By ANN Correspondent Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien

Omar Contreras is one of those guys you just like the instant you see him. Full of fun, energy and humour, Omar could put a grin on the face of the crotchety old guy - you know, the one that had that all the kids in the neighbourhood terrified.

Omar was last seen flying a trike on the Blue Expedition which took him around the Caribbean and to a number of US states in 2002. (See www.bluexpedition.com for information in Spanish or English). So when he showed up at Sun-n-Fun this year, he had to be up to something interesting - and you had to ask him what it was pretty quickly before he bounced off in a new direction.

Omar Contreras Contreras, trained as an architect, had his first flight in a hang glider in1981. By the end of the year he was an instructor.

Since then, he's amassed thousands of hours in many different types of aircraft, acquiring a number of records and firsts, and has now found a niche using the trike as a skyfaring publicity tool for worthy causes from tourism to ecological awareness.

Omar's new project is Volando el Sur (Flying the South), which is a flight around South America - again, in a trike. He and copilot Alex Popow have been underway since February, starting in their home of Isla de Margarita, Venezuela, and flying counterclockwise around the South American continent. They took a break in Guyaquil, Ecuador, this week, to fly to Sun-n-Fun to promote their venture.

What will they be visiting this trip? A graphic on their website spells it out in numbers:

• 11,000 miles
• 4 months
• 13 Countries
• 101 Cities

The purpose of the flight is to bring attention to South America, and to promote environmental causes, especially Omar's personal crusade, preservation of the endangered condor.

I had to ask Omar and Alex why they were doing this. Alex deferred to Omar, who had - as usual - an instant response.

"Because life is short! Do it now!" he said, and charged off to put his own advice into action.

FMI: http://www.volandoelsur.com/en/