Check-Ins

NOT the tallest dune in the world.
Cerro Blanco is the 2nd tallest dune in the world @ 1176m
The tallest is Duna Federico Kirbus @ 1230m in Argentina - near Fiambalá in Catamarca Province.

we tried but couldn't enter Potossi in our underpowered camper van...

C'est une des plus belles pistes qu'on ait pu prendre. On a commencé le matin des bords de la Laguna Carachi et on a rejoint le magnifique site de Piedra Pomez.

Puis on a suivi la RP 34 (sur l'application OSMAND) et on a traversé la Mar de Olas (mer de vagues). Parfois la vraie piste s'éloigne un tout petit peu de la trace du GPS, mais rien de grave. A un moment, ne pas hésiter à prendre la portion de piste dans les cailloux un peu dur (et non la montée en sable très compliquée indiquée par l'application) car les deux se rejoignent après.

Le plus compliqué est le passage du col à plus de 4.100m d'altitude. Il s'agit d'une longue montée dans le sable mou. Avec notre pick-up Toyota Hilux 4x4 avec cellule pop-up, on a dû s'y prendre à 2 fois pour passer. On a utilisé la boîte courte en accélérant presque à fond et on avait baissé la pression des pneus (BF Goodrich AT KO2) avant le début de la piste. On a pris de l'élan. Comme il y a un petit dévers, on a visé au plus haut à droite pour se laisser dériver un peu plus bas sur la gauche, et c'est passé!
La suite est une piste relativement facile, excepté les cailloux tranchants.

On a alors quitté la RP 34 et on a fait un arrêt à la piscine d’eau chaude 26°54'35.4"S 67°44'50.7"W (au sud des thermes Los Hornos). La piste est assez compliquée sur le dernier kilomètre, mais ça passe. Nous aurons mis 3 heures depuis Piedra Pomez.

On a ensuite repris la piste direction Las Papas. C'est une longue descente avec des épingles serrées, que je deconseille aux véhicules longs. On a mis 1h30 entre la piscine et Las Papas.

La fin se situe dans un canyon. On traverse beaucoup de fois le petit torrent. Nous avons eu maximum 20 - 25 cm, mais il n'avait pas plu depuis plusieurs jours. C'est assez long et monotone pour en sortir car on ne peut pas rouler vite à cause des cailloux.
Il nous a fallu 2h10 depuis Las Papas pour sortir du canyon et rejoindre la RP 34.

A la sortie du canyon, des travaux sont en cours pour la construction d'un barrage. Pour l'instant, ça passe sans souci. Mais quid pour l'avenir?

Au total, d'Antofagasta à Fiambala (2 points de ravitaillement en carburant), il y a environ 230 Km. Facilement faisable avec 1 plein de carburant!
Petit conseil: téléchargez les vues satellites hors ligne dans le cache de Google Maps. Ca vous permettra de voir les pistes!

This is one of the most beautiful trails we could have taken. We started in the morning from the edges of Laguna Carachi and reached the magnificent site of Piedra Pomez.

Then we followed RP 34 (on the OSMAND app) and crossed the Mar de Olas (sea of ​​waves). Sometimes the real track deviates a little bit from the GPS track, but nothing serious. At one point, don't hesitate to take the section of track in the stones that is a little hard (and not the very complicated sandy climb indicated by the application) because the two join together afterwards.

The most complicated is the passage of the pass at more than 4,100m altitude. It is a long climb in soft sand. With our Toyota Hilux 4x4 pick-up with pop-up camper, we had to try twice to get through. We used the short gearbox, accelerating almost to full throttle and we had lowered the tire pressure (BF Goodrich AT KO2) before the start of the track. We gained momentum. As there is a small slope, we aimed as high as possible to the right to drift a little lower to the left, and it passed!
The rest is a relatively easy track, except for the sharp stones.

We then left RP 34 and stopped at the hot water pool 26°54'35.4"S 67°44'50.7"W (south of the Los Hornos thermal baths). The track is quite complicated on the last kilometer, but it passes. It will have taken us 3 hours from Piedra Pomez.

We then took the track towards Las Papas. It is a long descent with tight switchbacks, which I do not recommend for long vehicles. It took us 1h30 between the swimming pool and Las Papas.

The end is in a canyon. We cross the small stream many times. We had a maximum of 20 - 25 cm, but it hadn't rained for several days. It's quite long and monotonous to get out because you can't drive fast because of the stones.
It took us 2h10 from Las Papas to exit the canyon and join RP 34.

At the exit of the canyon, work is underway to build a dam. For now, it's going smoothly. But what about the future?

In total, from Antofagasta to Fiambala (2 refueling points) there are approximately 230 Km. Easily doable with 1 full tank of fuel!

Quick tip: Download satellite views offline to the Google Maps cache. This will allow you to see the slopes!

