Riding to Patagonia

[ducpainter]

Thanks guys.  If it were up to me, the trip would never end.  Although Colombia is a making a helluva case for settling down (sorry DarkMonster  ).

Did you fall in love?

[1.21GW]

Did you fall in love?

Daily.   

[koko64]

 

[DuciD03]

You're getting pretty good at this writing shit.

  !

(the language out of some administrators!)

... and the pics are the s_it too!

 

[DuciD03]

Daily.  

... and you haven't even made Brazil yet, need pics of Brz rumps at beach there too.

Have an old Canadian irish friend in Salvador Bahia Brazil; I can give you an email address; he's a bit of an eccentric professor type but loves to drink beer eat and is entertaining.

Your comment about people getting there stuff stolen in Columbia is even more a problem in Brazil as you may have heard; your the rich white nort americano walking wallet of a months rent and food. Also will not hesitate to get violent if your not cooperating guns can be had easily by whoever; cops are corrupt - avoid them. I was there 3 weeks 15 yrs ago and was one of the few who didn't loose much; others were not so fortunate. My sixth sense saved us a couple of times; then just plain luck others. Drivers are laid back quirky nutty unpredictable.  People loved when I tried to speak protégées; very proud people who are happy with who they are and to be Brazilian. your going through Brazil right? ... cant imagine doing what your doing. Very cool  adventurous.

 

oh and the Dakar rally....The route of the 2017 Dakar preserves rally-raid traditions, with a physical challenge that will push the competitors into the world of extreme endurance....lol

With the addition of Paraguay, the Dakar will visit the 29th country in its history, the 5th on the South American continent. Then the rally will head for its longest stay so far in Bolivia and more specifically the capital city of La Paz. Argentina, which has been a part of every edition since 2009, will be the theatre for the final battle decided in Buenos Aires.


THE DAKAR 2018 ROUTE WILL BE RELEASED THE 22nd OF MARCH... ARE YOU ready? oh this diserves a  ...

Update: 25 Mar 17

Dakar 2018 Route: Peru, Bolivia and Argentina
40th edition, 10th edition in South America, the Dakar will reacquaint itself with the Pacific Ocean and the Peruvian dunes, which the riders and drivers will tackle after several days in the capital, Lima. The race will continue in Bolivia, where the rest day will take place in a supercharged atmosphere in La Paz and will finish in Argentina, Córdoba, which will host the finish of the Dakar for the first time.

http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2018/us/route.html

[ab]

cool Renault picture there.

I am going to def read this thread.

Enjoy  and Be safe!

[ungeheuer]

I do believe 1.21GW should get someone to publish and promote this adventure.  Fantastic writing and photos!

+1

[ducpainter]

Did you fall in love?

Daily.   

Soooo...did one stick?

Where are you?

[DarkMonster620]

He still in Colombia, I text via Whatsapp with him when he has good wifi basically .  .  .

[1.21GW]

Yeah yeah yeah.  There are just so many distractions here.   But seeing as one of those distractions just left yesterday to go home to Bogotá, I'm free to update a little bit.  


After Cabo de la Vela, I rode 1100km south towards Bogotá, stopping in various towns and parks along the way over the following week.

A short distance east of Aguachica is a small national park called Estoraques, named for an endemic species of tree that is no longer found in the park.   The park's main attraction, however, are the towers of brownstone formed by millennia of wind and flood erosion.  In truth, they look more like lumpy towers of wet sand plopped in a vertical pile that my nephews make at the beach.  Wandering through them is a fun experience, and a lot like exploring some elfish settlement of Lord of the Rings or other fantasy world.  Even the way there is an adventures, as the road from Aguachica follows the mountains, which turn a mere 40km as-the-crow-flies into 86km of spaghetti twisties.





















Continuing south past the regional capital of Bucaramango you run into Chicamocha Canyon, as enormous and impressive as the Grand Canyon or Copper Canyon or Sumidero Canyon or any other canyon carving up the Continental Divide.  The road hugs the cliffside, offering uninterrupted views that can be dangerously distracting.  Someone had the brilliant idea to place a waterpark at one open vista, complete with lounge chairs and a full cash bar for the adults.










