Over 5,000 feet below me, the Rio Urique was as blue as the line on my map. It wound through the canyon with banks flanked by patches of sand and tropical green. The grey stone faces of the higher elevations were framed by the darker hues of coniferous forrest. I could hear the wind winding through the towering buttes and pinnacles as it chased the day’s fading light. From my vantage point the canyon was stillness and peace, but below me the water of the Urique continued to grind and carve at the Barrancas del Cobre, Mexico bedrock.
“?Que es esto?’”, commanded a voice from behind me.
I turned to face 2 militar poking through my Series III Land Rover, Eore. On the dirt road ahead, two disinterested men shouldering FAL pattern rifles, the right arm of the free world, leaned against a khaki green Dodge pick-up. These stops are routine in Mexico; they are looking for Los guns y los drogas.
“Oh that, the gringos have sent me to destroy all the juana (marijuana) - 3 gallons at a time.”
I pumped the handle on the top of my 3 gallon Ace pesticide spray bottle "poly" and squirted it into my mouth. “It’s just water - agua.” I did not get a smile. Instead, the soldier shook his head and waived this smart-ass gringo on his way.
This was not the first time I had been questioned about my spray bottle shower. It has raised the suspicions of the police, border control, and military in Canada, USA, Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. True, no eyebrows would be raised over a plumbed water tank through a heat exchanger, a hanging solar shower, or wet-wipes for "busman" trouble area rubs. But - I have had the opportunity to use each of these - and the pesticide bottle is my preference.
A great bit of kit I first read about on the Land Rover Owner's Mailing list…
