The Mystery of Nasca. The Madness of Dunes.

It’s a race to the finish. That is, who will finish. With the partial results floating in, the German x-Raid team of Mini Coopers and BMW’s are still holding strong with Peterhansel’s nearly 4 minute jump on teammate Coma in Arequipa, the Frenchman sits 22 minutes ahead of his teammate and more than 2 hours […]

Nail biting Dakar tension marks long wait in Arequipa

While the liaison or transit route for support vehicles and media was a whopping 400km, the competitors had much longer runs. The motorcyclists had perhaps one of their longest days to date at over 700km, whereas the cars and trucks had 598km and 552km respectively. Due to the length of the stage, A.S.O. set up […]

Eureka We’ve Made It To Arica — Knocking On Peru’s Door.

After two grueling and extremely long stages the racers looked a little road weary as we weaved around the usual line up of vehicles awaiting their launch time. Today Robb opted out of driving the Desert Warrior to Arica in favor of his first true ride in the Magic Mushroom. The Iquique to Arica Stage […]

Late Night In Iquique. The Bizzare in the Bivouac.

Desert Warrior Needs Springs. Robby Gordon Finishes First But Is Disqualified Nassar Al-Attiya Bows Out. Some purists might argue that the South American Dakar is nothing like the original African Dakar. I would argue that the African fans could never be as passionate and excited as the fans here in South America. And certainly I […]

Antofagasta to Iquique — Twisting & Winding Up The Chilean Coast

As we continue our journey north toward Lima, the remaining racers continue to face rough desert terrain, sand and more dunes. While the temperatures are more moderate than we experienced in Argentina and Copiapó, the wind continues to wreak havoc and carrying with it biting sand. I thought it would be nearly impossible to beat […]

The Atacama Desert – On The Dakar Trail

The T-5 Chevy 2500 T-5 support vehicle isn’t doing so well. Raff is taking it well, but the frustration is evident in his demeanor and facial expressions, especially when the transmission won’t go into reverse, or when a simple downshift turns into a shutter and clunk. New parking strategies must be considered as the fickle […]

Copiapó: Fixing The T-5 And Then Some…

What had started as a great day had quickly sobered into a dramatic and tepid situation. The team arrived at the Bivouac late Monday night. Too tired and feeling beaten, everyone quickly retired to their tents. Before leaving for Dakar I had arranged to meet my good Chilean friend, Cristian, to meet us in Argentina […]

Joining Us in Chile.

The morning was a bit hectic as we needed to be at Santiago Airport before noon to pick up Angie who’s flying in from California to meet Tim and I and take on the next segment of this outrageious yet thoroughly enjoyable influx of visitors while I’m in South America. I’ve got to admit I’m […]

Colchagua Valley, Chile – Pleasantly Suprised.

Before heading out to Santa Cruz the next morning, Tim, Melissa and I hovered upon one of the culinary treasures of the Valparaiso region north of Santiago. Sitting high above the coastal road, Delicias del Mar Reñaca is one of two restaurants serving Basque-style seafood. We chose to dine at the Reñaca restaurant which offers […]

WorldSailors. World Wines. World Travel.

In less than a couple hours we landed in Santiago. I thought about the miracle of flight given that I’d last been in Santiago in January and it took my almost two months to ride from here to Buenos Aires going the “long way around” the tip of South America and then up the Atlantic […]