[Above: Nancy and Isabelle build an effigy to represent Parkinson's Disease, which the Drive Around the World team ceremonially burned at midnight on New Year's Eve.]

Journal by Todd Borgie

New Years Eve! Still more work needs to be done! It has been difficult to distinguish work from playtime. There is always something to do and there are a couple things that are just short of a crisis situation at any given time. However, a good breakfast is a great way to start any day. A number of us sat down together for breakfast at the Dreamkapture Hostel in Guayaquil, Adam seemed healthier than I had seen him in awhile, so that was good. .

After breakfast we all assumed various posts around the hotel. I took a spot on the couch next to Neil, and began to answer questions and review stuff that I had been writing about Ecuador. I though to myself this is New Years Eve, and what am I doing? I have been driving around the world and what have I spend my time doing? I thought I should hit the city, but really didn’t know what I wanted to do. My mind was preoccupied with my work, but it was demanding a reprieve at the same time. I guess I wanted to find someone to do something with, but then again I didn’t want to hang out with everyone. Uffda!

I found my way into the library and looked at a few magazines, most in different languages and fell asleep. I don’t know how long I was asleep, but after I awoke I just laid there on my bench and thought. My thoughts flowed like goldfish swimming in a fishbowl, everything from my family, home, team members, goals of the expedition, workload, and what I wanted to do upon my return. It centered me, but my mind seemed preoccupied with a lot of different things.

I finally roused myself, and the banging in my stomach finally got my attention. I stole away to my room, not really feeling like talking to anybody. I just wanted to change my clothes and leave on a walk, I didn’t want anybody to inquire about what I was doing; I just wanted to leave.

I strolled through the streets and watched people as they moved about their business. New Years was definitely in the air, as people had already started drinking and burning effigies, an Ecuadorian tradition. You see life-size replications of real people and fictional characters: the Incredible Hulk, Saddam Hussein, George Bush, as well as local politicians. Apparently, it was out with the old and brings on the new. Ecuadorians burn the remnants of the previous year hoping the New Year will bring something better. These life size structures are loaded with firecrackers and burned during the New Years celebration.

The Drive Around the World, team in the spirit of this tradition, had built -- and was planning on burning -- a lumpy pink model that represented Parkinson’s Disease. It took awhile, but we hoped it would focus the team on our Parkinson’s mission.

Walking the mid afternoon streets of Guayaquil, I stumbled into a stereo/music shop. I went to the guitar wall and, being fueled by melancholy, I picked one up. There was a couple shopping for a guitar, so I tested a few for them. My mind was so occupied with introverted thoughts, making my Spanish choppy and unnatural. I really didn’t care; I just was basking in my melancholic torpor. The interaction lifted my spirits, however, and my hunger again took hold.

I eyed a McDonalds, which seemed perfect, simple, familiar the perfect antidote for my blues. I walked toward it but I heard Nick’s voice in my head, “If you don’t agree with McDonald business mission why do you patronize them?” Ugh, was I going to have to stand firm to my principles? I have trouble with the idea of giving my money to a huge corporation that will take the profits away from a country that already very poor. A local business could probably use my money more than McDonalds could. However, I wanted the impersonalness and anonymity of McDonalds. I really didn’t want to interact with anybody; McDonalds was perfect, but I just couldn’t go in. Eventually I did find a restaurant, a local one, no less, and I sat on the street watching people getting drunk and burning things. It was a lot of fun just watching.

I returned to the hotel and met Rolf, who was headed to upload journals from the previous week. He said he needed some help in talking with an Internet café so that he could plug his laptop in directly. We headed off amidst firecrackers popping and the random smoke clouds throughout the city. We found an Internet café and established his connection. I noticed that the guy running it was using Linux. Since I used to work with Linux I asked him some questions. Before, I knew it I was configuring Samba for him. We had to troubleshoot a bunch of stuff, and 5 hours later I was walking out the door a bit cross-eyed. We didn’t quite get it to be like we wanted it, but we were well on our way. We exchanged e-mail addresses and I will probably be in communication with him.

When I returned to the hotel at 9:00 p.m. everyone was there. Everyone was sitting around waiting for dinner, even our newly found friends Katie and Dave that were visiting from San Francisco. Isabelle, the hotel owner, had made dinner for us. It was a great dinner, of chicken, raviolis and salad. She said it was her treat as she admired what we were doing. She is great person. If you ever find yourself in Guayaquail go to Dreamkapture Hostel and say hello from the Drive Around the World team.

The night aged and everyone was eager to get to the burning -- and before the night was through, we had acquired four different effigies to burn. At a quarter to twelve, the team headed down to the street to burn away 2003.

The city erupted in sound, smoke and life. It sounded like a war zone, and looked like one as well. Everywhere you looked the streets were on fire. Mounds of 2003 were disappearing under the flames. Looking each direction up and down any given street you would see at least 5 roaring effigies and bonfires. Wow!

Despite all this, I couldn’t let me melancholy go. It seemed to be gripping me by my throat preventing me from jumping up and down and bidding farewell to 2003. I managed to squeeze off a few smiles before retiring to my bunk. Perhaps there is something in it that I am not yet ready to let go.

Todd
todd@drivearoundtheworld.com

Breakfast: Eggs, Toast and Coffee
Lunch: Chicken and Rice
Dinner: Chicken, raviolis, and salad (with feta cheese).

[Above: Neil Dana poses with an effigy of the Incredible Hulk.]

Logbook for December 31st, Day 61
Start: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Finish: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Mileage: 000
Notes: The team celebrated New Year´s Eve Guayaquil style. We participated in their tradition of burning effigies to dispose of bad luck and to bring good fortune for the coming year. We said goodbye to the old and hello to the new. Tomorrow we head to Peru. (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.

[Above: Effigy heads for sale on the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador (can you see which one belongs to Nick Baggarly?). These effigies are burned on New Year's Eve as part of an annual out-with-the-old/in-with-the-new ritual in Ecuador.]

Journal by Adam Burgess

We arrived in Guayaquil on the 28th of December and ended up in a little hostel on the outskirts of town. Neil and I were the first to arrive other than Rolf, who set up the rendezvous. On Christmas Neil and I decided to leave the dinner party at the Quito hostel and take an overnight bus for 11 hours to the little beach town of Monteñita. Although the waves were small and crowded it was a pleasant little town totally full of happy hippies and local vacationers. Gringos galore were selling handmade necklaces as though it were the hottest new item from Paris. The dirt roads and bamboo-thatched huts lit up at night, revealing what seemed like an adult theme park of Robinson Crusoe. The beards and dreadlocks ran rampantly as did the children, birds and dogs. Dirt roads and tiki torches added to the “Survivor” effect. The natty and sun-damaged Europeans boogied in Birkenstocks in the dirt streets and the trio of fire jugglers seemed to keep timing, but were better at discreetly picking up the dropped torches. It was quite a circus, and everyone seemed pretty happy with what they were all accomplishing -- which in essence was a delusional sense of integration, because as you walk 3 minutes to the edge of the village you discover the quiet little plaza and church façade nestled peacefully in between the houses of local fishermen. We left two days later for a bus to Guayaquil to meet the crew and the cars.

Driving into this city proves to reveal just another large, dirty third world city. Without iconic architecture like Paris or London this place, like many of these large Latin American cities, beckons you to experience the chaos through the eyes of a native. And so that’s just what we have the opportunity to do. It just so happened that Rolf’s hostel selection was 3 minutes walking from a friend’s wife’s house. And it also just so happened that Matt and Fabiola were back in Guayaquil for the holidays. I’m going to film Fabiola as she explains to Neil the crazy ceremony that’s brewing daily here. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and the city is supposed to blow up into a chaotic ceremony of burning effigies of international political figures and Marvel comic characters. According to our hostel manager, everyone throughout the city will drag these large and colorful papier-mâché characters out into the streets for an intense simultaneous midnight burning. Fireworks and dynamite will be packed into some of them before being doused in gasoline. It’s supposed to be intense and so dangerous that they may stop it in two years or so. The crew has decided to take part by building what looks like a massive bunch of grapes but is going to represent the symbolic destruction of Parkinson’s Disease.

