God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

It is killing our nerves. We are stuck, really stuck. Today we checked out of our hostel, all our luggage is already in the courtyard of the hostel and part of our team has gone to the harbour to get our cars. But now the long way to freedom starts: from office to office, from clerk to clerk, from stamp to stamp and in between: waiting periods spiced with different messages:

“Today all will be done” – “Not today” – “Maybe today”.

And at the end, when all the paper work has been done, there is the clear verdict: no chance of getting our cars today. The containers arrived but there is no space at customs, which has to deal with up to 5000 containers per day. And so, a rather depressed team is back at the Media Luna Hostel where the rest of us were waiting watching our mountain of luggage and sweating in the soaring heat of Cartagena.

Sandra multitasked with all the laptops, while the rest of us are answering questions of curious fellow guests of the hostel. Otherwise there is nothing to do and we indulge in waiting boredom and chit-chat.

At the end we have to check in again with the advantage of getting a much needed shower opportunity. But every advantage has a flip side, also showering: mosquitoes love humidity and persons attached to it….

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

We are on the road again – not with our cars, but after breakfast at “Villa Michelle” the owner and her friend take us to the airport in Panama City. A cordial farewell and we catch the flight at 3.15pm to Cartagena in Columbia with Copa Air.

An hour later we arrive in this coastal Caribbean town. Three taxis bring us to the old town of the city, giving us a first taste of the rules on the roads of Columbia. Happy to have arrived all in one piece, we occupy our rooms at Media Luna Hostel. A lovely place with a wonderful courtyard, a small pool shadowed by palm trees, and a roof terrace showing us the beauty of the old town and the skyline of modern Cartagena.

Would we be backpackers it would have been an ideal place to stay, but with our “move the world” t-shirts, all the equipment and certainly our age we attract a bit of extra attention.

And as to be expected the flyers are distributed quickly and spread amongst the crowd.

We hope that we can celebrate a reunion as quick as possible with our cars to be on the road again – in the true sense of the word.

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

1st of May – workers day and public holiday for all.

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

Unlimited internet access and enough time to use it. The disadvantage is that you also get the bad news, even concerning oneself: flash floods and mud floods in Columbia with many people dead for example, our next country to reach. That means destroyed infrastructure like roads on the route we want to take. The national police have already inquired about our plans to send us alternative routes as she wants to protect us on our way through the country. Or take the eruption of a volcano in Ecuador. The Tunguarhua is coughing up stones of the size of buses, lava and smoke less than 50 km away from the way we want to use. But there is also good news: we have not felt the earthquake in Panama, just read about it on the internet.

Otherwise we have also simple things to do: washing clothes and beaming up all pictures with persons holding the globe in their hands into cyberspace, of course with the original text, why they want to move the world. Being responsible for the media means to work every day.
We organise food for the weekend and Yvonne like most guests wonder how we can use a holiday facility to work the whole day. And to show her empathy she has cooked a chicken soup a la Panama. A great treat and in the evening we braai. Our grouse Katrin has prepared a huge amount of salad, Guido, our navigator has prepared the table and Lothar, our Lutheran lay preacher and technician shows his skills in bringing meat to a tasteful perfection. And the rest just join in to enjoy the food. Well everybody has a task to perform..

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

The first day in Panama and after leaving the car the reader might assume that now the team can rest. Well, wrong assumption. A day full of work is ahead of us, the only thing missing is the driving and the change of the landscape. It feels somehow funny, being in one place for longer than a couple of hours. Emails have to be answered, contact has to be made with future points of arrival, and the blog has to be updated as we know have constant internet in the hostel. Translations have to be done, the blog is in English, Spanish and French as well. Press releases, last preparations for South America and obviously bookkeeping. Joachim is battling to get the flood of invoices and receipts into a format an accountant can read later. The highest amount paid was 229795 Dollars, well Dollars from Costa Rica equaling 312 Euro. We realize how expensive toll and petrol has been on our way. And in between all the work we also enjoy another kind of food – the trekking food chain comes to rest for the time being…

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler