Things
- Quad band mobile with global roaming SIM (I thought there would be few internet cafe´s, in fact there were loads....)
- Canon IXUS 70, fantastic compact digital camera, with spare battery
- Mini tripod, so useful when your alone
- Mini binoculars (in the Atacama I used them to spot petrol stations !!)
- Ipod (great for camping) & sodding bulky over-heavy Apple UK charger
- UK Travel Plug adaptor
- 2GB USB Stick - Indispensible ! I had the Chrome browser & Picasa3 & Skype & a shareware file shredder on mine (and backed up my photos). Having a browser on a memory stick is a good idea, all cache info, cookies, session data leaves the internet cafe with you, in South/Central America there are known to be dodgy cafe´s with keyloggers etc...). All my bank details etc.. were on on an Ironkey encryted file.
- Victorinox Penknife
- Petzl LED head torch
- Flat head screwdriver (bought for tyre operations, it was not long enough)
- Needlenose pliers
- Plastic lens cleaning fluid & cloth (great for helmet visor)
- Duct Tape
- Clothes line & some pegs
- Magnetic compass (used it a lot)
- Cigarette lighter
- Tube of contact adhesive (handy for quick clothes repair)
- Tube of superglue
- Sewing Kit
- 5m narrow "webbing" for strapping things together
- Elastic bands and Plastic bags, v.useful
- Barclays PinSentry thingey
Personal Stuff
- Travel waist security pouch thingey
- Insect repellent
- Sunglasses & Case
- Earplugs
- Travel towel (medium size)
- Wash kit
- Wide brim sunhat
- Universal Plug (Very difficult to buy in South/Central America, I lost mine the first week, in Belize....)
- Factor 50 sun cream & lip salve
- Alcohol gel
- Lifesystems Pocket First Aid Kit
- Eagle Creek belt with hidden money pouch (I had an "emergency" US $200 in mine)
- 1.5 liter plastic water bottle (normal plastic mineral water bottle from supermarket, they last ages)
- Silk Sleeping Liner (never used this thing the once, but could not chuck it out)
- 2 x Paperback novels, to be swapped at book exchanges (n.b. decent book exchanges are very few and far between in South America, mainly because North Americans swap their trashy "airport novels" for decent books....)
- 1 medium sized good quality padlock (for hostel lockers)
- 1 small sized good quality padlock (the padlocks in South America are mostly not good quality)
- Diary Notebook (as in actual book, you know, made of trees..)
- Loo paper - wherever you go in Central / South America you take loo paper with you ! There is absolutely no telling whether there will be any....
Medical Kit
- Rehydration salts (lots & lots...)
- Ibuprofen
- Paracetomol
- TCP
- Immodium
- Cotton Buds
- Plaster Strip (much better than individual plasters)
- Ciproflaxin (the nuclear option for bacterial infection, buy it out here, really cheap)
Information
- Lonely Planet South America & Central America on a Shoestring (2 books. Indispensible for seeking out hostels). They are often available in hostel book exchanges.
- ITM All of South America map
- ITM Argentina map
- Collins Mini Spanish Dictionary
- My Spanish notes from my course in Guatemala were all in one notebook
Bags
- Day pack, small rucksack (fitted over handlebars with all important stuff, easy to remove, when touring)
- Karrimor Jaguar 65L rucksack (n.b. could not use the sidepockets when in motorcycle "touring mode")
- Eagle Creek "Pack-It" compressor, brilliant & everything stays dry and clean (needed 3 of them)
- Large lockable bag (very handy for bag storage at hostels) and flights (goes over big rucksack).
- Waterproof backpack cover (great on the the bike too)
Bike Stuff
- Large Bike Cable Lock, I found a good place to store it, wrapped around the left "leg guard", had to use it more when my steering lock was carelessly broken in a hostel.
- Tyre pressure guage, Essential !! no garages have guages, only (sometimes) air hoses.
- Spare inner tube.
- Tyre levers / Irons - never was able to find the proper levers, got 2 pieces of shaped rebar instead.
- Mini Bicycle Pump, will inflate the tyre, eventually.....
- Thick PVC waterproofs, big enough to go over everything. I got mine, in Lima, in a fishermans shop, they were XXXL !! but still not quite big enough, but only $15 US (not great quality, but they made it, just).
- "Serial Killer" gloves ! Super thick PVC gloves designed for unblocking drains ! I got the biggest I could get and they fitted snuggly over my normal gloves (below), still got cold hands though, when it rained hard and to quote Pink Floyd "My hands felt just like two balloons", indeed !
- Erstaz thick "leather" bike gloves, bought in Arequipa, Peru for US $2 !
- Fleece scarf to wrap around neck, as I did not have full face helmet.
- Crash Helmet (I always wore mine, even when no-one else did, partly because it would be a nice little earner for the police), bought, new in Lima for $15, the most comfortable one I´ve ever had....
- Large bicycle patches for punctures, plus glue, sandpaper and french chalk
- The bike came with a toolkit, pretty useless, spanners barely fitted anything, and a too-big convertable phillips / flat head screwdriver
Camping Stuff
- Doite Zolo Especial one person tent (get two in it at a squeeze, but no-one was willing !).
- Doite Glacier EX minus15 deg C rated, synthetic sleeping bag (heavy and bulky, but worth it).
- Doite Self-Inflating Hiking Mat (I would barely go camping without one of these now....).
- MSR Dromodary 2L water carrier (never used it the once).
Clotheing
- Waterproof Poncho - all I had for trekking when I desperately wanted some Goretex !
- Swimmers
- 2 x shorts (1 x hiking and 1 x multi-pocketed for travel)
- "Going out" shirt
- Polyprop hiking T-shirt
- Polyprop hiking long sleeved T-shirt
- Rohan "bags" hiking trousers
- Rohan long sleeved hiking shirt
- 3 x cotton T-shirts
- 1 x quickdry T-shirt
- Thermal pants (full length grandad style)
- Hooded sweatshirt (heavy and bulky but worth it)
- 2 x thin socks
- 1 x thick hiking socks
- One cheapie $10 Ski Jacket from a market in Lima (it made it, with multiple repairs....)
- Fleece Hat
- Windstopper fleece gloves
- 2 x thin fleecy jumpers (one over another most of the time)
- Salomon lightweight walking boots, I used these as my "motorcycle boots" while touring, they were fine until it rained. Then I tied two supermarket bags (over each foot), I saw someone in Quito doing this. It looks like c**p, but it works !!!
- 5 x underwear
- KEEN sandals, I bought these in the States on the way to Mexico. I had my doubts about them at first but they have been amazing, absolutely indestructable and very comfy, I´ve worn them in the sea several times and that´s usually a sandal killer. With socks they look like trainers (which I don´t have, no space).
Wishlist
- Netbook computer ! (I did not take one of these because I did not think there would be much wi-fi, totally wrong !!, there´s more free wi-fi than in London !! it would have made life easier, as lot of cafe´s in Patagonia don´t have Skype), but they are theft magnets and it would have taken a beating in my backpack on those gravel roads...
- Failing a netbook then a USB Skype headset (I had the Skype program on my USB stick, so this would turn any internet cafe PC into a telephone).
- Leatherman "Skeletool CX" multi-tool (I´ve got a Leatherman Original, it´s great ! but it´s too heavy for this trip).
- MSR petrol stove and pan set, would have been perfect (I would only have to syphon some petrol when I needed it), it could have made the camping experience much more pleasurable, as it was, I was stuck with cold food, mostly sandwiches.
