Archive for February, 2010
The Road Chose Me: 50,000kms of ebb and flow www.theroadchoseme.com
Driving a Jeep 50,000kms is not exactly the first thing that comes to mind
when most people think of a road trip, but that’s exactly what I’m doing. I
set out seven months ago to drive from Calgary, Canada to The Arctic Ocean
on the northern tip of Alaska and then drive south on The Pan American
Highway to Tierra Del Fuego, the southern most point of South America.
I thought long and hard about the vehicle I wanted for this journey, with
Jeeps always being on the shortlist. My ‘96 XJ was unbelievably tough and
handled the harsh Canadian winters with ease, even when I tried it was hard
to get stuck in two or three feet of snow. I’ve always wanted a Wrangler
with a soft-top and combined with the more fuel efficient 4-cyliner 2.5
liter engine I couldn’t pass on a 2000 TJ. How could I drive the coast of
places like California, Mexico & Costa Rica with a roof?
I spent seven months planning and preparing for the trip, both things I
needed like visas and immunizations and of course maintenance and spares for
the Jeep. I wanted to keep it as stock as possible in the hope it would
attract less attention and I would lose less money in the event of it being
stolen or being forced to abandon it after an accident, catastrophic failure
or other unforeseen incident. I toyed with the idea of a safari rack, winch,
snorkel, extra spare, mild lift, bigger fuel tank, etc. etc. In the end the
only modification I went with was 31 x 10.5 all-season rubber.
In terms of maintenance and repairs I kept things pretty simple, as the Jeep
only had 131,000 kms on the odometer and no problems when I set out. I went
with all the basic tune up items and fresh synthetic oil all round (engine,
front & rear diffs, transfer case & gear box).
New tires, brake pads & shoes rounded everything out. I added intermittent
wipers with a new switch and toyed with the idea of adding cruise control,
but decided against it – if I want cruise control, it’s time to get out of
the Jeep and do something else for a couple of hours. Having a soft top
meant I had no secure storage, so I took out the rear seat and built a
storage box, accessible through the tail gate and of course lockable. I also
painted a map of the Americas on the bonnet, which I’ve been filling in with
a yellow line marking my route.
Spare parts wise I knew storage space would quickly become an issue if I
tried to bring everything that might give trouble. On board I have radiator
& heater hoses, a serpentine belt, coolant, all the major oils, oil & air
filters and a solid selection of tools. In the event of an ancillary failure
like an alternator or water pump I have friends in Canada that will ship
parts to me. In the event of a catastrophic failure like engine internals or
drive-train I will see what can be done locally and make the decision when
the time comes. I like to think that problems are just opportunities to make
new friends.
After all, that’s why we choose to drive Jeeps.
I always planned to sleep in my tent and cook in my camp stove as often as
possible to cut costs. Whenever I tried to plan or think too far in the
future I would get totally overwhelmed and start to doubt I could actually
do this trip. There was a never ending crew of people telling me I could
never make it, usually for the following reasons:
the jeep will never make it, my lack of Spanish would not fly and/or I would
get swine flu/kidnapped/killed.
My only solution was to not plan anything at all. I have no concrete ideas
of what I want to see or do in each country, I rely on local advice. As long
as the next suggested destination is more or less south, I’ll go there, and
even that’s not an unbreakable rule.
After two years of saving and seven months of planning, I quit my job and
set out on the 16th of June 2009 heading north, my head giddy with iamges of
Alaska. The amazingly beautiful Campbell Highway in northern Canada was an
excellent side tour and The Top Of The World Highway from Canada to Alaska
has to be seen to be believed. The fabled Dalton Highway up to Prudhoe Bay
really did live up to it’s reputation; at times really thick gravel, at
times very sticky mud and one of the most impressive mountain passes I have
ever seen. Watching two prime movers slow the decent of a single trailer
really has to be seen to be believed. I camped for two nights at The Arctic
Ocean and the sun simply did a circle in the sky, not even getting close to
the horizon.
Getting sunburnt at 3am is something I won’t soon forget.
In Alaska came the most serious mechanical problem I’ve had yet when I
snapped the drain plug off the radiator trying to tighten it. Coolant poured
out all over me and the parking lot, although I managed to stifle the flow
with a rag and duct tape and limp down to a local mechanic. He turned out to
be a great guy who let me use his garage space to pull out the entire
radiator, fish out the broken parts, put in a new drain plug and re-assemble
the whole lot. Standing back a few hours later enjoying a cold beer we
laughed about how the Jeep had broken so we could meet and stand around
drinking beer admiring the glacier covered mountains surrounding us.
Moving south the four wheel driving in Moab, Utah is world class and I saw
more seriously built Jeeps here than I could ever have imagined.
The minor roads on Baja California, Mexico were by far the worst I have ever
driven; extremely dusty, rutted and riddled with pot holes.
Mexico also seems to have an obsession with speed bumps (called ‘topes’).
Nobody obeys the speed limits so they just throw in a tope whenever they
want you to slow down. Even on major highways they are rarely signed and
nothing scares me more than hitting one doing 70km/h, which has happened
more than once. So far the highways in central america have been pretty
good, although as soon as I venture off them the mountainous gravel roads
are insane, usually a first gear affiar. On one road, marked as a major
highway on my map, I averaged 20km/h for 6 hours!
I’ve avoided driving at night for two main reasons; highway blockades by
bandits are much more likely and the roads and other vehicles can hardly be
trusted in the daylight never mind the dark. Many times I’ve seen cars
appear out of the darkness doing 100 km/h without a single light or
reflector. Pedestrians, animals and farm machinery are also very likely to
be in the middle of the road around every bend.
Looking after the Jeep is high of my list of priorities so I’m always happy
when another 10,000kms roll by and I climb over and under everything while
doing an oil change and tire rotation. I think for the next one I’ll pay a
few dollars to get it up on a hoist so I can have a really good look
underneath. I saved fuel receipts for a while and am running at 12.3L/100km
or 19.2 miles/gallon in the old scale.
If only I could pay Venezuelan prices the whole way!
The five border crossings I have completed so far have all gone more or less
smoothly, it’s just been a matter of jumping through the hoops set up by
governments that feel paperwork is the most important thing.
The requirements to drive a vehicle into each country are more or less the
same; standing in line, multiple copies of all my documents and usually a
$10-$30 processing fee.
Looking ahead, the biggest logistical challenge of the journey is looming
closer every day – The Darien Gap. Between Panama and Columbia lies a few
hundred kilometers of extremely dense jungle and swamp, through which no
road passes. The first vehicle to ever successfully drive the Darien was of
course a Jeep, but it’s not something I’m looking to tackle. I’ll have to
pack my Jeep into a shipping container, fly to Columbia and pick it up on
the other side. The paperwork involved is sure to be good for my Spanish.
In 28,500km four flat tires, a leaky radiator, a new rear zip for the
soft-top and one Police officer to bribe have been the biggest issues.
Fingers crossed things keep rolling so smoothly for the next 25,000km.
-Dan Grec
www.theroadchoseme.com
Dan grew up in Mildura, Vic. and has been living in North America for
3 years. You can follow along as his adventure develops @
www.theroadchoseme.com
