After our tour of waterfalls, lakes, and hot springs in Northern Ecuador, Mark, Maya, and I checked out one more campground, a potential refuge for me when my husband left for the US. We enjoyed the company of Fernando and Evelyn and the center of Puembo, so kept it as an option.
Camped on Fernando’s property in Puembo – I don’t mind staying here for 2.5 weeks during Mark’s absence
Doggie cuddles
Cute façade in Puembo
Lunch with Fernando, Evelyn, and daughter S.
A tight squeeze to enter and exit the property – we did scrape the metal gate on the driver’s side due to the the slope of the driveway…
As a matter of fact, our two-day trip into Quito was squeezed between “skinny” campground stays. I wanted to get my bearings at Hostal Colibri, which sounded promising in iOverlander at only 10 minutes from the aeropuerto. But this meant planes landed over our heads, similar to our Point Loma experience on a three-month house sit stint in San Diego, California. Because of that fact – and the price – we ruled this option out!
Parked on the soccer field in this tight and small “overlanding” place – we’d have to move over the weekend.
Landing plane above our heads
Conversations cease each time a plane lands nearby
First glimpse of another snow-covered volcano, near Quito
Hostal Colibri also has a very narrow driveway, with low-hanging branches and wires…
No way, Mark and I were going to take our “massive” truck camper Thirsty Bella into the center of Quito. Instead, we stored it at a campground under construction, with an amazing view over the city. We paid $8 to leave our home on wheels there, safe and sound. Staying here as campers would set us back way too much money ($10 per person, officially), so we didn’t even consider it.
More view over Quito from Andy’s place
View over Quito from Andy’s place
Taking a cab into the historic center
Why Quito?
There was no doubt that we wanted to visit the historical center of Quito one day, without driving there. When we learned that our motorcycle friends Katherine and Brandon were leaving their vehicles near the border in Colombia and flying out of Ecuador’s capital for a summer stint in the US, the deal was sealed. We would spend their last two nights on the continent together and split an Airbnb.
Four friends reunited at the Airbnb in Quito
Our Airbnb
Well, what can I say? Mark and I did try to find a more modest apartment to rent for those two nights, but they were either more expensive or in an undesirable location. So, we ended up with an entire, 170-year-old house with three floors, funky layout and colors, and ample space. One of Ecuador’s presidents lived here in the 1930s. Once we didn’t get lost anymore, we enjoyed the rooms and courtyards.
Entrance and hallway of this ex-hotel
Cute courtyard
Our Airbnb with three floors
Living area near one of the bedrooms
One of the two bedrooms we had access to
Easy to get lost
Dining room
View over the historic center of Quito from the Airbnb – towards Panecillo Hill
On May 4th (an easy one to remember), Mark, Maya, and I crossed the border from Colombia into Ecuador; a non-event that took about two hours and was much more relaxed than any Central American crossing we remember from 2006. Our visa stamp allows us to stay for 90 days.
Welcome to Ecuador!
Getting our entry stamp was easy and fast; the temporary car importation paperwork took about an hour to retrieve.
Northern Ecuador Sights
Tulcán
Our first stop – after shopping for groceries and being pleasantly surprised to see dumpsters everywhere – was the topiary garden of the Tulcán cemetery. That first day in Ecuador, we also managed to get a SIM card and buy data and non-sweet bread, before settling at a great little spot by a pond.
(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Our first stop in Ecuador
Cool designs
It was a joy to walk around in the garden
The garden had a lot of alleyways
Enjoying the “plant statues”
San Gabriel
Laguna El Salado
If you’ve been reading my previous blog posts, it won’t come as a surprise that Colombia wore us out. Despite being enamored by its cute towns, beautiful scenery, and extremely friendly (and curious) people, the country is still rough around the edges and quite busy and loud. So when we stumbled across our first free boondocking (wild camping) spot and discovered it was quiet and attractive, we stayed for almost a week, catching up on sleep, work, and walks with Maya.
Camped by Laguna El Salado, which does not have salt water
Nice weather and quiet days
In Ecuador, people are curious to learn more about our lifestyle as well.
