Central - South America Road trip?

After giving this much thought I have decided that I want to go on a road trip across central and south america. I am not planning on going for at least another year or 2 but was wanting advice from fellow yahoo answer members. Any tips and advice highly welcome. Anything from: transport, what to take, how much it would cost, driving conditions etc. Ohh and also where to start and where to end and if a Visa is needed etc. Thanks.

Latin America is extremely extensive, and there is no connections between one side of the continent and the other, because of the Amazon, the Andes etc..In Brazil, you´ll find many different conditions, since excellent roads in the south and southeast, full of big cities, till deserts and places with millions of kilometers of forest, with no one to help you... I suggest you to visit Machu Picchu, Patagonia (Arg), the south of Chile, and Brazilian coast (especially the brazilian northeast). Iguazu Falls are one of the most beautiful places in earth too... Brasilia is very interesting and beautiful....

But the continent is giant and diverse... It´s impossible to explain it here...

lupita!
make sure to get the 'gringo bible' to southamerica "southamerica on a shoestring' the lonely planet guide... as a southamerican myself, who has travelled around the continent, i think it is very accurate and can be a great point of start and plan your trip...

all what you are asking is in that book... i have the venezuela section, give me an email and i'll send it to you

I'll answer your last question first. Almost every single country in Central and South America requires you to have a visa. Some you can obtain at the border, some you have to have before hand. You absolutely need a passport that is valid for at least six months from the time you plan to leave any of the countries. And they will ask you how long you plan to stary. You also need all the proper papers for your vehicle in order to get it into each country and you will need to buy a permit for the vehicle in each country you visit. Make sure you have a dependable car/van/bike and carry spare gasoline, extra tires, soft engine parts, and of course tools. The real banditos are not the guys who will hold you up on the highway. They are often times the mechanics who find a (in their minds anyway) rich gringo at their mercy. My apologies to the vast majority who are honest and really want to help. Be aware that most of the filling stations don't have different size nozzles for gas or diesel and it is easy to end up with gas in a diesel tank or visa versa. You can drive the Pan American Highway from Mexico to Panama, which in some areas is excellent road and other areas are barely passable, but never is well marked. However, once you get to Panama you will have to put your car on a freight ship and fly or swim to Colombia since there is no road between the two countries. There was a ferry service for a short time but it has long since shut down. If you know a bit of Spanish that will help you, but a lot of people, including many police and border officials speak enough English to converse. It goes without saying, don't try to carry firearms or drugs. In most every case, with the exception of fuel, you will be pleased and amazed at the lower costs compared to the United States. But since I don't know your itinerary, cannot offer an honest guess at what you will spend.
I live in Central America and have traveled and driven most of it. Less so in South America but I imagine you can expect more of the same there. It should be a very enjoyable trip.

hi, this is just an opinion, but i would do it by bus. yes, it can get pretty tiresome and some busses are shitty but i thought it provided some flexibility.

[northsouthwesteast]

Hi, we set out planning to drive both contientents. but ran out of money and are now planing on going to europe to make a bit more money;
advice; give yourself way more time than you think now; we planned on 10 months to one year to get to the bottom of S.A but 9 months later are only in costa rica!
theres very little written guides about driving here;
as for visas; you don't need any except for some of south america (brazil I think) the car gets tempoarily imported into each country at the border, it gets stamped into your passport at some. some are free, some cost up to $50.
have fun!
if you want to have a look at our webpage; domllys big adventure / vw world trip - Powered by CO.CC

[advance]

i would say 4 days to the mexico border b/c u need to stop and do things along the way.
in mexico, would take a week, and im sure you want to go to Cancun and the pyramids. If you have only 30 days, I would go as far as Panama. COsta Rica and Panama has so much to do. Im sure you don want to JUST drive. To get the car from the darien to ecuador, thats one week. As you can see, not stopping and having fun sucks. Panama is still too far for you but I wouldnt go any further or you will have no fun.