[Above: Nancy Olson's D3 vehicle sits in a cargo container, ready for the overseas haul to Ecuador.]

Journal by Nancy Olson

Today is SUCH a good journal day, boys and girls! I have the loading of our vehicles to discuss, and, as if that weren’t enough, I get to tell you about five sardines and their journey down the most pothole-filled road IN THE WORLD toward a little Caribbean island called La Isla Grande. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Of course it does!

Now, let me begin by apologizing for the tardiness of this journal entry. I have a wonderful excuse! (OK, ok, all you military friends out there. I realize that “I have a wonderful excuse” isn’t one of the Naval Academy’s preferred “Five Basic Responses”, but I really do have a doozie. Allow me to share.) I could not write to you fine people because I have been on an island where they have NO INTERNET (eeegads!), very few televisions (the horror!), and two broken-at-the-time (pay) telephones (have mercy!). Story in a moment.

This morning, our departure time got bumped back from the scheduled 0800, as our vehicles (In my head, incidentally, this is pronounced [ve-HIGH-cles], which is an inside joke shared between myself and my dear Russian friend, Sergey, whom you will meet when we reach, uh, Russia.) weren’t due in Colon until 11:00 or noon. Colon is only one hour from our hotel in Panama City, so we weren’t in a rush.

Still thinking we were departing at eight, I dashed off toward a banana stand and an ATM. At the bank, two blocks from our hotel, I withdrew some cash and then listened to the machine beep at me to take my card while I carefully placed the money in my little change purse. Well, durn it, I waited one beep too many, because just as I went to grab the card, the evil bank machine retracted it into its bowels, because it had been identified as "lost or stolen." You see, boys and girls, if you try hard enough, a simple trip to the ATM can become an adventure…I even had an unkempt shoe-shine man raise his eyebrows and blow me a provocative kiss on my way to the machine…

Well, now what?! I went around to the front of the bank to see if I could speak to someone inside, but I was barred from entering by the armed security guard behind the door. He motioned to the sign that indicates they open at 8:00 a.m. It was only 7:45. “Cerrado,” he said. “Quince minutos.” Well, no kidding! I realize you are closed and won’t be open for 15 minutes, but your evil machine just ATE. MY. CARD!!! And I’m supposed to be leaving in quince minutos!!!

I grumbled my way back to the hotel, sans card, to tell my team I’d have to return to the bank at eight to retrieve my card. Luckily, the team had decided to leave at 10:00. So Justin and I went back to the bank, and I told the guy inside what had happened. He said I’d have to go to some other location to retrieve it. “Why?” Because we don’t know whose card it is. “I have three forms of I.D., and a receipt.” You’ll have to show those to the people in the other building. I can give you the address. “When will it be there?” We will send it, and it will be there Monday or Tuesday. (A couple of tears, and then I fire for effect.) “I’m leaving today, and we’re driving around the world for 9 months andthisismyonlysourceofcashfortheentiretriphaveaheart!” One moment please.

He takes my passport, disappears for a few minutes, and comes back. Please wait over there -- you’re going to get your card back. (Inside, I am dancing.) I continue wearing my “the world is coming to an end” face until I am safely out of the building with my card.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we discovered that Nick had contacted Red Bull and we were waiting for Analissa to deliver 15 cases. Awesome. We’d be able to ship it with the vehicles and not have to worry about how to get it to Ecuador. Yesterday, we were going to have to fly it to Ecuador. Today, because our vehicles didn’t get loaded yesterday, we are able to solve the Red Bull problem. Red Bull Panama’s Analissa arrived and loaded us up with 375 cans. (THANK YOU HAYES AND ANALISSA!!!) After a few photos and lots of thanks, we were on our way.

The shipping yard in Colon (Panama’s second-largest city) is a giant chunk of land on the Caribbean Sea crowded with huge cargo crates of different colors stacked into towering rows. A giant crane runs around like a wasp, grabbing boxes and moving them from one stack to another. We arrived at 12:45.

At 2:00, we were finally on our way to the inspection area inside of a giant warehouse in the yard. There, a guy in an orange loading suit listed the contents of our vehicles and double-checked the VIN numbers and registration. Everything was in order, so we were directed out to wear two gigantic, empty steel crates that were waiting to be loaded with our precious cargo. Each would hold two of our Certified, Pre-Owned Discovery Series II expedition veHIcles. I drove mine in first, and Adam filmed from the passenger seat. As we squeezed out through the driver-side door, which could only be opened a few inches, we remarked that it was a good thing we weren’t a little fatter or we’d be stuck inside for the long haul.

By 4:00, we were finally loaded and ready to leave. We had been delayed for almost an hour waiting for someone to come and lock the containers. We were told not to worry, that those guys would be here in the morning…So we used our own locks and had the guys attach tamper-proof tags. They would inspect things in the morning.

The film guys (Neil, Adam, and Colin) and I piled into a tiny little Diahatsu with all of our bags and surf boards to drive to a choice surf spot on a little island called Isla Grande (which means BIG island??) with a new friend of ours named Janet. She’s a local surfer chick who is a friend of a friend of Neil’s. Three people do NOT fit comfortably across the back seat of that little car. Trust me. We bumped along in excruciating discomfort down a really windy, pothole-riddled road for more than an hour, packed in like sardines, before arriving at the little beach where we would park the car. When Janet opened the door, we came pouring out with all our gear, as if the floodgates had been opened.

We paid to park behind a secure gate, and then we loaded into an awesome little 20-foot boat to ferry across the inlet to the bay to the island. The boat ride was awesome, and it made me miss my brother and my parents and our annual trips to Pensacola, Florida, to fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the island, we found a guy with a room with five beds, a kitchen, air conditioner, and a covered porch. We checked it out and determined it was a complete dump, but we accepted it because it was 30 bucks per night. Six dollars each ain’t bad. I think the guy kicked his family out when we got there in order to rent it to us. There were clothes in the bureau, toothbrushes on the sink, no toilet paper, and a dirty sheet on my bed. He gave me a new sheet and we called it a night. I built a pillow out of my underwear bag and a shirt, and I cocooned up in the new top sheet. All night, I dreamt I was being eaten alive by bugs, and I tossed and turned until the A/C shut off at 7 a.m. We only rated the luxury of cold air between the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. But that’s another story, and another day. I’m only here to write about Thursdays…

Merry Christmas, my friends. Be safe.

Nancy
nancy@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 18th, Day 48
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Colon, Panama
N: 9* 20.992'
W: 79* 54.097"
Mileage: 080
Notes: The team successfully loaded the four Certified, Pre-owned Discovery Series II expedition vehicles into two high containers at the port of Colon today. They are ready for a ship bound for Guayaquil, Equador. All of this shipping is courtesy of one of our premier sponsors, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines. Thanks, Wallenius! We will fly from Panama City to Quito, Ecuador, and then meet the vehicles in Guayaquil in about 6 days. (N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.