This all sounds exciting to most of us, but I have one other thing on my mind -- sickness. I am fighting a fever and diarrhea. I’m blaming this illness on the Chinese food I had the first night here. Surrounding me at this moment are the essentials: six bottles of Gatorade and water, this laptop, and a few DVDs. Muddy footprints now mark my half-hourly route to one of two toilets in the hall outside my room. My guts wrench and churn from my every movement and gulp of liquid. It doesn’t help that today’s diet was white rice and chicken’s feet soup. My ghastly noises blasting from behind the bathroom door day and night has replaced my voice, so that any dignity that may have existed beforehand has been lost. Relieving myself is hardly that at all, in fact “relieving” is a misnomer; it’s an uncomfortable necessity. There’s nothing left inside me and I’m at the point where if this continues I feel as though my intestines will come out next, along with my stomach, lungs, heart, throat and grimacing head, only to leave me turned completely inside out and writhing on the tiled floor like some mutated creature from a sci-fi film.

I hope tomorrow is better, but right now I’ve got business to attend to.

Adam
adam@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 30th, Day 60
Start: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Finish: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Mileage: 026
Notes: On the twelvth day without our vehicles, we got 'em back. Today the team successfully sprung the vehicles from the Guayaquil shipping yard. It was exciting being back in convoy again, and it was fun turning heads as team Drive Around the World. We missed our babies! This evening, we made a team decision to remain in Guayaquil for the New Year's festivities before heading on to Peru. (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.

[Above: Nick Baggarly hard at work at the shipping warehouse in Guayaquil, Ecuador; the Land Rovers unloaded and ready to go at the docks.]

Journal by Neil Dana

Nick, our fearless expedition leader, is amazing! He has the ability to push and push and push and push and push and push without feeling pushy. And I mean this in the most kind-hearted way, too -- he doesn't push us around, or any of his friends. What I am talking about is when we are dealing with foreign customs and borders and officials who we deal with very often. He said it quite simply the other day when we were in our freight forwarder's office, "I am bad cop and you are good cop, Neil."

For example, we arrived here in Guayaquil, where our vehicles were shipped from Panama and we have been dealing with getting them out of the port the last few days. Nick and I took a taxi from our hotel early in the morning, and when we got in the taxi, he told us it was $10 to get to the port. Isabelle, the women who owns the hostel where we are staying at told us it should be six. So Nick tells the taxi driver that we will pay him six dollars, but the taxi driver keeps on saying that it is ten and it will take an hour to get to the port. The driver told us to go and ask another taxi driver if we wanted, it will be the same price. Nick finally opened the door and got out and we went and got another taxi, which cost us $3, and only took 15 minutes. We both are not sure whether the taxi driver was completely lying to us, or was truly mistaken and thought it would take an hour. It seemed a bit ridiculous.

So fifteen minutes later we arrived at Malecon, which is an area of Guayaquil that is located along the river that opens to the ocean. It is a nice area that has brick walkways and shops and restaurants and cafes. It is kind of like a mall on the water, but not as mundane as a mall. We entered a building and took the elevator to the eighth floor. This building is where the freight forwarding company was located. Willaneus Willhelmsen is our shipping sponsor, and they have set up freight forwarders for us in our ports. These are companies that have people there to handle all the paperwork for us and walk us through the steps. And at these ports where our vehicles are getting loaded and unloaded, they are extremely helpful. We could do it on our own, but it would literally take many days more to get out our vehicles. The process makes a normal border crossing with four vehicles seem like a simple handshake.

So we entered our freight forwarder's office and went and sat down in the office of our representative, who was a very nice woman. Before we had entered, Nick told me we needed to make sure they knew how critical it is to get our vehicles out of the port right away, and to make sure we don't pay too much for the whole process. The problem we were facing is that our vehicles arrived in port on the 24th, and the port was closed then and on the 25th and 26th and so on. We ended up going there on the 29th, and in a perfect world, the freight forwarder, knowing weeks in advance that we were going to be there and our vehicles were already there, should have already started the offloading process and paperwork. But obviously, South America or anywhere for that matter is not a perfect world. The only perfect world is inside my head.

The woman asked us for all our papers, which include our passports, vehicle titles, notarized letters of driver permission, our carnet, entry papers for Ecuador, exit papers from Panama, and a few others as well. Now that she had the papers, she could call customs and start the process. However, customs has to get permission from Trinity, the shipping company, to offload the containers, and Trinity needs permission from Customs as well, and the dock people have to be coordinated as well. So it is a big circle and roundabout that can really start anywhere, as long as someone finally pressed the "GO" button and initializes the process.

Nick kept telling the women that we needed these cars today, which obviously wasn't going to happen, but if we keep pushing for today, maybe there is a chance we can get them in 2 days from then. She told us we would be lucky if they would even offload the containers that afternoon, which she highly doubted. We were also nervous, because if we didn't get the vehicles by the 30th, we would have to wait until the 3rd or 4th to get our vehicles, because as of the 31st, everything in Ecuador shuts down for 5 days. Nick kept pushing and telling her how important it is to get our vehicles. I love how Nick uses a process of deduction to get our victims to understand that they CAN do it. Usually someone says they can't start the process because customs needs the word from the port. Well, who at the port gives the word to customs? And who gives the word to the port to start the process? Oh, and who gives that person the papers or the call to start it, oh YOU DO? Wow, I am glad you finally figured it out. So by the end of our conversation, our victim understands her empowerment.

The trick, where our good cop and bad cop come into play, is making the victim like us at the same time. Nick being the person who is strictly business and getting the process done gets it done. However, during this process, I am looking around the room, noticing our women's pictures of her children on the desk, and then I pry into her personal life and get her excited about telling us about her family, and where she is from, and all the familiar things in her life that she loves and bring her happiness, other than another day dealing with people in the office. So by the time we are out of there, the lady knows we mean business, but that we also are good blokes and she even likes us! And if they like us, then they will actually pick up the phone and get the process started.

After we left the office, we walked around town a bit, got a really tasty cappuccino and latte and bought some $1 DVD's and I bought a long-sleeve Ecuadorian Seleccion Futbol team shirt, for the Andean mountains that lie ahead. We need to start gathering clothes for the cold days ahead. The markets here are great, extremely busy and chaotic. It is quite an enjoyable experience.

The next morning we awoke at 8AM and grabbed a taxi to the office, then met another person who took us in another taxi, another 20 minutes away to the actual Guayaquil Maritimo Port. This was a bustling port, with people walking around all over the place, and trucks and boats filling the roads and waterway, along with containers as far as the eye could see. It is quite amazing to think of all the millions of dollars in merchandise that passes through the port all the time. And also, the amount of stuff that does not get inspected, there is no way to inspect everything thoroughly, it is a bit scary to think about.

So we got to the port and met three people who were helping us with the process. The main guy, Jorge from Customs, was our man who helped us from beginning to end. And what a nice guy he was. So we entered into the first office to get our papers signed off, which basically were just papers to allow us to enter to port. Then we got in his truck, I sat in the open bed, and drove into the port. Jorge drove us around in circles to different locations and we sat in the car most of the time while he ran in and dealt with paperwork, and also handed off some papers to other people to expedite things as well.

Then we finally actually found one of our containers. We were excited and nervous at the same time. This was the moment when we got to see our cars, but also to see whether or not they arrived unscathed or not. We were also nervous, because when the vehicles left Panama, they did not have proper locks on the containers and we were worried about it. So when the container finally opened, there were our vehicles, what a sight!! Not a scratch. They were intact and everything was inside. The only strange thing was that one of the windows had slid all the way down, but nothing was taken out of the car, so it must have just been some sort of malfunction.

So we drove them out of the container and parked them to get inspected. We found the other container, and the little security tag that was on it was broken, so we were even more nervous, but I guess it was broken because they were preparing to unload the previous afternoon, when we showed up late. Anyway, they opened it and our cars were fine and we parked them inside this huge building or warehouse with all the other merchandise that must be inspected by customs.

We had to wait about 3 hours until they were ready to be inspected, so we ended up meeting Jorge's family, which was a highlight of our trip. Jorge's wife was extremely eager to meet us and came to the port to hang out with us. Her mother has Parkinson's Disease and when she heard the day before from Jorge what our organization was doing, she was excited to meet us. So during part of our waiting process, we were in their van and Nick her talked about Parkinson's for a while. It is amazing the amount of information we have about Parkinson's in the U.S. versus what they know here in Ecuador.

