Like a snail...

Well, I must add to my 'not really a blog' that I am currently moving as fast as a Redwood. Isla Mujeres and the Costa Maya has stalled my adventure. Well, not the adventure, but the Ark seems to be happy here for a bit~

K

Ready For Return...Join Me For The Ride North~~~

I will be back onboard the ARK in Mid August, 2011...

Looking for passengers to join me for this part of the trip. Not in a hurry, but it wont take a year this time:)

Pictures paint a thousand words so: https://picasaweb.google.com/adventureplanet

Can meet my potential Hitch Hikers in Costa Rica (Liberia) or San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua.

Please read the site and check out the photos of how we travel and see you soon:_

K

Drama Drama Drama... Love it.

So it looks like its been about 11 months since I have entered info on the trip.

Well, sorry. Especially if you happen to be living vicariously through me. (Which you shouldnt be...You should be out doing your own thing...Anyone can. Especially you.)

But here is the update nutshell...

The Ark is fixed. Thanks Lucas.

The year I spent back in the USA (leaving the ARK in Costa Rica storage) was somewhat successful. Brought two business "back in black".

Recently, about 6 weeks ago Costa Rica called and said 'Come and get the ARK or we will be happy to keep it." So, a few days later down I went to CR. 5 weeks later I got my CR license plates and all is well. I will be back down shortly to the van in CR to keep the journey alive and will be shipping the camper to Columbia.

Can't wait~

Remember, all the pretty pictures can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/adventureplanet

Thank You Frontier Airlines...

Well...

As one can see, no posts and no pics for some time now. Though I cant post all that happened on that fateful return trip to replace my transmission in the ARK, I will tell you that Frontier Airlines has been the major reason for me not being able to carry on from here. Here is what happened in a nutshell.

Both my mechanic Lucas and I got to the airport early to check in all the parts and the transmission for the flight to Costa Rica.

They said we couldnt take any of it.

I said I called three times in the month before to check and at that time they said no problem.

We got thier early, but almost missed the flight. Over an hour later of phone calls and waiting and yesses and no's. They said, "oh, sorry, everything can go with you."

Great. They wheel the transmission, clutch brakes etc (three bags of checked and paid for luggage onto the plane, or so we thought, and we run for the gate so we dont miss the flight.

Nice enough flight. Foods even ok. Arrive at 6am to find two bags, not three. The missing bag has the special tools and essential parts for the job of fixing the van.

We had three days to fix the car. What we ended up doing was waiting and waiting and waiting for a bag that never showed up. My mechanic had only three days to help me and this was planned since june. No parts, no tools, no fix. We did what we could but didnt get the job done.

I have since sent a letter asking Frontier to fly us back down to finish the job. I have had no response. I will try one more time and then perhaps I will need to take further action. Hopefully the ARK is safe. Meanwhile, I am back in the USA, interrupting my trip to South America and waiting for my well deserved tickets to take my mechanic and I back to finish the job. Then its on to Panama, Colombia and the rest of South America! I will make it!!!!

Oh...we did get the bag finally. It was waiting for Lucas at the gate for his flight back to the USA. Unbelievable...

K

5...4...3...2...1...Costa Rica, I'm Coming!

For those that just like the pretty pictures in the book, http://picasaweb.google.com/adventureplanet/KyleAndTheArkPart4GuatemalaToCostaRica#

So about a year and a half ago, I had Lucas Hofgard over at his new shop 'Wild Westy' in Boulder Colorado prep my Syncro Westy, The ARK, for my 2 year drive to South America.

This included the Subaru Conversion, the big bumpers, customized roof racks, larger tires and wheels and springs, and you know the rest. New everything.

Well we did it all. Well, almost. I thought about rebuilding the transmission but after going through it with a fine tooth comb, we thought it not necessary as it was shifting strong and straight. Well, about 6 countries later and 11 months into my Journey, somewhere on the southern coast of Nicaragua, came a clicky clack sound just as i was leaving the sweet suft spot of Madera for the Costa Rican border. As you know, a clicky clack sound, coming from inside your gearbox is 'una cosa mala' (a bad thing). I was left with no low gear, barely reverse, and sounds that made nails on a chalkboard sound like Norah Jones to me.

I climbed a coconut tree and made a quick satellite phone call to Lucas (still sleeping in his cozy bed in Boulder) and we determined I should have bought a bicycle instead. Not really. 20,000 miles of Baja, Copper Canyon, Michoacan Beach Sand, Chiapas Jungle, Belizian Mountain grades, Guatemalan Highland backroads, El Salvadorian Coffee plantation access routes, Honduran stream crossings, and outrunning a city traffic policeman in Managua Nicaragua had taken the last drops of life from my transmission. Having the rig loaded with two spares, mountain bikes, climbing gear, kayak, surfboards and a pretty good stock of Trader Joe's delicacy's probably sped up the experience as well...that's a lot of gear for my gears.

I limped it to the border, and limped it on down to Liberia Costa Rica where it sits now in a Customs warehouse.

I hopped a flight back to the states to visit my mom, pick up my dog, and go for a hike in the rockies to think about what I would do next. I stopped in to see Lucas to see what we could do. By the end of the day, the rebuild of a spare transmission he had was in process and as of this Tuesday, around 1am, Lucas and I will be on a non stop Frontier Airlines flight to Costa Rica with a checked bag that weighs 98 pounds that contains a shiny newly rebuilt transmission, (two pounds shy of the limit). The other bag will contain a few special tools, six quarts of GL-4, and a pair of board shorts.

So even though by now I should just be unloading my rig, 'The Ark', from a shipping container in Cartagena Columbia with some German friends that were following me in a Land Rover 110, I'm pretty happy to have a mechanic that loves my van, perhaps more than I do, and someone to surf Tamarindo with me for a day in between the fix and the flight back. We have 72 hours to complete the mission...

Stay Tuned...

Ark Down...But not for long.

So here's the latest photo set: http://picasaweb.google.com/adventureplanet/AdventuresOfTheSpectaculousWoodknocker#

That takes us from the Yucatan to Guatemala.

And theres another set coming for Apr May Jun. Currently stateside getting a new transmission together to fly it back down to Central America and install. New passengers hang in there. Let you know when Im back on the road to South America...

Almost Forgot...

So I was reminded the other day that this is more of a info site than a blog, so I will go a little more easy on myself. Less guilt you know... So just finished another great leg of the journey. Yucatan to Costa Maya to Belize Highlands to Guatemala Jungle to Guat Coast, to Guat highlands and now near the border of El Salvador. Ready for another rider. Revision to the blog coming soon. Read on down for an idea of how the journey is going. Highlights from the last two months...Took over Mango Cafe for a month, private Cenote and Costa Maya snorkeling, Tarpon Fishing, 12 new fruits tried,( one makes a fantastic glue), Belize Cave exploration, Sailboat into the Caribbean, Blue Corn tortillas found, Lobster caught/eaten, more waterfalls, hot spring waterfalls, invited to stay at mansion on coffee plantation (accepted) oh and the list goes on... Ready?