Well boys and girls, after more than 50 000 kilometers travelled, after crossing 14 countries, dodging bribes, getting robbed, driving the craziest roads, avoiding the craziest drivers, and living some of the most experiences of my life, I've finally, on August 5th, reached the end of the road in Parque National Tierra del Fuego. But I almost didn't make it...

It all started with a steak, a juicy piece of meat, toppes with 3 peppers, and a creamy sauce, accompinied bu creamy potatoes and a lovely bottle of wine. Cause that's what Argentina s'been all about. amazing food and amazing wine. We've been splurging over the last month, living above our means, but enjoying every sip and mouthfull of it!!! Steak, seafood, salmon, chocolate, amazing chocolate, amazing icecrean, amazing food Nowhere in Canada coudl we afford the quality meals and beverage we indulge in here. The most I've paid, in the fanciest of restaurant was 50 dollars for the both of us... and wa it ever worth it!!

But that night, oh that night, I ate, I drank a few glasses and felt as happy as happy can be... till I woke up in the morning, getting ready for a 700km ride to Comodoro Rivadavia, and something didn't feel right, but as always I decided to igmore it and hit the road... and then did I hit the road,, well leftovers of me hit the road really. Every 100km I had to spot and either puke next to the truck... or dump next to the truck, leaving a trail that I'm not too proud of... and that was just the beginning.

Next morning I woke up, still convinced that I would be fine... till the fever hit me so hard that I couldn't stop from shaking, my entire body was in a fit and finally Nicky convinced me to at least stop at a pharmacy... where the pharmacit took a look at my trembling body, and in turn, convinced me to go to the hospital, cause definately it wasn't normal.

So I went, experienced the bureaucracy of Argentinien hospital, which I must say is by far better then the 3rd world treatment we get in Quebec, payed the 5 dollar fee for a consult (made by a very cute doctor), and got the pills. All was fine and dandy that night, managed a good 700km the next day, got to the hotel, got in the room... and then my friends, I started experiencing the worst stomach pain of my life, croucehd in the bathroom, yelling with pain, agonizing, and just about ready to give up. I just wanted to be home, for all of it to be over, I cursed, prayed 10 gods, screamed, yelled... and one of the gods answered and put an end to my misery... by making me fart for Canada!!!!! A symphony, the masterpiece of a lifetime. Lasted hours, loads of encores. The pain went away, slowly, but I survived!! And this is also when I realised that my girlfriend would stick with me nomather what!!!

But I made it, I reached the end of the road, after that no more road, nothing but turning back and head home... We brought wine to celebrate, a small sip for me next to the sign. We took pictures, I was happy I MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nicky went back to the truck, her smile vanished, and then, (she doesn't want me to write what came out of her mouth), she explained in very suggestive words her un'happyness, when she realised, that I left the keys on the driver's seat,a nd locked the doors... at the end of the world!!!!!

But I had an extra key lodged under the Jeep, she didn't know that, I tried not to tell her for a while... but I couldn't stop laughing!!

So we left... and after 11km, realised that I had left my gloves (yes the ones I bought back from the thieves in Trujillo) and my hat on top of the truck and drove off... so we had to go back to the end of the workld and fetch them... she was really happy!!!!

Now a few recap of the last week

1. Perito Moreno glacier... I will post the pics in a few days, I can't do it justive myself, go seefor yourselves, pure magic!! Even had a walk on it
2 Puerto Madryn, swimming with sea lions, and on our way back went upclose to whales and olphins... more magic.
3. My theory of the more South you go the shittier the drivers get is true. Argentinians are the worse... they have more money, better cars, and they drive like mad, never seen anything like this in my life. At 110 I'm the slowest... on any roads!!
4. Roads are amazing... pure delight after Bolivia, and my truck is thankfull for it!
5. Argentina is just amazing for nature lovers, mountains, lakes, rivers, amazing sunrises, sunsets, wildlife... name it they have it!!

Hope all is good with all of yous, and please send some news, always appreciated!!!

