Colombiaโ€™s grueling roads, toyota tacoma brakes, and lots of toys

…uel and his Toy… The guys quickly offered to help (Jose, Samuel you are welcome to come visit in the states anytime you want!). Jose offered to take George over to the auto parts area of town. It would have been ill advised for us to go it alone because chances were good we would get ripped off. Samuel offered the use of the store’s facilities for free to lift the car and take the old brakes as a model to make sure we bought the right part. And no… Continue reading

Monteverde โ€“ a forest in the clouds

…in the lobby – bugs and amphibians are not really my cup of tea. I wasn’t completely safe though – G was bubbling over with stories of the strange and alarming after the tour. Since we were heading out early the following day, we popped into town to the Tree House Café for some internet. This particular café actually was built around a tree, and that particular tree had seen better days. Several large branches had snapped and were precariously ha… Continue reading

To the Fu (Futaleufu – are we cool enough?)

…ummer hours and had light until 11pm. A tabano (really large horse fly) welcome committee greeted us at the trail head. These cumbersome flies buzz around waiting for their target to be distracted before landing for the kill. These suckers can bite you through clothing and will leave a giant welt in their wake. We were loosing our minds trying to get our backpacks packed. After an hour of torture, we were finally ready to set off on the trail. Soo… Continue reading

Panama to Columbia: Shipping part 2

On Tuesday morning together with our sailing comrades (www.trans-americas.com) we milled around in the reception area of the immigration office. It wasn’t long before some Colombian shit hit the fan over our heads. Problem George, Bulgarians need a visa to enter Colombia. Bulgaria is the only EU country for which Colombia requires a tourist visa. George and I got so wrapped up with shipping Vida that we forgot to double-check the details of shipp… Continue reading