Yes, it was the mention of the "armor" that sent me off too.
Have you ever travelled overland before - where and for how long?
Did you look at the Cougar 6X6 on the ForceProtection website? Looks a bit military.
Do you guys speak Spanish? That will your best and only truly dependable "armor".
On the other side of the Darien gap are the northwest jungles of Colombia, full of communist guerrillas so are the areas to the south, Colombia is more than four times the size of Vietnam full of tropical jungles, Amazon jungles, lots of mountain temperate jungles and equatorial jungles, some of the most beautiful nature anyone wants to see, unfortunately since the 60’s a war against the guerrillas has been going on for more than 40 years, a copy of the Vietnam style war, although the FARCS number in the thousands and are well equipped like a regular army they use the ambush and attack and vanish into the jungle tactics, if they feel the heat from the Colombian army they will slip into neighboring countries seeking sanctuary, unknown to most of the world the Colombian army is one of the best and most professional armies in the world due to that long continuous fighting, the present president of Colombia, Uribe is the first president with the will to take the fight to the guerrillas, like the recent incursion into Ecuador where the second leadership of the FARC was killed in action.
I say all this to illustrate the point of what is going on in Colombia, hundreds of thousands have been killed so far, is no Mickey Mouse game, although the media in the US rarely mentions it or shows footage. They use military weapons, so a little flimsy armor against shotguns is not going to be of any use, real amour and you will be weighed down, must as well buy you an armored personnel carrier.
When in Rome do as the Romans do is the motto, just wear kakis and a white shirt and drive an old jeep with a sack of yucca in the back, with two Irish wolfhounds and jacking around in Hawaiian shirts for sure is a magnet to attract attention, you will have a hard time convincing the bandidos that you are teaching the Indians to write in English, you can get kidnapped thinking you have rich folks willing to pay millions or you can get shot on the spot.
You can recognize the guerrilla army from the regular Colombian army in the video by the rubber boots they wear and usually they wrap themselves with the Colombian flag. YouTube - OPERACION 7 DE AGOSTO
You can call me an SOB, but the biggest problem this world has is over population. While I can sympathise with your urge to help the world see the bad things happening in other countries, I would think you could do more good here at home. I think the diseases are just natures way of keeping over population from happening ( that would be survival of the fittest or evolution for the people who don't believe in a higher power). It happens in nature every day. For example, the bubonic plague wipes out prairie dog towns every year. It is natures way of preventing over population. The sad thing is that the animal rights people want the prairie dog listed as an endangered species, yet there are millions of them. Your trip represents the same thing. Humans are animals also, and too many can be a detriment to the rest. I don't believe in the evolution theory, but it does happen.
The good old USA has been going to the aid of the down trodden for the last 90 some years and all we got for it is hatred.
Now, our own people (possibly like your self) are trying to make us a third world country. The eco greenies are wanting to put farmers and ranchers out of business----they are the ones who feed us and a lot of the rest of the world. Eco-sustainability is a pipe dream when it comes to millions of people living in a small area. There are just too many people in this world. Until you accept that, all your caring is just an ego trip. I admit that is a cold viewpoint.
I do admire your drive for doing good in the world--I just think it would be better put to use for something that would actually help.
Call me an ass---truth is a bitch!!
john
Last edited by springhill : 04-12-2008 at 11:51 PM.
So you want an armored Unimog (unusual truck that sticks out) in case you are attacked by the FARC in Colombia. And you want to travel with two irish wolfhounds (unusual large dogs that stand out). And you say you will be accompanying bicycle riders to bring attention to your cause. And you say you will be carrying thousands in camera equipment.
Seems to me you will look like a parade everywhere you go and even more so in places where their is conflict (not many places like that by the way). Why would you even want to go to areas where the FARC are a problem ?? And why would you want to attract so much attention ?? Yeah, you might make a movie, maybe even a good one, but you are sure to leave a wake of disruption everywhere you go. Sorry, but your plan sounds pretty dumb to me. BTW, I grew up in Latin America and have traveled around quite a bit down there.
Steve aka Esteban
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew
On the other side of the Darien gap are the northwest jungles of Colombia, full of communist guerrillas so are the areas to the south, Colombia is more than four times the size of Vietnam full of tropical jungles, Amazon jungles, lots of mountain temperate jungles and equatorial jungles, some of the most beautiful nature anyone wants to see, unfortunately since the 60’s a war against the guerrillas has been going on for more than 40 years, a copy of the Vietnam style war, although the FARCS number in the thousands and are well equipped like a regular army they use the ambush and attack and vanish into the jungle tactics, if they feel the heat from the Colombian army they will slip into neighboring countries seeking sanctuary, unknown to most of the world the Colombian army is one of the best and most professional armies in the world due to that long continuous fighting, the present president of Colombia, Uribe is the first president with the will to take the fight to the guerrillas, like the recent incursion into Ecuador where the second leadership of the FARC was killed in action.
