November 22, 2015

It was time to create another miscellaneous post, because I had a few photos and thoughts I needed to put somewhere that didn’t fit elsewhere, and, well, frankly, because I have a couple of more days in Vilcabamba and I don’t want to publish my thoughts on this town until I am well clear of it.

Since Mexico, I’ve been attracted to the large number of old-school Toyota Land Cruisers. I had no idea there were so many of them, and that so many still exist in Latin America. I love these old trucks, especially the “B” series with the diesel engine.

I would love to have one of these, especially the diesel version, but I looked at what they are selling for both here and in the U.S., and I could buy a new fully loaded pickup truck instead.

The other vintage vehicle I saw in Colombia that was extremely popular there was the Renault Master. The current Renault Master looks a lot like a Mercedes Sprinter van, but the older generation Master is a much smaller, “Fiat-like” wagon. These things are everywhere in Colombia.

 

Finally, here’s a few shots from a recent hostel I stayed in. This place was actually great; very comfortable. Just an example of the building process here.

 

 

These are the kinds of “design considerations” that make a place like Magic Stone B&B in Baños stand out, where the design and construction were done right.

Oh, and all that stuff I posted a while back about the different names for flat fixers in the different countries? Well, we’ve come full circle: just like in Mexico, in Ecuador they are again referred to as Vulcanizadores. Odd how quickly things change just crossing a border, even in the same general language.

December 25, 2015

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas.

Looking back on the past five months of traveling the Americas, it’s been a tremendously rewarding experience. There have been very good days, and some more difficult days, but I wouldn’t trade any of them.

Many people have asked what my favorite country has been so far. It really depends on what aspect you’re talking about. Most beautiful? Overall I’m still putting Colombia at the top of that list, although Peru has been pretty awesome so far, and I’m not through it yet. Friendliest people? They’ve all been great. Colombians and Mexicans really went out of their way to be friendly….everyone I came in contact with. I’ll never forget sitting at stoplights in Bucaramanga, Colombia and having people pull up next to me, both on bikes and in cars, and give me a thumbs up while screaming “Bienvenidos a Colombia!”.

Best food? Personally, I’m still a huge fan of Mexico. Although Peruvian ceviche has been incredible, and I had a few great meals in other countries as well: at a guesthouse in Panama, on the beach in El Salvador, and several others I can’t even recall right now. It’s probably not fair to rate a country based on its’ food when your budget is as low as mine.

I’ve met a lot of great people on the road, from locals who were just curious where I came from and where I was going (the little girl at the gas station outside of Chimborazo, Ecuador especially comes to mind — wide-eyed and having fun talking with me in Spanish), to innkeepers like Aase and Ove at The Magic Stone in Banos and Anja in Vilcabamba, to the other travelers I’ve met and even traveled with along the way. Especially Judith, the “Swiss Girl” who rode from Alaska to Chile on her own (except when she allowed me to tag along).

 

 

Judith will always have a special place. It was a great trip and I hope to see her again when I get to Switzerland.

I’ve also enjoyed traveling with Ian from Scotland, and hope to meet up with him again closer to Patagonia, and hopefully in the UK as well.

I feel like I’ve made a lot of new friends on this journey; people that I will see again either down the road or in their hometowns on the other side of the world. And wherever I land when the trip is done, they will all be welcome there as well.

I also want to say thanks to all of my friends back home that have followed along on my travels, and those who have offered assistance during my trip, should I need it. So far, my bike has been great and I haven’t had a need to call for help. But you are not forgotten.

In just the first five months of my travels, I have seen and experienced a different lifestyle than I have ever lived before, but I have adapted to it well, and it feels good.

As if to confirm that this life fits me well, I am healthier than I have been in years. In addition to losing 25 pounds since July, my primary health problem seems to have cured itself: when I left Texas in July, my PSA level (the number used to measure prostate condition and possibly indicate prostate cancer) was 50. The normal level is closer to 4, and typically a level of 50 indicates the existence of prostate cancer is highly likely. This past Wednesday, after five months on the road, my PSA level was measured again, and I am at 2.8. My doctor has no explanation for how my number has dropped so far, or why my PSA is well within the normal range now even though my biopsies in July showed a pre-cancerous condition. I will chalk it up to a change of diet and a severe reduction in the stress levels in my life.

