Patroling through South America

Events, trips, get togethers, car shows, etc.

Postby faux40 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 1:25 pm

moore_rb wrote:I'm not taking on any more Patrols. I have reached my inventory limit. 8-)

I'm sure you said that last time... and the time before ;-)

moore_rb wrote:However, if this one had happened to be a G61, instead of a G60... then I might have had to import it to the US


A right-hand drive Patrol would be my weakness...

John
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Postby RiverPatrol » Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:22 am

Wow. I just had a chance to catch up on the last two chapters. What incredible pictures of the jungle trip, even sans Patrol. Great story, as usual. I even like the anaconda. I'm glad you did not meet with any the hard way. :)

Ah, a tough decision to make for your sometimes not so faithful mule. I try to envision an appropriate future for this story rich Patrol. It has taken now two sets of foreign travelers safely down and back up South America, and has connected people from all over the world. If it ends this adventure in Colombia, it is in a good place to receive proper attention.

:think: :think: :think:
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Postby faux40 » Wed Nov 26, 2014 5:04 pm

RiverPatrol wrote:Wow. I just had a chance to catch up on the last two chapters. What incredible pictures of the jungle trip, even sans Patrol. Great story, as usual. I even like the anaconda. I'm glad you did not meet with any the hard way. :)

Ah, a tough decision to make for your sometimes not so faithful mule. I try to envision an appropriate future for this story rich Patrol. It has taken now two sets of foreign travelers safely down and back up South America, and has connected people from all over the world. If it ends this adventure in Colombia, it is in a good place to receive proper attention.

:think: :think: :think:



'Cmon River -- Take the bait! 1) you have experience importing vehicles, 2) The truck has quite a history, and 3) since Rob helped you out recently and the PFP has picked up some modeling jobs elsewhere, you have a open slot on the RiverPatrol team. I think you need it! ;-)
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Postby RiverPatrol » Thu Nov 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Yeah, I don't even have room for the ones I still have.

My thoughts were more humanitarian. I had entertained thoughts of finding a sponsor in Colombia that would take on the Patrol and have it ready for the next foreign traveler that wanted to traverse the Andes. Something like that anyway...
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Postby Nicolanders » Sat Nov 29, 2014 11:23 am

Thanks a lot for those replies. It's nice to hear! If anyone needs some time away from the daily life and do some traveling, you know who to go see about a Patrol 8-)

Leslie, that would be awesome if you could somehow work that out!

We are also looking into shipping options if someone on this board jumps at the opportunity.
Anders & Nicoline
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traveling the Americas in a 1979 LG60 Patrol
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Postby friendsandfamily » Sun Dec 07, 2014 4:05 pm

Greetings from Denmark!!
I've been following your journey on a fairly regular basis for quite a while now.
I sometines Wonder if I should get myself a Patrol instead of the Navara I'm driving nowadays!
In any case: If Nissan in faraway Japan has any sense, they should realize that the ordeals of this old mechanic masterpiece is the best advertisement for their cars as they'll ever get. They should buy the thing, and put it in their Nissan Museum as Exibit #1!!
Take care
Uncle Christian
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Postby Nicolanders » Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:48 am

Hi Christian! Great to hear from you - nice to hear you've been following this. You really should get a 60s Patrol, it would do you good when you need to do some heavy lifting out there on the farm, or go hunting. Also, it would probably be the only one in Denmark.
You're absolutely right about Nissan. Maybe we should contact them :think:
Take care!
Anders & Nicoline
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traveling the Americas in a 1979 LG60 Patrol
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Postby friendsandfamily » Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:51 am

Ha, Ha!
One more thing about the Patrol:
Last time I was inside a Patrol was when a beduin took us out into Wadi Rum in Jordan. It was a very old specimen, and the floor was in "see-through condition"!
Still it negotiated the sand dunes very well, and at great speed. Didn't seem to mind the heat or anything. At a certain point the driver grinned and pointed to a small black speck way out on the Horizon: See that?? That's a Hummer, stuck in the sand!! Has been sitting there all day!! Ha, ha!! He was very happy with his old Patrol.
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Postby Nicolanders » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:26 pm

Ha ha! That's a great story 8-) It comes as no surprise that the 60s Patrol still makes a mockery of a Hummer 8-)
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Postby Nicolanders » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:37 pm

PART 15: In The Land of Patrols - December 2014

We left Quito rather quickly. Since we had made the decision to sell the Patrol, we wanted to get to Colombia and get the whole thing rolling. So we said goodbye to Pancho and Ruzha and thanked them for all their help and hospitality. Truly good people. And we recommend any patrolling traveler to make a stop there in Quito.

Going north, we only made a few stops, driving more or less straight to the border. We were a bit anxious about crossing into Colombia. We were not the legal owners of the car, and we had no idea what kind of questions they would ask. Normally, you just go to customs and do the paperwork, but now we would go to where the Patrol was registered. What about insurance? Technical inspections? Taxes? We could only go and find out.

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We set out early in the morning. If we were going to be stuck for several hours in some bureaucratic void, better get started early. When we got to the border, there were only a few people, so no long waiting lines. The Ecuadorian side was over in just a few minutes. Exiting with the vehicle only meant that we handed the paper they gave us upon entry back to them. They just waved us on. But what about Colombia? This was the possible hurdle. After taking care of immigrations, we asked for the office to go for vehicles. They pointed up the road, so we got back in the truck and headed up there. When we stopped next to the guards on the road, they looked a bit surprised. Even more so when we asked where to handle vehicle entry. The guard took step back and checked the license plate again. "But you are in a Colombian car. You just enter!"

