Hi to all our friends around the world as we continue our life on the road.
We arrived in Colombia from Ecuador on the 6th April 2014. Lonely Planet once again wrote that the border area was all very dodgy but as usual they were completely wrong because in fact the whole border area was so easy going to pass through.
It was a lovely ride from Tulcan, being the last town before the border then onto Ipiales which we liked. set on a ridge at least 2000 metres. Alas no photos only videos.
Colombia is a large country of 45 million. It is so sad that it has had such bad press over the years so without going there one would think only of rebels and guerilla warfare, well as that was the case in some areas, and to a lesser extent still is, it is not a dangerous country unless of course if you flaunt your rolex or diamond neckless, both of which will never be our problem. The people were a mix of very friendly and not so but isn't that the case anywhere.
A few days in and we arrive in Cali which is the world famous home to Salsa dancing, not that we saw any but it was a nicely organised city by South American standards. Funnily enough our highlight was meeting some English speaking firemen as we were passing their station (estación de bomberos) where they joked and showed off their range of new appliances which were newly fitted out Kenworths and Macks from the USA. They were very impressive and leaves anything we had ever seen previously, for dead.
We cycled over 1200kms from south to north but we did take a couple of buses where the topography and metres above sea level were simply too rugged and hard going for us to attempt. The endless down 500 metres then up another is not what we call fun. We did start from Ibague however after a few days there and a side trip up to Bogota. What a huge city Bogota is and very modern in parts but very scruffy in others. It was Easter so it was dead other than a new sprawling modern shopping centre. It was just nice to be amongst something new, clean and with lots of western food just for a change.
We then took off for Honda which attracted us for its name however it has a fascinating history being the last port of call along the Magdalena river which runs from the Andes, of course, to the Caribbean coast way up north. The river boats brought imported goods and materials down from the Caribbean to Honda, on barges, then were taken by mules way up to what was to become the capital Bogota. No mean feat. So of course many people became very wealthy trading out of Honda. There were many large old Colonial houses, one of which we stayed in complete with open air lounge and kitchen and a large swimming pool for our enjoyment.
Onwards up north now past many roadside towns and villages and some reasonable sized cities. It is this type of journey that reveals the real country as it not touristy at all as anyone backpacking Colombia would simply bypass all of these places and probably head for the coast or national parks, that is however not our style of journey and we can't do everything. There were however no shortages of Hostels and Hotels and usually at around 20,000 to 40,000 pesos so £6 to £12 maximum unlike the big cities and coast where prices are at least double and triple those prices. We're not exactly talking 5 star by the way.
So to try and keep a long story short we did manage to get to the coast after a month or so, under our own steam, but is was hot and humid all the way and little did we know that the roads would be full of large Kenworths either pulling containers of goods or tankers loaded with Colombian petrol or oil for export via the coast. Luckily we had some new motorways to cycle on which presently were not available to motorized vehicles and when there were none of those there was generally a small shoulder to cycle on and luckily quite a lot of tree cover. We did have to start out at 6am and cycle until 2pm at the latest as the heat and humidity was just so intense. We would end up in some town and spend at least two hours finding a sort of suitable place to stay, sometimes horrible and sometimes great. The local food in these towns however was not to our liking. Rice and chicken or rice, spagetti and potatoes, nothing like a few carbs, what!
We finally arrived in Santa Marta where we headed for the coast a funky little hostel called Casablanca where the manager was Hungarian/Romanian who did a deal for 50,000 a night including all meals. His meals were fantastic as he loves cooking so it was a good deal for all of us and it was nice to speak English again after so long in the countryside.
The time to go was up, after a week there and visiting some surrounding beaches for our daily outings. So we headed for Tolu and bypassed Cartagena at this stage. We had set up a deal with an apartment in Tolu on a monthly basis and upon arrival we felt we were finally home, whatever that means for us but the fact we did not have to move for at least a couple of months probably is the definition of home for us. It was tastefully furnished with everything we wanted especialy good WiFi.
Well Tolu is not on your international hit list and is frequented mainly by Colombians on holiday but it does have a population of nearly 30,000 and comprises mainly of people of African descent along with Colombians which I guess one could say are not really indigenous but rather a mix of European and South American.
We actually liked Tolu and we had a few supermarkets and an ATM machine and many other shops. The bicycle taxis were quite unique and not found anywhere else. We did go swimming in the sea just two blocks from our apartment. We were lucky to have our son Leon visit us for two weeks which was when the budget went flying out the window and we went to Cartagena and stayed in a backpacking hostel for few days after meeting Leon at the airport and we did rent a luxury apartment for few days 10kms from Tolu where we had the most incredible pool with views of that and the Caribbean so that and amongst day trips to the tropical islands one hour by speed boat and days at resort places on the beaches, it was just fantastic. Now we head up to Cartagena again and take a 120 foot scooner of 1903 vintage, to Panama via the San Blas Islands for a 5 day voyage starting the 19th of September 2014.
The photos tell the story really, most recent first so scroll down to view.
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The Video Slideshows of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia at approx. 7mins (in Full HD) are here: Morrisonlifedotcom
Description of the Photos are below.....
