The Latest - 6

Panama City begins to bustle at dusk.

In Panama, (maybe) they say the coconut doesn't fall far from the palm tree...

Norwegians looking as tough as they can in an oil change pit while we wait for a guy to patch all the holes in my tires.

"It doesn't get any better than this!" -for Dad

One chair, one fan, and one bed is all I needed in my Vincent Van Gogh room, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica.

I got my first "speeding" "infraction" in Central America. It turns out that gringos going the same speed as everyone else are going too fast. This was judged by a cop with no radar who waved me over to the side of the road. I negotiated my infraction down from him keeping my license and requiring me to wait one month and then paying $200 at some office, to simply paying $20 in cash directly to the officer, who then became my friend and started to joke around with me. I tried to keep his Bic pen as personal retribution but eventually, after all three of them kept asking each other where it was and searched around for minutes, I decided to produce it from my pocket. One of them laughed and made a click-click handcuff pantomime, and so I decided that was enough fun with my new friends and drove away slower than the rest of the cars.

Two months prior to this photo in Costa Rica, a Gautemalan gas station attendant thoughfully checked my fluids and failed to replace the cap to my hydraulic power steering fluid. Thankfully, my trusty Canadian chief mechanic was on the ball with several makeshift "solutions," our favorite having been fashioned from a bag of chips and a rubber band. After finally finding a similar Jeep in a state of disrepair we were able to replace my cap and the power steering hoses that had burst as a result of the non-pressure-valved temporary caps. Live and learn, eh?

On intercontinental land journeys, sometimes you can feel a little bit lost. But fortunately there is always someone older and wiser to give you advice and direction.

"An American I met who has been working to reforest parts of the island for the last six months sang and played my request for a Presley tune on his guitar as flames engulfed our loyal, but out-of-season wicker pet."

"That night on the beach under the volcano, I threw a party for my friends and some locals as we finally ceremonially burned (read as 'set free') "Elvis" the Guatemalan wicker reindeer who has been riding out the holidays bungeed to the roof of my Jeep spreading untold joy to Central American children." These older kids did not need to be asked twice to help us alight the helpless hooved handicraft.

Norwegian horseplay... Tomfoolery... Shenanigans... Brewhaha... Whatever you wanna call it.

"I spent the last few days hiking through a cloud forest on a dormant volcano on an island within a giant lake inside beautiful Nicaragua. The trail got muddier and muddier as I ascended, until I was sloshing up to my shins in milk-chocolatey mud. Whether I looked more like I survived a fudge factory explosion or more like the losing contestant of a mudwrestlin' match, I stumbled into a face to face encounter with a rare black howler monkey. Since I had learned how to speak some howler monkey in Belize, the formidable male and I were able to have a brief conversation about territory."

The crater of Volcan Masaya, Nicaragua belches up noxious sulfuric fumes, that is when its not horking up rocks the size of houses, or even... red, hot MAG-MA!

Putting your digital camera in a plastic bag only works so well...

No man is an island.

"Another tough day in paradise." A tiny key near Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras

I always keep a dozen eagle-eyes on the road (or lack thereof) at all times. In addition to guarding my car while I am away, the eagles are quite popular with the kids.

Getting to Pico Bonito National Park involved some stomping through a rocky riverbed.

Unable to find secure parking in La Ceiba for New Years Eve, this M-16 totin' vigilante kindly agreed to watch my vehicle throughout the night for a mere 40 Lempira, so I parked in front of the bank he was watching.

The crew delivers their best attempt at being "saucy". Elvis flashes his lights in La Ceiba, Honduras for New Years Eve.