So, I went on my yearly vacation/Vanagon maintenance trip to Placencia
Belize this year and just got back yesterday.  We were driving around my
friend's 87 silver Wolfsburg the entire two weeks we were down there but I
didn't see any other VW vans except for a later model LT in Belmopan until
the very last day.  We were leaving in the resort shuttle van (Toyota Hi
Ace) and were passed by a later model Vanagon Westy coming up the Placenica
road.  It was dark brown or maybe gray in color and had a large roof rack
on the top with a bunch of stuff on it.  I am sure it was someone doing the
Central America/South America tour thing that is getting more and more
popular as the roads are getting better and better each year.  Just didn't
know if anyone knew who this might be?  I don't follow all of the blogs out
there but maybe some of you do.  The worst part was that I wasn't driving
the Vanagon for once so we couldn't at least wave to each other and have it
mean something.

Drove the 87 from Placenica over to Belmopan (capital) and back one day to
meet a friend and get the van registration renewed.  For a year the
insurance was $150 and the registration was $100 (US dollars).  The funny
part was that we went to the main DMV of the country in the capital city
and there was only a couple of people in there getting vehicle things done
and one lone government official along with some office girls.  We got the
van registration renewal paid for and the girl tells us that they have no
windshield stickers.  They are just out, but come back in a month to get
one!  Imagine your local DMV being so low on people and also not having the
one thing that you actually need from them in the first place, a new
registration sticker!  They have one job!  But I got a receipt that I can
show a policeman and to be honest the van will probably sit until the next
time I come down next year and drive it since the owner comes down once
every two years on average.

Hope you enjoyed this story and if you get a chance to visit Belize I
highly recommend it.  If you see a silver Vanagon Wolfsburg and it is the
last week of January, first week of February, that will be me :-)

--
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com