We spent almost three days in Puyo, but now we are back in Baños de Agua Santa. Tomorrow we’ll finally take off towards Cuenca, following the Pan-Am Highway.

Just right after taking these awesome shots something happened to our Love Bug.

Domi couldn’t shift properly anymore. First he thought it is a broken clutch cable.

But afterwards he had to find out that it was the return spring which was broken.

It was frustrating, because at that time we were in the middle of the “jungle”.

Normally those springs never brake, Domi said. We were obviously the exception.

Domi drove without a clutch all the way to Puyo in the first and second gear.

There we got to a mechanic named Angel, who was so kind to help us out.

Domi removed the engine and we ordered the suitable replacement kit for the spring.

The spare parts were coming from Ambato, so we had to wait. But finally we got them.

We want to thank José from the “Latin Volks” in Quito who ordered the parts we needed and “maestro” Angel from Puyo for his help, his patience and his hospitality!

Yesterday we arrived in Baños de Agua Santa, also known as the “Gateway to the Amazon”. The Love Bug took a rest from those unpaved roads within the Cotopaxi National Park. Today we’ll pass Riobamba in order to reach the city Cuenca.

Tomorrow we’ll leave Quito continuing to follow the Pan-American Highway towards Peru. Herbie and we really enjoyed staying in Ecuador’s capital for a little while.

The Love Bug cannot wait to drive further on up the road heading South.

We already got a ton of invitations by VW Bug fans all across South America.

Meanwhile we took a brake from the “Panamericana”, having coca tea among others.

We loved strolling around Quito’s downtown observing the little things in daily life.

Especially the churches are definitely worth visiting. They are all different but beautiful.

The streets are comparatively clean and the city seems to be pretty safe too.

Number 53 is still waiting for departure. Tomorrow we’ll finally hit the road again.

Our next destination is the Cotopaxi National Park, a volcano south of Quito.

Here you can get some impressions of San Francisco de Quito’s historic center.

While we’re spending time in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, we’re staying at a perfect spot. Our hotel is located directly in the old center and the views from our room at the third floor are stunning. Also the people at the “Grand Hotel” are very, very nice.

The elevation of Quito, Ecuador’s capital, is 9,200 feet (or 2,800 meters), making Quito the second-highest capital in the world, after La Paz, Bolivia. Yesterday’s evening we took a ride together with our air-cooled VW Beetle friends, the “Catso Club” and its “Latin Volks”, to “Virgen de El Panecillo”, the major monument of Quito’s hills. And as we promised this before: “San Francisco de Quito, we love you!”

We got invited to the weekly meeting of Quito’s “Catso Club”. Although it was a rainy Saturday, about thirty Bugs found their way to the gathering. Also a team of a national television station was there and interviewed Domi about our tour. Thanks to José from the “Latin Volks” and Alberto, our host, we got the chance to find new friends!

Last night we received the sad message that our dear friend Austin passed away.

The first time we met Austin was at a café in Los Angeles in 2010. From our first conversation on, a deep friendship developed since then. Although Austin had to go through countless difficulties in life, he was always caring, sensitive and had a strong will to live. Austin remains as one of the most inspiring persons of our lives.

Herbie is following with us the Pan-American Highway through Colombia. It is amazing to watch all the different landscapes. Yesterday we passed Medellin and tomorrow we’ll get very close to the border of Ecuador. There ain’t no road too long for Herbie!

Below every topic you can find a button to share our story with your social network such as Facebook and Twitter. It just takes one click to share Herbie’s World Tour!

Although we don’t have social networks like these, we welcome you to share our ride on “34 Horses Around The Globe” with your friends.

The Pan-American Highway or rather “Panamericana” is the longest drivable road on earth, measuring about 29,800 miles (or 47,960 kilometers) in its total length.

We have already driven its roads within the USA, Mexico and all Central American countries. Now we are cruising the South American section of the “Panamericana”.

Colombia’s Pan-American Highway is getting more and more scenic as we’re heading further South. And we are yet very excited to explore Colombia’s Andes.

