Monthly Archives: July 2018

Our Welcome to Ecuador and Quito.

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July 12, 2018 – July 17, 2018

We had been a bit anxious about crossing the border from Colombia into Ecuador.  We had read that there could be line ups of thousands of Venezuelan refugees at the border, having walked, hitch hiked, and stowed away on vehicles across Colombia, hoping to land somewhere where they could restart their lives.  We had read accounts of it taking 8 or 10 hours to get across the border….a small inconvenience for us in light of what the Venezuelans are facing, but a daunting prospect, none the less.

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Our First Roadside Breakdown, a Lovely Refugio and a Church Across a Gorge.

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July 8, 2018 – July 12, 2018

We were heading up a hill, when suddenly Derek took his foot off of the gas and the truck responded, instantly slowing to a crawl.  I looked at Derek, I looked to the road immediately ahead, and then back at Derek.  There was no animal, no debris, no tope in the road.  “What’s up?”, I asked.  “I have no steering”, Derek said.

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Tierradentro, San Agustin and Popayan

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July 2, 2018 – July 8, 2018

Tierradentro, meaning “inner land”, is known for its underground tombs built by a civilization that was at its height from about 600 – 900 AD.  Little is known about the people who built the tombs and many of the sites were subject to looting before the area became protected.  This part of Colombia was rarely visited by tourists for many years due to guerrilla activity and poor roads, however it is now considered quite safe to visit.

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The Back Road to Ibague and the Tatacoa Desert.

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June 29, 2018 – July 2,2018

We got on the road about 8 or 9 am for the long slow drive along the back country roads from Salento to Ibague.  We knew what the first 20 kilometres of so were going to be like, as we had ridden down it on a bike the day before with Doug and Lindsey, but we were excited to see what else the day would bring.

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Wax Palms

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June 29, 2018 – June 30, 2018

The next day the four of us were up early for a bike tour…some, if not all, with a bit of brain fog from the celebrations of the previous night.  We jumped in the box of a pickup truck and were driven out of town for about an hour, the fresh, crisp mountain air helping to clear away the cobwebs.

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Hot Springs and World Cup Soccer

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June 25, 2018 – June 28, 2018

The drive to Salento (about 267 km) was going to take us 6.75 hours, according to Google Maps. We started the long drive, single lane most of the way, and were sharing the road with many trucks. On top of that, there was a lot of road construction to repair damage done by land slides (it has been a very wet year for most of Colombia). We could see that we were not going to make Salento before dark (we do everything we can to avoid driving at night on this trip, one of our few self imposed rules). iOverlander showed a free spot in a rest area above the town of Perreira and it turned out to be great; clean washrooms, fairly quiet after it got dark and an amazing view.

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Sante Fe de Antioquia

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June 20, 2018 – June 22, 2018

Since we had survived the drive through Bogota, why not drive through the second largest city in Colombia, Medellin! We made our way through the city, then through a 4 kilometre tunnel, and wound our way slowly to the north west of the city to a small colonial town called Sante Fe de Antioquia. There we camped for a couple of nights at Los Cabanas de Pino, where there was a very nice swimming pool!

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Lago Guatape

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June 18, 2018 – June 20, 2018

Lago Guatape is a reservoir to the west of Medellin and is a weekend getaway for Colombians. The little town of Guatape is charming, almost every building sporting zocalos (painted decorative panels). In addition, there is the Piedre del Penol, a huge monolith that you can climb to see the views of the surrounding islands and water.

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Finca Los Pinos, San Francisco

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June 16, 2018 – Jun 18, 2018

We had decided a few weeks ago that we were not going to visit the capital city of Bogota. It is huge and cities are difficult with the truck, and if we were to find a hostel to stay in for a few nights we would need to find a safe place to stash the vehicle. As it turns out, we ended up driving through the city twice, through our failed attempt to visit San Jose de Guaviare.

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