MOOSE in Bolivia!

No, actually not the large mammal with antlers from North America... Its a Vancouver motorbike acronym... stands for "Motorcycle Out Of Service Emergency".

... and thats what Im currently having :)

My bike was running much better after the work I did in BA, but it felt "funny" at manoeuvring speeds in the streets. I didnt notice too much because Ive been doing lots and lots of long highway miles and almost no slow stuff (or mostly in gravel parking lots etc where you cant "feel" the bike the same as on pavement).
Anyway, it seemed to be getting worse and the symptom was a very surgey and uneven low speed "loiter". It felt like a slack or very old chain... But I just replaced that.
So, I decided to take a look at it at one of my fuelling up stops... And the rear sprocket and chain were indeed fine, so I broke out the tools and took off the front sprocket cover (which I had not done in the big fix up in BA)...

... And yes indeed!.. There is a serious problem here!

Im in definit need of some urgent "Dental Work"!

The teeth on the front sprocket are all almost worn down to nubs!
They were a bit worn when I checked them last in Chalten... but that was 15,000Km ago I guess.



That did happen really quickly though or Id have been checking more often... But that makes sense too I guess...
Modern hardened metals (like chains and sprockets) are not hardened all the way through (heat treatment process). They just "case harden" them (its faster and cheaper of course) so that only the surface layer is hardened and once you wear through that hard layer, the softer metal below wears very quickly.

But while thats all very interesting, it doesnt get me out of my current sticky situation... Which is:
Im in the "Lower East Side" of Bolivia... Almost in the middle of absolutely nowhere!
Ive got a REALLY bad front sprocket and no chance of there being a spare anywhere nearby! (They dont import my model of bike here in Bolivia)...
Note: once the remaining nubs wear off (very very soon) then Ill have absolutely no means of connecting the engines power to the rear wheel... Not going anywhere! But other than that, no "damage" will be done to the bike.

What to do??
Well, I only have to make it to Quito in Ecuador where a friend (who is coming down for a vacation) can bring me the new part from Canada in a couple of weeks. But thats about 4000Km away... I wont get there like this!

So, worst comes to worst, then I can find a welding place and "weld" extra metal onto the back side (away from the nice smooth face where the chain rides when under load) of the little that is left of each tooth... Thats really ugly but it would work.
A different option would be to get a new sprocket from a different bike (that wont fit the drive spline on mine) and then get a machine shop to cut out the centres of both the old one and the new one and then weld the new teeth onto the old hub... "Franken-Sprocket" is born! Mwwaaa..haa...haa..haaaa!
That would work better but I gotta get the right "donor" sprocket to fit my chain size (its a 525).

But either way, for the moment I just gotta get to a place where I can attempt either one.
... Fortunately, its only 500Km or so to some sort of a city down here in the jungles of Bolivia...
I figure I can make it that far :)

... and so, I set out for it (albeit gently on the throttle) at once!

Hopper Dodging

Ive been riding lots... All the way across Argentina in the last two days... And its up at the North which is the widest part.

I stopped and visited one of the ruins of the Jesuit missions here. The eighties film "The Mission" paints a bit of a utopian picture of them I think, but never the less, Im sure that they were one of the gentler attempts at "civilizing" that the world has seen... Especially given the era and the culture from which they started.
But, there is precious little of them left now, and although the "compound" at San Ignacio here is very large, I was mostly uninspired by the remnants....









...Everything is Temporary... When its passed, its passed, and its time to move on to something else.


And as I myself ride on on my little voyage, I find I am dodging lots of grass-hoppers...
... And they are really neat looking critters...

They seem to group up with one big one and a bunch of little ones (gender differentiated rather than age I assume but I dont know for sure). And then they proceed to "walk" across the dangerous highway (which is a very slow process I might add) rather than hop or fly... I dont know why she swallowed the fly...











