Welcome to South America

“His thing was amphetamines, crawling through thickets, and killing wild boar with a knife”

I first set foot in South America at the Bogotá Airport. I came in on a $60 Avianca flight from Miami.

I knew nothing about the continent. We never studied it in school and the Simcoe Library had just one book on the subject … mostly about snakes and Indians in Brazil.

As I was walking to the Arrivals area, I could hear a female voice calling out “Toby” and “Senor Toby.” It seemed so odd to me that there would be someone else on the plane named Toby.

When I came into the arrivals lounge, a dark-haired girl in a white dress was waving at me and calling out my name.

I was like a deer in the head lights. I looked behind me and then did the classic, pointing at myself.

She obviously knew who I was. She climbed over the rope barricade and was hugging me, and kissing me on the cheek.

I had no idea who she was!!

I was completely dumbfounded! and at a loss for words … in English or Spanish … although I do remember saying “Hola”.

The crowd in the arrival lounge were enjoying the show … I remember one lady smiling and clapping.

This girl who seemed to know me so well then took me by the hand and led me through the airport to her car.

How could I possibly be friends with someone in South America who seemed to know me so well I’d never been here before; I knew nothing about the place; I’d only been in the country a few minutes!!

And I was really looking forward to finding out what was going on!!

To back up a bit on how I got down there:

It was January. I was home in Canada, restless and not very happy. Travelling before was always to go to something; this time it was to get away from something.

I had travelled 40 countries to date, and had always wanted to go to South America.

It was cold travelling south; sometimes hitching; sometimes “riding the hound” (taking the Greyhound).

My last ride to Miami was in a truck running the tracks of the Florida East Coast Railroad.

This guy was far beyond a Florida Cracker; his thing was amphetamines, crawling through thickets, and killing wild boar with a knife.

He also worked for the railroad. Today was his day off, but for my benefit he drove out on the tracks and jacked the steel rail wheels down.

Once he reached the speed he wanted, we climbed up on the roof, and he lit a joint.

Things were fine heading south for half an hour or so. Then we saw a white light ahead maybe 2 miles down the tracks.

He yelled, “Get your ass down here!” and by the time I climbed back inside we were driving backwards 70 miles an hour. It was impossible to close the passenger door.

After furiously jacking up the steel wheels at the first road, we stayed off the tracks for the rest of the ride.

At Miami, I asked for the cheapest ticket to South America. That was the weekly flight to Bogata.

I was surprised; I thought Columbia was the furthest away country. Like I said, we never studied South America in school.

It was three days in the airport waiting for departure.

My seat mate was a Columbian businessman who invited me to look him up when I was downtown.

And now, here I was, with a very good-looking girl in a white dress, walking through the airport.

When we hopped in the car, I realized that the man behind the wheel was her dad, the Colombian businessman from the plane.

I HAD BEEN PRANKED!!

They took me to their home. I had a wonderful week or so staying with the family and their maid “Crazy Horse.” They then got me out on the road with a security job, riding on the roof of a truck heading south.

What a great way to kick off six months travelling in South America!!