The road chose me

Almost all of my outdoor gear is getting long in the tooth, and has been in desperate need of repair for quite a while now. I knew things were getting ridiculous when a roll of duct tape was only lasting me 2 weeks – I’m pretty sure every single major piece of gear I own is sporting at least a few strips right now, including the Jeep itself.

With the help of a ton of different people I’ve recently managed to get a variety of different relief packages sent to me. Every single package had me giddy with excitement as I tore it open to find new treats:

• New bank cards & needed paperwork.

• A new sleeping bag liner.

• Replacement tent poles.

• A new tent fly (it’s 7 years old and falling apart from the hours in the sun).

• Pieces for the clunky 4×4 shifter in the Jeep.

I want to send a huge, huge thanks to all the people who sent the packages:
Melissa in Canada, Mum & Dad in NYC, Brendan in Canada, Jayna at Kathmandu tents, Mark in New Zealand and Nate from JeepForum.com

-Dan

I’ve getting really close to 40,000kms for the adventure and have been thinking about doing a few things more than ‘regular’ maintenance for a while now. After hunting around I eventually find the correct gear oil for the front and rear diffs. Paying to have it changed is again much simpler and allows for a great look underneath at everything – doing fine. The oil in the rear looks like it should have been changed 10,000kms ago (true) and the front could have easily gone another 10,000km.

I’ve been hunting high and low for the oil for the transmission and transfer case for about a month now, without success. A couple of places have had something very very similar, though I’m not one to risk it with something that important. I luck upon a Jeep dealer in Cuenca, the first one I’ve seen for a long time, and am surprised when it turns out they still don’t have exactly what I need. I eventually find the right ATF for the transfer case and swap that out and after reading up I decide the transmission is fine for a long time yet.

Three months of infrequent driving and a lot of music in the driveway found me draining the battery one too many times. Even after a push start and an hour long drive into town, the battery only just spins the starter. Cleaning up the old battery reveals the following:
“Chrysler Motor Corp. Consult manual for replacement procedure”.
I’m pretty happy to be replacing an eleven year old battery, for the seemingly fixed world-wide price of $100.

Since I bought the Jeep the 4×4 shifter has been clunking – not a problem at all – it just drives me insane on the back roads I frequent. A friend from jeepforum.com bought the new washers and bushings I need, and I take a sunny afternoon to swap it all out, for a completely rattle free Jeep (is that an oxymoron?)

Jeep and Cotopaxi

All in all, things are going great with the Jeep, I couldn’t be happier with it.

-Dan

Every year around this time the little town of Machachi comes to life with a huge festival, centered around a horse parade and bullfighting. The locals have been talking about it for weeks, so I had to find a way to get down there.

Cowkid

I skip off “work” for the afternoon and race down to town, to find it overflowing with thousands and thousands of people each desperately trying to consume alcohol and street-meat in enormous quantities. I, of course, dive right in and join the fray, with the intention of sampling at least one of everything on offer. It really is hard to beat a cold beer with mystery meat-on-a-stick especially when there is more than one unidentifiable kind.
I miss out on the horse parade through the town, which I’m told is spectacular, so I move down to the bull fighting ring.

Colors everywhere

After opening a pop-top beer with his teeth

Before I say more, let me clarify this is not the kind of fighting where the bull is stabbed and eventually dies – here it’s free to attack as many people as are stupid enough to get in front of it, before it eventually tires and is roped and taken out of the ring.

Cowgirl

Imagine for a minute a rough soccer pitch, half mud and half weeds, surrounded by a two-story grandstand circle made from planks of wood, rope and anything else left lying around. Now put a very large, angry bull in the middle with a few hundred people and fill the stands with thousands of drunk people jumping up and down and screaming for action. Surround the stand with tens of thousands more people, add torrential rain, copious amounts of mud and hundreds of street vendors selling all manner of objects that drunk hordes inevitably crave.
Yep, it’s a lot of fun

The bullfighting ring

I start to wonder if I’m a little too close when the bull slams into the fence not thirty centimeters from my face, but soon realize it’s all worth it when a matador gets tossed like a rag-doll a few times before running away intact. It becomes clear there are two kinds of matador here; the drunk, dared by his buddies, get close and run-like-mad garden variety and the pro. The pro stands more or less still, has his left arm beside him in that funny manner with fingers spread and can easily have the bull running in circles for up to 30 seconds at a time while never once looking scared or the least bit out of control. It really is an art form very close to dancing, and simply stunning to see up close.

