[10/04/2024 – 17/04/2024[

Intro

The last hours with Manuela have arrived, which basically means two things for me. First, sadness, as our time together comes to an end, for most likely another 7 months, until I finally get home. Second, Stefan and I need to go to Bogota to put our bikes and ourselves on a plane to Panama. But in order to do so we need them back first. As easy as it has been in Mendoza to get them serviced, it was much more hassle in Colombia. Maybe because more stuff needed to be done (e.g. drive train change) or maybe because the shop we chose did not have any experience with the T7 or I don´t know. One thing after another.
The reason we had to go back on contrary to our initial plans to leave Colombia via Cartagena, is the fact that we only found one company that would have shipped our bikes, and the price rivaled the one we got to ship our bikes from Hamburg to Valparaiso. So in the end we decided to go with Overland Embassy with the “downside” of going back from the north of Colombia to Bogota.

Wednesday: Cartagena

The last hours together were used to take one last stroll through Cartagena´s old town, one last (very) late second breakfast and somehow deal with the feelings such a farewell brings with it. Especially as it was the second one in a rather short time. We as well opted for getting to the airport very early as the online check in did not work as expected. It was sorted very quickly at the airport and after a very short farewell Manuela vanished behind the security check in.
This meant back to business at hand, and as the shop was rather uncommunicative we decided to visit the shop and see what´s what. It was an easy 10km to the shop from the airport, so we walked. In hindsight that may not have been the best idea, as we did pass through a quarter were I did feel quite uncomfortable but oh well, we reached the shop without any incident.
At the shop the bikes were basically in pieces, chains only partially replaced, and both Stefan and myself were almost shocked. Almost because we did expect something like that, but expecting and seeing are still two totally different things. The route we had mapped out to Bogota were about 1100km and we wanted to do them in four days, so that we can have at least one full day in Bogota (while being there anyway). And seeing our bikes in that state we were not overly positive, to ride about 300 km the next day. Anyway we left them a sixpack of beer and they promised that the next day at 10:00 am we can get our bikes.

Thursday: Cartagena – Cerete

Packing and getting all our stuff to the shop, instead of just riding bestowed a busy morning upon us. At the shop – we reached there at 11:00, as our Uber driver gave us an unwanted sightseeing tour of Cartagena´s port area – the bikes were built up again, but checking the pre-air filter, we noticed that they used our replacement filters, without oiling them, so we had to put in the old ones again. After checking the BOM and the bill and payed we started riding at about 12:00. Stefan was not in a happy mood, not at all, mine myself was not at an all time high. Farewell and the unknown state of the quality of work on the motorcycles did not help at all. On top of that i did not fully check the lights of the bike, so five kilometers later I noticed that my left front signal light did not work. Luckily it was just a forgotten connection which was easily fixed, but again not really helping with the confidence in the work. Especially since they took from Friday midday dropoff till Wednesday night. (Let´s see how the next one will be)
On that day we managed to get to Cerete, which is something like 250km away from Cartagena. Accomodations were cheap, and that is all there is to say about the accomodations. Roadside BBQ was really good though.
In Cerete our bikes drew quite an attention, with people wanting to know where we are from, where we are going and how ewe like Colombia.

Friday: Cerete – Santa Rosa de Osos

As it is custom, there was no breakfast at the accommodation, and the mood (at least Stefan´s) got damped right at the beginning of the day as the coffee was pre-sweetend. And one thing that he does not like is sugar in his coffee. Well the ruta 25 that day was pretty nice to ride and we did cover quite a lot of it during that day. The coffee issue got solved at our first roadside stop, where they had proper black one. And a little later Stefan even got a picture of termite hills, he previously did not get. So all being well the road slowly started to climb up high the mountains, towards Medellin. We spent the night in Santa Rosa de Osos about 80km before Medellin, located at ~2700m I welcomed the temperature change to something below 20°C and a lot less humidity. Stefan on the other hand was not that happy about the sudden drop. Both the temperature change as well as the height changes seem to affect his body much more then mine. Since my little fever episode down at the ocean, I am fully recovered, and it seems like I even got accustomed to the high and humid climate, still hate the being sweaty wet all the time. We did plan our next stop, as quite frankly the 380 some kilometers that were left ´till Bogota did not give us much to think about, rather do we do it in one go or two. And after a little discussion we opted for Honda as our last stop before Bogota. The girlz brought it up as something that might be worth visiting during our conjunct time together, but logistically it was impossible. For the both of us at this time, it was basically on the way.

