Wyoming to Panama and back in a UZJ100.

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Street tour of Guanajuato in the Cruiser. The tunnels start at about 4:30.




Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Videos can take awhile to upload so in the meantime.....


We did a couple of trips into San Luis Potosi from Guanajuato. Roy's dad is into big caving, like expedition style. He had a big trip planning in a few months so he was training a lot for that. I have never done big caving so he brought me along with Roy and some other folks. The first trip was somewhere out in San Luis Potosi, I am not sure where since I was just along for the ride and have since forgotten the names of places. We did stop off in the city of San Luis Potosi which is a cool old Spanish city too. From there we went out into the woods where there is a ton of caves, deep ones too. We got into camp late, had a fire and drinks and went to bed. Next day we got ready to do some caving. They call them "drops" because you repel down, sometimes many hundreds of feet. Then you scale up the ropes out using ascending gear.

Drone pic of our camp in the woods.

Drone footage of the area.




Roy's dad set up some ropes in a big tree after breakfast to get me familiar with the whole thing.

The gear...

We hiked a few miles to a cave entrance, you really got to know where these are to find them. Some are only three feet across and you just drop right down into them, others have bigger entrances. There is dozens in this area.

Roy all ready to head into the cave.

More random pics to follow before videos.

Cheers

 

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This little guy getting his bouldering on!

Prep & check

Fantastic area.

Roy & me getting ready to head in.

Into the abyss.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Heading into the cave.




A few hundred or so yard in and the first repel. This was the first little repel on the way to the big drop, there was a second which I will skip for video.




Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Now for the big drop, I don't recall how far down it was. The video of Roy repelling straight down is over 9 minutes and he doesn't really stop during it. I want to say it was like 800ft or something.




I have video of Roy repelling all the way down but it is long and not super exciting. Roy and two others got to the bottom and the air was foul so they didn't want any more people to drop and they ascended right out.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

The next morning we did another cave and drop. It was a small hole in the ground, rope rigging was off a tree right above the hole. It went straight down about 250ft iirc. This drop I did do. I don't think we took any pics or video this day, maybe batteries were dead. This was my first real ascend, I am comfortable repelling although the racks they use are not what I am used to, it is the ascending that was totally new to me. It felt awkward to me.

On the way back we stop at this area for some bouldering.

The "hanging rock".

At the time Roy's dad had a brand new Hilux, just the 4cyl 2wd version but I didn't have to drive. I like the interior on these much better than the Tacoma. We did some touring in it, hit up some villages and had some great meals.

Cheers

 

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Next up was going to Golondrinas for the really big drop. We went here the following weekend. This is known as the Cave of Swallows.

Cave of Swallows - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They (tour companies) bring a lot of tourists here for the drops. They don't ascend, they get pulled up by a bunch of guys. Here is one of these groups.

We had the platform rented for the weekend which is a big covered wooden platform near the cave that is for camping on. Nice as it rains a lot here. You can only do drops after 10am iirc and have to be out by 3pm, again iirc. This is due to the swallows leaving the cave and coming back into it. It is a crazy swirl of birds for 45min to an hour.

A couple random pics.

Walking down the foot path to the cave.





Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Seems I really didn't take much pics or video here. Roy took a fair amount on his GoPro.


It was a tight schedule for the weekend and our group as far as drops. My turn came up Sunday when it was raining a lot, I think I was right after Roy. I got all ready, strapped in and hanging over the edge. It was time to kick off and free hang and I pussied out!! Haha, I still kind of regret it to this day. I was just not feeling comfortable with the gear. I am used to rock climbing gear which is a bit different. Because the rope is so long and there is so much drag you have to take a notch or two out of your repelling rack on the way down. I had not practiced this in a real world situation. Plus the ascending still felt real awkward to me. Roy's dad who was leading said, if you don't feel comfortable don't do it, so I bailed. This is a 1,100ft drop by the way.

Roy had done this before, here are some of his pics and videos.



At the end of this video, the tiny spec you see in the bright light, that is a person on the rope.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Next up we hit a place called Media Luna which is also in San Luis Potosi, this was on the way back to Gaunajuato.

Drone pic

This is a spring where there are a lot of minerals in the water. I don't recall exactly what caused it but it makes you sink when in the water. You can't float, you have to swim or tread water at all times or you sink. It was weird.

I took a bunch of drone footage here because of the really cool turquoise canals all covered by trees. I lost all that footage though.


Cheers

 

[SNLC]

So back to Gaunajuato

I stayed here another week as Roy and me tried to get some videos made and make a plan. The video making was just not happening, again laptops were not up to the task. We tried to figure out ways to make some money but didn't come up with much. I still had some cash but Roy was just about out. I didn't have enough to be funding us both on this trip, I could cover fuel since I would anyways but that was it. So after a couple of discussions we just decided to part ways and that we couldn't make the dream happen without more cash. I was able to get a friend who wanted a guided surfing tour (would pay me) down in southern Mexico but he was wishy washy about when he wanted to do it. I wanted to get moving. I have always done these trips without GPS but this time I had a sim carded phone so I set a route for Chiapas and set off.

