In the Beginning

This trip started as a pipe dream, or a dream found in the bottle of so many empty beers drank over a rafting season. It grew and evolved out of three raft guide/kayakers looking to do something out of the ordinary after graduation. We began talking about what rivers we wanted to run, and what places we always wanted to see. The two rivers at the top of any list were invariably the Futalefu in Chile and the Zambezi in Africa. Africa was always too far away, but Chile was close it was accesable. I don't remember who first thought of this crazy idea, but an idea got tossed around to drive south and hit every river on the way. It was a joke at first i'm sure, but the more we talked about it the more feasible the whole trip seemed until it became set in stone.



We decided that in order to make this trip economically feasible we couldn't spend a lot of money. It had to be carefully organized if this was to even be remotly possible. The three of us are gainfully employed as raft guides in the sumer and ski insructors/patrollers in the winter. These a great jobs for having fun, but not great at providing much extra cash flow. We decided early that we needed a vehicle that could double as a place to sleep, and the obvious choice was a school bus. We tossed around the idea of trying to convert a diesel bus into biodiesel to cut fuel costs, but it just wasn't to be. Instead we found a great deal on a gas bus that we just aqcuired.




This purchase has forced us to go through with our crazy idea. We haven't decided on a name for our pretty lady who will escort us south, but don't worry we will. The bus needs some modifications such as a roof rack, sleeping facilities, and various other living components. This is a lot of work, but we have time. We are planning on staying in Colorado for the upcoming boating season which looks promising, and venturing into Central America in the fall. The ultimate goal is to hit the Futalefu in Febuary or March, and to hit every river on the way down. We hope to fill this blog with the stories and pictures from our trip. Not much will happen here until we get rolling, but we'll occaisionally update it with pics of the bus's transformation and of the CO boating season.