Gear and Getting Ready

My bike in Lake Ann, Michigan

My planned departure date was October 15 of 2008 and the amount of preparation for this trip was pretty phenomenal. Whether everything I bought or got done would be useful or needed remained to be seen.

I had to first get the bike ready, fortunately my 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 (Mr. Spock) was pretty new and didn't require a lot of preparation. This was going to be a long cruise and something to look forward to, its what we were both built for in ways!

New tires and spark plugs, an oil change or two before Mexico and a new battery were about the only things the bike itself needed. Everything else was basically traveling gear; a tank bag for carrying things like maps and credit cards (quick access items that could go right on the gas tank), a new tool bag for the front of the bike, new saddle bags to go along with the three rear luggage bags I already had, extra tail and head light bulbs, a tire repair kit, a new sleeping bag and ground mattress, a hammock, a new lightweight cover for the bike when I wasn't on it, a new Laptop so I could write and store my pictures while waiting to upload them at a hotel or cafe, a new case for the laptop and small things like camera batteries or tail lights that I would want to have before I crossed the border into Mexico (where items are often hard to get or more expensive).

I also ordered maps from a local book store and a place in Vancouver. Its important to get the best maps you can find and unlike in the U.S. where you can get one for a few dollars at any gas station, in Mexico and Central America you often have to go out of your way to find them. And good ones if you can find them are not cheap.

I called ahead to Brownsville Texas to the Kawasaki dealer there and ordered new tires to be put on before going into Mexico. Unfortunately they did not tell me they needed a copy of my credit card before they would order the tires. Because of this the tires would probably not be there on time. Why they didn't tell me this 3 weeks prior when I originally talked to them was the question. So I just ended up having new tires put on before I left Traverse City and put 9,300 miles on them with no problems.

The gas cans, the hammock and the tire repair kit I never needed or used. I also didn't use my camping gear much (maybe twice) because I used hotels a lot for safety, convenience and helping me keep to a schedule. Hopefully on my next trip to Mexico and Central America I'll have more time for touring and involve less hotels and more camping or hostels.
While warm clothing was essential for fall and later winter travel in the states, it was also necessary for the high country in northern Mexico where at some altitudes frost is not uncommon in December. I did not have a lot of high priced techno gear so I went with Carhart bib bottoms for the U.S. part of the trip with an upper coat. I kept the upper coat for Mexico and Central America  and sent the lower half of the Carharts home after I reached Texas. Of course rain gear is needed both as a windbreak in cold weather and for the frequent downpours you run into. From Texas to Costa Rica I had very little rain however, most of what I was to encounter would be in Costa Rica itself.

Along with the seemingly endless list of clothing and equipment I also got all the recommended immunizations; Typhoid, Malaria, Tetanus, Hepatitis A and B shots and a Yellow Fever one for Panama (these were not cheap either, costing $300-$400's from the local public health nurse). I considered getting international health insurance with emergency evacuation coverage for myself for a few hundred dollars (which for someone doing extended travel abroad is often recommended, especially on a motorcycle) while looking into insuring the bike for the whole trip (another couple of thousand dollars perhaps). I decided not to purchase either and saved a lot of money by not doing so, this time anyway.

Most motorcycle travelers I read about didn't carry insurance on their bikes in Latin America (though some countries do require you purchase it at their border). The rule of thumb being; don't get in a accident and if you do get in one settle with the person before the police arrive or you could be considered guilty of causing it and your vehicle could be impounded and you put in jail until its cleared up in court. I have never heard anyone actually going through this scenario though, perhaps this is where the infamous official Central American bribe comes into play.

Before leaving on the trip I had to set up my home stay in Costa Rica with Spanish speaking classes as well as my dental work; the reason I was going to begin with. I also contacted the Record Eagle, a local paper here in Traverse City to see if they would want to do a story on the trip (they did and it was published the Sunday before I left saying I was on the road when I hadn't even left yet!). I had to make copies of my passport, credit cards, credit card contact numbers, vehicle title and registration while getting travelers checks. I also had business cards made up with my blog's address that I could pass out as I traveled for those who wanted to follow the trip or contact me later. Along with this I had to leave an itinerary and a way for others to contact me if needed as I traveled (the wonders of email). The lists seemed endless and had to be double checked and added to as new anticipated needs came up.

I ordered a copy of and started practicing a Rosetta Stone CD on learning Spanish. Something to help me get by at least until I could get to Costa Rica and delve into my Spanish classes. Finding the time to practice didn't come easy though and two years later I'm still getting through all 4 sections. While I think Rosetta Stone is helpful, you really have to spend the time practicing with it or it won't do you a lot of good. I use it now in conjunction with my college Spanish classes and I find it very useful.

The rough outline of the trip was to leave my home near Traverse City around October 15 and drive to Brownsville Texas where I would cross the border into Mexico. I figured the entire ride to Costa Rica and back would be about 10,000 miles, give or take a couple of thousand (It turned out to be about 9300 miles total from Michigan to Costa Rica and then back to Memphis where I loaded up my bike on a U-haul for the last part of the trip). The goal was to reach Costa Rica by the 1st or 2nd of November after having traveled along the Gulf Coast of Mexico and into and through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. (I actually ended up reaching Costa Rica about a week late having spent more time in Texas then planned. I was waiting on weather reports and summoning my courage to cross into Mexico and actually start the trip!).

Having reached Costa Rica I would stay with a family in San Jose, take Spanish lessons for a month and finish my dental implant work. In my spare time the goal was to tour and travel Costa Rica on my motorcycle. While most of this part of the plan was sound what I did not foresee was how my Spanish classes which were Monday thru Friday with my dental appointments squeezed in would not leave me much time to sight see. I was more or less a prisoner of my own schedule, much like I had been earlier that year in July when I went for the initial implant work and ended up spending most of my time in the hotel recovering from surgery. I also did not take into account how difficult (even with maps) getting around San Jose and Costa Rica would be. I eventually learned San Jose and most of Costa Rican roads fairly well, but initially I found it almost impossible to get around (lack of street signs and detailed maps being the main problem). On top of this was the fact that November is a rainy season month when many roads can be washed out or travel can be more difficult. So as in July, I was left frustrated with not much time to travel in a place that deserves a lot of exploration.

After a month in Costa Rica I planned to head south to Panama and the canals hoping to not only see them, but also to drive the last of the Pan American Highway before it ends at the Darien Gap, the stretch between Colombia and Panama that most people ferry around due to the wildness and the drug trafficking that reportedly goes on there. I felt like if I got that far on this trip then perhaps on a subsequent trip I could tour South America without back tracking to the Darien Gap since it is so difficult to cross on the Pan American Highway anyway (this way I would have still done the whole Pan American Highway outside of the gap).

