A year in Haiti

barnstormer

Wanderer
I'm about to head out for a year (give or take) in Haiti, helping to run a hospital in the rural mountains. I thought I'd start a thread here, as a big part of what I'll be doing is traveling around the country, on terrible (if not non-existent) roads, pretty regular deep stream/river crossings, etc... My idea is to record the adventure-y aspects of the trip, as well as a "what really works out in the developing world" kind of log.

At the moment I've got a P38 Range Rover (please don't flame the truck, it's what I've got, and it has had a coil spring conversion, among other good reliability-oriented mods), a diesel Land Cruiser Troopie, and 3 6x6 M35A2 Deuces.

To give you an idea of a normal day there....

IMG_3968.JPG


More to come as the year progresses!
 

XJINTX

Explorer
Sounds like a nice adventure and a GOOD thing you are doing!!!

I assume you are a Dr. or Administrator? Maybe just a humanitarian...

Best of luck with the endeavor and please keep us posted!!!!
 

barnstormer

Wanderer
I'll be working as a facility director, of sorts. The hospital itself is all off-grid (because there is no grid!), so we produce all our electricity, water, etc.. on site. Most of what I'll be doing is making sure the lights are on and the water is pure, but with lots of other projects both at the hospital and elsewhere. It's kind of a jack-of-all-trades sort of job, ranging from wrench turning to lab work and ......?


Here's a couple of the trucks. I do love them.

812801259_gf6QJ-L.jpg
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
I wish you luck - that looks to be an awsome way to spend your year
giving to the comunity , having fun

and gaining

I'm sure some valuable life experiences !
 

mountainsoul

Adventurer
That sounds like it will be a rewarding endeavor. Please keep us informed of how things are going with the rebuilding over there. It sure went all quiet in the media very quickly.
 

Ford Prefect

Expedition Leader
So that list of trucks. Are those the ones that you will have when you get there, or the ones you are leaving behind here in the States?

Got to love a guy from Ft. Fun. Went to CSU myself, great place, great people. Miss that town for sure.

Hey if you need someone to work for you, let me know, I need a job, and would love the adventure!
 

barnstormer

Wanderer
Those are the trucks that I'll be using and caring for in Haiti. We use the M35's to move big stuff around, because the roads are so bad. Most of the roads average about 15mph to get most anywhere.


And yes, Fort Collins is a great place to live. I've been here for about 20yrs, (since college), and still love living here.
 

barnstormer

Wanderer
Well, I got all the way to the hospital here in Thomassique, Haiti. Probably the biggest day of mud, river crossings, and generally nutty driving that I've done. Gotta love the M35. Never got stuck, just plowed on.
Bumper deep on the deuce is deep water.

Had a great trip. I'll probably get sick of having to do it a couple times a week, but it's an adventure already. Is it still an adventure when there's internet at the end of the day.


More pics and such to follow.
 

Ford Prefect

Expedition Leader
Sounds Awesome!

Hey if you need someone to work for you, I can be on a plane in 24hrs! (Sorry, color me jealous of your trip! Sounds like a really neat thing you are doing there!)

Would love to see photos of your experience there...

Cheers
Brian
 

barnstormer

Wanderer
Headed down to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic a few days ago to retrieve our Land Cruiser. Getting home is an adventure. Only got stuck once!

1041725914_ZZJU4-O.jpg



This isn't a great pic, but you can see that one of the spans of this bridge has fallen into the river (quite swollen from rains). Apparently it failed as a large truck was driving across- the flatbed of the truck (with some logs and dirt) is now the bridge. I figured if it supported our M35 ahead of us, it would support us.

1041725775_oEMwo-O.jpg



Yup, got stuck again. Good thing the M35 didn't, he just backed up a bit, hooked up a chain, and we got out. I didn't even get my feet muddy!

1041726631_Zks3c-O.jpg


Stopped at one of the many smaller stream crossings (sadly, didn't get any pics of the big one, maybe 700' across and bumper deep)
It looks like the M35 is stuck, but the guys just stopped there to rinse off some of the mud from the truck

1041725893_Dzymt-O.jpg


My co-worker, Emily. She's a rock star, but can't drive a stick. I think I'll teach her on the m35.

1041725892_fDPbw-O.jpg


It may be a challenge to live down here, but at least it has it's pretty moments!

1041725923_7aZtq-O.jpg
 

taco2go

Explorer
That bovine based recovery picture in the first post would make a nice submission for the calendar. :smiley_drive:
 

defrag4

Road Warrior
nice my friend, i spent 3 months working in the mountains outside of cape haiti, it is a beautiful and still enchanted country
 

barnstormer

Wanderer
I don't have any new pics to show how epically bad the roads get here after a hurricane (really bad).
I know this won't come as a surprise to many here, but I am consistently impressed with the ability of a bone stock FJZ78. 16x7.5 tires, open diffs, and the thing just goes and goes. The non-turbo motor has amazing grunt. I sure wish I could buy one of these in the USA.
 

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