South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure

Hi Don,

The Sherpa hub and axle are fubar, so the lowers aren't much good without those parts. I think I'll try Shadman's idea of grafting another front end and wheel on.

Muchas gracias for the creative ideas though. I really appreciate it!!!

Saludos,
Juanito

Hi Voidrider,

The older you get, the less these kinds of things bother you. You have perspective. These are character building opportunities. I've been through a lot worse. It makes for great stories around the campfire.

You too will be an old coot one day telling your grandchilden, "Why when I was younger I had to walk up hill ten miles backwards..." You know the rest. Old people can't help themselves.

It happens to the best of us.

Glad to have you following along.

Saludos,
Abuelo Juanito

Hey Trice.

The only malas noticias is that the Mayan mascara zip tied to the number plate that I bought from cara Mariposita in Palenque got smashed on the way over the edge. I think it caught the dock and saved the Sherpa from going in the drink. The bottom corner broke off. I'm leaving it on. Not sure if the Inca gods were displeased with the Mayan incursion in their territory or what.

Other than that everthing is working out.

Look forward to getting my socks back when I pass through San Antonio.

Su hermano de otra Madre,
Juan Brisket

Hola AndyT,

Thanks for the info. Trespalacios has sent me another way, but always good to have a backup plan.

Really enjoyed reading your ride report from back a few years. Aren't you in South America again? Hope to see you down the road.

Muchas gracias amigo,
Juanito

Hi KLRmonkey,

Thanks for the ideas. It would be nice to transplant Kawasaki parts onto the Sherpa so the patient doesn't reject the graft.

Although Hondasaki has a nice ring to it.

Cheers,
Juan Turbo

50 lbs.! Sounds like a nice light load. Are you carrying camping gear? Cooking?

I'm so glad to see you're enjoying the delay and mellowing into life there. You're lucky to have that sense of well being. Paradise really.

The blank pics spaces finally showing up with pics. Hope you can secure more good connections to load up the remaining blanks. Nice work!

Can't believe the stevedores crushed your poor bike. Yikes!
Hang in ... all will come good again.

Hi Adv Grifter,

It's just one of those things that happens when you're flying by the seat of your pants. There are no guarantees in Latin American travel. That's part of what makes it fun. I am just as interested as you are to see how this all works out. So far, this is the best trip I have ever taken by far.

I am uploading more pics as bandwidth allows. This free public wifi in the Turbo town square is still quite slow. I promise to fill in all the blanks as time allows though. I am carrying a tent, sleeping bag and pad but no cooking gear.

Saludos,
Juanito

The Kuna cargo boat option is not for everyone. It is far from easy. It seems to be a self selected few who take this path. It is by far the cheapest way to get to Colombia from Panama if you don't smash your front forks. Even with repairs it may prove to be cheaper than the other options. So far I have spent $340.00 to get from Panama to Turbo. I was willing to spend 4 times that amount a couple weeks ago to fly the bike to Bogota.

Crossing the Darien in a Kuna cargo boat reminded me of taking a 16 hour ride on a third class bus in Nepal times 5. Or the overnight third class slow trains in India. It is rough and ready travel at it's finest. One of those arduous travel experiences that will make you smile when you think back in future years. These are the kinds of travel experiences that I relish. When the going gets tough and you keep persisting and find a way through it is quite rewarding in a masochistic sort of way.

If you are forward thinking and goal oriented and like to know where you are going each day and when you'll get there, this option is not for you. It is also better suited for people with third world travel bikes with a few battle scars. I would never recommend this route for someone with a big newish farkled bike. It will suffer as the Sherpa has with seawater washing over it, chickens roosting on the handlebars, sailors sitting on the bike and moving it around as they unload cargo and finally with a smashed front end. This was due to the rough January weather though. I don't think this would be a problem in the June to November calmer seas.

