We had a lot of questions about these three things before we left.  Our camper is fully contained meaning it has a shower and two sinks that drain into a grey water tank and a toilet that drains into a black water tank.  Our water tank holds 35 gallons.

Water

Water has been very easy to get.  Every gas station in Colombia had water and and every parquedearo we stayed at had water.  One time we could not get close enough to connect our hose so we used 5 liter jugs to fill up the tank.  The water in Colombia smelled like chlorine but we do not use it for cooking or drinking.  Mark puts bleach in the tank when we fill up and the water is only used for dishes, showers and the toilet.

Dumping the Black & Grey Water

This was the issue we worried about most.  How would we dump?  Having six kids makes having a toilet WONDERFUL.  We read a lot about dumping into toilets using a bucket (ewwww) and we read about “jungle dumping” (eewww).  Turns out that it has been easier than in the US.  Every place we went to had a sewer system.  We asked in places – do you know where we could dump?  And every time, there was an easy and sanitary answer.  Here in Otavalo, the parquedearo has a sewer with a manhole cover and they lifted it up.  Buses also need to dump, many have bathrooms.  The bus station was a good place too.  And so far, dumping and water has all been free!

Propane

We had to leave our tanks in Florida and we bought new ones in Colombia.  The new tanks are 30lbs so they are bigger.  We have not yet ran out of propane.  The propane is for the fridge, the stove, the water heater and the camper heater which we have not yet needed to use.

Leave a Reply