On Monday I received an unexpected and wonderful letter and gift that brightened my day.

A reader named Kerry sent me a box. Inside the box was a letter, some postcards, and a CJ-3B ‘yipao’ toy from Colombia. The letter explained that Kerry, who lives in Wisconsin, had visited Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia. While there he discovered some garages that only serviced jeeps; so he began taking photos to share with all of us (sadly, the photos were later lost).

A local man approached Kerry and asked him what he was doing. Kerry responded, telling him that he was taking pics for eWillys. Upon hearing that, the Colombian smiled. He said he reads eWillys every day.

Realizing they had eWillys in common, the Colombian gave Kerry a tour of the area. At the end of it, the Colombian asked Kerry to transport the toy jeep to the US and mail it to me.

So who was this mysterious Colombian? He said he did not want to be named or photographed, which only adds to the mystery of the tale. 

A big thanks to Kerry for everything and to my unknown Colombia benefactor; I home I can repay the kindness some day!

In the meantime Kerry, you should watch for a thank you package….

The three postcards:

This first postcard contains several images of the market and plaza in Santurario, Risaralda, Colombia. I most definitely want to visit Colombia, but I’m not sure if I would enjoy the jeeps, the coffee, the people or the markets the most!

Lest you think there are only CJ-3Bs in Colombia, check out these round-fendered jeeps from what I believe is the same square as shown above. They look to be either CJ-6s or a variant of them:

PHOTO CREDIT: https://nomadicniko.com/2019/06/14/plaza-de-mercado-santuario/

This second postcard celebrates the Coffee axis (perhaps best described here):

On the back of this card is a mysterious note jotted by D.B. Cooper ….

This third postcard shows one of the jeeps at the Parque National-del Cafe (which recently installed a jeep-looking roller coaster):