Although I benefited greatly from reading other ride reports, once you get down here you enter a nebulous foggy world where no one knows anything and there are no clear answers. Because of tides and weather and the vagaries of this route, even the sailors don't know where the boat is going next or how long it will take to get there. It is like asking directions in Latin America. They will tell you something to please you. But you soon learn to stop asking. We'll be here for a while could mean half an hour or until tomorrow.

Because the meals are included it is quite economical if they don't wreck your bike too badly. I was on the boat for 3 days waiting for the captain and 5 days at sea. So 24 meals plus shipping the bike and myself from Carti to Puerto Obaldia for 200 works out to 25 dollars a day. Plus the few dollars I spent on sodas and crackers when wandering around the Kuna villages while the boat was unloading goods.

Then it was 40.00 to Capurgana and 100 for me and the bike to Turbo.

The sleeping accommodations are extremely limited. The boat was filled with Kuna sailors in hammocks along with cargo and livestock. The boat docks every night at a Kuna village in a protected cove so the gentle rocking motion is conducive to sleeping on the roof. It rained briefly every night around 3AM, Rather than set up a tent on the roof of the wheelhouse in a stiff breeze every night, I eventually found it easier to sleep out near the dock under an eave or unused palapa wherever we docked for the night.

The diet consists mostly of rice combined with various combinations of fried plantains, beans, scrambled eggs and a piece of chicken. fish or meat. The Kuna villages we stopped at had limited food options if you wanted a snack. Mostly crackers, cookies, soda and spam were on offer. And the few comedors could cook up a cheap meal of the same ingredients as are available on the boat. Some Kuna villages had water piped over from the mainland which I drank unfiltered with no ill effect. The boat would fill up 5 gallon jugs of the same water and it was fine for drinking.

Bathing options consist of a five gallon bucket of water and a bar of soap or splashing yourself from a tap. Toilet options consist of peeing off the dock or over the rail of the boat. There is a regular toilet on board as well which is flushed with a bucket of sea water. The Kuna bathrooms consist of a small outhouse on stilts over the ocean accessed by some rickety planks extended out from the island.

The ideal profile of a Kuna boat traveler would be a hobo. Someone used to living day to day in the moment letting tomorrow take care of itself, sleeping rough in their clothes, eating anything on offer, not bathing for days, stubborn and persistent, tightwad, able to amuse themselves for hours or days waiting around idly, and able to communicate with people who don't speak English.

There are quite a few ADVriders I have met who fit this profile. But let's face it. If you have more money than time I would recommend flying your bike to Bogota from Panama City for 900 plus 420 for yourself. And if you want to experience the Kuna Yala and San Blas islands it is far easier to sail on one of the gringo sailboats who take reservations for 950 for you and the bike.

I am just a guinea pig trying to document ways that poor people can travel with limited funds.

Siempre su amigo de aventura,
Juan Hemmingway
El viejo hombre del mar

Buena actitud Juan Hemmingway !!!!
Saludos !!!

Excellent summation; heart felt and honest.
Hints of Ted Simon and Dan Walsh ...

JUAN,
This post made me laugh more than any of them... I've enjoyed your adventures! I only made it to CopperCanyon 2 years ago with far less issues. Your trip is astounding and enjoyable to read. Ride safe and keep reporting!
Gentri

Awesome post! Sent you some Sherpa Recovery funds.

John

Went over to the dock this morning and the El Pipe was just pulling in to the dock. I jumped on board and used the baling wire and tape I bought yesterday to secure the broken front forks to the axle so the bike would roll. Wheeled it over the side of the boat with the help of the marinos on board and pushed it down the street a few blocks to the Residencia Florida.

Here is a shot of the Sherpa sitting on the street below the balcony I am typing this on:



and a shot of the sign you look for across from the park if you ever find yourself in Turbo in need of an economical place to stay:



I am sweating like a pig. It is 80 and humid and I need to find a truck to get the bike to Medellin. Trespalacios has kindly offered up a place in a parking garage over at his Dad's. I have a map and a phone number which he sent as well. Three cheers for Señor threepalaces.