Which gives me a lot to be thankful for as I continue to ride.

I hope your holidays are bright, and you make plans for the new year that change your life in a positive way.

Cheers,

Pat

January 5, 2016

I have enjoyed spending time with family and friends the last few weeks in Texas, Tennessee, and California.

With my time off, I was able to obtain my Tanzanian visa (the other African visas I can get at the border crossings), plan a bit more of my South America travels, and even make some plans for the continent after Africa.

The downside to spending two weeks in the States is that I gained ten pounds back. Sadly, I am ready to get back to the South American “diet” as well. I love food, I love the choices of food in the States, but the quantities are just way more than I need. And I’ve found that a big part of the problem is that it is too easily accessible. It’s harder to grab a snack or a burger or cookies or junk food and soda in most of the places I’ve been traveling. In the States, it’s all within arm’s reach all the time.

I had booked this return trip to the US before I ever left Texas back in July. I was planning ahead in order to hopefully avoid travel burn-out. But when the time came, I found I wasn’t really burned out on traveling. And within a very short time I was missing my little 250, and ready to get back on the bike and head towards Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Actually, I am beyond ready.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to email me, visit with me, buy me a meal, or otherwise say hello while I was in the U.S. It’s always good to know I have a support team out there, even if they are invisible and silent most of the time.

Now let’s get this show back on the road!

 

January 24, 2016

Another day of nothing to do but recover, so I thought I’d post a couple of interesting photos I took recently…

 

 

 

 

 

February 7, 2016

Multiple Choice:

Carretera Austral is to Chileans in January and February as ____________ is to people in the U.S. in July and August:

• A. Disneyworld
• B. Yellowstone
• C. Yosemite
• D. Burning Man
• E. All of the above

“E” is probably the closest correct answer. A bit less like Disney and more like Burning Man and Yellowstone, as it isn’t easy to get to and takes a real commitment. But once there, you stand and look around and think, “Wow”. The visitors are a combination of what you would expect to see in the above venues: families in their SUVs loaded with camping gear used once a year; lines of 20-somethings beside the road, literally in the hundreds, hitchhiking; bicyclists, typically slightly older and in smaller numbers; and motorcyclists from all over the world.

The pavement currently surrenders for good just south of Coyhaique. From here to Villa O’Higgins — another 350 miles and the end of the road — it is all gravel.

There is no such thing as a short day on the Carretera Austral. The overall distance might be less than a hundred miles, but between the gravel, the road construction stops, the traffic, and the fact that all of the hotels, hostels, campgrounds, etc are sold out through March, days can end up being much longer than expected. Just the same, I had planned for shorter distance days and hoped to find a place to camp by no later than 3pm each day in order to possibly beat a few people to the last remaining spots. And so far it has worked, for the most part. 

I passed through Coyhaique, stopping only for groceries. It’s a fairly large town, and was completely booked. About twenty kilometers south of town I stumbled on a beautiful and small National Reserve with an open camp site. 

The next day was on to Puerto Rio Tranquilo.

March 9, 2016

Now that I am in Buenos Aires I have essentially completed the North, Central, and South America leg of my journey. In the future I will likely return to South America to continue to explore areas that I missed this time around. It’s a big continent, and I could easily spend a year here. Perhaps on Lap 2…

So here are some basic numbers:

• 235 days on the road (115 days on the bike; 120 days off the bike)
• 29,756 kilometers (18,490 miles)
• 278 gallons of gasoline
• 45 nights spent camping
• 14 countries
• 38 individual trips through immigration (and another 38 trips through Aduana or Customs)
• 7 oil changes
• 4 sets of tires
• 3 sets of brake pads
• 1 set of chain and sprockets
• 2 crashes 
• 1 tip-over
• 1 bike “cannonball” off a worklift
• 1 broken pannier rack (re-welded)
• 0 flat tires

Aside from some dirty fuel in Argentina, and a leaking fork seal, I’ve had no problems with the bike.

