Hi everybody. As I mentioned before, I have done the overland trip from
California to Argentina in 1992. My wife and I have been planning to do
it again (this time with a VW). The caravan thing sounds attractive
though...Regarding my trip experience throughout Latin America (and
since there is so much to talk about) I propose, if anyone thinks that
this would be informative, writing something like a weekly posting of
our past trip(ie: one country of our itinerary each week). I have all
the records, such as border paperwork, slides, maps, currency exchange,
food and water quality, mechanics and type of parts available, gasoline
quality and prices, cultural,geographical,etc. etc. I was planning to
write an article about the whole thing.  
I'd like to give my perspective on some of the comments expressed in the
list so far:
1)I guess my main concern is the vehicle type used. Unfortunately,
Vanagons are not popular in Latin America, so parts would be scarce. Are
you thinking of taking a "parts car"(vehicle loaded with parts) along?
>From my experience, the best three choices to do this trip are : pre
90's american van or pick up truck, pre-90's Toyota truck (4WD OK), or a
pre-pancake engine VW bus. Parts and mechanics are available for these
throughout the continent. We drove a'75 V8 Dodge (ex school van), the
longer model made.Rustic, strong and reliable. Didn't even get a flat
tire in the six months. Only mechanical problem was electrical, at the
worst possible time, in the worst possible place (Peru's guerrilla
territory, at 5,000 metres-16,405 feet-altitude).
2)I have lived in Ushuaia for two years and visited it many times. (I am
a native argentinian) It is a beautiful, touristy town, almost a
city.Summer temperatures are perfectly bearable. There IS camping
available nearby,managed by National Parks. There are also many hotels
available, which range from 1 to 4-1/2 stars. 
3)Carrying pets sounds like a real complication to me. Border crossings
are tedious enough. Delays, bribes, vehicle fumigation, etc.
4)2-1/2 months sounds unrealistic. Tim Cahill's 23 and something days
should not be used as a parameter because not only he had such an
enormous economic,mechanical and strategical backup (GM, etc)but also
because it is a completely different trip from the one we are talking
about. We started planning our trip to last 3 months, it ended up during
6, and we agreed it should have been 12...I am not saying that it can be
done in 2-1/2, but I would imagine that a big part of the trip would be
the cultural-geographical experience, which requires extra time to stay
in places, relate to people, get to know the area's major points of
interest (ie: Macchu Picchu), etc.
Oops, my lunch break is gone. More later...(Darien Gap, useful sources,
Carnet de Passage, etc)
Cris.
'91 Westie
'66 Kombi
'67 Deluxe