Now, stare at that last picture and just imagine sitting there with your kids happily off swimming in the park and you with glass of rum in hand and nothing to look at but the undeniable majesty of nature.  Disneyland and Six Flags ain't got nothing on this place.

[1.21GW]

The roads through Santander (a Department, akin to a state or province) from Canyon Chicamocha were fun little asphalt scribbles amid the hills.  So much of Santander looks like Tuscany: rolling hills, winding roads, stone walls separating the property lines of various whitewashed villas, each capped with red-tiled roofs.  I was heading to Barichara, a small colonial village on a hilltop that overlooks the surrounding countryside.  As I neared the village, my Garmin led me off the main road and onto some ruddy farm roads that, under different weather conditions, would be impassable bogs of clay.  As it were, they were dry enough that I thought I'd give it a try and I ended up with a nice ride through the farmlands.

There isn't much to say about Barichara except it is beautiful and tranquil and the people were warm and it proved to be my favorite pueblo in all of Latin America to this point.  If I lived in Colombia, I'd own a vacation apartment in Barichara.




























Here is the view from the north edge of town.  Below is a path (Camino de Real) that passes through the farms to a tiny village called Guane.  It's a wonderfully peaceful hike and worth it if you have the time: follow the Camino to Guane, have breakfast and explore the village, then catch a $0.75 15min bus ride back to Barichara.








About 15km south is the city of San Gil, a outdoor mecca where adventure companies will take you bungee jumping, canyoning, rappelling, whitewater rafting, and a dozen other extreme activities.  I opted for the rafting, and found myself paddling desperately through Class III - V rapids for the first time in my life.

Here's footage from the guide's GoPro when we entered the last hard section of strong rapids.   I'm in the front right of the raft, and was not as fortunate as the people in the back who popped back up after the flip.  After a good 15 seconds of tumbling underwater getting intimate with the river's submerged boulders, I came up under the raft (luckily, there were air pockets).  I sucked in a deep breath and then swam  out from under and was able to get dragged like a rag doll through the rest of that mess.  I had river taste in my mouth for a week.







My next stop was Guadalupe, yet another colonial village in the hills of Santander.  Except for the central square and its beautiful church, the town was unremarkable at least by standards of Colombian colonial hillside villages.  But the real attraction to Guadalupe are natural pools formed in the base rock of a nearby river.  The hike there is spectacular, as you follow a stone path through green fields of cattle and stray horses, all with a backdrop of cloud covered Andean peaks.  The pools themselves are around 2m in diameter and 2-3m deep: in the final picture below the blond guy is vertical and his feet are not touching the bottom of that pool.  Water trickles down the surface of the rock and into the pools, offering a meditative white noise to drown out the outside world.  It was the perfect place to recover from my San Gil adventure.

[1.21GW]

I eventually reached Bogota, where I met up with my sister for a few days.  Not many pictures of the city, but we did take day trips.  One such trip was to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, a cathedral carved in the walls of a former salt mine.  The mine is still active but access is from other veins, leaving the cathedral as both a tourist attraction and an unsanctioned catholic church with regular Sunday services.















After a week in Bogota, I headed to Medellin, a two-day ride through the northern Andes.  Just outside of Medellin is Guatapé, a small village with an enormous rock that overlooks the surrounding landscape.  The rock (El Peñon de Guatapé) is a 200m high inselberg that overlooks eastern Antioquia, where a man-made lake spreads its waters like jade capillaries throughout the surrounding hills.  A corset stitch of stairs leads you zig-zagging up to the top and its panoramic feast.  With heavy afternoon showers, the vista was particularly electrifying.  In contrast, the nearby hamlet of Guatapé is more intimate and contained.  Its streets bloom with a bouquet of colorful buildings, each painted in its own funky palette.

[duccarlos]

Did you get a chance to visit Monserrate church while you were in Bogota?

[ducpainter]

Are you ever coming back?

It's just a question...

[Monsterlover]

Amazing as always