Blowing a tire in search of safe camping

Arriving Sant Agustin, a town in the Andes Mountains of western Colombia, just before dusk we were in search of a place to camp before visiting the archeological sight the next day. This is a former guerilla infested area of the country and it´s wise to play it safe. Through Google Maps we located a potential campground close to the archeological park and we were on our way following a narrow dirt road. In a section of the road, the right back wheel of the vehicle touched a stone which ripped a large hole in the tire. And within seconds we had a flat tire. As far as I can recall, it is the first time I blow a tire in this manner driving the Land Cruiser. Since it was getting dark, there was no time to lose and after securing the vehicle, we quickly got to work jacking up the truck, unscrewing the spare wheel and quickly removing the deflated wheel. It was quickly done, and I was thankful for all the preparation we´d done. Not least the aluminum plate I had made for this purpose to place between the jack and the soft ground. Without this, the whole operation would have been much more complicated, if not impossible – not least in a dark Colombian jungle.

Eventually the incident just seemed to prove the value of good preparation. We safely arrived at our campsite a short time afterwards.

Next day, we got the damaged tire glued and patched up and it now serves as our spare tire.