By the second week in December it would be time to head north (as strange as this may sound in the middle of winter) back the way I had come and as far north as the winter weather would allow me. I thought if we had one of those winters where we got a stretch of 40 and 50 degree weather for a few days I could use this window to make it all the way back to Michigan on my bike. And even more ambitious If time permitted I might make New Orleans or visit a friend in Key West Florida before Christmas. I wanted to get back and see my family and dad by Christmas and knew I did not have all the time to do everything I might have liked on the trip. As it was I "over planned" and had to cut out several things I might have done had time permitted.

The three weeks before leaving was a very busy time as I continued to prepare. And during this time I went over to Wisconsin for two weeks to help with harvest on a cranberry marsh that I had worked on in the 90's. Having not worked all summer it seemed a good opportunity to earn some extra money before I left. I'm not sure financially the effort was worth going over for two weeks (especially since I left early to come back) but even if not, northern Wisconsin with its hundreds of lakes and wild forests is still one of the most beautiful areas in our country.

The backdrop to the Central American trip was the fact that just prior to leaving I had a close friend die and I assumed responsibility for much of his burial and estate matters. I had quit my job to handle his estate and also to deal with Plantar Fasciitis (swelled tendons) in my feet. If you have not had this condition before, you are lucky. I had developed it while working at a nursing home where I was often on my feet for long periods of time. It is a condition that for some will go away, with others it may require intensive physical therapy, anti-inflammation shots or even surgery to relieve the pain. I'm afraid I fall into the latter category since two years later it is still can be an issue for me.

As with all inflammation conditions diet also is an important factor. I found out just about everything I eat; from meat, dairy and sugar, to bread, coffee and citrus fruits, all contribute to inflammation in the body. In fact when I looked at it, 80% of the foods many of us eat are considered high inflammation foods.

Added to everything else that was going on was the fact that both my parents needed to move into long term nursing and assisted living homes. This put a tremendous amount of strain on everyone concerned; not least of all them. By the time of the trip my mother had passed on and it was now just my dad who needed help. While I would be in touch most of the trip with his AFC home and his care, it was still a difficult time to leave and there were strains put on me and my sisters relationship because she would be the one doing the bulk of the work while I was gone. In the end I decided to go, hoping the extra month gone would not not be regretted.

Lesson #1 in the Art of Learning to Travel Well: If you can, wait till it feels right in your bones to leave, understanding what you leave undone you may well have to come back and do later.

Lesson #2: Define what your travel goals and objectives are and how you plan to reach them. While its possible to over prepare and plan, for the most part being prepared will go a long way in determining the success and enjoyment of the trip.

I would much rather do my homework and plan a trip around the things that interest me while working within a budget to allow them to happen then being disorganized and perhaps running out of money or rushing from place to place missing out on why I went there to begin with. Trips that turn into an exercise in survival are seldom fun. As general's are prone to say, "battles are won on the drill field, not the battle field". In many ways international travel is no different.

Lesson #3 Through discretion and reason learn to develop your intuition, it will always serve you well.

There is a method of walking called Goat Walking, if I remember right it is modeled after goat herders who simply follow their herds and have no agenda for their hike. No personal choice, no schedule, no itinerary, they just walk and leave it up to the herd to take them where they will. Not unlike following the wind, there is a certain wisdom and freedom here that perhaps could best be described as soul travel. When all personal choices and desires are set aside, when the ego is laid to rest with no self will to rule the day, perhaps then the souls needs can be felt and subsequently met.

Used correctly traveling can help us develop an intuitive response to life. A way to go beyond reason to the many subtle ebbs and currents that effect our surface realities. Our intuition often senses these underlying causes of events before or as they happen and will allow us to respond accordingly, if we listen. At the same time travel can stir up every insecurity and fear we've ever had showing us where many of the blocks to intuitive living lie. The art of travel is not easily mastered.

It has been about a year and a half since I finished the trip and I am now starting the process of going back and re-doing posts, correcting grammar and adding insights and useful information to what has already been written. It is the same trip of course but in ways with a new writer and reader that are now making it. For some it will be your first trip, while others hopefully you will find there is value in visiting a place more than once. I know I usually do.

I hope in some way this blog add's to a process of learning to live and travel well and helps reaffirm the need to have awareness in all we do.

d.k.f........Lake Ann 05-10

Next post: Wisconsin

Wisconsin

 

One of the hundreds of lakes that dot northern Wisconsin, this one is just north of the town of Woodruff on Hwy. 57

I spent about three weeks in Wisconsin helping with the cranberry harvest before coming back to Michigan to finish getting ready for the trip. My spare time while there was often spent looking for good places to eat since my motel room only had a refrigerator and microwave. There are an amazing amount of good places to eat for the remoteness of the area and unlike cities where most restaurants are centrally located together either in suburban malls or downtown, this area has most of its best restaurants spread out on various small lakes. These small resorts rely on seasonal rushes and consistent patronage of regulars during the off seasons to survive.

My Klepper sitting at Black River Bay on Lake Superior in Michigan's upper peninsula just north of the cranberry marsh.

I got to take my Klepper (folding kayak) out on Lake Superior the first weekend I was there. I was in five foot waves and a freezing wind which was a bit wild, but it did well. I am still learning what this boat and myself can do. It's advertised as one of the most sea worthy boats there is and has been used in all parts of the world under all kinds of conditions. Every time I use it I appreciate more of just how well it is built and what it can do.

 
Looking out of the Black River Harbor into Lake Superior.

I also took my kayak out into the Lac du Flambeau region which is part of a large chain of lakes in Northern Wisconsin. The Chippewa Indian Reservation and Casino are on the lake and the amount of wild land surrounding this area is as extensive as any place I have been in the midwest; with islands everywhere and free camping its a canoe or kayakers dream. There are wolves, moose, eagles, bear, marten, weasels, reports of cougars along with Tiger Musky fishing that rivals Alaskan salmon fishing.

The hunters and fisherman also seem to like the islands for they too appear everywhere. It is an area that unfortunately seems to always have a hunting or fishing season open so the land is multi/heavily used. In winter there are large numbers of snowmobiles and the rest of year ATV's (all terrain vehicles) seem to rule off road travel. Different users must share the land at the same time and respect each others right do so. If your hiking or kayaking, and you end up walking or paddling in front of a duck blind filled with hunters, it obviously feels less then comfortable. These situations don't give much of a sense of solitude for either party; the reason we like to think we went out there to begin with.

