South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by Dracula

Hi John,

I love the updates, and am enthused about what you describe and that you are enjoying so much being there. Dreaming about the time when I will do my own, maybe not too far in the future.
Gotta learn Spanish which shouldn't be hard for me, as a romance language speaker I already have the feel for it. Knowing myself I would just pick it up on the fly by it's sound as I did living in Italy a while back.

Best,
Vic

Hi Vic,

The more Spanish you know, the more in depth conversations you can have with the locals. If you already picked up some Italian you may have an easier time with Spanish. Although I know some French from high school and it can actually be a little confusing conversing with French speaking people in Latin America. I tend to combine Romance Languages.

Buenas dias, je suis muy encantada de vous voir mon amigo de Montreal.

Ciao,
Juan Linguafranca

[Dracula]

Originally Posted by JDowns

Buenas dias, je suis muy encantada de vous voir mon amigo de Montreal.

Ciao,
Juan Linguafranca

.. add a bit Portuguese and we are in business - Esperanto!

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by GRinCR

Juanito,

Loving every line of this still.

If this little plug fix works, fill us in on what the fix was. I may just do the same as a preemptive to the up and coming "winter" months.

Keep it coming!

Cheers

Hi Greg,

My fix involved weatherizing the spark plug cap on the Sherpa with the materials at hand following the instructions of a fellow Sherpa owner gibbo-56 in Ausrtalia who said it fixed his problem.

Difficult to describe in words, I'll take a picture the next time I have the tank off. Assuming this fix works. I am looking for intense rain storms to ride through. Since I fixed it, the weather has been beautiful.

Saludos,
Juanito

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Tell Al I said Hi, and tell em I said to give you a fickng discount! Pet Missy and Rocky as well. Man I love that place.

Hi Vince,

Al is more hands off and has a good crew running the place. I didn't actually meet Al. But I petted Missy the German Shepherd. Rocky wasn't around. And yes, Shamrock is a nice place to stay. You'll be back. It's only a matter of time.

Saludos,
Juanito

[GRinCR]

Originally Posted by JDowns

I'll take a picture the next time I have the tank off. Assuming this fix works.

Thanks compa.

Originally Posted by JDowns

Since I fixed it, the weather has been beautiful.

Par for the course of life. Must mean it is fixed.

[UtahFox]

Originally Posted by JDowns

I'll report back tomorrow. Might stay another day here. This hostel is really nice and quite cheap at 20,000 pesos ($11.11).

I spent around 125,000 pesos ($69.45) over the weekend on gas, caving, rafting and accommodation.
johnthomasdowns.blogspot.com

Still loving the report, really enjoyed reading about your ride in the mountains.

Something I've been wondering, and if this is too personal please don't answer. In contemplating a trip like yours, it would be nice to know if you had an estimate or budget for the whole trip? Is the money going faster than you expected or...?

Cheers!
Dave

[85suzuki]

I too am loving this thread as there is still plenty of snow around here in Nova Scotia. How far are you planning on going?

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by UtahFox

Still loving the report, really enjoyed reading about your ride in the mountains.

Something I've been wondering, and if this is too personal please don't answer. In contemplating a trip like yours, it would be nice to know if you had an estimate or budget for the whole trip? Is the money going faster than you expected or...?

Cheers!
Dave

Hi Dave,

I saved 5000 dollars and took off last October. To be honest, I really didn't think I had a chance to make it to South America. But people here told me how to make a paypal account and people have been donating money for gas.

I would have had to bail when the Sherpa got smashed in La Miel, but I can't tell you how great the response has been when I am in trouble. By keeping a live ride report I have had the best ride of my life. And people have donated money at johnthomasdowns.blogspot.com to allow me to keep going for a couple more months.

Mind you, I am down to my last 1500 bucks so I don't know how long I can keep this up. But I don't care. I will ride this pony until I am flat broke and return to Nebraska and work my butt off so I can return sometime soon.

