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Wrecking Crew Diaries
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1996 Panama - Mud of No Return
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Days 12-14, Friday-Sunday, January 12-14

Days 12-14, Friday-Sunday, January 12-14

Today no breakfast. We just kick 'em and go. We're under way again, and the rain is back. Even the ignition of Panamericana II starts to cough again, but this time nobody cares. All we can think of are the luxurious rooms in the El Panamá. It hurts to hear the big engine run on just one cylinder, but we know: you can't beat cubic inches. You just need enough of them.

It tells of the indestructibility of the W&W built engine, that the 6 hours to Cañita do no damage. In Cañita we descend on our favorite cantina and get some serious grub into our system. While we wash down the food, the rains calls it a day, and three trouble free hours later we arrive in Panama-City at the pre booked hotel.

Day 13

Pre booking definitely is a boon now, 'cos the four not only look like the Family Of Swamp Things, they smell the part too. Readers, just be glad this is no scratch-n-sniff website here. 9 rain soaked hours on rigid framed Harleys do wonders for your handwriting, and the pen to sign the credit card has to be guided with two Showa-shaken hands.

At last the concierge can be goaded into relinquishing two of his luxury rooms. The ensuing cleansing activities take several hours, ending in the ceremonial handing over of several bundles of “laundry“. Never before has such foul, malodorous and plain stinking stuff been smelled, except maybe in a windowless 12 square meter bullpen filled with musk-ox in heat. After the outside cleansing the inner parts need a quick wash too, so the Four go get some local brew and get down to it.

Day 14

Great, a free day. The Four use the time to do some laid back service on their trusty machines: chains get lubricated and adjusted, ignitions get dehumidified, oil gets changed, the beds get checked, the snore factor is fine-tuned. A street gang can, after some serious haggling, be hired to clean the 4x4 inside and out from half a ton of mud brought back from the jungle.