This is a continuing problem for someone wanting to get away from it all and not hunt, fish, or use a vehicle to get around, especially in northern Wisconsin. To just go for a hike or paddle usually means you are going to run into someone and upset their hunting or fishing space. I would be curious to find out if there is a "non land use" season in northern Wisconsin. For someone just wanting to experience the woods without others using it for recreational purposes seems almost impossible to do at times.

Recently in Michigan's Pigeon River State Forest area I noticed signs saying motorized vehicles are not allowed in the whole state forest. This seems more the exception than the norm however and I think part of the reason this rule exists there is because the states only Elk population resides there.

Even with all the activity in the woods northern Wisconsin is a good example of north woods beauty and solitude. With its many miles of bogs, lakes, deep forests and marshes of stunted growth trees one can almost imagine the vast tracts of woods covering the earth for another 500 miles from here to the north until the tree line ends and the thousands of miles of tundra begin; the real true north. For those of you who have never really been far north, like up towards the arctic circle, it is hard to describe the magic that lays heavier and heavier on the land the farther north you travel. Just the angle of the earth and how the sun light illuminates it is unlike any other place. You simply know you are far north by the "feel" of it. This "feel" certainly starts in northern Michigan and Wisconsin and becomes more pronounced the farther north you go.

My second week in Wisconsin was in the 40's and 50's; certainly warmer than my first week there. That week it was cold enough for snow. While working out on the marsh, the wind, rain and cold which all alternated with the sun popping out was some of the most intense work I have done in some of the worst conditions. Even working on a fishing boat in Alaska when I was younger was no worse than this, though a little more dangerous. And like being on a fishing boat the beauty of working out on the marsh and being able to see weather patterns develop for miles around is something special. This watching wildlife while you work is simply not in most job descriptions and is working in an environment that has a raw beauty that is continually changing from moment to moment.

One day after a long day of weather changes we came back to the shop just off the marsh and saw not only a whole rainbow, which is rare enough, but it turned into a double rainbow; it was one of the best ones I've ever seen.



Our shop and yard on the cranberry marsh with a rainbow overhead.

My time there was too short. I left the cranberry harvest a little early due to a conflict with another worker. Like many construction jobs there is always conflicts and scape goats to be found, hung over bosses and a sort of burn out energy that often comes from long hours, both on the job and in the bars. It is a weird environment, not unlike commercial fishing or a host of other construction type jobs done in beautiful outdoor settings. There is hard work and beautiful scenery which feels so good to be out and in is often accompanied by a certain work environment from the coworkers where the job (even in a beautiful setting) no longer seems worth it. Like most jobs one has to be willing to adopt a certain attitude and simply enjoy it and see it for what it is. I'm afraid I didn't quite allow myself to do it this time.

At times one needs to be willing to get in there and rough it up, take whatever comes down the pike and fight for what you believe in. This not only makes us human, it can make us feel alive. For some of us being John Wayne for a day is exactly what the doctor ordered! A good brawl, drunk and roll in the hay can make us feel deeply human again. Not that I advocate getting drunk, fights or promiscuous sex of course. But it is important to recognize the need for these things in our lives and the need to feel human, with all our many faults and virtues.

So again I say goodbye to Northern Wisconsin hoping I will again come back and perhaps put up at least a seasonal home. How few people know of these beauties outside of the midwest. Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, God shed his grace on thee: and don't get me started on Canada's beauty...

Next post.... On a cold October night I start the long journey south....

Night Riding, Motorcycle Yoga and the Mississippi Delta

My bike in Lake Ann at the beginning of the trip.

Finally I got to leave. While I still had some things to do for the trip, most of what was left was to simply drive. On my way south I stopped to see my dad at the AFC home he lived at in Big Rapids. I took a picture of him and some of the other residents (and yes he still has a way with the women), I also had a picture taken of us in front of the bike, the last time I would see him till Christmas two months later.

Dad and I at the beginning of the trip

Dad and fellow residents at the AFC home in Big Rapids, Michigan

I did 600 miles the first night needing to make up some time feeling I was already running behind schedule. I was suppose to be in Costa Rica the 3rd of November.

The first night was cold (about 40 degrees) and was only bearable because I had bought a new full length Carhart insulated suit while in Wisconsin. Without it I wouldn't have been able to stand it going 70 miles an hour with a wind chill of well.... very cold.

That night (early morning) I made it almost to Memphis, the home of Graceland. Unfortunately I didn't  have time to visit Elvis. He's still alive you know, like Tommy Lee Jones said in the movie Men in Black, "he just went back home to his planet".  As it ended up there were a number of places like this it would have been fun to stop and see, but I wouldn't have the time (the next trip will be set up for sight seeing).

If you who have never rode a motorcycle before and wonder about the experience, what it is like and what is the attraction, especially when doing a long trip like this, I try to convey some of the experience through my posts over the coming two months. Like the night when I was traveling on almost deserted 5 lane freeways on a cold night through Chicago, feeling as if I was floating as I changed lanes and traveled through downtown with its skyscrapers and empty streets at 65 mph.

This floating comes from the accompanying heightened sense of being a couple of feet off the ground with very little separating you from it or the air around you. One does get a sense of "floating and freedom" that is as close to unassisted flying perhaps as one can come. Of course the danger of non protected flight has its drawbacks as well!

At other times I have drove through Chicago at midnight on my motorcycle, through tunnels of semi's on either side of me feeling almost non existent compared to a car or another truck. I felt a connection with the truckers, like maybe there is a certain respect from them for anyone riding a bike in the midst of all these 18 wheeled monsters. Yes, perhaps imagined but knowing we are all traveling a long way through the dead of night alone, feels like a connection indeed.....

Getting gas on a cold night in Illinois.

As for Yoga and Motorcycling, there are two kinds I mention here. One definition of Yoga is the union of creator, and created. When the microcosmic is balanced with the macrocosmic you have a union of the two, and both know each other. With motorcycling this "balance" occurs more easily in ways between the outer and inner. The sense of being out there in all the elements and weather and having to dress accordingly and be more aware of your environment at all times, including the traffic environment, brings about the union of the rider (inner), and the environment of the rider (the outer), into a sort of Yoga, or union itself.

The other Yoga of Motorcycling here is the physical. To do 600 miles on a bike in one night I need to do stretching exercises or I could never do it. I've tried it before and without exercising I could barely move the next day. Last night at each gas stop (I did one about every 120 miles because I only have a 3.5 gallon tank), I did a lot of leg and hip stretches, using my bike as a balance point. I then began to realize it would not be hard to set up a whole series of exercises using different postures either on the bike itself, or beside it. Postures which are somewhat unique to riding the bike or being able to use it as part of the exercise itself. These postures make it easier to target certain muscle groups, especially the ones affected by long rides. Throw in some disciplined breathing, a mantra or two and you have Motorcycle Yoga, developed by and for bikers. The book coming out soon to a Borders near you!

