well that was fun

Took the car over to Colon this morning to put it into the shipping container. Never underestimate the third world's ability to make do rather than invest in an easy way of doing things. Followed the shipper's secretary to a dodgy trucker's yard by the port - mud, craters, puddles, lovely. Wait while they hook up a crappy old tractor unit to an even crappier trailer unit with a container already loaded on it, and make about a 15 point turn so the back is facing us. OK, now we can see where we need to go, but how do we get 4 feet in the air. Then the tow truck turns up. Reverse up to the tow truck, wait while he winches you onto his deck and then levels it, and then he reverses up to the container, sticks some wooden blocks on the ground and uses his hydraulic rear lift to bring the deck level with the floor of the container. And then they motion you to drive forward into the container.

OK, I used to fit the Porsche into a garage that was this wide and I could still get out. But there I could get right over to one side and just squeeze out of the frameless door. Here they want me central, and the doors are actually thicker on the Suzuki and have window frames up top. I can't even open it wide enough to get my fingers around the edge to stop it chipping the paint....But still they are waving me in. OK, maybe I'm getting a free sea voyage to Colombia. Ah, now they are pointing at the tailgate. OK, through bad sign language manage to get across the idea that there is no handle on the inside, and someone comes and opens it for me. Manage to turn around in the drives seat, clamber over the back between the headrests and slide across the collected luggage and camping crap in the back - can't turn around so end up sliding out the back face first into a handstand - gymnastics was never my strong point even when I was young and flexible, let alone now. And I've had a gastric bug for the last few days and my stomach is still tender to stretching and moving around....not nice.

I was followed in by Simon who is a tall skinny young aussie guy, and he also has to come out of the back of his van but does it with a little more space to turn around inside, and finally the guy right at the front who had been doing the strapping down comes out over the roofs......

Getting them out again is going to be interesting......

we fly to Cartagena on Thursday and should be able to pick the car up there next Monday or Tuesday.