I say all this to illustrate the point of what is going on in Colombia, hundreds of thousands have been killed so far, is no Mickey Mouse game, although the media in the US rarely mentions it or shows footage. They use military weapons, so a little flimsy armor against shotguns is not going to be of any use, real amour and you will be weighed down, must as well buy you an armored personnel carrier.
When in Rome do as the Romans do is the motto, just wear kakis and a white shirt and drive an old jeep with a sack of yucca in the back, with two Irish wolfhounds and jacking around in Hawaiian shirts for sure is a magnet to attract attention, you will have a hard time convincing the bandidos that you are teaching the Indians to write in English, you can get kidnapped thinking you have rich folks willing to pay millions or you can get shot on the spot.
You can recognize the guerrilla army from the regular Colombian army in the video by the rubber boots they wear and usually they wrap themselves with the Colombian flag. YouTube - OPERACION 7 DE AGOSTO
So you want an armored Unimog (unusual truck that sticks out) in case you are attacked by the FARC in Colombia. And you want to travel with two irish wolfhounds (unusual large dogs that stand out). And you say you will be accompanying bicycle riders to bring attention to your cause. And you say you will be carrying thousands in camera equipment.
Steve aka Esteban
Don’t put words in my mouth, read the initial post first and then mine, where did I say I want to do those things?
I was giving well meant advice, I also spent many years in the boondocks of South America and little towns and big cities, I also had the pleasure to be involved in a tourist camp deep in the Amazon jungle where the only way in was by plane or two weeks by Indian canoe following the rivers, one of the first in eco tourism before the idea came into vogue.
Here is some fuel for thought, based on my own experience:
1. An armoured vehicle will be good enough for a robbery only, not armed militia. That means that armoring will only be effective as long as every member of the team is protected. A difficult task if you have fellow members riding bicycles.
2. Your mentioned requirements probably call for two different vehicles: one for cargo and one for mobility. In my opinion a mog and a Toyota diesel is a good combination. You will find spare parts all over, except for the specialized parts for the mog. The engine parts for the mog will not be a problem to find them OTC except in the US and Canada at any dealership.
3. Ignorance ranks among the top problems of the world, the whole world, not only undeveloped countries and this is only aggravated as most people tend to judge from their own perspective. Education, in my opinion, should be the top priority but you cannot teach someone that has an empty stomach or is dying from disease. You cannot separate those two efforts and if you do then the results are short lived. Literally.
A guy in pristine bountiful beautiful country cares about staying that way, a guy in polluted poor horrible country cares about getting food. Frequently both do not really know nor care about the other.
I am proud of being related to the mog community, this community because of it's great mutual support, technical capability and comunity involvement (Kuddos to Alan Draper for his cleanup efforts). In short, becuase of courtesy and respect. Everyone certainly has the power of choosing the way they behave and express themselves, I choose to do it on a constructive way sharing whatever help I can provide, in this case thru advice.
Let's continue the way this forum has characterized itself away from other forums, the way WE have characterized it, by staying away from derogatory comments and continue providing support thru our good intentioned comments to those, who in need of them, are humble enough to request them.
Cheers to everyone.
Respectfully,
__________________
Roberto Espinoza
1992 U1450 Doka San Diego
1980 U416 Celaya
Last edited by MultiSmog : 04-18-2008 at 06:00 AM.
Don’t put words in my mouth, read the initial post first and then mine, where did I say I want to do those things?
I was giving well meant advice, I also spent many years in the boondocks of South America and little towns and big cities, I also had the pleasure to be involved in a tourist camp deep in the Amazon jungle where the only way in was by plane or two weeks by Indian canoe following the rivers, one of the first in eco tourism before the idea came into vogue.
Andrew,
Oops, sorry I thought you were Jeff who made the first post. Seems I mixed you two up. My comments were addressed to his travel plans. He did say those things.
I rarely jump into frays like this, but sometimes when it strikes a nerve I do. The very first post in this thread did strike that nerve and my response, although blunt is what I think.
Tourists in an armored unimog with two wolfhounds traveling in Latin America ?! That would be like the Texans who come to Colorado each summer and ride an entourage of ATVs around the 4wd roads with pistols on each hip expecting to be attacked by grizzlies or indians or something. (that's sure to win me some friends) Personally, I like to ride like the wind and leave little trace of my passing.
Again, sorry for confusing you as the author of the first post in this thread.
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