Lesson #4 In the Art of Learning to Travel Well: Understand your needs on all levels and plan on ways to meet those needs.

Joking aside, taking care of ones self while traveling is not only more important in ways then when one is at home because of the extra stresses you often face with long days and odd hours, but like motorcycle yoga, when you find ways to be creative and meet these needs you will feel better and the trip will be more enjoyable. It will no longer be a marathon or a way to sprint from point A to point B.

When I hit Memphis I was about half way to the Mexican border and was planning to stay in Texas one night before crossing. After that I thought my posts might become a little sporadic due to limited internet access in Mexico and beyond. 


Next post: Memphis, Cotton Fields and Jim Croce

Memphis, Cotton Fields and Jim Croce

Passing over the Mississippi River just north of Memphis the weather got decidedly warmer. From 40 degrees the night before to seventy degrees that first full day. The land reminded me of Paul Simon's song Graceland, "The Mississippi Delta, Shining like a National Guitar", was stretching all the way to Memphis.... So cool, very different then the upper
Midwest. Here the land appeared so fertile, and even with November coming on summer seemed to linger. Here I got to see my first cotton fields, at least the first I could remember.

Most of the fields had already been harvested with big boxcar like bins lying at the end of the fields. Other fields with plants with loose cotton in the upper stems looked to be just waiting. A naive northerner, I know very little about an industry that has defined the south for so long.

Cottons fields in late October in Tennessee. 

I Didn't see much of Memphis, the freeway heads west to Little Rock before ever going into town. Knowing the Mississippi defines everything around it, I imagined Memphis too must be defined by it's might running right thru it.. I wanted to go into town and try some delicacy of southern cooking, but it would have to wait, again time was not on my side.

Patty Ann's in southern Tennessee

Interstate 40 took me towards Little Rock, cutting across the center of the state of Arkansas and to Interstate 30, and onward to Dallas. Never having been somewhere before all you can do is imagine what it is like when you look at a map. Living in the upper Midwest sometimes I feel we have a corner on the market when it comes to wildlife and wild places, especially the farther north you go. Of course this is true in ways, but I forget how many wild and beautiful places there are everywhere in the United States.

Driving down highways of beautiful tall pine trees with eagles hunting the ravines, with the pine scent and warm sun on me, Jim Croce's song about pine trees lining a winding road in Georgia came to mind. Its funny to travel and visit  places I have only visited in songs. Arkansas's beauty was another reminder that no place has the corner on beauty.......it can be found anywhere.

After having gone thru Arkansas and into Dallas at rush hour (just what I didn't want, a big city at rush hour), I traveled through skyscrapers in packed traffic looking for my freeway heading south to Waco. Here then would be the final push to the Mexican border. So I had come about 1500 miles and was north of Brownsville TX, my crossing point into Mexico.

The reservoir just before entering Dallas from the east. I believe its called the Hubbard reservoir (maybe after the astronomer?) In  the distant is the Dallas skyline.

Next Post: Texas, Oil Rigs, Palm Trees and a child of God.

  

 

Texas.... Oil Rigs, Palm Trees and a Child of God

I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road. When I asked him where he was going, this he told me. (Lyrics from Joni Mitchell's...... Woodstock)

Steven carrying his cross outside of Corpus Christi

When I first saw Steven carrying his cross along the side of the road just south of Corpus Christi I had to turn around, I thought what a picture to have. Its these out of the ordinary things that make travel so much fun and reminds us of what is normal for us, is not necessarily normal for everyone (thank God, literally in this case). I look at meeting anyone different as an opportunity to learn, especially someone carrying a cross down the highway!

I stopped and offered him a drink of water and asked the obvious, "how far have you come", "how far are you going?". The why's were written all over the cross with Jesus Saves and the John 3:16 header plus he was wearing an Addicted to Jesus T-shirt. He also had that in Spanish on a index card sitting on the cross and read it off to me in very good Spanish.

At first he said he was walking to a place in Kansas some 600 miles to the north. My first impression of someone carrying a cross over 600 miles along the side of the road had me in awe, like wow that is walking the talk!

After a time he pulled out a cell phone and called someone he knew that had set him and his support car up before for a place to stay behind a produce stand, just down the road. He was trying to see if I could stay there instead of paying for a motel room or camp site. I appreciated his thoughtfulness. Then I began to piece together more of his story. He had a phone, he had a support car for the walk, there was 3 or 4 other people helping him, perhaps sharing the cross and the walk. He also talked about usually walking around cities short distances at a time, not doing a 600 mile hike as he said he was doing now. It appeared he was from the Corpus Christi area and this could just be a short get peoples attention type walk. Like maybe it wasn't a 600 mile trip after all. I didn't know since they did seem to be camping as they moved. Either way we had a wide ranging God based spiritual talk which I am prone to do at times (trying to find the universal principles underlying all religion). I appreciated what he was doing and didn't feel a need to judge it, after all, here I am driving a motorcycle 4000 miles to Costa Rica!

I asked him if I could take his picture and he was fine with that, he asked if I would pray with him and I did and then we went our own ways. Me on my motorcycle heading south, him carrying his cross heading north (little did I know on a cold blustery day in December our paths would cross again).

Later that day he called me on my cell phone to make sure I found the place to camp. Maybe it was because I have been alone so much the last week on the road, but a kinship of sorts formed and I was glad we had met.

Maybe like most of us, he was just looking for his own Woodstock. Of course  as any spiritual teacher might tell us, there is only one place to look for that, one only needs to inquire within........

Distant Oil Refineries along the coast of Texas.

So I did not see nearly as much as I would have liked to in Texas, perhaps I thought when I come back through in December. A picture of an oil refinery in the distance here, long flat highways, palm trees, cattle ranches and oil rigs come to mind.

The road south from Corpus Christi to Brownsville.

The other thing that stood out for me are the people in Texas, especially the older ones. Being somewhat of an oddity, this lone bike man with a huge load heading God knows where would in other parts of the country either make people stare, or they might even come up and ask where I was going. Here people quite often either waved to me, or just said "hi", never asking anything. My best guess is in this state built on heavy individualism there is a certain respect for someone riding an iron horse to God knows where alone. It just came to me, the Lone Ranger, the Lone Star State, the Lone Bike Man, it all fits into place...... Its polite to say hi, but really its not respectful to ask about someone else's business out here in this country. It well maybe dangerous.

Its hard to describe but my feeling in Texas was that the people had genuinely acknowledged me in a way different then most places I've been, and it has been a nice change.

