Colombia!

The freight process of flying our bikes into Colombia is always long winded, but the process is eased by our excellent freight agent. As a result the riders land early in the morning and by the afternoon we are riding away from the airport to Autogermana BMW who have their whole team standing by to service the bikes.

We have a few free days to explore Bogota. As the capital of Colombia Bogota’s reputation as a dangerous city is overshadowed by that of Medellin. But two term president Alvaro Uribe instigated huge reforms and the security situation improved dramatically under his tenure. As a result the group are surprised by how welcoming, friendly and peaceful Bogota is. The city, indeed the whole country, has a strong Police and Army presence and there is still sporadically trouble but this is far less than it is past. Zona Rosa is the heart of the cities bars and restaurants. Formerly the home of a certain other sort of entertainment the “pink zone” was where the ladies of Bogota’s night plied their trade. Now it is upmarket shops and some great restaurants.

The bikes are all serviced in double quick time and after only three nights in Bogota we are riding away on a quiet Sunday morning heading north for Medellin. Medellin is the second city of Colombia and home to our friends at Ruta 40 BMW who are helping us with tyre changes. It was also the former home to the infamous Medellin Cartel. A number of the group ride the Teleferico to Santa Domingo which soars above the barrios of the city. When you see the maze of alleys and walkways, houses and shacks it is easy to see how the cartel flourished. The chance of an income, even if illegal, and little chance of being ever found or traced in the barrios must have been tempting to many.

Medellin is also home to the Foundation Botero and to many of Botero’s sculptures which are on display in the museum and also in the Plaza named for him. If you are British, much of it is reminiscent of Beryl Cook’s paintings of fat ladies, but maybe that’s just because I am a philistine!

With new tyres we are off from Medellin to the coffee growing heart of Colombia. We are staying on a little Coffee Finca with rooms and the opportunity to go zip lining through the canopy. For half the group this is a must do activity. For the other half the opposite! Colombia is already providing plenty of excitement and great scenery without having to hang 70 metres above it.

The roads in Colombia are some of the very best. Miles and miles of mountain twists and turns through lush green tropical vegetation. Some of the scenery looks like it has been invented by Tolkien for Lord of the Rings with almost implausibly rounded rolling hills pressing against each other, and sheer impenetrable mountain sides dressed in green foliage. If you glimpsed a hobbit being chased by black riders it wouldn’t be that surprising! The roads change from smooth grippy tarmac to gravel and mud and back in an instant. The roads are chopped into the mountain sides and the bases are not solid enough to withstand the traffic. At regular intervals the road has disappeared down the mountain and gravel and mud have been used to fill in the gaps. It is certainly a good way to keep you on your toes and also to keep your speed down.

In fact Peter has suggested that we should adopt Latin American road quality at home. He feels the conditions would reduce speeds and accidents significantly, and he is probably right.

As we ride on we drop from the coffee growing mountains for a day onto the plains which is sugar territory. You can smell the sugar from the bike. You also need to keep your wits about you when you meet a “cane train” The sugar cane is harvested and loaded into mammoth trailers, which are then coupled together in trains of 5 or more behind a truck. If the first trailer hits a pothole it shimmies down the line and the last trailer drifts around 4 or 5 feet left and right. To pass you need plenty of power and space. We spend a couple more nights in Colombia enjoying the hospitality and are soon riding for the Ecuadorian border.

The border crossing is another long and busy one. It is made even more challenging as our support driver is initially refused exit from Colombia. He has a bike on board as one of the riders had a minor fall and the bike needs some attention in Quito. Two minutes later another rider finds his battery is dead and the bike will not start. Then one rider cannot find their Colombian Temporary Vehicle Permit. One of the bits of paper that we have said “Don’t lose under any circumstances” It has the feeling that it could be about to become one of those days! However it all gets resolved, through 1) Negotiation 2) A local “fee” 3) A push start. I’ll let you work out which of these resolved which of the problems.

The ride down to Quito takes us across the Equator. For all but four of the group this is a first land crossing of the Equator. From here on all the waypoints start with S for South not N for North. We have passed the middle of the world and the middle day of our trip was in Bogota, so we are definitely now is the second half of the ride.

So here we are in Quito exploring this fantastic city which was one of the first two places to be named a Unesco World Heritage Site, enjoying the coffee and the idyllic surroundings of our little hotel. Another coffee I think….