We finally left Cartagena of the Indies heading southwards. Herbie’s doing well again. Everything is working! He enjoys following the great Pan-American Highway.

Yesterday we were driving along Highway No. 90 and 25 towards Medellin.

We spent the night at a motel just outside of of a bigger town called Sincelejo.

Today we’ll be heading further South towards Medellin. In just a couple days we’ll cross the border to Ecuador – a country which Domi already visited in the year 2004.

We got it done! After “wasting” eleven days in Cartagena because of a huge electrical problem caused by one of the jacks on the ship, Herbie is back on the road again!

Domi had to take out several parts within the engine bay a third but very last time today. He installed the new generator, regulator and electronic ignition.

On February 8, we came to Colombia. First we had to wait for Herbie’s vessel which was more than two weeks delayed. Later on we spent eleven more days for the repairs.

On the port we got introduced to “the best automotive electrician in Cartagena”, they said. He’ll get us back on the road on the very same day, they promised.

Finally it took him eleven to locate, repair and exchange the broken parts, even though Domi did most of the work by removing the old parts and installing the new ones.

Everyday we had to go through countless difficulties, but by the sweat of our brows we coped with all of them. And finally we got him back. Herbie lives and can move on.

At this point we want to say thank all of you for your moral support and helpful advises. And special thanks to our dear friends Friedrich, Andreas and Florian from Europe!

Now we’re hoping that Herbie’s ocean carrier will make amends for what he and we were going through. They should pay at least for all the repairs and expenses. We’ll let you know if the shipping company was willing to compensate for our loss.

Actually we were told that it is impossible to get a generator (dynamo) in Colombia, but we finally got a new one today. At last we can install both parts tomorrow morning.

It was really a nightmare that came true for us the last weeks. We had to go through a very, very stressful time, but we always tried to believe in a solution.

If everything works out well tomorrow we’ll be truly happy to leave Cartagena. Domi has to dismantle all parts a very last time in order to replace the generator and regulator.

A thrilling day is coming up! We’ll hopefully receive the new alternator today and Domi is able do the whole conversion from generator to alternator. Therefore he sought for last hints and contacted his dear friends from Europe – Andi, Flo and Friedrich.

Andi lives in Bavaria, Flo was attending a class at his university in Vienna, Friedrich stays at a hospital in Burgenland and we are in Colombia. We were all connected via internet chatting about the conversion and other air-cooled VW stuff.

Today we had to find out that the repairs on Herbie’s original generator, made by our “mechanic”, the managing automotive electrician of Cartagena’s port, were useless. The dynamo still has an accidental ground short, caused by the fire which was created by the switched-on ignition. So we wanted to order another dynamo, but as there was no chance to get an old fashioned dynamo or rather generator (current flow) in Colombia, we had to order an alternator (alternating current), which we should receive by tomorrow evening, because this spare part is again coming from Bogota. Although an alternator is not the original style, we would be simply happy if Herbie rides again!

We spent another day at the repair shop. Our “mechanic” came up with two used regulators from Barranquilla but both of them were not working. We immediately ordered a brand new one from Bogota, the capital of Colombia. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll hopefully receive the new regulator. Additionally there is still the dynamo which is not working properly. One week is over and Herbie is not reanimated yet. But we hope that we’ll be back on the road very soon and that our ocean carrier will atone for what we’re going through. However we are also very sorry not to be able to post photos with Herbie exploring South America yet.

It seems to get a never ending story. We already spent one week going through a lot of nerve-wracking times. But there is hope in sight, because the automotive electrician who has been trying to fix all damages in cooperation with Domi, told us, that he’ll receive a new regulator tomorrow morning. We’ll let you know if everything worked out. If so, we can go on with following the Pan-American Highway across South America.

People like Andreas Schülein from Sugenheim, Germany, write about about our journey of “34 Ponys around the Globe”. Andi found us on the internet and got in touch with us.