C'est une des plus belles pistes qu'on ait pu prendre. On a commencé le matin des bords de la Laguna Carachi et on a rejoint le magnifique site de Piedra Pomez.

Puis on a suivi la RP 34 (sur l'application OSMAND) et on a traversé la Mar de Olas (mer de vagues). Parfois la vraie piste s'éloigne un tout petit peu de la trace du GPS, mais rien de grave. A un moment, ne pas hésiter à prendre la portion de piste dans les cailloux un peu dur (et non la montée en sable très compliquée indiquée par l'application) car les deux se rejoignent après.

Le plus compliqué est le passage du col à plus de 4.100m d'altitude. Il s'agit d'une longue montée dans le sable mou. Avec notre pick-up Toyota Hilux 4x4 avec cellule pop-up, on a dû s'y prendre à 2 fois pour passer. On a utilisé la boîte courte en accélérant presque à fond et on avait baissé la pression des pneus (BF Goodrich AT KO2) avant le début de la piste. On a pris de l'élan. Comme il y a un petit dévers, on a visé au plus haut à droite pour se laisser dériver un peu plus bas sur la gauche, et c'est passé!
La suite est une piste relativement facile, excepté les cailloux tranchants.

On a alors quitté la RP 34 et on a fait un arrêt à la piscine d’eau chaude 26°54'35.4"S 67°44'50.7"W (au sud des thermes Los Hornos). La piste est assez compliquée sur le dernier kilomètre, mais ça passe. Nous aurons mis 3 heures depuis Piedra Pomez.

On a ensuite repris la piste direction Las Papas. C'est une longue descente avec des épingles serrées, que je deconseille aux véhicules longs. On a mis 1h30 entre la piscine et Las Papas.

La fin se situe dans un canyon. On traverse beaucoup de fois le petit torrent. Nous avons eu maximum 20 - 25 cm, mais il n'avait pas plu depuis plusieurs jours. C'est assez long et monotone pour en sortir car on ne peut pas rouler vite à cause des cailloux.
Il nous a fallu 2h10 depuis Las Papas pour sortir du canyon et rejoindre la RP 34.

A la sortie du canyon, des travaux sont en cours pour la construction d'un barrage. Pour l'instant, ça passe sans souci. Mais quid pour l'avenir?

Au total, d'Antofagasta à Fiambala (2 points de ravitaillement en carburant), il y a environ 230 Km. Facilement faisable avec 1 plein de carburant!
Petit conseil: téléchargez les vues satellites hors ligne dans le cache de Google Maps. Ca vous permettra de voir les pistes!

This is one of the most beautiful trails we could have taken. We started in the morning from the edges of Laguna Carachi and reached the magnificent site of Piedra Pomez.

Then we followed RP 34 (on the OSMAND app) and crossed the Mar de Olas (sea of ​​waves). Sometimes the real track deviates a little bit from the GPS track, but nothing serious. At one point, don't hesitate to take the section of track in the stones that is a little hard (and not the very complicated sandy climb indicated by the application) because the two join together afterwards.

The most complicated is the passage of the pass at more than 4,100m altitude. It is a long climb in soft sand. With our Toyota Hilux 4x4 pick-up with pop-up camper, we had to try twice to get through. We used the short gearbox, accelerating almost to full throttle and we had lowered the tire pressure (BF Goodrich AT KO2) before the start of the track. We gained momentum. As there is a small slope, we aimed as high as possible to the right to drift a little lower to the left, and it passed!
The rest is a relatively easy track, except for the sharp stones.

We then left RP 34 and stopped at the hot water pool 26°54'35.4"S 67°44'50.7"W (south of the Los Hornos thermal baths). The track is quite complicated on the last kilometer, but it passes. It will have taken us 3 hours from Piedra Pomez.

We then took the track towards Las Papas. It is a long descent with tight switchbacks, which I do not recommend for long vehicles. It took us 1h30 between the swimming pool and Las Papas.

The end is in a canyon. We cross the small stream many times. We had a maximum of 20 - 25 cm, but it hadn't rained for several days. It's quite long and monotonous to get out because you can't drive fast because of the stones.
It took us 2h10 from Las Papas to exit the canyon and join RP 34.

At the exit of the canyon, work is underway to build a dam. For now, it's going smoothly. But what about the future?

In total, from Antofagasta to Fiambala (2 refueling points) there are approximately 230 Km. Easily doable with 1 full tank of fuel!

Quick tip: Download satellite views offline to the Google Maps cache. This will allow you to see the slopes!

In the category of 3 stars hotel, this is a standard 3 stars hotel, nothing exceptional but good: it's clean, there's WiFi (slow), breakfast, garage where we locked our bicycles, ladies at reception is friendly and helpful, TV, hot shower (not elec), room was tiny but clean and confortable. 110s/night for two in one room with matrimonial bed. 90 if you are alone.

