A new feature of this blogspace are ‘pod blogs’, which support and supplement some of the episodes of my herp podcast, and this is the first. In Episode 114: Always Get The Full Coverage, I and my panel of campfire cronies had an interesting discussion about mishaps and misadventures with automobiles in the field. This was such a rich vein for us to explore, and since I’ve collected a number of photos from various trips that document many mishaps, here’s a supplemental sample to go with the episode. All of this makes more sense if you’ve listened to the show first, but hey, you do you…
I’m happy I took a photo of Arturo’s truck down in Coahuila, but I thought I would throw in a picture of where we ended up that day, way back in the back of the back, and at least a day’s hot walk out. A nice view, but I get thirsty just looking at this picture.
Sometimes you have to do a little automotive surgery in the motel parking lot, usually to remove an annoying noise rather than actually fixing anything. In Mexico, this is very common.
Something not discussed on the podcast: I went to Suriname a few years ago with a group, and there was a moment where the sliding door on the old passenger van broke, and it nearly dropped into the road. That took a while to sort out…
While in Suriname, we also tooled around in an old Land Rover, which I got to drive a little bit, and thus checked another bucket list box (two checks if you count driving on the right side). Loud, uncomfortable, and yet oh-so-sexy. If only I had access to these sturdy machines in other places!
As we discussed in the episode, spectacular flats on bad tires was a repetitive theme in Morocco. Notice that the spare tire Pat has waiting on the side is bald as hell, and only lasted another day or so. The Dacia Duster (similar to this one) that Kevin and I drove lost reverse and 4th gear, had no airbags, and one working headlight, but somehow we managed to avoid any tire problems.
On the flipside, dealing with flat tires and other automotive mishaps put us in touch with the kindness of the Moroccan people. They were eager to stop and help, and treated us as guests in their country. I think everyone in my group was touched by the warmth and friendliness of the folks we encountered. All except that one guy (not pictured). No matter where you go, there’s always one old sorehead….
Driving around Morocco with one working headlight was frustrating and a dangerous to boot, and we made a number of attempts to get it repaired. A lot of locals pitched in, including Hasan, our hotel owner in Guelmim, who rode with us into town to get his buddies to help us. It was all for naught, and eventually we gave up and just put up with it, like we put up the loss of reverse and 4th gear (turning the car back in at the airport, the agent asked us for a good review. Kevin laughed and said “you don’t want a review from me.”)
To accompany the remaining photos, I am including a small section of text from Hobart M. Smith’s “Searching for Herps in Mexico in the 1930s” published in the Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society back in 2001. This excerpt is from a trip Smith made with fellow herpetologist Edward H. Taylor in 1932. In our time, cell phones make many big problems small, but back in the day….file this under “So You Think YOU Have Car Problems?”
“For many weeks we had been jostling the car over the worst kinds of roads, over hidden ruts, rock piles and flying through mudholes. Inured to rough riding, we hardly noticed the roughness of a hill we climbed north of Gómez Farias. But to our car it was the last straw. When the engine sputtered and refused to go further even with much choking, we clambered out and glanced at our surroundings. To our surprise, lying in our tracks far back on the road, was our gas tank.”
“Our walk back to pick it up turned into a sprint when we saw that the tank was upside down, its gasoline gurgling merrily into the soil. Turning it right side up, we carried it back and carefully laid it to rest on top of the luggage in the back seats…fortunately we had with us a carbide head lamp, equipped with a long rubber tube…the tube served effectively as a feed line from the tank directly to the gas line at the carburetor. The idea would have no drawbacks if it were not for the fact that each time the car went over a bump, air would get into the tube and break the flow of gasoline.”
“Each time the gasoline would cease to flow, I had to get out and suck on the tube until the flow was renewed…as the gasoline in the tank lowered, we were stopping so frequently to have the tube sucked on that we were making little progress…to relieve the situation, we poured the remaining gasoline into a gallon jug. It was initially nearly full, so for a short time we had no trouble with it. Then the siphon tube sprang a leak near its middle.”
“We could not patch the tube, so we cut it at the leak. Fortunately one the ends was long enough to serve as a siphon, but it was not long enough to reach the front seat. At that point it became necessary for me to stand on the running board, holding onto the car with one hand and onto the jug with the other…as the gasoline lowered a splashed about in the jug, again I had trouble restoring the flow. My lips were burning from frequent contact with the gas, and I had a very uneasy feeling in my stomach. When there was but an inch or so of gasoline left in the jug, we gave up on the effort and waited.”
“Eventually a truck appeared, and the driver was persuaded to part with enough gasoline to get us to Saltillo, which we entered with me holding the jug from my perch on the running board. There the gas tank was repaired and replaced where it belonged.”
So what have we learned from all this? Several things come to mind:
- Bring extra extra water.
- Save your ice bag for an emergency tire plug.
- Always check the spare tire at the rental place. Look for the jack while you’re at it.
- Wear good hiking shoes and socks, or have them handy nearby. You may need to hike out.
- Have at least a vague idea of where the nearest town might be.
- A small tool kit with pliers, baling wire, and duct tape can be very useful.
- Bring even more water.
- Always get the full coverage.
Thanks for reading this.