And then there are other hoppers and bugs too... Im being absolutely pelted by them all as I ride along (Im quite sorry for all the ones that get killed by my passing through!)
There is one sort that when I first saw it I thought it was a small sparrow sized bird... But its a massive hopper! It is at leat 12-15cm long. This thing is like a "flying medecine ball"... I expect Id have to stop and recover/clean-up (assuming it didnt knock me off the bike in the first place) if one of these things lumbered into my path while it was flying....Very messy!
Thankfully they are not very common, and I only got a close look at one by seeing a "road kill" specimin laying there.



Tomorrow I expect Ill head over the boarder North to Bolivia... Who knows what new bugs Ill get to meet there?

Literary Litany

Well, it seems that I have hammered out 400 posts over the last two and a half years!
Thats one post every two and a half days or so.

Ive spent about 15 months of that time on the road in that time and about 15 months in "fixed" locations... I clearly post more when Im travelling though - There's more "stimulus" I guess.
And my posts seem to cover the full range of my "passing thoughts", though as yet I dont think Ive more than "mentioned in passing" "The Supermodels" (out of consideration for their privacy of course... They lead such otherwise public lives you know), so there is clearly still plenty more "material" available.
I think Ive more or less avoided repetition, but my memory is so sieve-like these days that it is bound to happen sooner or later... Sorry in advance! :)

But regardless of travelling or not, thats quite the literary litany!
It seems that I am all too happy to air my oft' ill-informed opinions, and I admit that it has been mostly an act of selfishness that has resulted in this mass of verbiage. :)

Oh well, its not as if Im advertising my blather... You read it if you want to and ignore it if that feels more comfortable :)
Of course, almost no one knows that my blog exists, so my "gems of wit and wisdom" are solely for you privileged few to enjoy.

So, for the time being, my blog languishes in literary obscurity... But one day Im sure it will be be recognised as the work of greatness that it truly is... ;)
Until then, I shall prattle on at length, random, my own perril... choose the ending that you like there .

Love to you all, ... you both, ... you, .... the world :))))

p.s. I have noticed my tendency toward alliterative post titles... Ill watch that and try not to let it get out of hand!

Butterfly Bites

How do you treat a butterfly bite?

An excellent question, and one that is very relevant for me at the moment as there are loads of the nasty bity creatures about up here...
... Its really quite dangerous with so many of them in the air!

Well. Clinical specialists have this to say:

First off, its completely different to snake bites, and under absolutely no circumstances should you try to identify the particular species of butterfly that inflicted the bite... Its FAR too dangerous to get anywhere near the beast and both you and the bite victim should get away from the area as fast as possible (victims are almost always still ambulatory in the early stages, before the venom takes hold).

Note: The venom of the butterfly is however a neurotoxin, though rather than effecting the nerves of the body, it effects the nerves in the brain and presents as a "personality disorder" rather than physiologically.

Once everyone is in a safe area, you should try to keep the victim of the butterfly bite in a constant state of low-grade stress. Its a fine balance because if the stress level should become too high, it will weaken the victims systems resistance to the butterfly venom. But on the other hand, if the stress level is too low, the venom will simply spread quickly of its own accord.
Under no circumstances should the victim be allowed to become calm and relaxed!
You as the "first responder" have the best chance to get treatment started as soon as possible and thereby reduce the chances of the victim developing the long term condition. If the appropriate measures are taken very soon after the bite, the victim has a very good chance of a full recovery and leading a normal life.
If however, the appropriate actions are not taken immediately, or they are applied ineffectively, the victim will almost certainly develop the long term condition that leads to eventual death...