And as always, pics available at www.transamericatrek.org
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It all started with a tour... and ended with a great story. 3 days after everything began, one of the girls from the group said: "What do you get when you put 3 Deutsh, 2 Canadians, a French girl, and an Israeli guy together? Bad Luck!!!" Go have a look at the pics at www.transamericatrek.org to have a full idea of what hapenned

THE SALAR DE UYUNI

One of the places I was most looking forward to see was the Salar of Uyuni, a vast desert salt located in Bolivia where the traditional crazy pics, marvelous lakes, volcanoes, flamingos and various islands fill a typical 3-4 day tour. Opted for a tour for this one, reason being that I've been drving almsot nonstop for the last 2 weeks, and that being in a desert, with no GPS waypoints to guide me... well... I opted for the easy life for once and let someone else do the hardwork!!

And that's when the fun began!!!!!

Maybe it was the fact that the agency guy told me the morning that we were suppose to leave that he didn't have gas for the Landcruiser to start the tour. Or maybe it was when they decided to change Landcruisers because there was a problem with the original one, and that when they brought the second one it made not too healthy noises, and was rattling from everywhere. Definetily I should've lighten up when the night before leaving the wind outside was deafening, and electricity in town vanished. But by then, something should have made my spidey sense tingle, and make me realize that I should've shopped a bit more for the tour.

But at that time, when I met the people that soon became the Best Tour Group Ever, I didn't have a care in the world, I was going to spend 3 days and 2 nights in a desert, seeing amazing scenery, and sleep in hotels made of salt!!

So we set off, me, Nicky, Celine, Maida, Hans, Eran, Lucie, and the now legendery tour guide HECTOR to meet the PERFECT STORM!!! To say it was windy when we started would be an understatement. To give you an idea, when we stopped for pictures of small mounts if salt, the wind was so fierce, that, since I was wearing shorts, the salt that was blown ravaged the back of my legs and left me with a multitude of cuts that I am still tending to almost a week after. When we stopped at the cactus island, the wind was so strong that we had to fight it hard to get up the small mountain. Well you get it, IT WAS WINDY!!!!

But still good, a chemistry installed itself in the group, starting to know eachother, and having a blast. Later that night, the group tightened up, playing shithead around a bottle of rhum, enjoying the food and our night in a hotel made entirely out of salt. By then we even started making fun of the fact that the Landcruiser was stalling a lot, and had trouble to start everytime, obliging HECTOR to step outside, open the hood, and suck fuel out of the engine fuel line to somehow jumpstart it.

Then came the days of days... It all started round noon, by then we had left the saltr desert and were advancing in the sand desert, and somehow the wind hadn't stopped. And the sand went up, and the wind built up, and the sand became denser and denser, until we couldn't see 3 feet in front of the truck and that we lost sight of the path... and them we stopped. I've never been in a sandstorm, and all I can compare this too is a massive snowstorm. So imagine this, drving in an open field without any real tracks, and suddenly it starts blowing wind and snowing so you can't see anything but snow and hear nothing but wind, with no visable landmarks or way to oriente yourself. Now change that snow for sand, tiny grains of them, that do not melt but accumulate... and on top of that a shitty Landcruiserr full of holes, that would let sand in, not a little bit, but a shitload of it!!!!

So we are there, no visibility, nowhere to go, sand coming in from the cracks in the doors... and we are still laughing and making jokes. One after the other it's non stop, we are enjoying ourselves, probably not appreciating the full gravity of the situation. But at some point, a decision needed to be made, and actions taken fast. So HECTOR give us 2 options: keep on going, which would be tremendously foolis or dangerous, or try to backtrack, which involves missing out on lakes, volcanoes and all the 3rd day as well.

So we chose the first option... but had no way of finding the way back. So HECTOR asked me if I could drive the truck, while he walked outside in the storm, so he could find a path, and me follow him. So we did... it all went good for 5 minutes, until I faile t give enough gas and the engine stalled. Now, remeber that process of sucking gas t start the engine, well HECTOR had to do it in the full storm, while me and Hans were holding the hood so it wouldn't blow away with the wind. By then another decision was made, me and Hans would walk outside trying to find a path, while HECTOR drove. The sand cut through my face, I could't breathe}, the sound was deafening, and I had no way of finding any path, but we somehow managed, after 4 hours stuck in the middle of nowhere, how, I don't know, but we did. Bac at the hotle, one of the guides said he never seen anything like that in 17 years in the business. Later in town, someone said that it was the worse storm in history... and we survived it!!

