July 8, 2018 – July 12, 2018
We were heading up a hill, when suddenly Derek took his foot off of the gas and the truck responded, instantly slowing to a crawl. I looked at Derek, I looked to the road immediately ahead, and then back at Derek. There was no animal, no debris, no tope in the road. “What’s up?”, I asked. “I have no steering”, Derek said.
Well, as it turned out, no power steering. Derek strong armed the truck to the side of the road, turned off the engine and popped the hood. He quickly put out safety triangles and determined that the serpentine belt had come off, but was not broken. (The serpentine belt runs pretty much all amenities for the motor up front; power steering, alternator, engine coolant pump, and more). After getting his tools out and a bit further investigation Derek was able to determine that the bearing on the idler pulley was shot. We were officially unable to drive any further until repairs could be made.
We happened to be on a toll road, which in much of Latin America means you can call a number on the back of your toll ticket to get free roadside assistance. I called the number, explained in Spanish that I didn’t speak much Spanish and then, as best as I could, what had happened. The gentleman replied, and I had NO idea what he was saying. Luckily, Derek can not only diagnose truck issues, but is also very good at understanding oral Spanish, so I handed the phone over. Derek explained that we were not able to drive, would need a tow truck with a flat bed, but that the problem was not major and probably easily fixed if we could get access to a mechanical shop. The man said it would be 2 hours for the tow truck. We made ourselves comfortable and waited.
Before too long, two men showed up on the back of motorcycle. The tow company had called them and had asked them to come out from a neighbouring town to see what the problem was. Derek gave them the rundown, showed them the pulley that he had already removed, and they immediately understood the problem. Off they went with our pulley to a near by town and in about 1/2 an hour, they were back with the pulley, equipped with brand new bearings. The mechanic in town had charged them $5 to press in a new bearing.
Derek and the two men replaced the pulley and the serpentine belt, and about 1 hour later, we were shaking hands with our new friends, taking pictures and back on the road. They asked for $75, and we gladly gave them the cash, as the tow truck and a hotel for the night would have cost us a lot more money, not to mention the hours that would have been involved. And it was a Sunday, after all, so a little overtime pay was deserved.
The reinstallation of the serpentine belt, in progress.
Yeah! The truck runs and we are back on the road!
Back on the road, we knew wouldn’t make our planned destination for the day, so we free camped for the night at a gas station with a killer view!
The view from our spot at the gas station.
Here’s a couple of quick videos of some of the scenery we saw before we stopped for the night.
The next day we arrived at Wairu Refugio on Lago de la Cocha. There we were met by Jorge, the owner of the hostel and a friendly, enthusiastic host with a lot of travel experience. We didn’t end up doing much at the lake for our two rainy days there other than watch some world cup soccer and get some much needed laundry done (he had a washer AND a dryer!), but we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Jorge.
Cow at Lago de la Cocha.
Our last stop in Colombia was at Santuario de Las Lajas. This church was built between 1916 and 1949 between the walls of a river gorge, on the site where in the 1700’s an indigenous woman and her child took refuge between the rocks during a storm. The daughter saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary here, and there has been a shrine here ever since.
We took a teleferico (cable car) from our camping spot to the church.
Piper’s first cable car ride. She is now thinking of taking up skiing.
The view of the church as we come down into the valley.
The church from along the river.
The inside of the church. The back wall is the rock face of the canyon.
Up next….Ecuador!
Hola Albertans!
I check your destination a couple times each week getting great Geography lessons from your location thanks to your locator and Google as I also like to use the Satellite for more detail. I had to comment on this report as loved that expression on Piper’s face. Nice to see you both at the equator-good idea for the leg straddling and a photo of you both looking great. Too bad about the truck problem and considering the miles you have driven you have been very fortunate. Also it’s great to hear how locals are always there to help and how Doug’s expertise comes in handy. Cathy have you been able to see an eye Doctor to replace the glasses you lost? Continued best wishes. Adele
PS You continue to amaze me as you tackle the “back roads”- not for the faint of heart.
Good Morning Adele! I think you meant to say Derek above, not Doug…no problemo…
I ended up buying just regular sunglasses but I do have my prescription with me, so if I find a cheap place to get new ones, I will.
We don’t go looking for bad roads, but sometimes they find us! Also, I on the “Where are we now” page you can change the view to Satellite view if you like – there is a little tab in the upper left corner of the map that says “Map/Satellite”…click on satellite and the map view will switch.
Are you planning on heading south again this fall?