We ended up going to Jorge's house and meeting his mother in law. She was a very beautiful woman who had Parkinson's and was shaking the entire time we were with her. It was not a severe shaking, but it was there in her hands and you could notice it. They brought us cherries and strawberries and introduced us to their whole family, the children, brother, uncle, etc. They were all honored to be in our presence, as I was theirs. We talked for about an hour about Parkinson's and the medicine's and information that we knew. Nick is extremely informed and has read Dr. Langston's book and Michael J. Fox's, as well as many others. It was really sad to listen to this family and realize that the mother was taking quite a bit of dopamine, which is a drug that is useful to allow patients to control their movements. The downside is that it only works for a certain amount of time, then your body builds up a resistance to it, and reverts back to an even worse condition than before, where you have uncontrolled movements. And the fact that this woman was taking heavy doses of dopamine, made me really sad. It is really hard to watch someone who has a terrible disease. I have always been blessed with good health, as has my family. My grandmother did have Alzheimer's, but at least she forgot everything. Parkinson's is worse, because you lose control of your body movement, or can't even move at all, but you are completely conscious the entire time. You are trapped inside your body and can't control it. I cannot imagine. I guess if you are in that situation, you learn to deal with it, like any situation in life, but also like in life, it is impossible to completely empathize with someone else's situation unless you really have experienced similar conditions. So meeting this women was extremely painful for me, but at the same time, I am grateful for it and it warms my heart to know that she is loved by her family and lives with her family, and that people are actively doing something to try and cure this disease. Parkinson's is horrific.

The fantastic fact about Parkinson's is that scientists know where in the brain it occurs, how to probe at it, and how it works, and lastly, the main key to finding a cure, is how to cause it. The only thing missing is more money to help the scientists develop the cure. Parkinson's scientists have many ideas that have yet to be tried yet, and the only thing holding them back is money to get the resources to experiment. With cancer and AIDS, there is more money, but not as many ideas that haven't been tried. Many grant proposals that have been written for research about cancer and AIDS are denied because they have already been tried. Parkinson's is the opposite -- there are more ideas than there is money to support.

Anyway, Jorge's family went with us to one of the greatest lunches we have had this trip. We ate coconut shrimp and fish and fish stew, with guayaba juice. It was delicious! We were there for a couple of hours. This restaurant was filled with local Ecuadorians and now we know why, mmmn, mmmnnnn.

After lunch, we went back to the port and met with the inspector who checked our vehicles. This inspector opened one door of one car, and looked at all our Red Bull drinks and asked if it was liquor. We had just received another batch of Red Bull in Panama, so our vehicles were stuffed with it. He didn't check in the back of the vehicle or any other vehicle, which was fantastic. In fact, when we were pulling out of the port, another official asked us about baggage, and Jorge just said, oh it's nothing, just camping gear, etc. They had even asked if we had electrical equipment, and Jorge winked at me and nodded, so I said "NO." Then Jorge grabbed the papers out of his hands and laughed and patted him on the back and hurried up the process even more. It is like a buddy system, with trust going to those the officials know. It is very advantageous for us and those who can pay for this type of help.

On the other hand, it makes you realize how easy it is to smuggle things into a country.

So all in all, it took us one day less to receive our cars than we thought when we first enquired with our friendly lady at our freight forwarder, we were stoked!! And now we are chilling in Guayaquil for New Year's and that is just awesome!

So all of you reading this, I hope you realize how important our expedition is, not only for raising money for Parkinson's, but everyday, we are meeting people that we have a positive influence on and vice versa. I know that we gave an extreme amount of hope to Jorge's family and that alone has made this trip worthwhile for me. One of the things that Jorge had said about his mother, was that she didn't have much hope left, and knowing that we revitalized that and gave them some information that they did not know previous to our visit is wonderful. We also wrote down the names of a few books that would be extremely informative to them as well.

You never know when you are going to meet someone unexpected or experience something fantastic. I mean, on a port day, our most dreaded days of days, ended up being one of the most memorable days of the trip.

Happy New Year!

Neil
neil@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 28th, Day 58
Start: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Finish: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Mileage: Lots of bus miles...
Notes: Day Ten without our vehicles. Today the team took a 1030 a.m. bus from Quito to Guayaquil. It was an 8-hour ride. The guy behind Justin and Nancy puked. All-in-all, though, it was a good trip. The view out the window was intoxicatingly beautiful. The only downside is that we are back in the heat and humidity again. I sure miss the altitude of Quito. (N.O.)

Logbook for December 29th, Day 59
Start: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Finish: Guayaquil, Ecuador
N: 02* 08.171'
W: 79* 54.397''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Eleven without our vehicles. Nick spent today at the port of Guayaquil, but to no avail. He couldn't spring the vehicles due to some extensive shipping company and customs procedures. We'll return tomorrow to try again (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.

[Above: Thanks to the wonders of modern photo technology, Colin McAuliffe exists on both sides of the Ecuadorian equator at once.]

Journal by Justin Mounts

I believe travel is one of the greatest gifts a person can ever receive. When you are traveling, you are usually in control of your own destiny and destination. You can carefully research a destination before you set out or you can grab a globe, give it a spin, and let fortune lead you to new experiences. So, in one sense, travel is a gift where you know exactly what you will receive. Everybody likes to know exactly what he or she is getting at one point or another. On the other hand, travel is a gift that frequently surprises you. You never exactly know what you’re going to get. This has been proven to me many times, from Paris this summer to Quito this winter. The reality of travel is that no matter how much research you perform before you leave, you will receive (more often than not) an equal amount of benefit from the unexpected and unplanned things that beset your way.

This week has been no different.

We have been staying in Quito, Ecuador at the Hostel El Taxo. It is a charming little place that has served as our base of operations for several days. The day before Christmas, the team planned to go to Mitad del Mundo, quite literally, the middle of the world. It's a small village that has the good fortune of being located directly on the equatorial line. After taking a bus for an hour and a half (it was supposed to take 40 minutes), we arrived. While we knew that we would be rewarded for our time with the opportunity to explore one of the geographical highlights of the world. But the unexpected part of the bus ride is that we were able to experience a normal Ecuadorian commute first-hand because the bus stopped every five minutes or so in a new neighborhood so people could muscle their way on or off the bus.

When we arrived at the monument (just a few minutes before 6 p.m.), we were stunned to see the gates were closed. What is this? Are you telling me the equator is closed? Nah, it can't be. Fortunately, it wasn't. A friendly guard showed us the way in and pointed us in the right direction. After a brief walk toward a collection of flags and a large obelisk surmounted by a globe lying on its side, we saw the equator. Or at least we saw the bright orange line that has been placed into the brick walkway through the entire village. I have to admit, it was very cool. Instantly, I was transported back to the 4th grade. I began hopping back and forth from one side to the other. I’m in the north, we’re in the south…the north, the south, the north, the south -- okay, who can I wrestle for control of the equator?

Finally, my excitement settled down and I was able to put that juvenile display behind me. I decided to follow the line into town to see where it went. Obviously, it goes east and west, but did you know that it actually goes into buildings in the town? No kidding! It even goes right into and down the middle of a small Catholic church. It goes right up to and behind the altar, and the cross hanging on the wall points directly down to the equator. So I began to wonder -- do you feel different receiving religion if you in the southern hemisphere vs. when you're sitting in the northern hemisphere part of the church? I don't know, and unfortunately, I can't find out. There's no service scheduled for today. This line goes everywhere. It even goes across the stage of the amphitheatre in the plaza. No part of the town we spared. With my need to stand on the equator fulfilled, and one last dance from side to side, I loaded back onto a bus bound for Quito. We returned “home” and went out for Indian food for dinner -- kind of a refreshing change from our normal diet of rice, beans, and meat. Plus, it was cheap. One dollar a plate, and that included soda. Now, you only got one small piece of meat for your dollar, but combined with the rice and beans it was pretty filling. We sat out on the sidewalk, and some children begging for money approached us. Instead of turning them away or simply handing over a dollar or two, we asked them if they were hungry. “Of course,” they responded, so we bought these children some dinner. It can be tough seeing kids so young begging on the streets. Obviously, you can't give to all of them, but when an opportunity like this comes up, you just have to help. We started by feeding two kids, but they went and grabbed their brothers and sisters. By the time we had finished our dinner we had fed 5 children. They were so excited and gracious that it was overwhelming. It's nice to be able to help like that. Random acts of kindness are definitely some of the unplanned benefits from the gift of travel.

Later I ventured down to the Teatro Aeropuerto to catch a traditional Ecuadorian ballet. Now, what I had envisioned in my western mind didn't compare to what I actually witnessed. I'm not going to say it was bad, but I'm not overly persuaded to call it good, either. Instead, I'll call it interesting. It was a collection of traditional Ecuadorian dances, some of which date back to the time when the Spaniards first came to Ecuador. The costumes were incredibly colorful, much like a Carnivale celebration. However, the choreography was pretty rough, and you could tell that many of the dancers would rather have been somewhere else. I'm not sure whether it was worth the fifteen-dollar admission, but it was an experience unlike any other.