Oh and Mexico was the next day.....I was thinking

Donations, Dedications and Final Thoughts

Dad and "Mother Dear"
George French 1921-2009
Lucille French 1925-2007

Alice Harkins 1900-2001
My old dear friend, a landlord with a heart for the homeless, she was like a second family and her home was always open to me.

Lyman Starr, 1952-2007
On his gravestone it reads, "a friend who challenged us to live the truth, an artist who saw the beauty in all things."

Debbie Cole Epstein 1954-1993
I met Debbie in Alaska back in the 70's, she would often speak of her time in Guatemala and her passion for justice there along with peoples rights everywhere. She use to say, "we live in a free country, but it is a marked freedom, it only goes so far and is only for a select few." A close friend who left us too early.

Originally I wanted to reserve this last post of the trip to the memories of friends and family without who's love, caring, or friendship I could not have made the trip to begin with. I also wanted to set up a list of places in Central America and Mexico that I felt good about that people reading this blog could donate to. My idea was to use something like Pay Pal, or another form of a international payment method that would allow readers to choose a charity and be able to make a payment that would go directly into that charities account. Ideally this could be an ongoing source of revenue (though perhaps small) for some of these places that might continue to trickle in for years to come, via my trip's blog and the Internet.

Outside of having written the blog and setting up the list of charities with a way for them to get paid, I would not have anything else to do with the process and it would be strictly between the person donating and the place receiving it. I might occasionally monitor the process to make sure it was continuing to function as intended but that would be my only involvement beyond a certain point. I soon found out that setting up a list of reputable charities while having a donation system for them was more complicated than I thought

Initial possible charities I wanted to focus on were children's orphanages and humane services for stray animal's that are abandoned and in need of help throughout Central America. While traveling I saw animals (dogs especially) that were starving and dying with apparently no service or shelter for them to turn to. Often simply skin and bones, with no food or water, they were slowly dying right on the side of a road or in a parking lot

Other causes I became aware of included a man and his girlfriend in Costa Rica that help prostitutes and abused women to get out of their current situation and begin to start over. And In Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala there are charities and church groups that work with the local Indians, providing schools, education and clothing. There are also groups that raise money to try to preserve animals like the sea turtles in Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica I was warned that orphanages, while certainly being able to use the money, would be more difficult to help this way because the government would not want me to advertise for them, or run any pictures of the children on my blog. Doing so could land me in jail. I was told of another man who did so for whatever reasons and is still in jail. Child exploitation is such a serious problem in many places in Latin America that even well intentioned publicity could be viewed as, or lead to child abuse. On top of this, not speaking the language well and trying to set up an account with a local bank that a orphanage could access could also be misunderstood. In fact, many of the places that might need money or help the most are the most ill prepared to receive it directly. Many do not speak English, may not have bank accounts, or use electronic funding. The logistics to involve them in a process they may not understand can be arduous to say the least. On top of this, many so called charity sites that advertise for certain causes never got back to me, or may not even exist anymore.

So instead of a possible auto pay system between the reader and the charity itself I have put up a donation widget. This will allow people anywhere in the world to use their credit card to make the donation to the Central America by Motorcycle site itself. It will also allow me time to research and select organizations and people who I think will use any money sent to them wisely, while giving their addresses and or links for people wishing more information, or a way to donate directly to them.

I would also like to see this site generate revenue for itself, and since up to this point I have not used advertisers, I would hope that if you have found the site to be useful, entertaining, or you would like to donate something towards it or a charity in Central America (places that are yet to be named), that you might consider doing so.

I believe the site has a lot more potential than just a blog about a motorcycle and dental trip. Perhaps it will morph into a focus on Latin American news, including travel with a information base for organizations that need assistance. Or perhaps a book, that not only deals with travel in Central America, but also explores the needs and reasons for seeking healthcare outside of the U. S. to begin with. Or maybe better, simply a way of sharing between cultures.

I again thank the people who followed my trip and my blog from beginning to finish. Knowing there were people who were interested in what I was writing about and the trip made me feel I was never alone on the trip and also gave me a responsibility to some sort of journalistic truth. One friend of mine said he could not wait for my next blog to come out. It was like a story he didn't want to end and coming home to read about the trip helped him get through the long Alaskan winter, high praise indeed. For anyone who writes, the most rewarding thing of all is to know someone is actually reading what you wrote and has gotten something out of it. Just about every writer at times wonders; Is anybody reading me? Is anybody out there? Feedback does mean a lot.

I am reminded to thank the different people in the world travel motorcycle community that left comments and encouragement during the trip. A retired police officer in Australia planning a similar trip, Dr. Greg Frazier who is now on his 6th trip around the world on a motorcycle and writing another book. And the many others who took the time to leave comments on the site, reminding me I was not alone.

And finally to say thank you for all the people who came before us, even as far back as the early 1900's when a man first circumnavigated the world on a motorcycle when there were more trails than roads.There have been many who have paved the way for us, allowing us to realize what is possible. Probably no one has promoted world motorcycle travel or done more in this regard than Grant and Susan Johnson, the creators and editors of the Horizon Unlimited motorcycle web site. Both of them spent 13 years living off of their motorcycles and going around the world. Since that time they have been advocates for world motorcycle travel, creating a huge interactive web site, teaching and having rally's worldwide. If you think you want to take a bike around the world or on an international trip, their site is the place to learn how to do it. The site tries to capture and promote that pioneering spirit. That longing for freedom and self determination that seems to go hand in hand with the solitary long distance motorcycle traveler out on a lonely road or trail winding their way across an African desert, a Mexican mesa, an Andean pass, or a Mongolian plain. Which no doubt someone is doing right now as you read this.

One beautiful clear morning in the mountains of Honduras by the Nicaraguan border on my way back to the states I was in a pine scented forest overlooking beautiful valleys and I seemed to finally understand what it must have been like for early explorers when they experienced these exotic places for the first time. Places unlike any other they had seen before. How the sense of adventure and hardship at having reached them in the first place made it all seem worthwhile, while knowing they would never be the same for having made the trip. Their restless spirits would need to be fed and satisfied time and time again (for good or bad!) with more travel and adventure. And probably like them, if our world travel experiences make us feel too different than our friends and family who stay home then not unlike the misunderstood soldier coming home from war, or the lone mountain men of old, the solitary rider too may come in from the wilds for the occasional rendezvous to conduct business and socialize with other like minded souls, but then may feel the need to go back out to travel or get outside the norm again. This solitary spirit felt in the world of long distance motorcycle travel, while not unique in history, is somewhat unique in this day and age of tourism and controlled travel. It is in this form of travel that this spirit and frame of mind has found a way to manifest itself again.

