South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure

Hi RA,

You're full of good ideas. I checked out that Spanish program and it is really useful.

Thanks so much amigo!

Saludos,
Juanito

Hey John

Glad you made it to the city safe. The roads would have been busy with the holiday.

We got the 500 purrin like a kitten again. Israel was back out and put it back together shortly after you left. Fired up second kick with no more bucking and kicking. It is 11.20 pm and I am in Pennomme waiting for my wife and other son Andrew who just flew in tonight and are on there way to meet me here.

Just thought I would catch up on some rr,s and thank you for coming out. We had a great time & look forward to seeing you again sometime!! Will be following you on your thread!

Thanks again,
Phil

Hola Felipe,

Great news that the XL is back in business!

That is a great bike for ripping around down here. It was great hanging out with you guys. Tell artist Phil I'll be posting pics of hot Colombiana women in a couple weeks. It's only a matter of time before he heads over there. Mark my words.

You and Cam are going to have a blast next year riding down here from Canada. And anytime you're in Nebraska I expect you to drop by and say hi so I can return your generous hospitality. You always have a free place to stay at mi casa.

Muchas gracias por todo amigo,
Juanito

It sounds easy getting pages added to your passport at the U.S. Embassy here in Panama City. I did a google search and filled out the form DS-4085 online and printed it out at the reception desk here at the hostel. Made an appointment to hand over my passport and printed out form for next day service tomorrow morning at 8AM.

After crossing borders in Central America for the past couple months I am having a hard time believing it can be that easy. I will report back what I find. I will be shocked if it actually happens that smoothly.

In the meantime, the only other thing I did today was eat and buy some Spanish books for studying while I'm stuck in the Kuna Yala waiting for a boat.

Oh and go down and talk the Transito cop into letting me park the Sherpa on the sidewalk for another day. As it turns out there is a beat cop at the end of the block all night so this area isn't as unsafe as it appears when you first pull up. Here is the faithful Sherpa waiting patiently to go catch a boat to South America:



i spent 18.50 on food, books and lodging today.

Might go out for some sunset photos later.

Hasta luego,
Juan Casco Viejo

Hey John,
I've had pages added twice to my passport, easy both times, but that was years ago. Now it sounds more high tech and officious. I simply showed up at US Consulate/Embassy, they did it on the spot.

First time was in Quito, Ecuador, next time (in the 90's) in Addis Ababa. Took about a half hour each time ... but NO ONE was around trying to get other services. Experts tell me it's easier to get accordion pages abroad than in US. YMMV.
But since they've spent roughly a trillion USD post 9-11 on "security" and "anti-terror" programs ... I'm guessing they'll need to do an anal probe to verify your identity. Hope it goes well.

Smooth sailing on the crossing!

[







i was reading this thread, and your set up was an awesome idea!
here's what i did several months ago....
took a couple peices of thin metal strips, punctured them, and bolted through with the existing screws on exhaust...
my bag stopped burning haha-----

Hi PBOB,

I like your minimalist Sherpa style. Good idea! Nice to see lo-buck creative thinking.

Best,
Juan Sherpa

Hi Adv Grifter,

Nice to hear that it might be easier than I would have imagined. Hope there isn't any bending over and grabbing my ankles involved. You got me a little skeert now.

Cheers,
Juan Probeaphobe

I started off with this stainless pipe hangar converted to stand off the plastic side panel. No more melted panels. Works a treat.
Side panel also supports pannier so really helps.


I retained the stainless hangar and added this home made Jerry rigged piece similar to above. It worked fine but bag placement was limited.


This is what I've had now for the last 3 years or so and it's proved perfect.
It allows pannier to be carried forward and low. It's a Happy Trails item scavenged off crashed DR650 ($10). The pannier load is taken on the seat from the cross over pannier straps, so Happy Trails rack takes very little load. I've retained the stainless pipe hanger just for luck. It's not needed with this set up.


This is her loaded up with the basics. I've got different panniers and top bag now ... same basic set up.

Dont worry too much about it. Just check the particular consulate's website as some of them have only specific times that you may make an appointment for the purpose of adding passport pages. This surprised me as well. Also, adding pages to your passport is no longer free. When I did it in Uruguay it was around 80 bucks IIRC. Total screw job, but the politicians spend more money than we can make these days. Suerte!

Just to set your mind at ease I got pages added in my passport last year in Thailand at the Embassy which took maybe 30 minutes; in and out no problem. They are basically just attached with adhesive in the back. I do get odd looks at some borders when they can't figure out why the pages are just stuck in there. I would guess most US passports sadly don't run out of pages

Was there any reason you didn't ride into Belize? When we were in CR I met a guy in our hotel lobby from Belize and he said the big cities are pretty dangerous but the outlying areas are ok. I have an employee heading there this spring for his honeymoon so I want him to bring back so info for me. Anyone from the area want to add their opinions on safety please feel free.

I heard that airline pilots who travel so often do get a passport with much more pages from the start. Not sure how true this statement is or if such passport can be generally available for others or the cost.

Hi riderddonald,

The weather was crap in Belize so I rode over down through the Peten jungle of northern Guatemala. I'm sure rural Belize is nice and the pictures of the islands like Caye Caulker look very nice when it's not getting hammered with a tropical storm.

You can't see everything in one trip. I go where the weather and roads take me. It's usually best to go see a place for yourself and make up your own mind about it. I would have missed a lot of cool riding if I had listened to all the harsh talk about places.

Saludos,
Juanito

As PDX alamo and Crash said, it is cake getting more pages in your passport. I went this morning and was in at 8 and out at 9. They added 48 pages but only charged me for 24. Not sure what that was all about. The fee is $82.00. I'm ready for South America with a fat passport and a thin wallet. Should be fun.

I'm charging up all my batteries, picked up some garbage bags to throw my duffel and soft panniers in for the sea voyage. Crackers and water. I'm good to go.

So it's off to Carti to see about hitching a ride to Colombia. You might not hear much from me for a while.

With me, no news is good news.

Hasta Colombia,
Juan Panama

I'd email the Steelrat and ask for Aaron's mobile number to get ahold of him, he's kinda of the ship's agent if you will for San Blas and he was the one that helped me take a dug out down to Coco Bandero. Be a good contact that speaks English to help out finding a ride South. Shouldn't be a big problem just a lot of time.

Goodluck amigo.

I'm also reading Ulysses's blog.These are addicting to read!
That's 72mpg

I am looking forward to not hearing from you! At least for a few days.

Hope the next report does not include too much .

Good luck with your Amphibious landing .

Amen!
In the 70's, on my way South in Mexico I met some Crackers from Alabama ... Fishermen if I recall. I mentioned Belize ... this porky boy proceeds to give me the skinny ".... Boy, you'd be better off walking through Harlem with a $100 bill pinned to your shirt." (turns out he'd never been to Harlem!)

He clearly didn't get it. I spent a week in and around Belize City. No problem at all. Sure, there are a few hustlers around and some seedy areas. I avoided those. Then spent 10 days on Caye Caulker. Fantastic diving when Seas are calm. Lots of Lobster trapping out there. I ate enough Lobster for five lifetimes.

Also good diving off Isla Mujeres and Tulum. Although in Belize I did spy a HUGE Manta Ray with a wing span of at least 25 ft. That and the Barracudas scared the crap out of me. (Manta's are harmless ... but I still don't trust Barracuda's ... especially human ones )