The Sprinter Is Free!!!

We have officially dispensed with the crux of the Pan-American Highway. Last night at 9:40pm I drove the Sprinter out of the port.

The best decision we ever made was to hire helpers on both sides of this passage. Remember Julio from Panama right? Well, here in Colombia we had Sonia. She worked miracles, literally. I can tell you definitively that it is worth the extra money to hire a helper for the Darien Gap. Without her it would have taken 2-3 days to free the van. We have friends that endured a 5 day effort! Thank you Sonia. You are amazing!!!

Follow the video saga...
This was by far the most hellish day of our entire trip. We started at 8am, moving from building to building attacking our laundry list of action items. By 5pm I had given up hope. All the offices were closing and I figured we were done for the day...
Video #1 - Losing Hope... watch now

But Sonia wouldn't give up. She got on her phone and made some calls. She got employees at the documents office to work late, really late. And somehow she managed to get me backstage in the containers loading area in a late night attempt to free the van...
Video #2 - Never Say Die... watch now

Getting back to the van after hours was only half the battle. Upon arriving I discovered that we were completely blocked in by other racks. The guy who took me in (Sonia's good friend), got on his radio and started organizing a rescue effort. About 8 guys showed up and that's when the miracle happened...
Video #3 - The Miracle... watch now

A preliminary effort to move the rack that was blocking us with a fork lift failed, so they brought in the monster crane...

Last shot taken before I drive the van off the flat rack and head home to Stevie. No, they wouldn't let me keep the hard hat. Not even after I offered them 20 bucks. Bummer.

And so the Colombian flag is finally added to the van. Yes, I know it's up-side-down. As I clearly told Stevie, I meant to do that. Why else would I put a flag on up-side-down? I did it on purpose. So back off. Now move along. Next slide please.

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially for Stevie. She makes lifelong friends every where we go. People just love her. She was on a first name basis with the entire hotel staff, the parking guy, the bakery owner, the bar tender, the grocery store clerk, the old man and woman who sit on the milk crate by the park, and of course the woman from the cell phone cart.

Tomorrow we hit the road again! Our plan is to work our way along the Caribbean coast towards Venezuela. So far we are LOVING this country. Can't wait to see what's next. TREE

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