Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

[Darcy]

Mada Panama City today. Lots and lots of bad weather enroute, but it's generally blue skies on both ends so pressure from the company is extremely high. Bad weather in these mountain ranges is no joke, and putting down in the jungle North of Medellin is a very bad idea, AND the aircraft we have is not certified for instrument flight, and legally we need oxygen above 10,000 feet, yet here we are at 14,000 on instruments... We're having fun though



















Spent a night here on the trip down, hung out with some locals, got the good word on cartel activity in the area








Hanging at the Hilton

[Kurt]

The Hilton's in South America are pretty sweet.

[Darcy]

Costa Rica - Nicaragua - San Salvador - Guatamala - Mexico. Weather has been total crap, lots of huge thunderstorms to dodge, getting into Guatemala City was scary. We thought Nicaragua was bad wanting the date of every border crossing to date, but Mexico took the cake. We were hours going through insurance and our Chilean contracts, permission for each country enroute from the trip down AND this trip, paperwork for every damn thing they could think of and then some, it was insane the shit they wanted. In Tapachula now.

[Darcy]

The Hilton's in South America are pretty sweet.

Definitely. The Panama City one was up there in with the top hotels I've ever stayed in, and there's been a lot. Guayaquil's was sweet too. Grand Mark in Prague was up there, and some of the Serena Hotels in East and West Africa. Was always a big fan of the Nyali Beach in Mombasa too.

[Darcy]

Fucking Mexico. What a PIA. Every single stop, paperwork up the wahzoo. The shit they asked for.... so one airport this military dude demanded all this crazy paperwork that doesn't exist, so we are calling the company, seeing if we can bullshit something with a phony stamp, and the cute customs lady whispers to me - just entertain him for twenty minutes, his shift is almost done, and sure enough, 20 minutes he just fucks off... Too much fun. First place on entire trip they made us pull all our shit out of the helo. Guys shaking every can of oil. It was hilarious.

So we are in a seedy bar in Tampico and in walks this gnarly Irish SAR Tech I've worked with in Tanzania, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Suriname, plus some secret squirrel shit in #####. He was there when some very cute Tanzanian got my name tattooed on her arm, true story. SMALL world. He's there on a SAR contract that's ending mid-July. SO we get to chatting (and drinking) and I get job offers going forward in Colombia and Libya, that I will probably take over the Trinidad & Tobago gig because the money is very good, and its mostly sitting on the beach drinking margaritas and fishing. I love my life sometimes.... Sitting in a college town West of Houston now. Big Willy Ritas.... did 2. Damn, you Americans make them a lot stronger than anywhere South of the border













Entire trip album is here if anyone is bored:
https://www.darcyhooverphotos.ca/And-Chile-back-to-Canada/

[Kurt]

Tex Mex should just be called Tex. It's good stuff always but it is unique.

I've been getting into cooking the abomination against God known as Midwest Tex-Mex. Which is neither Tex nor Mex but really good stuff anyway but with crazy fucking names (like Taco Soup)

US Margs tend to be "More and stronger" which is one of the many factors making us fat but there is nothing better.

[Darcy]

Got 'er done. Despite the evil eye from immigration in Omaha (did you enter the country as commercial or private?) and a lot of pressure tactics and paperwork BS, we sailed through and despite Canada's (and the US's) spanking new digital aircraft importation systems (need to register 5 to 7 business days in advance, a friendly phone call will no longer suffice) we sailed through swimmingly. Canadian Customs never even ventured outside, just a call and -yeah, you're all good- and that was that. Aircraft delivered. I figure there may be some infraction reports from Ecuador and Peru eventually, and I'll need a few days to detox....

Yeah, we make it fun, and make the most of each stop, but fuck, there is some serious stress and bullshit to contend with. Not whining (too much) but I had that old ball of stress in my gut more than I'd rather most of the trip. Most of it self induced pressure to complete the task in a timely manner, shit weather through big ass mountains, and all the bureaucratic bs getting airside each and every day, the damn paperwork and officious officials... but then there was the threesome in Colombia...

All came into perspective when we landed at the Manitoba base and this overweight twenty year old apprentice walks up when we shut down and I said "how ya doin?" he responded "you fuckers gonna help unload the aircraft?"

I'll take a few weeks off in Nova Scotia, fish a lot, and talk about the Libya and Colombia job offers. Probably be back on fires somewhere in Canada most of the summer, and yeah, if they ask me to fly it back to Chile next December, I'll jump at the chance.

[Darcy]

So I did it AGAIN! Third time. No huge adventures but had some very very good times in Medellin. No photos for that. Plus found out that old Lear and DC3 we were crawling all over last trip were actually Pablo Escobar's. Landed by them again. Got yelled at AGAIN landing in Lima, hate that airport. Found some very cool restaurants the entire trip. Once I delivered the helo to the Spanish leaser in Concepcion Chile I grabbed a series of buses and kept heading South into Patagonia, then found a local to take me fishing. Ticked off a bucket list item...










Pablo's birds behind us


Got a nasty nasty sunburn in Manta, Ecuador


























So many of these! On my 6 weight fly rod, wooly bugger

[ROB]

Fucking superb.