Now, as I sit in the twilight of this holiday season, I reflect on this journey and the gift of travel that I have received. And I smile. This expedition has showered me with opportunities to experience some of the best things the world has to offer. More importantly though, it has helped me look beyond my perceptions of travel and of life to really soak in the reality of our world as it unfolds before me. Until next time, I wish you all well from the far side of the world.

Justin
Justin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 27th, Day 57
Start: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Finish: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Nine without our vehicles. Today the team rested, played, and tended to program matters. Nancy went on a mountain biking excursion to Mt. Cotopaxi, the world's highest active volcano. It was strange visiting a mountain that so many of my friends have climbed, only to drive up it and zip down on a mountain bike. Ah, but it was fun. Next time, I climb it. Tomorrow we leave for Guayaquil. (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.

[Above: A macro shot of the flowers outside our Quito hostel, where Corndog McAuliffe took the whole post-Christmas day off to rest and watch some movies.]

Journal by Colin McAuliffe

The pace of the road is tough. It’s hectic, nerve-wracking, and sometimes painful. Every once in a while I have to take what I call a “Colin-day”. Colin-days help me to recuperate and maintain my mental health. Colin-days are centered around me, Colin, doing whatever it is that makes me happy. On this day, the thing that makes me happy is to sit around and watch movies.

The streets of Ecuador are filled with bootleggers. These people take movies and burn them onto a CD and sell them on the street for the ridiculously low price of a dollar. These people have any movie you want, including those that are still in the theatre. Today, I watched six of these movies: The Last Samurai, Timecop, The Target, Matrix Revolutions, Scarface, and one that I can’t remember the name of that had James Spader in it. All day I sat around with my newly acquired English friend Jim and loafed. It was just what I needed to unwind, and also, for me at least, it’s kind of a post-Christmas tradition to do nothing for a few days.

Now the pace will pick up again. We head out to pick up our cars in a few days, and once we have them we will constantly be on the move again. I’m sure however that there will be a few more Colin-days to be had.

Colin
colin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 26th, Day 56
Start: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Finish: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Eight without our vehicles. Today was a day for sleeping in and doing whatever floats each individual's boat. Justin visited the old part of the city of Quito to explore the old cathedrals and museums. Nancy slept most of the day. (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.

[Above: Nancy Olson stuffs the Drive Around the World Christmas turkey in the kitchen of the Taxo Hostel in Quito, Ecuador.]

Journal By Nancy Olson

I went to sleep last night as visions of sugarplums danced in my head. When I awoke this morning to a “knock-knock-knock” at 9:30, it was to visions of television cameras and microphones wielded by Adam and Neil. Those meanies interrupted what I wanted most this Christmas morning -- good, solid, blissful sleep.

Whatever happened to the little girl who used to conspire with her older brother to sneak downstairs as early as possible -- sometimes even beating Santa himself to the punch -- to peek inside stockings and shake inconspicuous packages for a guess at their contents? Then we would plead with Mom until she gave us the go-ahead to get Christmas rolling with a traditional “hop on Pop.” We’d run in and jump up and down on Dad’s bed screaming “Hop on Pop! Hop on Pop!” until he agreed the hour was acceptably late enough to start opening presents. Man, those were the days.

Now, it seemed, I had turned into Pop, and Neil and Adam were a more civilized version of my brother and me. Huh. What a weird concept. Oh, but who am I fooling? I was almost giddy with excitement for this Christmas morning. I had a stocking full of gifts for each teammate, and one for my "Secret Santa" buddy. The main difference between Christmas as an adult and Christmas as a kid is that there is excitement in the receiving as the latter and immense pleasure in the giving as the former. Shucks, I hope that doesn’t mean I’m finally growing up!

My team and I were staying in Quito, Ecuador, in a hostel called “El Taxo,” and, as homesick as we all were for our families celebrating Christmas back home, we felt lucky to have each other, as well as some expatriates we had met in Quito.

I managed to get Neil and Adam to take there camera out of my tired and puffy morning face, and I lay in bed long enough to savor the last few minutes of sleepy comfort. The knowledge that we had a turkey to stuff, potatoes to mash, and stuffing to make is what actually got me out of my rack and into the shower. My replacement family and I would have a long day of Christmas cooking ahead of us.

Each of us had drawn a name out of a hat about a month ago, and we had a “Secret Santa” gift exchange planned. I had drawn Justin, and he had drawn Chanda. I bought him a linen shirt in Costa Rica that I was just dying to present to him, since he’d been looking for one every day for, like, well, since we left the U.S. I also got to help him pick out Chanda’s gift, and I was as excited as he was to see if she’d be pleased with her new shoes -- a sort of high-heeled, platform, blue, super-hot sandal. (Just last night, as we walked past yet another shoe store, she squealed, “I hope my Secret Santa brings SHOES!”)

Before the gift exchange could occur, we had to get the 28-pound turkey into the oven. Before the turkey could go into the oven, we had to stuff it. Before we could stuff it, we had to bake some breadcrumbs; cut the celery, onions, and garlic; and make the doggone stuffing. That was the job I opted for, because a turkey dinner just wasn’t a turkey dinner without my mom’s stuffing.

Todd expertly crumbed (my made-up word for “cut into small pieces”) and broiled a loaf of white bread, and I added what I could remember Mom adding, and we came up with something suitable. Basically, it was breadcrumbs, a ton of celery and onions, some crushed garlic, a couple of eggs, and some chicken broth. We stuffed the pasty substance into the neck and the butt, and Nick and I, like surgeons, sewed it all shut with a fishing hook and some dental floss. Mom, you should be proud. What a job we did!

With the turkey finally in the oven, we got down to the business of opening gifts. (Actually, this is slightly out of order, but who’s writing the journal here, anyway?) With Colin playing the role of “Head” Secret Santa, whose job it is to collect and hand out the gifts, we all took turns opening our present. Afterwards, we would all get to enter a secret guess as to who we thought our Santa was. We even had a little gift for one of our fellow hostel dwellers, Jim from the UK. We laughed and had a grand ole time until the last gift had been opened. It seems the best Christmases are the ones that involve simplicity, improvisation, loved ones, and laughter. So far, this was ranking right up there with some of the very best.

In the end, Chanda was in a new pair of H.A.B. (that acronym is for us to know and you to find out) shoes, two people were wearing new t-shirts, two were in fancy new Latin American dress shirts, three were in Panama hats, and Justin was in a new linen shirt which, as it turns out, was “big enough for a man, but made for a woman.” (It seems I made a mistake at the fancy Italian store in Costa Rica…yeah, the shirt’s trendy style didn’t just have to do with it being European…)

Everybody was ultra-pleased with their gifts, and guessing who gave what to whom proved to be quite fun and challenging. We worked out a little scoring system: For a correct guess, the giver had to buy the guesser a soda for failing to be deceptive enough. For an incorrect guess, the guesser had to buy the giver a soda for being a successfully secret Santa. In the end, Neil got a free cola from Todd and Chanda, Adam got two from Nick, Todd got one from me, Rolf got two from Colin, Justin got one from me, and Chanda got one from Justin. Confused? No worries. Just know that I guessed wrong (my gift was from Todd) AND failed to fool Justin.

While the turkey cooked, we were each on our own to watch bootleg DVDs a few of us had purchased from street vendors for a dollar, nap, read, or goof around. Adam and I found an open Internet café, and I finally got to send the Christmas e-mail I’d been trying to send for two days (my webmail was down). Finally, at 6:00 p.m. (turkeys take longer to cook when you’re at altitude, and Quito is at around 10,000 ft), we sat down to an absolutely amazing Christmas spread.

With the hostel owner (Peter) joining us, along with his employee (Jan), and with UK guest Jim, and two med students from the UK (Charlie and Jo, both gals) whom we had befriended our first night in town, and two of their fellow med students from the U.S., plus our team of nine, we had quite a large “family” with whom to enjoy the wonderful dinner we’d all helped to cook. We gorged ourselves silly on mashed potatoes, gravy, super-moist-and-delicious turkey, fruit salad, chutney (because we couldn’t find cranberry sauce), cake (because Mom wasn’t there to make her famous apple pie), rolls (because I didn’t have Mom’s monkey bread recipe), and, of course, my own rendition of Mom’s delicious stuffing. Each team member had contributed to the preparation of a portion of our dinner, and, it was absolutely amazing. We truly enjoyed the fruits of our toils. (And at the end of the night, we all hit the town and partied like the rock stars that we are.)

