The Long Goodbye

The only ways to get from South America to Central America are either by plane, or by sea ….because there simply aren’t any roads, or even trails …..just disease-infested swamps, mountains, jungle, armed rebels, and drug smugglers! So we decided no, perhaps we wouldn’t try …maybe next time!

So, we drove down past the volcano Cotopaxi (no smoke or flames, very boring), then over the mountains through tiny villages to Manta, a town in the north of Ecuador, on the Pacific coast ….beautiful bays and little fishing villages ……to wait for a cargo boat which would take our car to Panama. The procedure is relatively simple, but the timing is triiiiicky! ……

The cargo boat only takes vehicles, not passengers, so we have to fly. But we can’t fly until we have a document called the Bill of Lading for the car …which is only issued once the car is safely loaded on the ship …..and the ship’s sailing schedule is notoriously unreliable!
We were first given a date of December 15th for the arrival of the ship in Manta …then Dec. 17th …..then 19th ….then 21st ….and finally Dec.22nd! So we couldn’t really reserve any plane tickets till the last minute!

However we found a cheap campsite just overlooking the beach outside of Manta, and spent our time swimming, and watching the local fishermen; they were catching mainly sardines and tuna (average weight 160lbs!), and chatting to our fellow campers …a German couple with two little dogs in an enormous off-road truck. They have been travelling for 3 years already, and don’t intend to stop. We spent Christmas day with them.
I also had to spend quite a bit of time and effort ensuring that the car plus contents were as « thief-proof » as possible (because you have to leave the car in the docks, and give them a key! ….and we had heard quite a few horror stories from other travellers!). Finally our car left on December 24th ….and we got plane tickets to Panama for December 26th.

On the morning of December 27th we went to the docks in Balboa (Panama City) ….and there was our car sitting in the customs yard waiting for us!! No damage, nothing missing!
All we had to do was complete the customs procedures and drive away ….sounds simple doesn’t it!
First, there is no written procedure to follow ….
Second, there are at least 9 little offices to visit …two of which are in other parts of the city several kilometres away! …and none of the offices have any signs to say what they do.
And of course nobody is really in a hurry ….. So after 4.5 hours (in the blazing sun), we finally got the keys to our car!

We decided we couldn’t leave Panama city without visiting the famous Canal, and the time was just right to see some cargo ships coming through the locks. Unfortunately we got completely lost (surprise, surprise!) trying to find the locks, and ended up stopped on the side of the road looking at our maps. Two police motorcyclists stopped and came over to ask us if we had a problem …and when we told them we were trying to find the Miraflores Locks, they just said …. « No problem, follow us » ….and took us all the way there! Yet another example of the kindness and helpfulness of people over here.
We didn’t realize just how much revenue the Canal earns for Panama …on average 25 to 30 ships pass through every day …..for which Panama charges between 3 and 4 million dollars!! ……each day!!! ….365days per year!!! But as they point out, if the ships have to go round Cape Horn, it takes two weeks longer, and costs 10 times as much!
The Canal locks are just 33 metres wide …and the largest ships measure 32 metres wide! So they are very carefully guided through by electric trains (or mules as they are called) which keep them in the middle, and help them to stop. Afterwards we set off to find a campsite for the night. When we eventually found it late at night it was well worth it; beautiful tropical garden with parrots, toucans, monkeys, swimming pool, cheap restaurant, 10 minutes walk from the beach …
We are now taking a couple of days to relax and catch up on things. I have several repairs on the car: we nearly lost the front suspension because two bolts had unscrewed themselves and dropped out! …and we almost had a fire inside when a reading lamp burst into flames!!
But everything is now under control, and we’re ready to set off again …once I’ve changed the rear tyres which are almost completely bald!

So …. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY, AND BEST WISHES FOR 2008!!

Next update soon.

Ciao

Ushuaia ... El fin del mundo

Ushuaia …..El fin del Mundo ….or Bergs and Beavers

From Galapagos in the north, we flew down to Ushuaia …the most southerly town in the world. The total flight time was 17,5hrs! …leaving from Quito, and changing at Lima, Santiago, and Punta Arenes before finally arriving at Ushuaia. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, having read in some of the guide books that Ushuaia was « over-rated ». So it was a wonderful surprise to find the town nestling in scenery that looks just like a little Switzerland; snow-capped mountains, huge lakes, forests, and the famous Beagle channel to the south (named after Darwin’s ship). The weather is equally spectacular; changing every few minutes. You can have brilliant hot sunshine one second, then a torrential downpour the next. With temperatures ranging from 25degrees C with no wind ….to several degrees below zero when the wind blows! …and when the wind blows ….it BLOWS!!!
The port is full of small yachts, Antarctic cruise ships, cargo vessels, ice-breakers, and two magnificent old three-masted sailing ships. Actually there is one cruise ship less now ….while we were there the « Explorer » sank after hitting an iceberg …with 151 people on board! Fortunately everyone was rescued.
We rented a small car to drive around from a local company called « Localiza ». We’ve never had such amazing service; incredibly enthusiastic, gave us addresses of local campsites, restaurants, and places to visit. Even lent us some music CD’s for our travels (Paul Anka and Rod Stewart?!!) Plus the rental rates were way below all the other companies …..Hertz look out!!! Talking about restaurants, if you’re basically a carnivore like me, Ushuaia is a paradise; there are several restaurants with huge barbecues and « All You Can Eat » menus for just 10euros!!! ….and the meat is just the best you ever tasted!
After visiting and camping in the Tierra del Fuego national park (lots of rabbits, beavers, rabbits, hawks, wild horses …and more rabbits …oh, and a glacier that you can’t actually see because its buried under 10metres of snow), we set off for the Glacier national park further north. To get there we had to cross the Straits of Magellan on a little ferry. We almost got stuck in the car while we were waiting for the ferry to arrive ….the wind was so strong we couldn’t open the car doors!!!
The object of our visit was the Perito Moreno glacier …. Now that is one impressive glacier!! …an enormous 14km long, 2,5km wide wall of glistening blue/white ice. This glacier is actually getting bigger! It advances several metres per year!! So much for global warming! You can hear the cracks and groans as it pushes forwards against the rocky shoreline; it has already cut Argentina’s biggest lake in two!
We took advantage of our last days in Argentina to eat steak, barbecued by chef Willett at the campsite. 1kg of prime beef steak at a time (for just 5euros!) …..mmmmmm
On our way back to Ushuaia we stopped at a penguin reserve. Actually we slept overnight in the car in front of the gates ….we got a few strange looks from the wardens when they opened up in the morning …but we’re getting used to that by now! The Magellan penguins live in burrows just like rabbits, about 100metres from the beach. They look so comical waddling along their little paths to and from the sea (each penguin always uses the same paths), just like a little village of very small people dressed in dinner jackets, stopping to chat to each other, and poking their beaks into each other’s burrows … »Hey Fred, I’m just popping down to the beach for a quick sardine, are you coming? »
In 1940 the Argentines introduced beavers into Ushuaia, to provide extra employment (hunting) for the local people. However, as the beavers had no natural predators, things got a bit out of hand. From an original 50 beavers, there are now 120 000!! …and to make things worse, nobody wears beaver skin clothes any more ….ooops! They are very shy creatures, but we managed to find a fairly isolated beaver « house » and dam, and got some movie film of them.
We are writing this back in Quito, It was sad to leave Ushuaia; an incredibly beautiful place, wild and lonely, with days that last from 5:30am to 10:30pm …and even during the night it doesn’t really get very dark.
We soon say goodbye to South America; in a couple of weeks we’ll be writing our next update from Panama.

Hasta luego!!