Stupid GPS took me on a big country tour. At one point I was just driving through cane fields for dozens and dozens of miles on gravel roads.

I been all over Mexico in the past, even Chipas but I had not been to Pelenque yet so I headed for there. I had already made plans with a friend in Panama to meet me in El Salvador. I was going to keep pushing for at least Panama and had the time + money to make it that far. I went through some super rural areas down in Chipas. On the way to Pelenque I was running out of cash and fuel. No where would take my CC for fuel, I needed cash. I tried to exchange some money in Villahermosa but that just wasted a few hours. So I pushed for Pelenque. I just barely made it there with under an 1/8th tank of fuel and a half hour until the bank closed. Exchanged some cash, got a fatty meal and got a hotel with a pool and hung out in the poll a few hours.

The next day I hit the road and drove through the mountains on the way to the Guatemala border. I went through one of the heaviest rain storms I have ever seen.

Not really a lot of pics or video from here to El Salvador. I hit Antigua in Guatemala cause I like the city. I did a more coastal route down through Guatemala for the El Salvador border which I hadn't done before.

I am a big fan of Zacapa rum after discovering it in Belize in 2008. It is made in Guatemala in the town of Zacapa. I thought maybe they had a distillery there where I could do a tour. I looked it up online and nope, no such thing. So instead I hit the Zacapa bar in Antigua. I had a glass of 50yr rum that was smoked.

The trip will pick back up in El Salvador.


Cheers

 

[SNLC]

I think I took seven to ten days from Guanajuato down to El Salvador. I was going to pick my buddy up down there in two weeks which gave me plenty of time. I probably spent 3-5 days in Mexico after leaving Guanajuato and then another say 3-5 days in Guatemala before crossing into El Salvador. I had never been down the coast in El Salvador so that was my route. I got to say it is a much more enjoyable drive than down the PanAm.

I was using iOverlander to find places to stay. I was up for camping but usually in Central America it is not much more for a room. I was in the main surfing areas along the coast heading south, tons of places were showing up on iOverlander. I come across the small town of El Tunco just north of Libertad. There is a place called Mopelia and iOverlander says they have craft beers, that is where I am headed!

I met this cool cat from Australia, I gave him some tips on places to go since he was backpacking all over Latin America.

I really like this part of El Salvador.

El Tunco is a super cool super chill safe little surfing town. You got to pay $1 to get into town through a locked and guarded gate. There is no real crime here from what I saw and talked about with the locals. I traded the owner of Mopelia (expat from Sweden iirc) a bunch of drone footage for a week stay with all meals and beverages! I thought that was a screaming deal for me!




Cheers

 

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More from El Tunco.

Mopelia didn't have it in the fridge but they had it at one time! I am from Oregon so thought it was cool to see, you don't see beers like this often down here.

Mopelia also had a local El Salvadorian craft beer on tap which was excellent.

I chilled out here in El Tunco for a few days going surfing, taking walks, eating and drinking while I waited for my friend from Panama to fly in. I picked him up one day at the airport, only like 40 minutes from El Tunco and we went back to Mopelia for the rest of the day and that night.

Cheers

 

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So Glenn (Canadian expat living in Panama) and me headed for Nicaragua the next day.

Glenn is kind of a kook!

First thing we did was grab some nice ice cold Tona's!

We then stopped off in Esteli to meet my good friend Yolan and his wife. I had known Yolan online for years but never met him. We went to lunch.

Yolan then showed me his vintage Nissan Patrol.

It was really nice to meet Yolan and his wife Nadia, they are great friends of mine. They gifted us a nice bottle of Flora de Cana (Nicaraguan rum) and a box of top shelf cigars.

Glenn and myself headed for Granada to stay a few days.


Cheers

 

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We did the tourist thing in Granada for two or three days.

Godess of love?

Checked out a new TD Hilux.

And a DC HZJ79.

I got a needed $1 shave.

We feasted.

Cheers

 

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Cheers

 

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Words to live by.

Saw this Jeep Mutt in town, first one I have ever seen. Vietnam era Jeep they never allowed on US streets from what I know.

Like I said, Glenn is a kook!

Cheers

 

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We blew through Costa Rica. I know my way and it takes just two fairly easy days. We stayed in Jaco which I don't care for much but it is just about half way through the country and has good accommodations. CR is expensive so I usually just blow through it in 2-5 days.

You see lot's of these in CR.

No mans land at the border between CR and Panama.

I nearly forgot that once in Panama we went up to Boquete for a night. Glenn knows some super rich retired English guy up there so we went to his place for the night. I can't even remember their names but they treated us very well with a super nice dinner, drinks after and great chat. His house was superb as well.

Lot's more of this coming when I can find time again for the thread.

Cheers

 

[chelo]

Cool reading this here. I remember many years ago reading about your trip, I believe in expedition portal. That was in your Tacoma. I think you had a dog at that time.

 

[cruisermatt]

Super cool

 

[SNLC]

Cool reading this here. I remember many years ago reading about your trip, I believe in expedition portal. That was in your Tacoma. I think you had a dog at that time.

Yup, thats right. Probably the 09/10 trip, that was the big one.

Cheers