I must say that at one point, after 3 hours in the storm, me, or someone else said (but I was definetely thinking it) "ok, the fun is over, I'n starting to be a bit concerned". But what made the entire situation bareble, was the people I was with, no one panicked (and it would have been easy to), no one cmplained, and everyone pinched in with help, ideas, but most of all good jokes and a good laugh... but what made it even more bareble was Hector, the tour guide for the folowing reasons:

1. Hector driving in the open flats and opening his door (while driving) to see if the wheels were still holding... and then asking Hans to do the same on his side.

2. While driving, turning back and having full on, long conversations with the people in the back, without even glancing at the road.... for a very long time.

3. While getting out of the storm, I heard one of the girls let out a mini scream, when I looked up front I couldn't see a thing, thinking it was the storm, until I realised that the hood pooped open, and Hector didn't have a worry in the world, continuing driving WITH THE HOOD FULL UP!!!!

4. Hector, when realising we were deffo stuck, just holding the driuing wheel, and laughing, laughing, laughing!!!!

5. Hector telling us to meet him in 45 minutes after we are done taking pictures and realise we can't find him. We finally found him in one of the huts at the island, after screeming is name... he was having a bit of a drink with a friend!!!

6. Hector having to step out of the car and suck gas from the engine.... many times!!!

7. Hector realising that his drivers mirror fell of frantically stopped and searched for it... but when our drinking water fell off of the roof... he didn't flinch and kept on going...

OK that's long enough for now... hope all is good... am back home on the 23rd of August!

cheers

JF
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I've been lucky, amazingly lucky on this trip. 8 months of driving and travelling and not one bad experience, nothing, nada, sweet f&%$ all. Before leaving I knew that I would get robbed. The kids at school would ask me if I was scared and my answer would always be the same. I will get robbed, it's just a question of where and when. I mean driving the truck, in all the not so safe zones I will pass, it is bound to happen... And it did, my second day in Trujillo, ironically in the city where I brought funds to built a school for street kids... Someone up there as a great sense of humor!!!

They took my tent, my sleeping bag, a bag with paperwork, and a bag with my Spanish books... Spanish robbers robbing Spanish lessons... funny!! I was pissed, my own fault really, left the trruck in center town for 2 hours in daytime, came back and they screwed open thye door...

And then the fun began...

So I went to the police, made a report, more to witness the amazing turtle pace of South American bureaucracy. Conclusion: IT IS SLOW!!!!! and they told me to come back 3 days later.

3 days later, in a flash of genius, I decided to find the black market (can we still say that) and see if I could find my things. Went with G, a volunteer at Bruce, and up we went... and found in a very dodgy part of the market, my sleeping bag and my gloves...

All excited, I went to the police station to pick up the copy of the report, and explain my amazing discovery, naively hoping that justice would be done... but had the misfortune of arriving during a football match. So I had to wait and sit with the cops, and watch the match till halftime . Then we talked about my report that didn't exist anymore, they passed the ball left and right, no one knew where it was. With a grin, I explained where I found my stolen goods... the cop looked at me with a concerned look, then a pitiful look, than a serious look, and explained to me that he would need at least 10 officers to go in with riot gear, (and I'm sure a small feee from my pcoket for their travels and misfortune), because no police enters that area of the market and the people ususally throw stones at them. A small price for my goods in my opinion!! Then the second half started... we sat and watched.

At the end of the match (Holland won) they finally found the report... and the Captain, who after hearing my story (in very bad spanish) agreed to get the 10 men crew and raid the black market... but oh, wait... suddenly one of the cops realized that the van was borken.... and the market was probably closed, and that by now my stuff was probably moved elsewhere. SO the strategy was now for me to go back the next day to the market with a Peruvian and see if my stuiff was still there, then back to the police station for the raid... for a fee I'm certatin!

In the meantime, after talking with Pedro, the handyman at Bruce Org, he told me that he played soccer (or was it a guy he knew from school... se the dodgyness here) who could probably get my stuff back... for a fee!! He made a call, a price was said to get some of my gear back, I paid, and that was it, the end of it, finito!!!