Perhaps what we fear most with travel is the need to confront ourselves. Having done so successfully there then becomes many possibilities. A word of warning for those who wander too far.....

The difference between the person who has climbed the mountain and the person who has not, is the person who has knows what's up there......from an Eastern saying

At its best travel is about learning and sharing, an exchange between the traveler and the place being visited. It is about a personal transformation that slowly sets in as unknown environments and different life rhythms gradually give one a new perspective of the world and themselves. It is when one begins to understand ones own home and culture on the planet is but a small part of a much bigger whole. And once having experienced one piece of this puzzle, we want to see more, we want to know how it all fits together. This is a journey once started, seems to have no end; an adequate metaphor for life itself. A journey that might be compared to what our inner child might want to see and experience if we could but let it out again. The world beckons us to explore, to be young again, to take the risks of growing and to keep moving from the old to the new. Travel for all its apparent challenges, risks and discomforts, always appeals to our youth, the dreams of new possibilities.

Unfortunately too often in our history travel has resulted in exploitation, conquest and destruction of the people and resources encountered; to some degree all these problems still remain. Like the giant tour boat with 5,000 people on it that visits a small island, the impact from its visit affects everything from the local economy (building up an unhealthy dependence on it) to the environment itself. And to say there is a healthy exchange of cultures in tourism is a stretch. It is unfortunately too often more about how each culture has learned to exploit the other one.

I remember watching a loud group of Harley riders coming down from what I assumed was California in December in El Salvador on my way back to the states. The contrast between quiet humble locals I had met and the hospitality they offered and this very loud group of bikes, seemingly imposing their own cultural will on another was striking. It seemed at least for a moment, the conquistadors had returned, maybe they had never left....

None of these observations are to condemn tourism or even motorcycle travel (though at times I felt part of the problem as well). The exchange of ideas and knowledge between different cultures has been the foundation for change and growth in civilizations for thousands of years. Rather they are ways to re-affirm the need to travel respectfully and like a being a guest in someone else's house, act accordingly.

It is also a warning that while adventure travel and self fulfilling goals can be important in some regards, they need to be used in conjunction with an awareness of a bigger picture. Our planet, and indeed our very existence seem to be moving into a crisis never before faced in our history. With global warming, overwhelming planetary pollution, and more species of plants, animals, cultures and whole ecosystems being threatened each day with extinction, the times seem to  suggest we give up some of our personal goal orientated approach in favor of a more holistic, spiritually based one that is inclusive, whether than exclusive. In other words we need to be less selfish and perhaps take a different perspective to how and why we travel to begin with. If this pioneering, self determining individualistic spirit has been part of the problem all along, then it most likely will have to be part of the solution. Either through being partially given up, tempered or re-directed, a change will need to be made if any long term solutions to our current problems are to be achieved. 

The only thing perhaps scarier then the precipice we seem to be resting on, is the fact that so few of us are aware of it, or if we are, feel we can't do anything about it.

Of course this really starts with how each one of us lives our own lives and the choices we make. It is how we choose to change or not change. The worldwide community of travelers in general, and the motorcycle traveling community in particular, can be part of a solution if we in some way bring attention to things like social injustices, environmental concerns, and our responsibility to travel respectfully. If we take the time to look, learn and listen to the places we are traveling in (perhaps the best and only reason to go to begin with), then perhaps our travel can make a difference.

With every corner of the planet having seen a footprint or been part of a satellite image, and no plant, animal or culture left unaffected by “modernism”, we may wonder if there really are any solutions and if there are what they might be.

As we move further into radical times with the need for seemingly radical solutions, perhaps it is time to put a moratorium on all unnecessary travel and tourism, and give the planet a chance to recover its human and animal cultural diversities and uniqueness again while just letting other things run their course... A century or two should do the trick.....d.k.f.

I feel like I am sending conflicted messages here because I am conflicted myself. Part of me promotes a message to travel, learn and explore. Marvel in the diversities of cultures and life on this planet, while challenging one’s self and one’s fears. Certainly there is something vital and necessary in our seeing other places and meeting other people and cultures. On the other hand I see the problems of an industry based on tourism that often contributes more to cultural and environmental problems than it solves. An industry that may need a total overhaul. And no matter which course may seem appropriate, there are the warnings from authors like Jack London, Rachel Carson or scientists like Jacques Cousteau who told us years ago our planet is dying a little more each day. Apparently this idea of us conquering nature needs to replaced with us conquering ourselves if we are to survive. For everyday we lose a little more of something of our planet that is ancient and wise, parts of ourselves that may never be replaced.

When we can learn to cry for every blade of grass on the planet, then we will have learned something…Grandfather, Tom Browns Indian Guide.

Life is never about what we do, as much as it is about how we do it. If we can learn to travel and live wisely, then no problem, we can do whatever we want. If we don’t learn this art of living, then no matter what else we do will matter. The goal then of good travel should be to listen and learn from the places we visit. Listen to what they are telling us about ourselves and let us see the connection that all things share. This then must be the art of good travel, understanding our deep connections with all things, all people and expressing a reverence towards them.

May we learn to travel well.....

Doug French
Lake Ann, MI
U.S.A   2010

People of Central America

 

 
Starting the trip off of course was my favorite person, my dad.

While Stephan was not "of" Central America, he was someone special I met while in Texas. In fact I met him going both ways, on the way back we were both frozen from the winter wind and he bought me pizza before we went our separate ways.

 
I stay’d at Daniel's hotel in El Guadalupe, México. When I got to his place the night before in a rainstorm after two very hard days of driving I was about to turn back. After a good night of rest and lots of advice from him, I continued on my way the next day.

Yes finally, one of my last posts on this trip is going to cover one of the most important parts of the trip, the people. I often thought as I was traveling how it was the grace of the people of the country I was visiting that got me through ok. When your thousands of miles from home, don't speak the language, and are totally reliant on others patience and goodwill to give you directions, dinner, gas or a place to stay one gains a certain gratitude for others tolerance and an understanding that most people are curious and friendly, not out to get you. At times a feeling of vulnerability in such circumstances seems to contradict this fact. But the truth is we all have fears of the unknown but letting these fears rule our relationships with others or letting them stop us from visiting unknown places only means we don't get to meet unmet friends or experience ourselves in different ways. So much is lost.

 
Thanksgiving (el Día de Acción de Gracias)  at Intensa in San Jose, saw people from all over the world observing the day with a school dinner.

In a long post earlier I devoted a lot of time to discussing the crime in Central America and Mexico, its causes, its consequences and how people learn to live with the reality of it and still go about their daily lives. This could be said about any place in the world, even in war zones where people adjust in order to live. Often its in these adjustments to often very cruel and harsh realities is where we find out the most of what humanity is about. Regardless of circumstances people still share common values that are no different than our own. They want to protect and honor their families, they wish to work and support themselves and they hope to be a little farther ahead tomorrow than they were today. And as I found out they can also extend warmth and hospitality to a total stranger who is passing through their country on a motorcycle and doesn't even speak their language.

 
Vera Cordero, myself, and Robert Patterson at Intensa, the Spanish Learning School in San Jose.

Mireya, one of my friends and teachers at Intensa.

While its true many people were not benevolent and many sized me up for what they could get from me; these for the most part were a minority and confined mostly to border crossings, cities, or heavly visited tourist spots. Most people like here in the U.S., are concerned with the business of their daily lives, not ripping travelers or strangers off, and some having no fear of someone new, went out of their way to offer directions or help.



Joleni, one of maids from Nicaragua in San Jose.

Whether it was an older couple in Texas who made eye contact with me and said "howdy" at a time when I was  thinking others might think I was weird for being alone traveling on my motorcycle, or a local Honduran man on his lunch break posing beside his bicycle while I took a picture, I often found friendliness, or at least curiosity everywhere I went, if I was open to it.

 
I stopped to take a picture of this mans bike at home for lunch, he and his companion came out and allowed me to take a picture of him. To me I will always remember him for allowing me to do so without reservation. It gave me an image of his home and self to take with me, a hospitality that went against common fears of traveling in a foreign country.
 

I also found border "helpers" and officials that would be out to get everything they could from an inexperienced gringo, while at the same time find a man who was drunk who would turn out to be one of the most honest people I would meet, warning me that I was being ripped off by these guys. In the same border situations I would find young boys who would honestly help one for only a few dollars while the "big boys" weren't around. And as I left the situation I realized both the "big boys" and the little ones would both choose to do this dirty work for another day, or perhaps a life time. It was a sobering thought, to make a living off of overcharging others for services needed at a hot, busy border crossing. I could drive away from it, they would, or could not choose to.

 
One of my fellow passengers on our tour bus in Costa Rica, Elji was 84 and from Finland. He originally wanted to ride a Harley from the states to Argentina, but didn't want to wait 6 months for paperwork to go through. He ended up flying down to Costa Rica and then planned on taking a freighter back to Europe via Africa (or at least that was the plan). He did email me later saying he got back to Finland, had a new girlfriend, and they were heading up to Holland or somewhere for the weekend on his Harley.....

A lady from Japan that was on our tour. She was touring with a Syrian man (who had gotten kicked out of the country for refusing to go in the army), another Japanese friend and one other who were all students in Houston.

Most people were beyond curious about me and my bike and would either simply stare, or approach me. While a Kawasaki 750 is not considered a big bike in the states, many in Central America have never seen anything so big. I had soldiers at check points get on it for a picture taking, or a policeman in Nicaragua rev the engine to see how powerful it was while I stopped to ask him for directions. Security guards at hotels would dutifully guard it with their weapons like they guarded everything else on the hotel grounds. I'm sure for the most part I was thought of as crazy for traveling so far for no apparent reason, and on a motorcycle of all things. At best I was probably considered not worth hassling or robbing since what could I possibly possess that was worth anything, at worst they just thought I was crazy.

My bike was usually well guarded at some of the nicer hotels I stay’d at, like here at The Comfort Inn in El Salvador.

Perhaps the most memorable and lasting friendships came from my stay in San Jose, Costa Rica. Since I was staying with a family, taking Spanish language lessons and having dental work done all over a period of 3 weeks I got a chance to know a lot of people and form  friendships. At the dental office that I visited for 5 weeks over a years time I got to know Melissa a young girl wanting to be a dentist who worked there, her father who was a driver and also the staff who made me feel quite at home.

 
One of our maids, Anna, at my homes stay in San Jose

The family I stay’d with had several people who were from other parts of the world who were also staying there, Jeff from Taiwan became a friend who I am still in contact with. One maid was from Nicaragua and the other two were from Costa Rica and they all  had incredible work ethics. I got to meet the owners of the house's whole family who joined us for dinner on Sunday nights. Two sons, one is a senator the other an engineer who brought his wife who had a degree in marketing and their son.

 
From left to right, myself, Jeff from Taiwan, and Anna from the U.K. at my home stay in San Jose.

Later, when I came back in May for a follow up visit to the dentist, Jeff and I rented a car and went up to the Arenal Volcano for a couple of days.

Intensa the Spanish speaking school I attended had many warm and friendly people who did everything they could to help with my stay. Celebrating Thanksgiving at the school with people from all over the world was a highlight of my trip. Many of these people are still friends and contacts.

Llami (above) and Marceia (below) were both my teachers at the school.

And then there are those who are not Costa Ricans who were either traveling there from other countries or had started businesses there. From business owners in Puerte Viejo on the Caribbean side and hotel owners up in the mountains of Monteverde, I found like minded people who were trying to start a life for themselves away from some of the stress of their former lives. Often with mixed results, and for some still in a process of evolution. This is one part of the trip that is hard to explain, the different pace of life found in Central America and foreigners attraction to it.

My neighbor from Germany at the Santa Rosa National Park campground, where by the way, it was $2 a night to camp.

Either way, for the miles, trials and smiles, I never felt physically threatened (except by Guatemalan bus drivers) and many of my contacts  with locals were genuinely friendly and even with the language barrier went ok. Again, not speaking their language and being in their land, it was I who seemed to be asking a lot.

Julieta (standing), who owned the house where I stay’d in San Jose, she was also one of five families that owned this orphanage close to her home. The lady sitting is one of the people who runs it. 


To all the people who extended this hospitality to me, and the ones who didn't I am indebted to. They all taught me something about myself and made me understand and reaffirm that while we all maybe different in ways, we all have more in common than any differences. I also would like to thank the many people who followed this blog and supported me and gave me feedback and encouragement that not only helped me realize the trip was very doable to begin with, but also made me want to write about it and share it. They reminded me I was never really alone on this trip. It really idd make a difference.something about myself, themselves and their own lives as well as perhaps a part of God's grace that allows us to it with others.here one more day and be with each other.

 

And finally, one of the many "Our Virgin Mother of Guadalupe" shrines that are on the side of the road all over México.

 

Technorati Tags: People

Animals of Central America

There were green alligators and long necked geese.
Some humpyback camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and eli-phants, and sure as your born...
The loveliest of all was the unicorn......
                           Irish Rover song....