As I predicted at the beginning of the month, March was by far the most expensive month of my trip so far. I was prepared for this though, due to the expense of shipping the bike from South America to Africa. I also installed another set of tires on the last day of the month, which drove the total up even more. And I spent more on lodging than I normally would have due to the extended time in Buenos Aires preparing to ship the bike, and again in Cape Town waiting on the bike to arrive and preparing to leave Cape Town. So while my gas and food expenses were less than February — the food could have been less yet — the lodging was more, and the shipping expenses really knocked a hole in my budget.

Gas: $121.32 (Daily average: $3.91)

Food: $280.97 (Daily average: $9.06)

Lodging: $1068.91 (Daily average: $34.38)

Tours, Park Admission: $66.77

Bike Maintenance: $385.41

Tolls, Ferries, Shipping: $2053.73

Miscellaneous: $19.90

Grand Total: $3997.01

For April, my lodging expenses should decrease significantly, as I plan to camp a lot more, and food should also be less. My only big expenses that I foresee right now are one or two safari tours (these can be expensive, especially since I have to join an organized tour). Overall, my monthly average should be much less in April than March, and hopefully less than February.

April 15, 2016

For those who came to this blog late, or just want to see the photos without all the blah blah blah, I put together a number of my favorite photos from the past eight months into a YouTube video.

Hope you enjoy.

May 1, 2016

My April expenses for gas, food and lodging were near the lowest I’ve had, mostly because I camped 23 of the 30 nights. They could have been lower yet, but I had more dinners in restaurants than I should have. 

Dining is more expensive in Africa than in Latin America, even at the simple level. A basic meal of chicken and rice with vegetables and a soft drink here runs about five dollars. In most of Latin America I could get the same for under three dollars. Many of the campsites I’ve stayed at in Southern Africa are attached to a lodge where American and European tourists stay to take safari tours. These restaurants cater to the higher-end tourists, and the prices are much higher. A dinner here can run as much as $26 per person (my pasta-in-a-mug, prepared on my tiny gas stove, starts to look really good at these places). Rooms at these lodges tend to be in the $130 to $400 per night range, while camping is generally around $10 per night. The advantage to camping becomes obvious: for what one night in a room costs, I can camp for two weeks or more. That kind of savings quickly extends my travel time. Likewise, the price of food drops considerably once you get away from the typical tourist areas. In some ways, it’s a shame that most tourists come to Africa to stay at a safari lodge at $200+ per night, and ride in a safari truck at $100+ per day, and eat the buffet dinner at $25+ per night, then go home saying they’ve seen Africa. You don’t have to travel very far outside of these places to find the real Africa, but it does generally require your own vehicle to do so. And it isn’t sugar-coated out here: people are incredibly poor and struggling. 

But enough of that rant….

Fuel costs vary by country, but in general, fuel is a little more expensive in Africa as well. There is only one grade of gas here (Unleaded, which is marked 95 octane) and two grades of diesel (low sulphur and standard diesel). Most vehicles here run on diesel. Unleaded here in Zambia is 9.78 kwachas per liter, or about US$3.88 per gallon. Diesel is about 50 cents less per gallon. Fortunately my little XT250 has been averaging between 68 and 77 mpg, and the gas station attendants tend to fill the tank all the way to the very top of the neck. I’ve been able to go nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles) on the standard 2.6 gallon fuel tank lately without running out. With my spare 3 gallon Rotopax on the rear rack, that gives me a 400 mile range. Totally unnecessary on the route I chose through Africa; I’ve been able to find a legitimate gas station (there are three or four brands) every 120 to 150 miles lately. That wasn’t the case in Namibia where I spent much more time on sand and gravel back roads and had to dip into my spare can more than once. 

My overall expenses for April were still high due to the tours. It’s hard to go to Africa and not experience the tourist side. So the 3-day Etosha tour and the helicopter tour of Victoria Falls added nearly 50% to my monthly expenses. 

Miles ridden in April: 3394 miles 

Total miles ridden since July 27, 2015:  22,778 mi.

April:

Fuel: $129.13 (Avg $4.30/day)

Food: $404.35 (Avg $13.47/day)

Lodging: $445.26 (Avg $14.84/day) 

Bike maintenance: $41.62

Tours/Entertainment: $663.21

Visa/Border Fees/Misc fees: $236.07

Average daily expense for Gas/Food/Lodging: $32.61

May will likely be another very expensive month with more shipping expense, and at least one more African tour (hopefully).