I have to confess, this year, with the camaraderie of my teammates and our new friends, I experienced one of the most delicious, most joyful, most fulfilling Christmases I have ever spent away from home. What a Christmas!

Happy New Year to you all. Be safe.

Nancy
nancy@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 25th, Day 55
Start: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Finish: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Seven without our vehicles. Merry Christmas! The team celebrated Christmas Day American style, with a Secret Santa gift exchange and a full Christmas dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and lots of friends. We were joined by our hostel owner from Switzerland, his assistants, and several British and American friends we met in the streets of Quito. This is an amazing Christmas away from home.(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.

[Above: A panoramic shot of the Drive Around the World team and their Christmas dinner guests in Quito, Ecuador.]

As Nancy's journal above attests, the Drive Around the World team managed to have a great Christmas, despite being so far from home. Below is a collection of images from the experience. Each link clicks to a "pop-up" image of the picture described.

1. Justin Mounts, Rolf Potts, Todd Borgie look on as Adam Burgess opens his Christmas gift in the living room of the El Taxo Hostel.

2. Chanda Baggarly digs into her Christmas stocking.

3. Colin McAuliffe (a.k.a. "Corndog", a.k.a. "Santa") distributes gifts during the "Secret Santa" gift exchange.

4. Justin Mounts tears into his Secret Santa gift in the El Taxo living room.

5. Nancy Olson enjoys her Christmas afternoon Ecuadorian style -- in a hammock!

6. Neil "Pancho Sanchez" Dana models the dapper linen shirt from his Secret Santa.

7. In the hostel kitchen, Rolf Potts helps whip up Christmas dinner.

8. Nick Baggarly and Todd Borgie hard at work on the Christmas gravy.

9. Rolf Potts looks on as Todd Borgie ponders his Secret Santa gift (an Isabelle Allende novel).

10. Christmas dinner is on the table!

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.

[Above: The goods at an Ecuadorian fruit market.]

Journal by Todd Borgie

It was quite a change going from Panama City to Quito, Ecuador. A change in weather accompanied the change in altitude. Instead of wearing shorts and short-sleeve shirts, I was donning jeans and long sleeves. Instead of being able to run quickly down the sidewalks I was breathing heavily just walking trying to accommodate to life at 9000 feet above sea level.

Christmas was in the air and members of the group were finishing their "Secret Santa" shopping as Chanda, Nick, and I were securing the fixings for a Christmas dinner. We secured permission to use the owner’s kitchen and dishes, and we were ready to go. Turkey was on everyone’s mind, but were turkeys available here? Yes, turkey is available, and we bought a whopping 25-pounder. The rest of the day consisted of gathering everything to go with the turkey. After establishing the menu -- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, bread and desert -- the rest was about figuring out what was available to make these dishes and creatively coming up with substitutions, as we needed them.

Our first stop was the fruit market. This was a tiny little store run by short native women. The store was one room that was about 12-feet by 12-feet. Within it were a variety of bins lying on shelves that had fruit and vegetables in them. We bought 6 kilos of potatoes, onions, celery, berries, oranges, mangos, apples, radishes, a zucchini and a pineapple. After taking them back to the hostel, we were off again.

Next stop the grocery store. The store was mobbed, just like you would imagine the day before Christmas. As we drove our carts through the isles we picked up bags of milk, a pound of butter, wine, eggs, and many other items that would help us prepare a Christmas feast. The store was just like one that you would see in the States, with the minor exception being that there was a vendor selling rum and giving out free samples.

The meat counter had a whole host of different meats, including the traditional ones. From our British friend Jim, we got the idea of placing bacon upon the top of the turkey while we were baking it. Bacon was just one of the meats they had. We saw cow hearts, kidneys, livers, and tongues, just to name a few of the exotic things.

After finishing our shopping we brought our goodies home, but had to return the markets to find one last thing: a pan large enough to bake our turkey. Most things were open at 7:00 p.m., and the sidewalks were decked out with people selling wrapping paper, Santa hats, Christmas trees, lights, and fancy bags for holiday goodies. "White Christmas" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" were heard everywhere. We managed to secure our final purchases, and I guess we will leave it up to fate as to if we have everything we need.

Hungry and tired, Nancy, Nick, Chanda and I sauntered into a Texas BBQ restaurant for a Christmas Eve dinner. Nancy, the native Texan, was psyched, but nobody does it like it is done in Texas. Anyway, our bellies were full, and we headed home to await Santa’s arrival and the fun of Christmas.

Todd
todd@drivearoundtheworld.com

Location: Quito Ecuador
Elevation: 2850 meters
Latitude: 12º 52.4' N
Longitude: 28º 45.0' E
Breakfast: Eggs, Coffee and cheese bread
Lunch: none
Dinner: Texas Chile

Logbook for December 24th, Day 54
Start: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Finish: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Six without our vehicles. Everybody's on his own program here in Quito. This is good, old-fashioned R&R. Several team members ventured by bus to the Equator at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). Others shopped for Christmas dinner fixin's. Happy Christmas Eve!(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.

[Above: An Indian woman and her child on the streets of Quito, Ecuador.]

Journal by Adam Burgess

I’m laying belly down on the top bunk of a hostel in Quito. The boards pierce me in different segments of my extended body through the terry cloth sheet that covers a soft piece of foam. The frame is a crude design banged together by someone who’s last name was not Carpenter, although I’d have to say I’ve seen very few college style bunks constructed with fine-cut, exotic mahogany. But then again this is Ecuador, so if it were Douglas fir or redwood then perhaps I could then label it “exotic”. I don’t even know anymore. The sun has just dropped. Justin says it falls faster at the equator than back in California because there are even hours of day to light. It didn’t make any sense to me but perhaps there’s some validity. It falls over the horizon in almost a perfect tangent, so maybe there’s less of an angle for it to dilly-dally as it goes. Its cool here and the air is dry. A refreshing change from Panama, it allows for clothes to last more than half a day before they are shot, but only makes adapting to the tropics harder once we return to lower elevations.

Fortunately, we had an evening flight to Ecuador. My last days in Panama were spent hanging out with Neil and a couple of local Panamanians, a COPA airline stewardess from Bolivia and an Indian. We had a surplus of bombas left over from Nicaragua, so we decided to send a few into the air around 3 a.m. in Panama City. We headed off to a little park in a nice quiet part of town and tromped up to the top of the hill where there was a nice clearing. Neil placed the mortar on the grass as we stood a few feet away. I handed him the racquetball-sized bombas with a 12-inch fuse and he plopped it into the long tube. The fuse went with an impressive sparkle and it was off. A deep “Boom!” sent it barreling into the night sky, it then exploded into thousands of red and white bomblets that screamed through the air. As the concussions came to an end, the blissful silence quickly transformed into hundreds of dogs barking. Like a finely tuned mortar team, we loaded up round two: another screaming boom and then to round three. We decided to save a few and casually headed out together containing a childish sense of accomplishment. It was just about that time that we noticed the Panamanian policia running over the top of the hill with his hand on his gun. We tried to ignore him, but it didn’t seem to work since in front of us pulled up three more in a squad car. They seemed pretty angry. Things eventually turned out OK, and later we found out that the Panama City mayor lives at the top of the hill. Perhaps that prompted the police reaction. Mental note: don’t light fireworks off near government gardens.

The next day we were scheduled to fly to Quito, Ecuador at 6 p.m., so Neil and I spent the whole day swimming at a 5 star hotel that overlooked a huge canopy of rainforest on all sides. Coincidentally we were flying COPA Airlines, so when we got to the airport we bumped into our stewardess friend, who was headed for Havana, Cuba. The flight to Quito was pretty smooth, although I hate flying. I constantly wonder when we’re going to plummet towards the Earth in an inverted dive; its one of my biggest fears. I’m not afraid of little planes, but the thought of roaring downwards for over a minute with screaming women and children freaks me out. The landing was considerably hard and bouncy but I soon forgot about it when the doors to the plane opened. We were welcomed by our first dose of pleasantly cool air from the high altitude of Quito. At something near 9,000 feet high, Quito offers a surprisingly fresh climate, despite being 22 kilometers from the equator. We’re staying in “Gringolandia” -- a name given by the locals for a section of the city overrun by travelers from the US and Europe. We’ll have to see what it offers tomorrow.