 
No I didn't run into these guys on the trip
but seemed to have run into everything else....

A Pair of ? Parrots resting at the butterfly farm in Costa Rica. 

  
Perhaps a Macaw at the same farm.


The infamous Blue Maroth Butterfly of Central America on the butterfly farm I visited; followed by a few more pictures of residents of the farm.

 
Shhhh................ its the butterfly nursery......

The first real differences in wildlife I noticed from what I am used to coming from Michigan was as I approached the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. Here there were signs saying not to feed the alligators as you approached certain small pools with walkways along them. These were in the National Wildlife Refuge of Laguna Alascosa, one of the last natural "coastal marsh prairies" left in the U.S. Here I was also treated to seeing the endangered small cat species, the Ocelot, as well as pelicans, whooping cranes, and a large variety of coastal birds; including the Piping Plover which is an endangered bird and is protected in Michigan as well.

A Pelican along the gulf coast.

A rare sight, an Ocelot in the Laguna Alascoca National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

Vultures working a Caribbean beach in Costa Rica.

Outside of Vultures, Eagles and lizards that ran on their hind legs (looking like with shorts and tennis shoes they could be entering a race), and a friendly scorpion in my motel room in Nicaragua, most of the really "exotic" wildlife I saw came in Costa Rica.

Animals on the road or by them are very common in Central America.

Unfortunately not all the animals one encounters on the roads are alive.

Costa Rica has one of the highest concentrations of different animal and plant species in the world. To say one isn't in Kansas anymore is an understatement. From big snakes to big spiders it seems everything including plant life is not only larger, but in huge variety; Costa Rica has about 4,000 different plant species.

 
A local greets the bus for a "photo shoot" for tourists, for a dollar.

Also greeting the touristas was the local tree sloth, who at the rate it was moving may still well be there; it had moss growing on it it moves so slow.

Giant Rhinoceros Beatles and another large crawler were at the butterfly farm in Costa Rica.

Walking Sticks

As well as.......... 

 
Walking Spiders

Are all part of the insect life in Costa Rica

Examples of the variety of animals here include 63 different species of humming birds (according to one local), beautifully colored and vocal jungle birds of all kinds, many kinds of butterflies that can can be seen in farms where they are hatched, beetles and spiders as big as a small hand, Jaguars, Spider and Howler monkeys (there are more kinds of monkeys), crocodiles, boa constrictors, pythons and snakes of all kinds, walking sticks almost as big as one, bats (some with two foot wing spans), tree sloth's and sharks, whales, jellyfish and the incredible variety of life that lives in the tropic oceans; one could go on and on, if it lives on planet earth, it is probably in Costa Rica, in one form or another....

 A few of the many varieties of hummingbirds in Costa Rica

 
The world's smallest bats, only a couple inches across sleep on this tree along the river during the day.

The dark outline of a Howler Monkey resting along the rivers edge can be seen as well.

Supposedly the only bird in the world without natural oils in its feathers, it has to dry out between dives for fish. (I don't have its name!)

Also along the waters edge were Caimens (spelled wrong no doubt, but small alligator like lizards), assortments of other different kinds of lizards including iguanas resting in trees everywhere. Again the variety, complexity and beauty of the plant and animal life in Central America is hard to fathom, let alone capture in simple photographs or words; one needs to experience it for oneself.

I often think of John Muir, the famous botanist and naturalist that along with a knapsack and a loaf of bread, walked out west to study it, later convincing Washington and the politicians the need for National Parks and preserving wilds like the Redwoods before it was too late. One of my heroes, not only for his passion for the wilds and preserving them, but his ability to go lightly into them, taking very little with him, yet finding ways to forage and thrive while in there. And as he put it, "live like a king in the wild with the abundance of natures gifts, while living in the splendid beauty that also is part of god's gift to us": 21st Century men and women have so much to learn from this philosophy...and reality.

One might argue we may not fully be healed as people without wild places to go to and reconnect to the health and vitality which nature represents. This vital "life force" in which we seem to get cut off from more and more each day as another shopping mall goes up, or more raw sewage and hospital supplies get dumped into our oceans, is more than just vital for our existence. It is like John Muir himself tried to tell us; without it we may exist, but without embracing, preserving or understanding our deep spiritual connection to all things wild, we shall surely spiritually die. We will as we have let many of our societies make us, be part of the walking dead. We have lost our profound and deeply connected place in the universe. For indeed if as CSNY told us, "we are all Stardust", shouldn't we all know this, not just believe it?

One of John Muir's dreams which he never was able to do was walk down to the Amazon. As a botanist Central and South America represented the "Holy Grail" of all plant life on the planet. And he could have spent the rest of his life exploring it, but became too sick later in life to make the trip.

This richness and diversity is something one begins to see for real as one explores Costa Rica. It is still here, and Costa Rica has been smart in making some 23 National Parks or so; It is as if California decided to add another 20 Parks. It ties up a lot of land and makes Costa Rica a sort of Disneyland with National Parks, dependent on tourism to generate its economy with protected lands that require fees just to enter. One might have to pay to even walk up to see a waterfall on a trail, something inconceivable in the U.S. unless one is in a National Park and has had to pay to get in.

Its wilderness is a little too controlled for my taste, especially having lived in Alaska. But this type of reality seems to extend around the world. Either land is exploited and raped and polluted, or it is overly controlled and exploited for its beauty through tourism. Both are sad realities in themselves. The days of the mountain man, where like John Muir, one could just go out and live alone in solitude in unpolluted beauty, or uncontrolled lands are fast coming to an end (I know some of this is romanticism, most lands have thousands of years of human history associated with them, but one wonders if human history, or the planets, have ever faced such population density, pollution or overall challenges they now do). A sad testimony to our stewardship; something Native Americans have also known and felt the results of.

So a small tribute to John Muir, and perhaps Native Americans who according to new evidence could have been in the Americas for as long as 35,000 years. Also a suggested possible solution for the rain forests of the Amazon, maybe like Costa Rica, it should be turned into a giant National Park with the entire world helping set it up, patrol it and giving land and proceeds to local indigenous populations to preserve their land and way of life. Unchecked capitalism has always been natures worst enemy; like Costa Rica it could provide some solutions as well...

I hope as Adventure Logs continues to evolve and perhaps more writers contribute, and more adventures are completed, part of its purpose will be to raise awareness of the planets plight, the natural world as well as humans, and perhaps at best offer a few solutions and inspirations to transform ones own world, inside and out, and in so doing continue transforming the planet. Or at worst, provide the arm chair traveler a way to experience new things....while providing a few laughs at my attempts at divine understandings.

                      10,000 monks chuckle.....

                Good travels, and good awareness....