El Centro
Coming from Colombia, which has heaps of colorful, historic pueblos (towns), we knew not to expect much architectural eye candy in Ecuador. The center of San Gabriel was alright – tiendas (stores) and panaderias (bakeries) abound – and we learned that prime street parking spots (marked with blue lines) come with a fee.
The center of San Gabriel
Main plaza
Colorful church in the city center
Cascada de Paluz
Some locals had told us about this off-the-beaten-track waterfall, so we decided to check it out. After following a potholed dirt road for fifteen minutes, we reached this well-maintained and pretty park. The waterfall was impressive and overlooked by elves!
Colombia has two southern land borders with Ecuador. Mark, Maya, and I drove to the western one via a detour called El Trampolin de La Muerte (Trampoline of Death road). Why? Mainly because we really wanted to visit Santuario de Las Lajas near the other border in Southwest Colombia. We’d seen photos of this impressive church straddling a deep ravine; an image straight out of a fairytale.
Mark, Liesbet, and Maya in front of Santuario de Las Lajas
After passing through the Mocoa road block, we could have easily continued to the eastern border and leave the country. We briefly considered it, when being stuck at a landslide before even entering the Trampoline. But that one cleared up in “no time,” so we could stick to our initial plan.
Trampoline of Death road
Location El Puerto, Pasto, Las Lajas
El Puerto
On the other side of the Trampoline of Death, we decided to stop for two nights in El Puerto. Also called “Little Switzerland” or “The Venice of Colombia,” it is the lakeside neighborhood of the town El Encano. A blog about this destination on our friends Susan and John’s site Latitude Adjustment encouraged me to add it to our itinerary.
(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Dirty car after the wet gravel road that is the Trampoline of Death
Bouncing on this dirt road messed up the contents of our cabinets.
We have learned to be careful when opening cabinets after a rough trip.
Lot of rain made for a wet and muddy environment
Waking up to our camper being “circled” by a meeting of boat drivers
Road along which we were parked
Because of all the rain, however, the canals were a deep brown, and because of it being a long weekend, the hamlet was incredibly busy. While located at Laguna de La Cocha, good public lake access or views were missing in El Puerto. We enjoyed our strolls with Maya, the colors and cuteness of the buildings, and the setting, but it felt weird to be in a place solely geared towards tourism. Where were the panaderias (bakeries)? Or the produce stalls? Or the friendly locals living in typical Colombian pueblos?
Brown canals
Tourist spot
The cow décor was popular in Colombia – for vendors in cars as well as stores
It’s easy to see why this town is called “Little Switzerland.”
The only view we found of the lagoon in town
The road out of town was flooded on the day we left.
El Trampolin de La Muerte (the Trampoline of Death) in Southern Colombia connects the city of Mocoa with the town of San Francisco.
From Mocoa to San Francisco
Trampoline of Death road
Before we even reached this notorious route, we had to deal with bad roads, crazy drivers, more landslides…
(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Heavy load
The small bags on the sides of the car contain live chickens
Many potholes
Being passed before a curve is common practice in Colombia.
Roadwork – “siga” means “go”
Congested area
Landslide 1
Landslide 2
Landslide 3
…and one other giant obstacle: a road block with miles of backed-up traffic that had been there for days.
Backed-up traffic in Mocoa
Walking the multiple-mile line of traffic, mostly semi trucks
The truck drivers have been here a while…
A bus had to get towed
After waiting in a fuel station for five hours, one of the protesters took pity on us and guided us through the blockade. It was a slightly unnerving but peaceful experience.
San Agustin in Southern Colombia seems to be on the list of every visitor. We marked it way back as a top destination as well as another archeological site in Tierradentro, but gave up on the second, “underground” part when hearing reports of recent criminal activity in that region.
San Agustin in Colombia
Location San Agustin
We reached San Agustin in the middle of April, after a two-day drive from the Tatacoa Desert.
