Follow my family’s epic adventure from Argentina to Alaska

Posted on 21 September 2012

If you had read any of my previous posts you will know that I have a strange emotional connection to my truck. Maybe it’s a boy thing, or maybe I am a Mechanophiliac though I don’t have any of those feelings for my truck.

Apparently it is a bad idea to travel by Land Rover. Some say it is a bad idea to even drive a Landy to the shop. Folks who drive Japanese vehicles seem to have a phobia when it comes to the British motoring legend. Regardless of their dire warnings of imminent mechanical failure and the disaster that is just waiting to happen, we will be shipping our Landy to Uruguay for a bit of a jaunt around the Americas (our expedition was named Argentina to Alaska before we figured out that shipping to Uruguay would be cheaper and easier. Besides U2A sounds a bit wierd).

The idea is to drive as far south as possible on the South American sub continent and then to head as far north as possible on the North American sub continent. That is a stretch of roughly 60 000 km including detours, diversions and a coast to coast road trip through the US.

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world , our official starting point and the feeder route to Antarctica which we probably won’t be visiting this time around. After Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia we will then follow the west coast and the spine of the Andes up into Central America and then on into the US of A.

This is, of course, a ridiculous simplification of the trip but the idea here is that you, dear reader, can follow us as we go. You are at the right place at the right time to witness our transformation from padded Wisteria laners to wiry Overlanders. To witness our progression and to communicate with us.

So lets start by getting to know each other.

I am Graeme. That’s enough about me.

Luisa is my wife. She was unfortunately terribly spoilt as a child and is an awful cook with the exception of Sunday lunch and Italian dishes. I have diagnosed Luisa with OCD, but she is getting better. Luisa is an administrative genius and she can organise anything, anywhere, anytime. She is the temperamental ginger in the family and her infectious laugh turns heads and splits ear drums. Luisa is a tour de force and is the lioness who will kill for her cubs then go out and hunt lunch while I doze under a tree.

Keelan is my son and he is a teenager (13). It is difficult for a dad to describe his first-born son without mentioning things like his size 11 feet, that he won a rugby award (presented by Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers), that he cooks the best French toast in the world and that he is a maths ace. I won’t go on about how he has the kindest soul and the most wicked sense of humour. Let’s just say the kid’s OK.

Jessica will be eight on Saturday. The poor kid has her dad’s looks but despite that she needs only a minute to wiggle into your heart. Early on she learnt that a tear should never be wasted and she deploys her tears with astounding emotional accuracy. She is not a cry baby though, Jessica lost her first tooth in the Serengeti and batted Bilharzia whilst being the most girly girl since Barbie.