NOT!!!! Like all good books there´s a twist at the end. I went back to the black market a few days later, and went to the shop where my things were, and had a chat with the shopowner who stole my goods and sold them back to me, a 2-3 minute chat, very animated... about the Holland football match!!!!!!

Cheers and hope all is good!
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Well after close to 8 months on the road, I've finally made it to Trujillo, in the North West of Peru, and met with the people of the Bruce Organisation.

Must admit, it was, and still is a great moment for me. I've never raised that much money before without really knowing first hand who the people were, and what kind of job they really did. I went in blind, found 2 years ago the Bruce Org online, read about it, talked to Bruce a bit on the phone, had a good vibe, and told them I would raise money for them... all that based on a gut feeling. It could have been a disaster, it could have gone all wrong, could have ended up being a fraud... but it didn't.

I've been here a bit more than a week now, living with the volunteers, witnessing the work that is being done, giving a hand in the schools and I mus say that I'm amazed by what is done, and saddened that I couldn't, and can't do more. But here is what I saw...

I saw amazing kids, doing what kids to, laugh, play... and learn. Most of them don't go to school, their parents can't afford to pay for material, fees, uniforms. They have to work and earn money, selling chiklets, shinning shoes, begging. The Bruce Org gives them a chance to catch up on the schoolwork, and eventually be able to rejoin the national school system. I've visited 3 schools so far, having in attendance between 10 and 30 kids aged 6 to 15. Each school is basic, a room, a yard, a toilet, no more. They go in the morning for 3 hours, where a native teacher, social workers and volunteers help them in any way they can. A snack is provided, and toothbrushing is well enforced!!! Kids laugh a lot, but are also craving affection, giving hugs, and just happy to get a high five or a tap on the back.

I saw amazing volunteers, coming from different countries, occupations and age. They work hard, every day going to the most dangerous neighberhoods trying to recruit kids to join the school, teaching, convincing parents to let them come... At the moment 3 dentists from England are volunteering 6 days a week, none stop, offering dental care to the kids, parents and to those who can't afford it. Later this year, a few doctors will come, and I'm sure that they will be in great demand.

I saw poverty, to a level that I never experienced before. Trujillo is surrounded by desert, and the poorest areas are right in it. Sand, sand, sand, and rocks. In the middle of that you have basic houses, some of them consisting of 4 wooden poles surrounded by tarps, held up together by rope. No electricity, no running water, sleeping on the ground...and it's cold here.

I saw the school that is sponsored by your donations. Again, a room, a toilet, a yard, a bit of furniture. It's situated in Alto Trujillo, one of the poorest and most dangerous place in Peru. The money will pay for a teacher, snacks, material and rent. We're having a ceremony later on today, a plaque with the the following will be in front of the school: In loving memory of Joanne Chapman, Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Friend. We Will Never Forget...

And that my friends is all thanks to you. Thank you for all of you who've donated money in the last few years. I can assure you that every penny will be well spent. Thank you for trusting me and believing in the cause. Thank you to all who helped along the way in small and big ways: organising events, building websites, designing logos and encouraging me. Thank you for making this possible, to allow my mother's name to be associated to a good cause, and somehow live longer in memories... and the future of the kids. In short THANK YOU, THIS IS YOUR WORK!!

But, it's not over. A lot of work still needs to be done. For my part it is my responsability to keep money coming, and make sure that the work continues to be done. How I will do that I don't know, but for the moment, all I can do is ask you, if you haven't done so and feel like it, to donate. You can do it on the website at www.transamericatrek.org. There's a First Giving widget where you can make safe and secure donations with your credit card. Anything helps, and I can vouch that all of it goes to the kids! Go see the pics on the website to get a good view...

Over the last 10 years, the Bruce Org has been fighting the government for them to admit that close to 20% of the kids in Peru do not attend school. I am a great believer that education is the key to fight poverty, criminality, extremism and ignorance. An educated kid will have far less chances to follow the wrong path in life and more chances to make the right choices.

Again, hope all is good with you guys, and send news when u can, always appreciated!!!

Cheers

JF
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