(Click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Beautiful view of the Magdalena River along the way to San Agustin
We’ve often driven through rows of trees like this in Colombia
Snacks I bought from vendors on these long rides – tiny grapes and two kinds of nuts. The “cheese sticks” were a gift from a Colombian family also waiting in line for another landslide cleanup.
The town itself doesn’t have much to offer. We might be spoiled with all the cute and colorful pueblos we encountered north of here.
It was still nice to walk to town from our free camping spot, shop for produce at the market or Ara grocery store, go out for a couple of meals, and watch the scene from a park bench. The main reason we spent a handful of days here was to do online work.
Despite its famed high temperatures, Mark and I were looking forward to visiting the Tatacoa Desert after leaving Bogota. This off-road adventure promised to bring us peace, beauty, and remoteness. The only problem: our recently punctured and fixed tire. Would it hold up on the bumpy, challenging roads?
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Toll booth heading south
Construction
Police check
No way to go by this truck in town
Narrow, dirt roads and oncoming traffic
Heading towards the desert on narrow roads – luckily, it was quiet
Getting to the start of the desert loop was exciting in itself. After a couple of toll roads, road construction delays, another landslide hold-up, a police checkup, a small town, and narrow dirt roads, Thirsty Bella had to cross a narrow, 100-year-old railroad bridge and traverse two windy, one-way tunnels where opposing traffic was not visible. We kept our fingers crossed when entering these dark, water-filled passageways and, once inside, honked and flickered our headlights for good measure. We made it okay! It took us an entire day to drive from Silvania to Tatacoa.
A dark hole!
Inside the tunnel
Popping out on the other side
Tricky plates on the old bridge
View of the river – they are often muddy in Colombia
Ready to cross the old railroad bridge
Continuing our trip towards the desert
Crossing a few rivers in the process
This desert area in Colombia is relatively small, yet, we hoped to stay a handful of days because we craved peace, solitude, and relaxation.
The drive from the Cocora Valley to the nation’s capital was long. We had an early start but due to road, traffic, and weather conditions, we didn’t arrive in Cota until 6:30pm. We hate driving in the dark, especially when rain is present, but sometimes there is no choice. We needed to reach a decent stop for the night. Mark finished our trip slowly and carefully and I kept my teeth clenched.
Approaching Bogota and Cota after dusk
The day started out okay, with toll roads that actually were worth paying for and tons of amazing tunnels through the mountains. They depicted animal names with pictures, so we learned a thing or two. La Linea is the longest tunnel in the Americas. And there were donkeys!
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
La Linea (The Line) is the longest tunnel in the Americas!
A straight road through the mountains
Donkeys on the toll highway in one of the tunnels!
At least we know now what these signs mean…
As the hours and the scenery passed by, we reached the congested suburbs with deteriorating roads. We had to top up our propane tank, so that was a rush against the clock as the place closed at 5pm. We made it but were surprised to find this business in an industrial area with crowded, potholed, dirt roads. When we left with a full tank, the attendant asked if we wanted to take a puppy. They had one on their property and didn’t know what to do with it. We declined, heart-broken, as we listened to the yelps of the pup.
Church in Cota
Cota
The reason we decided to base ourselves in Cota, a “suburb” northwest of Bogota, was because we knew a helpful Colombian there, Juan from Overland Sally, who’d be able to assist with whatever we required. We had some projects to take care of, one of which was building a wooden platform to raise our camper a bit (after Bella’s overhang in the front banged onto the truck’s cab roof when driving down a bumpy hill one day).
After two chilly nights of camping near Volcano Nevado del Ruiz at 13,000ft (4,000m)), it felt nice to arrive at a lower altitude again. Filandia is located at 6,500ft (2,000m) with pleasant temperatures but Salento and the Cocora Valley had us back at 8,000ft (2,400m) with consistent dreary weather.
Coffee Region in Colombia
Coffee Region, Colombia
Filandia
While Filandia is busy with Colombian visitors over the weekends, it is not so much on the gringo trail. Yet. It’s a cute, colorful, and vibrant town with plenty of places to eat and drink; good coffee being prominent in the local and westernized cafés.