Early symptoms of a butterfly bite are a feeling of light-headedness, occasional sniggering/chortelling, quiet smiling and what has been described by many first-hand witnesses as "an unusually pleasant demeanour".
If the victim is unfortunate, these symptoms will not dissipate within a day or so and will continue to develop...
The worsening condition is characterised by smiling and whistling, wistful watching of sun-sets, occasional skipping while walking, As it develops further the victim is likely to suffer debilitating and embarrassing bouts of public laughter and even dancing. Likewise, as the condition progresses, the victim will increasingly perform wanton acts of kindness and senseless beauty. Needless to say, any sort of "normal" life soon becomes impossible and the victim will often suffer the compounding effects of being socially isolated and ostracised.
While, the fully developed long term condition is ultimately fatal; in order to prolong the period before complete disability occurs and to maintain the victims "quality of life" for as long as possible, it is important to provide the victim a living environment with the highest possible levels of responsibility and the lowest possible levels of authority. This regimen should be maintained constantly. The victim should preferably not be allowed to take more than two and absolutely not more than three weeks of "vacation" (from the treatment environment) per year.
Ultimately of course, the victim will pass-away as a direct result of the butterfly bite. It normally occurs "quietly in their sleep" after many years of suffering. Usually the victims body will be left with the tell-tale disfigurement of a deep and permanent smile etched on their face... A sad, cruel, and painful reminder for the victims loved ones of the years of suffering...

NOTE:
It is ironic to note that many people living today have in fact suffered butterfly bites and are living with the long term effects slowly developing. But it is a testament to the effectiveness of the treatment methods that have been developed and that are in fact in wide prophylactic usage throughout North American society (An initiative put in place by the Nixon administration!) that these people can live long and fruitful lives within the "normal" society of modern North America.

Not also that the best cure is, as always, "avoidance" of the bite in the first place!

Embracing the Horror!

So, Ive come up here to the top of Argentina to see Iguazu Falls...
And, Ive spoken to various other travellers along my way about the place. And some say its wonderful and impressive, and some say its terribly touristy and disappointing.

And the question is, "what will it be for me"?
I usually dont have a great time when there are hordes of "the General Public" involved! I prefer less touristy destinations or "harder to get to" natural wonders like mountain tops :)

What to do?... No way I can avoid the hordes and Ive decided Im gonna go see it...
So, I decided Id try to give it the best chance I could of "me having a good time"

And thus, I decided to "do it in full Tourist style" :)))
When I got to the town at the boarder (where all the tourists stay) I found a place to stay, asked a few questions, and promptly booked myself in on an "adventure boat ride" up into the falls from below...
Lets see what happens shall we :)


... And so I went and "did the tourist thing"
First up was the boat trip...



















... That was AWESOME :)))
They really get you right up into the waterfalls... Not so that the boat gets swamped and flooded, but far enough in so that you cant see a thing cos there is spray EVERYWHERE and going in every direction... If you didnt wear your swimming costume then after this little trip, you are well and truly soaked through! They do give you a roll-top bag to protect your stuff, so its OK, but I kept my camera out and under my jacket for a couple of pictures... needless to say it got completely soaked and I was taking blurry pictures for the next twenty minutes... Then it stopped working all together and I spent an hour while it dried out :)

Next was a walk around on the lower trails looking up at some of the falls (there are quite a few of them dont you know :)















Well, that was not exciting, but it was good. They have walk ways up into the spray of a couple of the falls, and there is a good amount of space for all the tourists... They seem to come through in waves of a hundred or so (from the boats disgorging their loads)... It works well. If you want a less crowded picture then you just have to wait till the crowd thins out between groups.


So, then I had to get the camera going before going up to the upper walkways...











The upper walkways were likewise well made and gave excellent views as well as handling the huge volume of tourists very well...















The fascinating part for me was watching the relatively smooth quiet brown flowing water go over the edge and seeing it all "jostling for position" so to speak, and then leaping out into the void and plunging downward... Breaking up from river to stream to splash to droplets and foam and finally spray... COOOOOL :)))




















And then it was a little train ride followed by a long walk out across the river to "the big attraction" what they call "The Devils Throat"...



























MAGNIFICENTLY SPECTACULAR!
The pictures do absolutely no justice at all to the view of this massive wall of water plunging down into the mist with the sound of continual thunder!... Completely mesmerising! Watching the water transform as it falls... I spent an hour there just watching... :))))

... And then there was the walk back, and then I spent a while trying to photograph all the amazing butterflies (some in the next post).

"Embracing the Horror" worked out fine... WOW... Good day :)))