Adam
adam@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 23rd, Day 53
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Mileage: Lots of flying...
Notes: Day Five without our vehicles. At 4 p.m., the team hopped a flight from Panama City to Quito. It was amazing to step outside of the terminal after our arrival and into the cool, refreshing night air of South America. Quito is at about 3000 meters, or 9500 feet above sea level. We were shocked to feel the brisk air after being subjected to the heat and humidity of Panama. This marks the teams entry into the continent of South America and our first crossing of the Ecuator. So far, we´re digging the S.A. (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.

[Above: A dramatic crucifix in the surf off of Isla Grande.]

Journal by Pancho Sanchez (a.k.a. Neil Dana)

As the morning sunrise started to fill our room, I awoke, put on my reef booties, grabbed my surfboard and started to walk along the edge of the island towards a beautiful surf spot. It was very quiet out, with a light breeze and overcast gray clouds filling the sky. Jesus Christ was chilling out in front of the island as well. He was standing about 12 feet tall, in a solid statuesque state and holding his hands out in his classic pose, letting the Caribbean Sea tickle his toes. As I walked on, I also saw some huge crabs running across the pathway to the sea. These were the lucky ones, the fortunate little crabs who decided to cross the road early in the morning. I am sure they had no idea of the horrific slaughter their comrades were a part of the previous night!

Their poor buddies the night before were dumb enough to try and hang out in the middle of the road by the park where all the local island boys were playing. And what did the little boys do when they saw senor crab trying to cross the road? Well, what any island boy does, they all chased crabbie and kicked him a few times, then picked him up and chased the local girls with him. Now at least Crabbie had some fun chasing girls in his last moments. For what happened next, he even probably enjoyed as well. The sensation of flying is usually only know by birds and some crazy humans, but in this case Crabbie was flying too! He flew straight up into the air and was loving it, ascending at a rapid pace, like a rocket ship -- sshhhewwwwwwwwww!! Then he must have gotten the weightless butterfly stomach feeling near the top, and then enjoyed the breeze through his claws on the way down. What a ride! He really must have enjoyed it all the way until the bitter CRACK, when he reached terminal velocity and smashed the road. Oh well, fate has it out for some of those crabs.

So it was really pleasing to see these crabs in the morning cruising across the road and knowing that they were going to survive, at least for a little while longer. As I continued on my walk, I passed a few cabinas and restaurants, all very colorful, and very empty. It was just before Christmas and not many people were traveling to the island yet, which was a blessing for us. There were also many boats along the shore, some for fishing, and some for taking people to and from Isla Grande and the mainland. The shore was lined with palm trees and many other tropical flora and fauna. The birds were singing and it was extremely serene and peaceful.

After walking about 200 meters, the small town ended and a path along the rocks and shore began, which wrapped around a corner and into a small cove, which is where the waves were breaking. It was beautiful, and just as I rounded the corner, the wind picked up and it started pouring rain. And this was no ordinary rain, this was a slamming downpour! I went and tucked myself under a nearby roof on an uninhabited porch and sat there, stretching and watching the surf for a while. I waited for about ten minutes, and then I went and walked down to the shore. There wasn't a soul in the water and I hadn't surfed this spot before, so I was trying to figure out the best way to paddle out, since it was a reef break and you could see the waves pounding onto reef, and just inside of the impact zone, was the entire part of the reef that was only six inches to a foot deep. So I had to walk on the reef, as lightly as I could and try to avoid puncturing my feet with sea urchins. So the reef dance began. I danced my way out to a deep enough part of the reef where I could jump on my board and paddle quickly before a wave came and pushed me into the shallows.

As I paddled out into the waves, I was overcome with the joy of the scent of the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Sea has a very unique smell, and I adore it. I have surfed many places all over the world, and whenever I come to the Central American Caribbean Coast, the unique smell is a wonderful dose of nostalgia for me. Man, life is good when you are paddling out into the beautiful ocean, smelling the sea, and all around you are tropical hills and breaking waves. There is nothing like it in the world. And then to actually catch a wave and perform with it is truly heaven on earth. It is really hard to describe, since no matter how I describe it, it will really give no justice to what it is like. You really have to know how to surf to understand. But I guess I could say it is like dancing with Mother Nature. You are moving your entire body in motion with the ocean, exerting all your physical energy, while being completely mentally focused on every detail of your movement and the wave's. You are expressing yourself with unbridled joy and ecstasy. It is so amazing! You are in tune with natural energy. People harness the energy of moving water to create electricity, and we all use energy in different forms. But imagine being able to actually ride natural energy that has not been tampered with by man. And not only just ride it, but be able to move along with it gracefully and dance. It is ridiculous. And the coolest thing is that the better you get at surfing, the better surfing gets. I have been surfing for over 15 years, and to this day it is still getting better and I am more stoked that I have ever been. I have tried many other sports, but there is something extremely unique and special about the ocean's energy and being able to share intense pleasure with it. It isn't even a sport to me -- it is a way of life and meditation. It is healthy and exquisite to be able to step off of land and enter a completely natural surrounding. I mean, how often do you get to go and surround yourself with nature, filled with wildlife? And being surrounded by wildlife is amazing alone; however, when you are surrounded by it, submersed in it, AND, you can actually ride it and flow with it, that is truly the most real, intense, and beautiful experience I know.

So I paddled out and ended up catching tons of waves and had the time of my life. It was awesome! The surf itself wasn't the best I have seen, but it was overhead and super fun. And to be surfing on this tranquil island was just a very relaxing experience.

I ended up surfing for two days, all day both days. Adam came and joined me for much of the surfing as well. We had a great time. The tropics are really fun to surf in as well because the weather is so erratic. It would storm and throw down heavy rains, then the sun would pop out and brighten up the hills into a bright lime green color. The water changes color dramatically when the sun comes out as well. It becomes a lighter blue and you can see down to the reef. It is wonderful. Rainbows always find themselves amongst the surroundings as well. Truly paradise.

Now as a group, we are traveling, on the road and working most of the time, yet every once in a while, we have time to split up and just do our own thing for a day or two, and that is when I try to head to a surf spot. So this trip to Isla Grande was just that, a nice little relaxing getaway. Nancy, Colin, Adam and I went to the island together. We ate fresh octopus and drank tasty pineapple juice. The people on the island were very friendly as well. We ate at a Carlos' restaurant the first night and went back for each meal. He was an African Caribbean Islander and a wonderful person, we were lucky to find him. Thank you Carlos.

Well, back to Panama City and then onward to Quito, Ecuador for Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone, I send a huge hug to you all.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is Pancho Sanchez (see below) writing to you all. I took Neil's spot a few days ago.

Ciao,

Sanchez

[Above: The suave Pancho Sanchez, formerly known as Neil Dana.]

Logbook for December 22nd, Day 52
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Four without our vehicles. The team has been reunited in Panama City. Tomorrow, we fly to Quito! South America, here we come! (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.

[Above: Enjoying the tropical Christmas season, a Panamanian prepares to take an American-style Christmas tree home from the market.]

Journal by Chanda Baggarly

Slow day. Humidity slows you down when you're not used to it. We've been here a week but still, I wonder how many days we'd need before getting used to it. The energy level within the team seems a bit lower than normal. Maybe the climate is making everyone tired or maybe we're all homesick -- it is Christmas time after all.

I worked on a new web page for our sponsors. It's interesting comparing this
expedition to our previous one. Last time we took older land Rovers. They were 40 years old, and we had only a few sponsors who supplied products like Michelin and Lonely Planet. This time we have over 30 sponsors -- each one of them we are very grateful for -- we wouldn't want to do it with out them. If all goes well and we have a decent internet connection this week in Ecuador, we should have the new web page posted soon.

Took a walk and used "the force" to decide where we'd go. Nick and I headed west and stumbled upon a large cathedral service. Inside there were statues of Mary and Jesus and the saints. Huge pillars, rows of pews, chandeliers, and decorative tile and mosaics everywhere. A nativity scene of Christ's birth was set up in a corner -- somebody put their heart and soul into building small village scenes complete with animals, wise men, and of course, Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. The models reminded Nick of scale villages through which a model train would run so I pictured the scene with conductors and track all around but it didn't seem like this would fit.

Went to McDonalds. It's always fun to checkout a familiar chain's Latin counterpart. Burgers (hamburguesas) are 39 cents -- they sell cheese-sticks and empanadas too. In Guatemala, one McDonalds was still serving the McRib -- I wonder if they missed the memo...