By clicking the picture you can visit Andi’s personal website about his passion for old air-cooled VWs. It is called “Rage Against The Water Machine”. At this juncture we want to say thank you to Andi and all the others who are following Herbie’s World Tour!

After so many delays of the vessel we were so happy to see Herbie, our No. 53, again! But since that we’re going through a martyrdom. Domi had to take dynamo out of the engine two times. Finally we got it fixed but there is still one thing missing – a new regulator. Because of the weekend we have to wait until late Monday to receive the new one. We had to order it from Barranquilla, another city on the Caribbean coast of the Atlantic further up Northeast. Hopefully everything will work out and we’ll be able to leave Cartagena on Tuesday.

It’s getting really frustrating! Herbie is not fixed yet because there is still one part missing. Everything was perfect until our Love Bug got on his vessel heading South.

Today Domi installed again all “repaired” parts and it seemed to be working but the regulator we bought was obviously broken because it didn’t regulate the voltage.

Below you can see a picture of the “new” (electric) regulator we bought. The problem is that it has not told the dynamo not to produce more than fourteen volts.

A regulator is meant to be the one who is telling the generator what to do, but in our case the dynamo was putting out up to eighteen Volts. Now we have to get another regulator. It is very hard to find VW spare parts in Colombia – especially in Cartagena.

As we told you before, an unknown person hurt Herbie a lot, while he was on his ship going from Veracruz, Mexico, to Cartagena of the Indies in Colombia.

That person not only broke his lid lock, he also tried to open the front hood, turned on the windshield wipers, the ignition and other electric consumers and left them all on.

He left all of those features on and caused a huge damage. The generator and the regulator got grilled. Here you can see photos. Imagine how that must feel!

We spent again the whole day trying to fix all of these damages. Domi even had to take all the necessary parts within the engine bay apart because we found another problem.

Such regulators normally last forever, except somebody is trying to make barbecue with it. Hopefully we can fix everything by tomorrow in order to hit the road again.

Nonetheless it was all in all a pretty nerve-wracking and very cost-intensive day for us. After that we’ll get in touch with our ocean carrier and ask for redress.

Today we went together to the port again where we parked Herbie yesterday after we found out that somebody on the ship caused a fatal electric problem.

That person turned on the ignition, the windshield wipers and the interior light and left Herbie simply alone – on his cruise across the open sea to South America.

As a consequence of this the electricity heated parts as the dynamo up which created at least a short within the coil of it. Herbie’s power house got hit!

The customer service at the harbor told us that they will get a specialist who will take care of this problem. After six hours of waiting the port leading electrician finally arrived.

As Herbie’s dynamo wasn’t able to charge the battery anymore the automotive electrician installed one of his big batteries he carried with him. So we could take off.

At his shop Domi had to take a lot of parts within the engine bay apart in order to get out the generator. But it took Domi all together just about ten minutes to do that.

We are in Colombia – people still repair things instead of replacing whole parts. And it seemed to be too hard for them to get a new or suitable used generator.

So we were told that somebody will replace just the coil by spooling new copper wires. Tomorrow we’ll get back to the shop and hopefully Herbie will be fine again.

As soon as we are back on the road again, Herbie will be following with us the Pan-American Highway towards Chile. We are certain, that Herbie will ride again!

We woke up very early today, because Domi had to get to the appointment with a custom executive for getting the vehicle inspected. There he was, Herbie our Love Bug!

Domi spent three hours with Herbie waiting for the inspector but he didn’t show up. So it was time for a personal check. Domi was shocked and sad at the same time!

Okay, dirt and rust might be common, but we think it is not necessary to damage a car in a way somebody did. One of the headlights got hurt and the lid lock was broken.

And the worst thing Domi discovered was, that somebody obviously left the ignition on and caused not just an empty battery but also a tricky electric problem in the back.

Domi was going through a “nightmare” from six o’clock in the morning until sunset. But he finally got Herbie out of the port, although we still have to fix all the destruction.

Herbie himself is sitting now right in front of the port entrance waiting for Domi to come and having some “plastic surgery” after he got hurt by careless human beings.