I look forward to hanging out in a garage in Medellin and hopefully grafting on a new front end and wheel with crowd sourced help. It should be fun.

more later……

Hi Sourjon,

Thanks so much! It will be interesting to see how this develops. It has been easier than I would have expected. Colombia is aces in my book. I really like this country.

Thanks to folks like you we'll get the Sherpa rolling again. Carnival starts in Baranquilla on Feb.9th. Second biggest in South America. It would be a shame not to go.

I better get busy. I'm not on Kuna time any more.

Saludos,
Juan Turbo

Hi Gentri,

Glad you are enjoying reading along. You know me. Only a Kuna time warp will slow me down with ride reporting.

I will continue sending postcards from the edge.

Saludos,
Juanito

Hey Juan, I'm trying to catch up and read your ride report..... I have a KLR 250 rim with hub if you need it. I can send it to you in Columbia at no charge to you. I also have a set of Tengai and KLR 650 forks but I don't know if they will fit your Sherpa.

Let me know if I can help in any way, buena suerte y buen viaje!!!!!

With the Sherpa off the love boat, the dueño here at Residencias Florida called his friend in Medellin who has a truck. He is coming to Turbo today and can take the bike back to Medellin tomorrow with me and my gear. I did a quick google.maps search and it is 330 kilometers mas o menos. Gas prices here are 8800 pesos per gallon or about $5.00/gal. He is charging me 100,000 pesos for the ride. That comes to around 55 bucks by my calculations. So I think it is paying for his gas back home and that's about all.

He will deliver me to trespalacio's Dad's house and I'll take it from there. Look forward to Medellin. Have heard nothing but good things and there are plenty of places to find parts. Should be interesting.

Before I leave Turbo, here is the DIAN building for doing your bike temporary import:



It is a fair way out of downtown, so I found it easiest to hop on a motorcycle taxi to get there and back. The taxista waited for me while I took care of aduana details and rode me back to the guesthouse. Cost for the mototaxi ride was 10,000 pesos or about $5.50. There was no cost for the temporary import for the bike. They give you three months.

I will get SOAT insurance in Medellin after I get the Sherpa mobile again on trespalacios recommendation. The nice folks at DIAN said it wasn't necessary for a non functioning bike. But it covers medical expenses if you wreck your bike. And who knows if that will come in handy.

So today my only mission is to find a razor to shave, wheel the bike over across the street next to the gas station to Dona Julia's for secure parking for the night and upload photos to finish filling in the holes in this ride report. I am currently sitting on the balcony looking down at the Sherpa:



and the nice central square across the street with a nautical theme:



Excellent vantage point for people watching.

more later…..

Juan:

you are more patient than me when the "going gets tough", but I am learning to chill out and take it easy thanks to your outlook on traveling. I think most of us here are dreaming of doing this trip in a minimalist way and learning a bit about traveling with limited funds. You are so resourceful . . .

thank you for taking us along, thank for your photos and detailed way in which you report back to us.

I have just added more funds to your Sherpa repair/recovery fund. Hope you get back on the road soon


bob

WOW!

I'm late to this party, but the good thing is I managed to read all about your Darien Gap crossing on the same day as opposed to having to wait for the updates

I'm sure everything will work out with your bike. Colombians are experts at repairing stuff with minimal resources. I'm sure you will find a set of forks that fits your bike without too much hassle once you get to Medellin.

There is some Sherpa-repair-money headed your way, save some for a Tres Cordilleras at Al's Place!

Hola TengaiJohn,

Thanks so much for the kind offer. I really appreciate it.

Imagine my surprise when I got a call from Nuevo York here in Turbo and got a chance to talk to TengaiJohn.

Now that's not something you expect when you're sitting on the balcony in Turbo Colombia watching the world go by.

Muchas gracias amigo. You're the best! I think things will work out with locally sourced parts. I can feel it.

But I thank you so much for thinking of me.

Su hermano de aventura,
Juanito