Having recently returned from a winter spent paddling in Central and South America, our hometown hero, Kyle “Smitty” Smith, runs down the risks and benefits of purchasing a shuttle vehicle for your foreign paddling travels and shares tips for keeping your rig on the road and the man off your back.
I kick the tires. Richard pushes on the bumper. Rubber tread falls onto the ground and shocks squeak under the light pressure, visibly oozing fluid. Circling around the vehicle, we pretend like we know what we’re looking for. Apparently we think we’ll ascertain some unknown man-knowledge from kicking, pushing and grunting in this hot New Zealand driveway.
I can barely change my own oil.
The owner, in the most stereotypical kiwi accent possible, tries to convince us of the reliability of the car. “Oh brew! The toires are as sticky az bro!” Said “toires” resemble the head of Captain Jean Luc Piccard, BALD. He assures us that if we just switch the tires to opposing sides and degrease the leaky shocks, we’ll definitely be able to fool the trained specialists at the NZ Warrant of Fitness Department, whose job it is to keep vehicles just like this one off the road.
Fun was the point of expedition rafter Lacey Anderson’s trip to Guatemala, but enlightenment was the result. Find out how a scary hostage situation and other tense encounters led Lacey and members of her team to organize aid for indigenous Guatemalans.
