Couple in antique car live dream in Belize
If you’ve seen a strange old fashioned car plying the streets of Belize City that looks like it came off the set of the “Untouchables”, don’t worry, it’s not being driven by Al Capone. But the antique automobile did arouse the interest of News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams, who wound up with a lot more than a free ride.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
People don’t usually get the chance to live their dreams. However, this Argentinean couple, Herman and Candelaria Zapp is living proof that some dreams do come true. They decided over a decade ago to take the road less travelled.
Herman Zapp
“We started in Argentina, then we go to Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador. In Ecuador, we rebuild a boat and we got down with the car inside to boat to Mannaus, Brazil, there to Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, back to Colombia. From Colombia we took a boat to go to Panama, all of Central America to here in Belize.”
In Belize, after one year and eight months of travelling, and the odyssey does not end here as they go on to Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A.
It was the timing of this dream, however, that made this thirty-something couple all the more determined to pursue it. The plan was hatched in childhood.
Herman Zapp
“When she was fourteen we became boyfriends. For ten years we were boyfriends, we got married for eight years, always dreaming about of this dream, always wondering what about the dream, what about the dream. One day we just said, “Stop! Stop that, no more lies, let’s do the adventure trip that we wanted.”
The adventure trip that they wanted involved backpacks, walking and hiking, or so they thought.
Herman Zapp
“We were always thinking about doing backpacking. And suddenly someone said “Hey I got an antique car I want to sell.” I said we were not looking for a car, we’re gonna make long trip. When I saw it, man I loved it, I fall in love. So I said, “Candelaria please, please” and she said okay. But it wasn’t for the trip, it was a big opportunity and in amazing condition. So later we were two months away from the trip, we said, what if we go with the car? And the car came with us.”
All the way to the old capital where I took it out for a test-drive.
Ann-Marie Williams
“Drive around Belize City on any given day and you’ll find lot of late model vehicles on the road, but how many Belizeans can actually say that they’ve driven a 1928 Graham-Paige?”
This six-cylinder antique car is named “Grandpa”. Herman says he bought the American vehicle dirt-cheap from a man who wanted to sell it and knew nothing of its value.
Ann-Marie Williams
“How many times have you broken down?”
Herman Zapp
“Never. He never broke down, never left us on the road. He never even got a flat tire! It was amazing, it’s with us and taking care of us all the time. People said, “What if someone was going to steal it?” No one stole it. “What if it break down on the street and you have to leave Candelaria on the road to look for someone to help?” That never happened.”
And even love stories have their challenges. The couple ran out of money in a strange country. However, they soon put their skills to work.
Candelaria Zapp
“I start to pain watercolours, all the birds of the American continent, and he start to make the frame and we started to sell it. All the people helped us by buying our paintings and so we said why don’t we write a book and the name of the book is “Dream and Culture” because this is a dream what we are doing.”
And these are snapshots taken along the way–vivid reminders that dreams can come true. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
The couple will be leaving Belize for Mexico this weekend.