Locals fishing and partying around the lake. Still open spots on Sunday evening. A bit trashy but sweet spot and the price is right. Great for a night or a few.

Nice and quite place, we stayed 3 nights. Some townspeople come in the afternoons to hang out but no one bothered us. A wild rhino also comes every day to bathe in the river and feed. You will also see elephants bathing every day, but these are prisoners of humans... 🙏🏻 please do not contribute to this type of business, just one photo you take of them will be a reason for them to continue mistreating these magnificent animals

At the moment it is not possible to enter on foot or by bicycle, since a rhinoceros killed a guide a few days ago. We tried to do the tour by bicycle but we couldn't for that reason. Currently there is a suspension bridge to cross although you can also cross the river with a 4x4 or motorcycle. Finally we entered with our van through the main entrance (north) paying 500 rupees for the vehicle + 200 rupees per person. The lakes are beautiful but we didn't see a single animal 😂

good experience, two young polite men. asked where we came from and to. smiled and had fun with them.

I don’t get the camping vibe so, with a full cart of groceries, I asked the security guards. They said no but that maybe the fashion plaza location does. I’m going to check out Camping World since it is close. Also the Lowe’s which is right here has some conversion vans so maybe that’s more possible.

It looked like an old hotel. The room was small but the view from the common room and balcony was nice

Yes, this lot is packed with church-goers on Sunday. I arrived at 6:30pm, no chance. But then at 7:30pm there were plenty of spaces open.

Campground BLM fairly new just off highway 180. Quiet despite crowd.

Covered area with concrete floor next to the polideportivo near the church close to the centre of town. I asked a couple of people if it was ok to camp here and they all said yes.
Very poor cell signal in the town.
Quite noisy with loud music coming from a nearby bar as it is the weekend.
There are also rooms available in the town if you ask around.

Muy tranquilo para aparcar, transitan varios camiones así que puede entrar cualquier tamaño de vehículo, en general os pareció tranquilo durante la noche y se puede llegar caminando fácilmente al centro

As described, everything works in the room, hotel is very clean. Asked 40,000 managed 30000 for two days.

Restaurant was limited to what they could supply. Menu offered at least six plus different omelettes but could only supply plain or with sardines. What restaurant offers omelette with cheese or fine herbs but doesn’t have the cheese or herbs.

Loo was perfect with towel, soap, and paper.

Not for the budget overlanders but a nice treat.

The Cameroon Consulate is next door to hotel.

Very quiet night in the middle of the farms. Hard to hide. In the morning, while we were having breakfast, the police came to warn us that it was not a safe area.

We did a 2 days hike with Reckson; the skyline path up and along the waterfall down. it was tough, especially for our kids (age 8 and 9), but beautiful and Reckson and the porters helped us a lot with the kids (even took them on their neck for parts). We slept at Chambe hut, basic but OK.
What I particularly liked is that they take care of everything, so they bring sleeping bags etc. Chef was great, and they also brought snacks. No need to bring anything other than personal items.
One warning: ask them to bring extra water, you can cook the mountain water but it does have a bit of a taste..

WhatsApp Reckson at +265882857390

Found a stop right across from the toilet. It was big enough for my crosstrek and more. I had a lot of space and it was right by the river. I only stayed for 2 days but I enjoyed the peace and quiet. I didn’t mind the few cars driving by.

I do not recommend: impossible to completely fill our Argentinian bottle despite 2 days of waiting. no refund. prefer me spot Llamagaz west of Cusco (very fast and much cheaper)

Noisy. Not steady, which tricked me into thinking it was okay. But vehicles played their music ultra loudly in the middle of the night.

Stay away from private residences bordering west side of lot. One could bathe on bordering Cazanovia creek.

originally, we had a place 1km near the cemetery. it is an area with poor people, but they were friendly and we had a good feeling. short after we went to bed, 3 policemen came and told us that this place is not secure. They told us to go to this location in the illuminated area. the night was quiet but 6.45 school opened and there was a lot of traffic.

The barrier was closed. So we stopped on a small parking lot in front of the barrier.

Several spots available in the area. They ask that you camp in a designated spot as noted with small signs but people seem to park wherever they can get a spot in the same general area. Road was rough but doable. Just take it slow so everything stays in your cabinets. Beautiful views. Lots of rabbits that drove our dog crazy..

It’s ok to park for the night in he back by the dumpsters. Tons of room

Yes water is here and works well. It is slow as reported but not a problem

called to confirm ok to spend the night. it was quiet, good cell signal, no complaints. rv/bus spots were pretty flat.

Easy to find location, not very level. We tried staying but couldn’t get level enough for our class B.

You can park in the lot that is set up for trailers and etc. it’s a well lit area. They do have security that drive around so it’s pretty safe. Make sure you keep your doors locked! Casino itself is very nice. Restrooms are clean. Food is good but expensive.