Saturday: Santa Rosa de Osos – Honda

Breakfast is the most important meal for the day, or so the saying goes. And after seeing Stefan enjoying the one in Santa Rosa, I quite do get that saying. Obviously i do prefer my coffee without sugar, but I can deal with the sugar thing much better then Stefan and before I have no coffee I even drink Nescafe, which is the worst coffee there is. City traffic at Bello and the outskirts of Medellin was actually ok when we reached there. We even crossed paths with a route we have taken before around Guatape and all in all it was a short enjoyable trip towards Honda. Honda itself is a lovely little town at Rio Magdalena. And it was hot and humid again, quite the change to the end of yesterday. Our host spoke very good German, which he learned when he studied sustainable tourism in Germany in the ´80s – well ahead of the times as it seems. And he took a keen interest in our endeavor.
This evening we experienced our first widespread power outtage, and as we were sitting on a terrace with a view over the valley, it was quite strange seeing everything becoming dark, but then again not as dark as one might imagine. There were still lights everywhere thanks to batteries and generators I assume.

Sunday: Honda – Bogota

With only 125km to go, we had a late start and a long breakfast. And the first 30km where quite a delight, almost no traffic, bendy road up a mountain, what more to ask for. Most of the rest was still bendy but a lot more traffic which then ended in metropolis traffic until we reached our accomodation. We ended the day with a quick walk through the historic part of Bogota and only that little impression let us realize that it was a good that our travel plans took us there, we would have missed something worth seeing. I mean you always miss something worth seeing, that is just the nature of travelling. In short Bogota was well spent time before getting our bikes and ourselves packed up and onto a plane to Panama.

Monday: Bogota

One day of sightseeing, first the historic center of Bogota with a lovely cafe around midday and then a rather long walk through the city towards one shopping area. The thing about shopping while away from home is, you see people with really cool outfits, outfits that are close to your style, but it is really hard to find the stores, where one might find something similar. This time in Bogota in terms of shopping the long walk was a bust, but seeing a different side of Bogota compared to the historic center, well worth it.
And then there was the packing, What do we need for the two nights before we get our bikes and the rest of our gear back, do we get the motorcycle clothes and shoes stowed away. What to wear for the ride to the airport. Oh and there was the getting up at 04:00am the next morning as we needed to be at the airport at 07:00am. The last Colombian dinner was totally unexpected. We went back to the place we had coffee in the morning and accross that place was restaurant that was a bit different. After looking at the menu, and seeing a more spiritual take on food, we were shortly before leaving but stayed anyway, wise decision, the drinks and food were absolutely mindblowing. Afterwards we stopped for a last Club Colombia at that little nondescript bar, which turned out to be a rock bar, and just what we needed that evening. Oh yes and the music video of one of the most iconic drumsets in history – Phil Collins – In the air tonight. And with that we concluded the evening.

Tuesday: Bogota – Panama City

Alright, getting up at four in the morning is bad, but not sleeping and when sleeping dreaming up strange shit is the greatest. So it was almost a relief when the alarm went of. Coffee, some breakfast and a proper shower later we packed the bikes and left for the airport at 06:15am. Good time. Being German we reached at 06:50am, where our handler already waited for us. And behold 5 hours later we were on our way from the cargo area to the passenger area. hmpf All we had to do in the meantime was wait, help the police to inspect bikes and luggage, and sign three papers. Well anyway all was done and we headed of to catch our flight. And once boarded and taxiing there was the “this is your captain speaking” well in the end we had an hour delay, but as we did not need to catch any other plane, that was not an issue. And Panama immigration and customs was as quick as the time we entered Colombia, felt like 5 minutes.

Our bikes were in Panama as well so yeah Southamerica for this trip is history and we are in Central America. Strange feeling being there and for at least another day without our bikes. But we jumped the Darien. We took the easy and hassle free way of doing so, but there is still plenty of room for excitement.

This concludes week #20 of our trip along the Panamerican Highway
till next time
Happy Hacking everyone