Chanda
chanda@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 21st, Day 51
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Day Three without our vehicles. Still feeling strange. We miss them! The team is still split between Isla Grande and Panama City. We'll fly to Quito in a few 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.

[Above: The skyline of modern Panama City as seen from the Old City; a door in the Old City.]

Journal by Justin Mounts

They say "the waiting is the hardest part". I think these words were originally spoken in reference to love and a long-distance relationship. Which I have always found to be true in life, but I suppose your experience may be different, depending on your unique set of circumstances. However, I'm not here to do a deep, philosophical analysis of Tom Petty lyrics; instead I'm here to challenge this statement. In fact, I believe that this phrase takes on an entirely new personality and meaning when used as a descriptor for an expedition. I'll tell you why in a minute.

As we prepare to conclude our second month of travel, I took a minute to reflect on our journey so far. Here's what I came up with:

• We have been gone for 50 days.
• We have traveled through 8 countries.
• Right now, we are almost 25% done with our circumnavigation of the world.
• There are approximately 31 weeks of travel remaining.
• We still have 9 people traveling with us (which means no one has killed anyone else yet).
• We are about cross the equator for the first time.
• We spend a lot of time waiting.

Let's think about that last one for a second. We spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting at borders. Waiting for boats. Waiting for traffic to clear up.

Waiting...

Waiting...

Waiting...

Take now, for instance. We are in Panama City, Panama waiting for a ship to take our 4 Land Rover Discoverys to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Now the ship has already sailed -- literally -- but that leaves us with time on our hands. But time on an expedition has a rubber band effect. It seems to expand and contract at will. It moves too slow when you can't be doing whatever it is that you want to do. Yet, when the time comes to do whatever you do want to do, it goes by very quickly. Much like childhood.

We are often placed in situations where we are at the mercy of other people's schedules. Normally, this occurs at border crossings. However, it also happens when changing continents. The vessel that is transporting our cars was supposed to leave on the 18th. It left on the 19th. It was supposed to take 6 days for the ship to reach Ecuador. If you do the math, that's Christmas day. Now between you and me, what do you think the odds are that the dockworkers will be there Christmas morning to unpack our cars like Santa unloading his sleigh? Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Not a chance. So, if we can't get the cars on the 25th (not that we want to -- hey, we have to have Christmas too, you know?) we probably can't get them on the 26th either. A lot of people will be taking 4 days off. I can't blame them -- they all deserve a break. So now, we will be picking up our vehicles on the 29th. And at that point, time will snap back in the other direction putting us behind schedule and running at full speed.

But that's okay. Really, it's okay. And let me tell you why.

Waiting is sometimes it's the only time you get to yourself. It's your time to catch up. It's your time to slow down and relax. Or it's your time to do whatever we need to do. So, I decided that today was my day. I started my day by meeting Edwin Chan, our shipping coordinator, at 6:30 am to go golfing at Horoko Resort. It was an early wake up call since I didn't go to bed until 4:30 am, but how often do I have the chance to go out in Panama and shoot 18 holes the next morning? We hit the course at 7:00 am sharp. The course was beautiful, although it did have a haunting feeling to it. This course was built for U.S. soldiers who used to watch over the canal. Now many army-style buildings line the course with no occupants. Panamanians seem to be split 50/50 on whether the U.S. turning over control of the canal has turned out to be a good thing or a bad thing. Since the U.S.'s departure and the military evacuation, Panama's middle class has virtually been wiped out. There are now only two classes--the "Ye-ye's" or rich people and the "Raca-taca's" or the poor of the city. It is an interesting dichotomy and to hear the varied opinions always sparks a lively conversation. I wish I could share a photo of the view with you, but in my haste out the door, I forgot my camera. And if you're wondering, my game was terrible, just like it always is. I shot in the 100s.

But what does all of this have to do with waiting? Well, I was on the golf course waiting to play through the 13th hole. And to my left, there was a view that will stay in my memory forever. From the tee box, there is an incredible view over the bay toward the financial district. I literally stopped in my tracks to soak in the view and fully experience that moment. I also considered how lucky I am to be here. And that is where the waiting is the best part. If it weren’t for waiting on a ship going to Ecuador, I wouldn’t have had the chance to go golfing. And if I weren’t for waiting at borders, I wouldn’t have the chance to interact with all the wonderfully unique people in our world. And if it wasn’t for waiting, I might just miss something special.

So, while I’m still not qualified to make a definitive statement with regard to love, I can categorically tell you that waiting on an expedition is really where the magic happens. So, the next time you are waiting, take a look around to see what magic is going on in your corner of the world.

Until next time, Feliz Navidad from Panama, ya’ll.

Justin
Justin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 20th, Day 50
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Another day without our vehicles. It feels...weird...empty. The team is still split between Isla Grande and Panama City. One group is on Gilligan´s Island, the other is in Hell´s Kitchen. (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.

[Above: Nancy Olson, Adam Burgess, and Colin McAuliffe onboard the boat that took them to Isla Grande, Panama.]

Journal by Colin McAuliffe

Hey all,

I just got back from spending an extremely leisurely 4 days and 3 nights on
beautiful Isla Grande, off the Caribbean coast of ¨Panama. Contrary to its name, Isla Grande is TINY and consists of not much more than a few hotels, some private homes, a couple of stores and a few restaurants.

You may be wondering,"Colin, now what did you do on Isla Grande?" and my only answer is nothing. And I loved it. I just sat there and relaxed in a hammock and read. I read two books: The Razor's Edge and Tuesdays with Morrie, and I feel like I learned a little from each
of them. I also struck up a friendship with the owner of one of the local
resaurants, Carlos, and had some good conversations with him. I ate fish, I ate octopus, I ate seafood soup, I tried some handline fishsing, and I slept a lot. It was just what I needed before my return to the Drive Around the World fray.

And now on tuesday the team flies down to Ecuador to spend our holidays.

Colin
colin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 19th, Day 49
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 000
Notes: With the the Certified, Pre-owned Discovery Series II expedition vehicles successfully loaded into two high containers at the port of Colon, the team geared up for some R&R. The team split into two groups, with Nancy, Adam, Neil, and Colin going to Isla Grande to enjoy the sun and surf, and Nick, Chanda, Todd, and Justin exploring the sights in Panama City. Everybody is happy. (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.

[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.

[Above: A howler monkey at play on Isla Barro Colorado.]

Journal by Todd Borgie

While everyone else had to drive the Land Rovers to Colon, Chanda and I threw on our educator hats and headed out to Isla Barro Colorado, a Smithsonian research site located in the middle of the Panama Canal.

Although we had to get up at 5:30am we both figured it was a better draw than having to deal with the vehicle bureaucracy. We stumbled out of the hotel just after 6:00am with our packs in tow. We were wearing long pants and boots and we were equipped with bug spray, water, cameras and a map. The arrangements were made hastily the day before, so we were at the cab drivers mercy and hoped he knew were he was going. Unfortunately I only had a rudimentary map that I could follow to navigate from the back seat.

He got us to where we were going and asked us if we needed a ride back. I hadn’t thought this far ahead, so he had the drop on me. I told him I hadn’t quite figured out what we were going to do, so he suggested he pick us up. He also warned me that if he comes all the way out here that we had better be here. I understood his concern, but said we would only wait for a half an hour beyond our meeting time, at that time we could do whatever we wanted. He understood that and we had a deal.

We arrived in Gamboa, where we would depart for the island, and grabbed some breakfast at a roadside stand. Meat and veggie empanadas were served with small cups of coffee. We all so had corn tortillas that seemed like corncakes, rather than the corn tortillas that we had been used to earlier.

Soon we were at the dock where we met the boat to take us to the island. Apparently the boat comes and goes only twice a day to take researchers and workers to and from the workplace. The boat ride took about 40 minutes, pressing north further into the canal, and finally ending up at Barro Colorado, an island that had been formed by the building of the Panama Canal.

After the flooding of the lake (which was the largest man made lake at the time), Barro Colorado remained higher than the waterline, thus it became an island.

Our tour group consisted of only six people, including Jim Malcolm (the English Ambassador to Panama). It was a great size as we could hike and see animals and not scare them away -- a liability of larger groups.

Anna, our guide, was great; she was informative and friendly. We hiked throughout the day and saw a lot of wildlife. We saw howler monkeys, toucans, agoutis, white-faced monkeys and many different types of plants and insects.

