It was intended that we fly from Panama City to Santiago, Chile on a charter L-1011 Lockheed airplane. As I write this, the plane has yet to leave Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They are waiting for a part, once the part arrives, it takes about 90 minutes to fix it, then I believe about a 3-4 hour flight for the plane to get to Panama.
These air stages are killing the group. We woke up at 4 a.m. to pack our gear onto the trucks, eat breakfast and prepare to follow the transport police through the city to the airport. The plan was to arrive in Chile with enough daylight left to clear customs, put the bikes back together and ride to our hotel. It's not going to happen today, at least. Part of the group jumped into taxi's and went to the airport early this morning. As far as I know they are waiting there, without knowing what is going on. Larry and I were smart and kept our room. At least it is air conditioned and we try to nap between updates.
We vacated the room at 3 p.m. and left for the airport at 4 p.m. The plane never arrived until after midnight. We left Panama around 1 a.m. So much for the best land plans of a tour director. To top things off, the L-1011 was not big enough to stow all of our bikes and gear. The balance of goodies had to be left behind for pickup later.
As it all turned out, we arrived in Chile and waited an additional two days for the gear and bikes to catch up with us. This makes us two days behind on a very tight schedule.
There are times when group travel really stinks!
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The long wait for an airplane to Santiago, Chile |
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Who needs beds??? |
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| Mr. Studious always a book under his nose | If you can't read it, wear it. That's Dr. Rod under cover. |
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| Our leader Tim (everything's swell) Kneeland | Hot diggity, we made it! |
Continues under Chile...
