Pre-departure & Mexican layover
15 October 2022
A couple of years ago we started talking about going to South America on another big trip, and so we started doing research and planning potential routes across the continent. Unfortunately, Covid got in the way and we put a pin in it, instead of torturing ourselves by planning something we knew we couldn’t do yet. The only thing that had become clear at this stage was that South America is absolutely massive and that we would need a year to be able to travel at our own pace.
Then, finally early in 2022 when it looked like the world was returning to a level of normality, the time came to start planning again.
Finding Pedro
Since we had always thought of this as a cross-continent driving trip, the first step was finding a van to be our wheels and home. Our initial plan was to use a Chilean company - Suzi Santiago, recommended by a few other travellers, which organise buying and converting a van for you to your spec, and so we thought we had solved one of the bigger tasks already.
What we hadn’t banked on was Covid, war, and general political and economic uncertainty causing van prices in South America to shoot through the roof. So after a lot of boring research and calculations, we came up with the mad idea to buy a van in the UK and ship it to South America.
This took ages, and we never thought we would know so much about makes and models of vans. But through Quirky Campers, we eventually found the one who would later be named… Pedro, the peacock blue Ford Transit. Pedro had been lovingly converted by Josh using upcycled materials. Check out Pedro here…
The other major thing we had to do is talk to shipping companies to get quotes to get Pedro to the continent we needed him on! Eventually, we figured out this process with the help of IVSSUK, and turns out it isn’t as complicated as one might think: pick your route, give your vehicle details, get some insurance, and pick your shipping date which was to be 8th October 2022.
At this stage, all that was left was to buy the million other things to be put in, and on Pedro. I feel like this is a good point to apologise to Colin (my dad) for the masses of daily notifications he's got for the past 6 months as we rinsed his Amazon Prime subscription.
As October neared, we were feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves with only a few things left on our list (getting locks fitted to the side and rear doors and packing him with spare parts).
The Grande Nigeria, the ship carrying our Pedro to Uruguay
That's when we got a call from the shipping company to say our ship on the 8th won't sail, and we had 24 hours to get Pedro to Tilbury docks and ready to sail on October 1st. Not ideal. After an hour of headless chicken mode, which involved siphoning diesel out of our heater in Halford's carpark with a bent bit of tube, we realised there was no chance we could finish the outstanding jobs and that they had to wait until we get to Uruguay. So we chucked in the essentials and set off for the docks armed with our paperwork and hi-vis vests.
As people who have never been to the docks, this was a funny experience. We had brief instructions from the shipping company to go to Berth 40 and hand in our paperwork, so we turned left at a sign for Berths 1 to 40, and drove for an obscene amount of time around the docks as the Berths counted up, 1...2...3.......14...15...16.
Eventually we hit 38 and were at the end of the road, nowhere left to go and no Berth 40 in sight, not even Berth 39 - but no one cares about Berth 39. Apparently, everyone who works at the docks is a contractor and doesn't actually know anything, so we drove back to the entrance and tried again. A couple of times. Until we found someone that informed us that Berth 40, comes before Berth 1. ¿Por que?
Once we found the right spot, it was incredibly easy, just hand over the paperwork, take some pics of what's in it and the condition of the van (although we've been told unless the van is completely ruined or missing, good luck getting compensated for damage or stuff getting stolen!), then give them the keys and walk yourself out of the docks. The 'extensive' searching of the inside consisted of a bloke popping his head in and asking us if we had any gas. Very thorough.
Now, he is sailing across the Atlantic. Having first gone the wrong way from the UK to Germany, he’s going full speed to Brazil and eventually working down the coast until he tucks into Uruguay where we will be reunited in Montevideo. We are obsessively tracking him on board the 'Grande Nigeria' using the Marine Radar app.
Ciao
Saying bye to people for a year was bittersweet, we had some very fun parties and some people got multiple dragged-out goodbyes, but we love our friends and families so even though we're off to have a year of hopefully incredible experiences, we will really miss them all. Cringe.
Shoutout to Zaf and Sam at The Kitchen Table for putting together a great party for us at their restaurant.
Then it was time for us to set off for our first stop on our South American travels, Costa Rica (definitely not South America), via a long layover in Mexico (also definitely not South America).
Mexico City Layover
By great contrast to what we’ve got ahead of us for the next year, we flew first class to Mexico, both in our crocs – where we clearly didn’t fit in but couldn’t have cared less so we fully rinsed the experience in the BA lounge and on the flight.
We are, however, a little concerned about future flights adjusting back to where we belong in economy, because having a private pod, a bed, and anything you want at the push of a button made the 11 hours fly by - pun intended.
(Ticket only cost £500, thank god for Amex, let this serve as a reminder to get yourself a BA Amex card if you haven’t already)
In 24 hours, you can only see a fraction of Mexico City. It’s huge. But we had been here 5 years ago for a week or so, and since our flight had to change here anyway, we thought we might as well just spend a night and refresh some memories whilst gorging on Mexican food. ¡Nos gusta comida la Mexicana!
We stayed in a pretty weird hostel near the airport, with tonnes of rules and the ceiling made it feel like we were in a prison cell, but it was cheap and convenient for a couple of nights.
The first stop was back to the airport for a woman to shove a stick up our noses to prove we don’t have Covid so we can take part in our volunteer program in Costa Rica. Then we spent the day wandering 18km through the historic square, Roma Norte, and Chapultepec park.
Highlights:
Huevos rancheros for breakfast - looked disgusting and tasted delicious.
Street tacos – incredible, worth going all the way to Mexico purely for these, and tried cacti for the first time.
Alcoholic ice cream at Helados Obscura to cool off.
Roma Mercado in a quirky gentrified part of town for a dinner of ceviche and more tacos.
The one downside to Mexico city, that we somehow must have avoided by pure luck 5 years ago, is rush hour. If you thought the Central/Northern line in London was bad… this is next level. Doors open on both sides allowing people to get off one side and on the other. But carnage ensues and if you’re near the door – like we were – you get pushed out!
It’s been a nice layover, but time for the real first stop of the journey… Costa Rica.
