Driving From Prudhoe Bay Alaska to Ushuaia Argentina

[Bumblebee]

In August 2010, we drove up to Prince Rupert and then took a ferry up to Haines, Alaska after which we drove all the way to the arctic ocean in Prudhoe Bay (Dead Horse), Alaska...for a quick swim of course. We then turned around and have been making our way south ever since, with our current goal being Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most town in the world.

We estimate to be driving for around a year and at the moment we are in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and have already been in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador.

We are travelling with our 6 month old Lab/Husky cross, Toka, who we picked up in Tok, Alaska. She has been a joy to have along, other than the Ticks, and has caused few compromises in our plans

We are driving an L400 with a custom designed wooden storage box that folds into a bed. Additionally we built a lockable roof box with way too much gear in it. We wrapped our vehicle with a custom sticker to look like a bumble-bee.

We brought all the regular spare parts with us, and have found others cheaply and easily along the way. In Guatemala we boiled our brake fluid coming down a long steep hill and completely lost our brakes. We managed to kill our master brake cylinder, and were able to find a replacement in Antigua for $100, which they had installed the next day. There are tons of mitsubishis down here and even an L300, although it looks quite different from ours.

** EL SALVADOR DOES NOT ALLOW THE ENTRY OF RIGHT HAND DRIVE VEHICLE ** - although after much fuss they gave us a 24 hour transit permit.

If anyone is thinking of doing all or part of the trip, please feel free to email as we would love to help any way we can.

We have a website with pics and journals of our journey at http://thejoyhunt.com
Cheers
Cam, Sum and Toka
camwmatthews@gmail.com

One more thing: Our mechanics in north van at RJD have been amazing and have given us a ton of help when we have called from various places with problems...Thanks again

[deLOOKA]

I love the BEE!
Has that Dakar look to it.

-Isaac

[Canem auto]

What a awesome delica...it will handle trip no problem,did you import your own van??..looks like you put lots of effort into the design,GOOD LUCK on your trip!!

[konadog]

COOOOOL! Thanks for posting about your adventures!

[after oil]

so stoked for you guys!!! wish i knew sooner!

[after oil]

we stayed at the same campground in San Blas, we climbed the Volcano you climbed too!!



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did you meet this dog in san blas?

[coaxial]

awesome journey!! I will start following along immediately :) I plan to drive the panamerican highway to Argentina by motorbike in the next couple years so I'll be taking notes I've already ridden from Alaska to Mexico so I've got the last 2/3 to go.

How long did you spend preparing and planning? lots of time spent on the overland/expedition websites I'm sure. Did you find this site? has great info on every country along the way http://www.drivetheamericas.com

muy bueno, buen viaje!

[coaxial]

and for your SPOT tracker, if you don't like the map they give you, check out http://www.spotwalla.com , I find their interface much better. Takes a minute to set up but the map is much easier for worried folks back home to follow :)

And it lets you show a long history of your SPOT on one map - great for showing off!

[jaggedfish]

Hey Bumblebee!

I got hooked on your website immediately. Truly AMAZING photography of a truly AMAZING adventure. My wife had to pry the mouse out of my hands last night after I got totally engrossed in your pictures. Am very envious of your journey. Please, please, please keep us updated! Safe and happy trails to you guys!

Cheers!
Ian

[Spearo]

Very cool, epic trip. Safe travels,
Erik

[coaxial]

Looking at your latest pictures I see your "helper" at the El Slavador border looked familiar

Is this the same guy? http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401681

[Spearo]

Jose es mas famosa!
!jaja!

[fexlboi]

Really enjoy reading your website! Seems like you guys have a blast.

Very brave of you to keep track of your car issues. I found most of the travel/overland blogs do not talk to much about car problems, even if you can not avoid them on such a long trip.

Who did your vehicle wrap and how much was it?

[fexlboi]

Are you guys ok and still on your way to SA? I haven't seen an update of your great website for a while now...

[thedjjack]

Their spot does not seem to have any updates....hope everything is ok?