shopping locations we have found during our time in Latin America. We hope you enjoy not only our travels, but your own as well! “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” ~ Maya Angelou