Looking pretty mad

As day turns to night I decide to get out before things get really crazy and pickup one more little snack for the road – a bag of french fries with chunks of pork, beef and chicken, cheese and onion all smothered in ketchup and mayo.

Gotta love mystery meat-on-a-stick

OK, fun doesn’t quite cover it.

-Dan

A foreigner here in Ecuador recently had a fall and needed medical attention, the story of which makes me smile.

My Ecuadorian friends couldn’t understand why I was asking how much emergency care might cost, simply shrugging their shoulders and saying “Medical care is always free, you just have to pay for the medicine”.
Surely this can’t apply to a foreigner, we all reasoned.

With no idea what might be required, patient, passport, travel insurance paperwork and a small fortune in cash were loaded into the 4×4 and driven down to the small town about an hour away.

Upon arrival at the emergency department of the hospital, he was greeted by extremely friendly staff who apologized for his four minute wait due to another patient being seen. A very friendly and professional doctor sized up the situation and after some local anesthetic, had the cut cleaned out and stitched up with eight neat little lines of thread, eagerly asking questions about foreign lands the whole time.

The doctor wrote out a prescription for a week-long course of antibiotics and wished his new friend well as they walked to the door of the hospital. A little confused about the need for payment, the patient tried to show his insurance and passport, to which the doctor said with a broad grin, “You don’t need that here, everything is free”.

At the local pharmacy (drug store), the prescription was filled in thirty seconds and the total bill rung up – $7 (USD) including tax.

Raise your hand if you wish health care worked like that in your country.

Sitting around the dinner table that night while the story was relayed were looks of surprise, shock and outright disbelief. Stories about healthcare in homelands were told by people from all over the world, from similar accounts, to people declaring bankruptcy due to nothing more than a broken arm, an injury that will probably happen to most of us in our lifetimes. After some rough translation, the Ecuadorians couldn’t believe the cost of health care in some countries, and were downright scared when told how much one couple had paid in medical expenses just to have a baby.

I think it’s pretty clear those of us living in the “First World” have a lot to learn from those in the “Third World”.

-Dan

P.S. No, mum. This story is not about me. You can stop worrying now

I don’t often write about my future plans, though right now there are a couple of things on the horizon that I’m too excited about to keep to myself:

• I’m currently training to run a 10km fun run through the streets of Old Town Quito at night, and am loving the fitness attained at 3500 meters above sea level.

• Before I move on I’ll make an attempt on the summit of Volcán Cotopaxi, 5897 meters up. This will be by far the biggest mountain I have attempted.

Distant Cotopaxi

• I’ll start moving South again in early September, spending roughly a month in each of Peru, Boliva, Northern Chile and Northern Argentnia on my way to…

• Christmas with my family! in Buenos Aires! Uh-Huh!.

• The plan after that is very hazy, but probably involves going South along the East coast to Tierra Del Fuego, then North along the West for some solid time in and around Patagonia and Southern Chile in general.

• After that, there are a few dreams forming that keep me thinking, but nothing concrete right now.

Love that view

-Dan

When I last saw The Pebble Pedalers, Seth & Parker we were in Baja California, Mexico, just starting the Latin American leg of our respective journeys. The night we shared food and water at our campsite on the side of the highway has remained at the front of my mind as one of my best campsites, all through nine more countries.

While in Quito recently I met another cyclist coming down from Canada and after a few minutes I had news of Seth and Parker – and most importantly found out they were close. Really close. A few emails and days later, I watched them ride into The Secret Garden Cotopaxi on a sunny morning, grinning from ear to ear. It’s great to see how fit and healthy they both look, their bodies now very used to the punishment of riding 100+ kilometers every day for a year. All of us talk simultaneously and try to ask three questions at exactly the same time.
There is lots of laughter.

Seth, Dan & Parker

We spend hours over the next couple of days telling stories about the adventures that have transpired since our last meeting, loving every minute. It’s amazing to spend time with guys I can relate to so well – they understand my journey so completely I feel like they’ve been with me the entire time through the good, the bad and everything in between. More than a few times in the middle of a story we finish each others sentences, more than well-versed in life on the road in Latin America.

The guys & the gear

On more than a few occasions thinking to myself “If Seth and Parker can do this on bicycles, surely I can do it in a Jeep…” has helped me push through difficult times, and it’s cool to get a boost from seeing them for real. To know they’ve now ridden 18,000km and are still loving every minute and going strong is a huge boost to my energy and I’m more excited than ever to get back on road. It’s awesome to know they are now forging the trail in front of me, and we know we’ll see each other again before the journey is done.

Riding off into the sunrise

Good luck guys, seeya down there

-Dan