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How great was that. They did not even want to see our license. And in the days to come, we had no problems with Colombian bureaucracy. First, we got our insurance. This went smooth - the only thing was that it was very expensive. They only sell insurance for a whole year, so we had to splash out $270. What a bummer. In comparison, the three-month insurances we had bought in Ecuador and Peru cost $17 and $27 respectively. At least we got it. The next thing was having a technical inspection, which had not been done since the former owners bought the Patrol in Colombia. But this went smoothly as well. Now, we were completely legal, not having to come up with any stories while stopped at one of the many police or military checkpoints that are scattered across Colombia.

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Which was nice, because we drove some good distances. Colombia is a beautiful country. It has the same mix of coast, mountains and jungle as Ecuador. Only Colombia is much bigger. The people we met there seemed more eager to talk to strangers than what we had experienced earlier on. Of course, we also got in touch with their workshops. The lights went out during some heavy rains, so we had to get them repaired. It was just the light bulbs that needed to be changed.

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Maps are not always to be trusted when you drive on these parts. Driving in the southern part of the country, we found ourselves going 100km on slim, winding mountain dirt roads. Another time, a roadblock stopped us. A construction company had closed down the road for eight hours because of repairs. Therefore, the journey is never quite what one expects.

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Nevertheless, it was great to drive in these conditions. It really brings out the best in the Patrol. All of a sudden, it is the fastest car on the road, not taking much notice of the rocky, pot-holed path it covers. After the repairs and check-up in Quito, where Pancho and Esteban's brother helped us fix the brake as well as get new tires, we felt a lot safer driving the Patrol. Also when getting back on the paved roads. When you push it a bit going round the curves, you can feel what a remarkable car it is. The Patrol is something like the bastard offspring of a tractor and a Ferrari.

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Even though there are not as many as there used to be, you still see quite a few Patrols on the Colombian roads. A National Park guide we talked to explained how the Colombians view this as a very good truck, especially because of how powerful it is. The reason they are slowly being replaced by trucks from the end of the last century is simple: fuel economy. It is not that the Patrols are unreliable or demand too much maintenance. It is just a matter of high Colombian fuel prices.

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We were, however, a bit worried if the bad bearing shells would take us all the way to our destination. This was, after all, the reason why we had to sell the Patrol. We wanted to get that process started as soon as possible. In the very scenic mountain village of San Agustín, we got around to giving the Patrol a good washing, and some paint for the front, in order to look good for the camera. We took some pictures and wrote some ads on the Patrol-forum as well as a few travelers-forums.
Meanwhile, Leslie had put us in contact with Charlie, and American who spends half his time in Medellin, Colombia. He buys old cars and restores them before shipping them for selling in the States. We wrote a bit back and forth with him, and he was very kind in advising us on the situations of repairing as well as shipping a truck from Colombia.

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We quickly got some replies on our ads. First, a German couple already in South America asked about it. But they were all the way down in Paraguay and did not have the money to splash out on plane tickets. Then, one of the Patrol-forums own asked us. Ravi, who lives in Texas, asked about the price and the conditions of importing and shipping. Again, Leslie was very kind in giving some advice and, meanwhile, we started getting quotes from shipping companies and inquired about the legal stuff.
All this took place while we traveled on. Bit by bit, we made it all the way to Medellin, which we had put a ring around on the map as the place where we could take care of the whole situation, maybe with the help of Charlie. As we did the final 450km stretch, we grew anxious on the state of the engine. The crankshaft front seal had started leaking oil again, and the engine rumble seemed to be increasing.
We were beginning to doubt that the Patrol could make it all the way to the Caribbean coast. As we had also gotten some severe warnings from Charlie about the bureaucracy of exporting a Colombian vehicle, we decided it was not a good option to ship it. We wrote Ravi and told him the bad news. Sadly, because we had really wanted the Patrol to end up with someone from the forum.

But being in Medellin was great. It has a perfect climate: hot during the day, but chilled during the night. We celebrated Christmas there on a hostel with the staff and the Japanese guests. The Colombians are known for their knack for partying. So it came as no surprise that Christmas in Colombia is really just a big party with salsa music and lots of aguardiente - the local strong liquor of choice. We had a great night, if not a great morning after.

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Moreover, it seemed like we would be able to pass the Patrol on to someone who could greatly enjoy it. An American couple contacted us and asked us a bunch of questions on the state of the car and all the equipment that comes with it. After that, they said they wanted to buy it. The agreement was that we would take care of the repairs to get the Patrol fully ready for traveling before they arrived by the end of January. Even though this meant one more round of finding mechanics, negotiating with mechanics, overseeing repairs and all that, we were still happy about it. We would get to see the Patrol in perfect shape and make sure that the next couple to travel South America in it would not get the start that we got. What's more, they told us that they plan to take it back home with them, take of the hardtop, and turn it into a beach vehicle.

So this is where we are now, a few days before New Year's Eve, almost a year into our travels. Shortly before Medellin, we passed 10,000 kilometers in the Patrol, so it is safe to say we did it all the way. We are happy with the prospects of the Patrol, so great a traveling vehicle as it is, will be touring the Andes Mountains once again, before it gets to spend its retirement years on some North American beach.

Happy New Year! :)
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Anders & Nicoline
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