But after traveling for 5 months, I still think that Throttlemeister had it nailed when he told me to figure 1500 bucks a month if you travel frugally and stay in cheap hotels and eat in roadside stands and camp a fair amount.

There are always unexpected expenses on trips like this. For me it has been fairly easy, since my compadres on ADVrider have offered excellent advice on great roads and given me shelter and advice on fixing the Sherpa.

I can't tell you how great this ADVrider community is. So many kind people have helped me on this ride with great advice and assistance. It is by far the greatest ride of my life. I had so much fun this weekend with trululu96 and his parents who I met through ADVrider. What a great family! Colombians know how to have fun. And cranking and banking through the Colombian mountains is SO MUCH FUN!

So what was the question? On yeah, as far as contemplating a trip like this, just save some money, get on your bike and GOOOOO!!!!

That is the best advice I can give you.


Saludos,
Juan de la Piedra Peñol

[JDowns]

I am staying at Mi Casa Guatape Hostal:



at:

N 6º 13.175'
W 75º 10.961'

Got up this morning and had a great home cooked breakfast with coffee for 6000 pesos ($3.33):



Sean from England runs the place with his lovely Colombiana wife susy. Here is the morning chef susy:



And the hostel dog lulu:



The hostel is located at the base of El Peñon:



What looks like a GI painted on the monolith is actually the beginning of Guatape. The folks in Guatape were going to write their name on the monolith, but the people from El Peñol got upset and they stopped after the G and the first stroke of U.

more later….

[theturtleshead]

Saw your bike outside but missed you! If you're still up Guatape way at the weekend I'll come visit!
Al

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by theturtleshead

Saw your bike outside but missed you! If you're still up Guatape way at the weekend I'll come visit!
Al

Hey Al,

You dog. The weekend is 6 days away. I'm coming back to the Shamrock tomorrow (tuesday). I LOVE Medellin. And your place rocks! Look forward to meeting you. I left my battery charger plugged into the wall up in room #1. Hopefully it's still around when I get back mañana.

Look forward to visiting with you amigo.

Saludos,
Juan sin Batterias

[trespalacios]

Several ways to go back to Medellin. La autopista (hwy 60), Las palmas (which I dare say was the preferred route getting out of Medellin, and Santa Elena, the one that suits you better . Santa Elena is NOT a divided highway like the others and has plenty of switchbacks. I think you'd like it though maybe the Medellin' combo should weigh in as the road is not for the faint of heart and it may not be in good shape. You could go through a couple towns off the highway. Here's my attempt at pasting a map.


View Larger Map

Only scratching the surface Juanito but doing a great job while at it

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by trespalacios

Several ways to go back to Medellin. La autopista (hwy 60), Las palmas (which I dare say was the preferred route getting out of Medellin, and Santa Elena, the one that suits you better . Santa Elena is NOT a divided highway like the others and has plenty of switchbacks. I think you'd like it though maybe the Medellin' combo should weigh in as the road is not for the faint of heart and it may not be in good shape. You could go through a couple towns off the highway. Here's my attempt at pasting a map.


View Larger Map

Only scratching the surface Juanito but doing a great job while at it

Hola Ricardo,

I will take the back roads. That looks like a great way to get back to Medellin. The Colombiana dueña here at the hosatal looked at your post and concurs. I wish I had enough money to stay here until Junio so I could meet you and ride with you and your Dad around Colombia. Your family is the best!

Tell your padre, I will drop by and say hola on my way out of town. The Trespalacios family es mejor!

Muchas gracias amigo,
Juan Colombiano

[rtwpaul]

john sent you an email with a cool backroads and dirt route you'd enjoy with no other traffic unless you meet one of these on a blind corner....rtwpaul

[JDowns]

Originally Posted by rtwpaul

john sent you an email with a cool backroads and dirt route you'd enjoy with no other traffic unless you meet one of these on a blind corner....rtwpaul

Hi Paul,

I've met plenty of those on blind corners.

Muchas gracias amigo,
Juan Lodo