Stepping Through the Looking Glass Arrival at La Paz

I looked out the window of my plane as it winged its way over the snow-capped Andean Mountains. It was nearly 7:00 pm and the setting sun had begun to cast a surrealistic glow upon the rugged landscape below. I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of awe that left me feeling small and rather insignificant. The Andean Mountains offer some of the highest peaks in the world and would no doubt serve as an amazingly spectacular backdrop for our adventure. In fact, our trip called for passing over one peak at roughly 17,000 feet! I began to wonder, "what would it be like riding an ATV over these majestic mountains? How cold would it be? Would breathing be difficult?"

Walter Nosiglia, who owns Nosiglia Sport (the local ATV and motorcycle dealership), and his friend Ricardo Sarmiento Ardaya met me at the airport. As we wound our way through the crowded streets of La Paz we were met with a cacophony of sights and sounds for which I was totally unprepared. People thronged the streets everywhere. La Paz is a City thriving with history and diverse culture. I was especially intrigued with the traditional garb worn by many of the older Bolivian women whose clothing was comprised of a longish poncho-like cape and a dervish Sombrero hat. I was overwhelmed with the feeling I had stepped through the looking glass and left the only world I knew behind.

Walter and Ricardo checked me into the Radisson hotel in downtown La Paz. The following morning I hooked up with my buddy Steve Casper, from Dirt Wheels Magazine. I also met Fred, Lance and Charles - three Americans who were participating on the Caravana this year. We spent the morning on a tour of La Paz and in the afternoon arrived at Nosiglia Sport to pick up our quads. It was here that I had the pleasure of meeting Art Sandoval, Manager of Export Marketing for Kawasaki's Corporate Planning Division. Art was the only American who spoke fluent Spanish and I quickly came to depend heavily upon him as a translator. Unfortunately, he was only to join us on the first few days of the trip. Art also introduced Juan Carlos, the founder and promoter of the Caravana.

We were instructed to ride the quads back to the hotel to meet for dinner and orientation. I located my Kawasaki Prairie 400 and discovered it had a rather ingenious looking rear-mounted auxiliary gas tank! A shutoff valve in the fuel line enabled me to choose between the factory and auxiliary tank. Surprisingly, the auxiliary tank was hand-fabricated locally from two Freon cylinders welded-together! The front rack had been modified with footrests extending down the back of the front fenders. The footrests reminded me of a scene from the movie "Easy Rider," and I envisioned myself cruising down the highway with feet comfortably planted on the front fenders! A beefy winch mounted up front along with a pair of auxiliary lights, hand guards, rack extensions and rack bags made for one really sweet setup. Relieved my quad had been well prepared, I was totally pumped and ready to ride!

A few minutes later I was blasting down a city street (legal riding in Bolivia) towards the hotel. Bolivia has few traffic lights and at each intersection cars careened within a couple feet of my fenders. The only rule appeared to be that whoever survived the intersection won. My adrenalin was flowing like water by the time I reached the hotel.