Altitude: Sea level
Breakfast: Empanadas and coffee
Lunch: Chicken and eggplant
Dinner: Lasagna

Logbook for December 17th, Day 47
Start: Panama City, Panama
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 079
Notes: Today we were up and ready in anticipation of loading our vehicles into containers for shipping around Panama. Unfortunately, we arrived at the port after quitting time for the paper shufflers, and we will have to try again tomorrow. (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.

[Above: Drive Around the World vehicles overlook the Panama Canal near Colon.]

Logbook for December 16th, Day 46
Start: Panama City, Panama
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 000
Notes: Today we were up fairly early to meet the Panama freight forwarder who has been helping us with our vehicle shipping paperwork. Two vehicles went with him to be inspected at the police station, and two vehicles went to the Panama Land Rover dealership to have D2's wheels and alignment inspected after the damage it suffered on the drive toward Panama City. Everything went well at both locations. Later, at the hotel, Nick, Nancy, and Justin had a conference call with Land Rover, members of the media, and friends of the expedition. All is going well, and vehicles are ready for shipping tomorrow. (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.

[Above: A colorful Panamanian commuter bus in Panama City.]

Journal by Neil Dana

Today was a driving day again. We woke up around 7AM and were on the road by 7:30AM. We stayed the night in a very small town on the way towards Panama City. We arrived late and I was sleeping in the car at the time, and when we left, we were gone so quickly that I don't even know the name of the town we slept in. It was just a stop on the highway to avoid us being too tired at night and also to avoid having to arrive in Panama City late at night. We were also a bit behind schedule, since we had our small accident earlier in the evening and had to change two tires on our vehicle. It was a bit scary -- BOOM, BOOM -- and just like that we were staring at each other in disbelief at our bent rims and blown out tires. It was loud! But anyway, that was yesterday.

So today we pushed into Panama City. It was a beautiful drive, passing through farmlands and at times, jungle and banana plantations. The landscape is similar to Costa Rica, but what really changed dramatically were the people. The people here in Panama have a very distinct Indian heritage, and you can see it in a large majority of the people. There are also a lot of African descendents as well. It is a much different ethnic makeup than in Costa Rica. And on top of the people looking very different, the humidity here is much more intense. It has been raining tons and it is like stepping out of your car into a steam-room.

Along the way, we saw a bus that had been in a crazy accident. The back of the bus and sides were completely smashed, and in the front, the entire hood was ripped off and smashed in. You could see the belts moving! The bus was also not lined up on it's chassis -- it was a bus driving down the road in a diagonal. AND, the roof of the bus in front was ripped off, so the driver had on goggles and was driving a beat up convertible bus! He waved as we passed by.

So we eventually made it to Panama City!!! Paaaaaaanama, Paaaaaaaanamahaaaaahooooooohaaaahaaaahoooooooo Paaaaaaaaaaaaaanama!!!!!!! (Thank you Van Halen!!)

As we arrived, we drove over the Panama Canal, which was an amazing canal to cross. It is enormous, we just passed it and haven't really stopped or been back to check it out yet, but we will. As we arrived into the city, I was blown away at the horrible conditions. Panama is much poorer than I had previously thought. There were buildings lined up with clothes strewn everywhere, and dirt and garbage and just really bad conditions. These are actually the worst conditions I have seen in a city so far this trip.

We found a hotel, called Marparaiso, and as we were checking in, a bus rolled up with 13 guys from Maryland who were on a surf trip over to one of the northern Caribbean islands. Unfortunately, they got skunked and had really small surf, oh well, it could be a lot worse.

After we got to our hotels, the customs official from our shipping company showed up and took our passports and car info to the local customs. Tomorrow, we finish the process with the police, then we go to put our vehicles on the ship to Ecuador!!!

We got our rooms, emptied our vehicles, and ate some food at a restaurant down the road a few blocks. The food was more typical American cafe style food, nothing special, but good enough to eat. Where's my gallo pinto though? This morning, there was no gallo pinto in our hotel restaurant. Bummer.

After dinner, we went into our room and watched the news to find out news about Saddam. You all know more about that than I do I am sure.

Then we just crashed out while doing some photo editing and writing, etc. So until the next Monday, ciao!

Neil Dana
neil@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 15th, Day 45
Start: Agua Dulce, Panama
Finish: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Mileage: 111
Notes: We started at 0745 this morning. As we were leaving the hotel in Agua Dulce, we met another American couple. Nick, of course, suspected them of being CIA. He suspects everybody of being CIA. There's no way they were CIA. They never are. We had an easy drive to Panama City, stopping just outside to visit an internet cafe. We had journals and photos to send to Rolf for the webpage. After a few hours and some lunch there, we continued on, the driving becoming a little tougher inside the city. Panama City is huge, and the drivers drive like they mean it. We fought traffic to keep the convoy together and arrived at our hotel at 1600 (4:00 p.m.) after only two or three loops around a few city blocks. Easier than it sounds. We had an initial meeting with our freight forwarder, so he now has the paperwork he needs to get our vehicles cleared for shipping. (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.

[Above: Nancy Olson works at changing one of the two damaged wheels sustained by vehicle D2 in Panama.]

Journal by Adam Burgess

Panama is an interesting place to see from the side of the highway at night. I was driving the tail of the convoy with foggy contact lenses, fatigue, and some distracting photos on Neil's laptop. These roads in between the border and Panama City are under constant repair. They have an interesting process of road construction here, where someone leaves an empty and severely dented oil drum at the head of the lane in repair with no other forewarnings. Beyond that is no road and to the left, or right depending on what lane is removed, the two way traffic is forced into the same lane. Before I knew it the right wheels both veered off and dropped off the side of the road where it didn't exist.

We dropped a good 12-18 inches and a "boom" so big you'd think we ripped the axle off. "Flump, flump, flop, flump," we bounced out with dual flats on the left and rolled to a shoulder as the rest of the convoy barreled on ahead. Neil and I immediately started laughing in disbelief at what had just happened. We couldn't find the walkie-talkie, since much of what we had arranged in the Land Rover had flown all over the place. I grabbed the camera and we circled the car assessing the damage. Tacos for rims front and back. The rear tire lay floppy and flat in the dirt shoulder, the front hissing like an angry snake. Soon we hear the crew call over the CB to see if we could hear them, then they arrived over the horizon of the nighttime two-lane highway. Hella bumper lights of three rigs in search of the "Minnow".

They got out in disbelief of the situation and couldn't believe what had happened to the wheels. They tried to ask what happened but I ignored them and hid behind the camera shooting their reactions. They all kept asking Neil if he did it, Colin came out of Justin’s car and whispered to Neil, "You fell asleep at the wheel again didn't you?" He kept denying it all but was afraid to say I did it on camera because I have them all trained to pretend I don't exist when I'm shooting. So poor Neil didn't know how to react. Nancy went to work immediately jacking the car up. Nick and Justin argued about whether they should move the car off of the soft soil before trying to lift it. Justin was right, but Nick first tried to lift the low side that was leaning even more on the shoulder with a high lift jack. Later they moved the car to where Justin had recommended and they finished the job. It was ironic that the film crew blew the tires, created the drama and sat back to film them repair it, but it made for some good dramatic footage.

Logbook for December 14th
Start: Sombra de la Lapa, Costa Rica
Finish: Agua Dulce, Panama
N: 8* 14.819'
W: 80* 32.202
Mileage: 247
Notes: LONGITUDE departed the home of artist Michael Cranford on the Osa Peninsula at 8:00 a.m. to drive around to the Costa Rica/Panama border. Team entered Panama via Paso Canoas. Border crossing took 4 hours. Neil had to play dumb to avoid having to give away coffee and money as bribes. "This is my country. I control who can come in. You need my signature..." Convoy continued East/Southeast away from the border, bee-lining it to get as close to Panama City and Colon as possible before stopping for the night. An unidentified hazard about an hour west of Agua Dulce caused Vehicle D2 to be sidelined with serious rim damage. Team replaced right-side front and rear wheels with spares from D4 and D2. Pit stop crew of Nick, Nancy, and Todd changed both in about 20 minutes. The roads in central america are ridden with pot holes so, when our director of photography went off the road into a deep gorge, the impact blew the bead on the right rear and severely dented both rims. Our BFGoodrich TA Mud Terrain tires, however did not sustain any damage. The documentary vehicle is now running on spares, but, once the rims are repaired, we´ll be back in business with the original BFGoodrich tires that began this journey. During Drive Around the World´s previous