Recent content by DJBHM

Finally home safe and sound. After our Christmas furlough we made some upgrades starting with IPF headlights from ARB. The difference is huge! The brake master cylinder started leaking down into the drivers footwell so we installed a new double reservoir unit without too much trouble. Also...

Took a trip out to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca to see if it would be a good place for a mission trip group to do a little vacationing after their work project. Took the whole team, four adults and two small kids, hence the pile on the roof rack. The lake was pretty rough, in fact the barges were...

On the trail with our 19 year-old guide and his horse "Lobo." Village of Umamarca. Waiting for permission to enter the village. The people are very suspicious and protective. After an hour of deliberation they let us in. Good thing our guide was local and spoke the language. Back with our...

The trailhead town. If you look close you can see the FJ40 parked on the far corner of the town plaza. The intrepid volunteer doctors. We nearly killed them. Our guide with his horse pointing the way to nurse Manny. Arriving at Choro Grande, our fist destination after nearly six hours on...

Still trying to catch up...here is another trip we did in November with Manny and two Bolivian doctors. The drive was about 18 hours (15 on dirt) each way. Sometimes you get pressed into labor to fix the road. Yes that is the gringo swinging a pick. The locals thought it was hilarious. The...

We finally reached the village to a very cold reception. The authorities were sure that we were miners coming to steal their land and minerals. There was a regional meeting going on and we did meet a man from a different village who invited us to visit the villages in his area with him serving...

We crossed several creeks, roaring through their gorges and crossed to the non-puma side of the valley...maybe. We stopped at a hut and waited for the owner to return and give us the directions everyone had promised he would for crossing the pass into "Marked Tiger", what did we find hanging on...

After visiting the village in the previous post our guide was out of ideas so we struck out on our own. We crossed a few passes and ended up in a village where we knew a few people from previous visits. Our friends told us about a village called "Marked Tiger" that they said we could reach on...

In October we were joined by an American nurse in his 30s. He was just coming off a year serving at a remote hike in clinic in the mountains of the Philippines. It was the perfect time to reach some remote communities with basic medical help and evaluate the needs. We drove about 13 hours into a...

Looking for base options near La Paz. We discovered that living close to a city of 2 million does not guarantee sophisticated or fast transportation. Plenty to look at as we traveled at blistering speeds approaching 25 kph. It was hard to get very far from the city because the roads were so...

Another trip into the backcountry. This time into the mountains east of La Paz. We visited a church gathering looking for guides to take us beyond the end of the road. On the way "home" we took a roundabout way to get to know more backcountry. It was absolutely charming....please close the gate...

The Coipasa salt lake area was very interesting for our project because the locals are obviously isolated and poor and they told us that it can take up to three days to get in or out in rainy season. From that area we got out to a main paved road and discovered that we had to go down to the...

We cut across the northern end of the Coipasa salt lake. People actually live out there. The only industry is raising Llamas which eat the grass and bushes that grow in places. Following the "road" was a bit interesting at times. The winds were gusting enough that we really didn't like getting...

A scouting trip to the south in winter...brr...we didn't even bother looking for hotels not wanting to leave the FJ40 out on the streets at night. This particular night we found a dry canal to tuck into. Only a little "XC" was required across a plowed field after the road disappeared into mud...

I'd love to find that article! Maybe next time I'm in the states. I'm still 4 months behind but I'll try to keep posting pics and catch up. Is there a better way than "attaching" a photo file? It seems really slow. The Natural Gas system has been awesome. Everyone here says it will ruin your...