The weekends are much busier than the weekdays
Mark and I parked Thirsty Bella along a quiet street next to the soccer field. Since we were there over the weekend, we were treated to a game. The good thing: we could watch from the comfort of our bed. The bad thing: a plastic horn seller found an enthusiastic crowd buying him out!
In the middle of March, our trio decided to head south and then east from Jerico, high into the mountains, to visit natural hot springs… The road was long, windy, and not without obstacles, but our biggest disappointment was arriving at our camping spot in the rain, with no visibility.
(Hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
A windy road climbing up, up, up
As often, mountain roads in Colombia aren’t great…
Lots of construction areas
Delays and cleared-up landslides
And, where there are mountains, there is rain!
But we woke up with this: blue skies and a view of our surroundings.
Imagine our surprise when we spotted this snow-covered volcano on our early morning walk with Maya.
We had to do a double-take!
At 7am and at an elevation of over 13,000 ft (4,000m), it was cold!
The flora was interesting as well.
I was enamored by all the flowers that bloomed at this altitude.
Flowering plant
These little flowers had frost on them
We couldn’t get enough of this view – Can you see Thirsty Bella?
The other side of the valley. Clouds started to roll in again.
Maya had to pose with the volcano and our camper in the background.
My favorite shot of Maya running on the path – she didn’t seem out of breath!
After our morning walk and breakfast, we drove to El Sifon hot springs. It wasn’t even 9am yet and the volcano was already covered by clouds, with fog starting to roll in. But the first few miles were still photogenic, with lots of waterfalls along the road.
We saw many waterfalls on our drive to the hot springs, even further up the mountain.
The weather was still nice this early, but the volcano was already shrouded by clouds.
Well above the tree line…
And then the clouds, mist, and rain arrived – for the rest of the day!
Parking area for the walk down to the hot springs
Where is the trail?
We managed to find a dirt road at some point and descended about 1,000ft towards the river and the natural hot springs.
We had the area to ourselves!
Hot river
It was a pity that the sun didn’t reach down here.
We scanned the steaming river for the best place to take a dip.
We found our spot: under the two waterfalls was a small pool.
This was a very scenic area, despite the steam.
Maya was not allowed in the hot water (our rules).
Maya behaved well and patiently waited on dry ground.
After our soak – the contrast between the water and air temperature was huge!
One last shot of El Sifon hot springs!
Then, the walk back up was inevitable. It took forever, since the air was thin and we needed to stop often to catch our breath, especially me.
Back at the parking lot, life went on as always.
On our second morning, I encouraged Mark to take a photo of me and my book, Plunge, in front of the volcano…
That’s when we noticed a slight change in the appearance of Nevado del Ruiz…
Most of the snow had melted and it was spewing steam!
The photos underneath were taken around the same time, early in the morning, two days in a row. Do you notice the difference in the volcano’s appearance?
Our camper looks tiny in this immense landscape.
Can you see the difference between the two moods of the volcano!
Mark took this fabulous shot.
Mark, Maya, and I came here in our truck camper Thirsty Bella to check out the hot springs and we received these spectacular views as a bonus! It was one of the quietest places we camped in Colombia. We did have to leave after two nights, though, because it was difficult to sleep and breathe at 13,000ft (4,000m) altitude and the condensation inside the camper was so bad that water kept dripping down from the ceiling!
(A week later, people from the surrounding villages had to be evacuated because of the heightened risk of a volcanic eruption and access to this area became restricted. Until now, nothing dangerous has happened. Read a CNN article here.)
360-degree view on our morning walks with Maya
Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics with dogs, check out my compelling, inspiring, and refreshingly honest travel memoir:
Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary
All three towns have been declared pueblos patrimonios in Colombia (because they stand out for their cultural heritage) and are worth a visit. Medellin is centrally located for attractive day or weekend trips to these destinations in the Department of Antioquia. Or, in our case, for continued travels to explore Colombia. A fourth highlight, Guatapé, sits two hours east and was part of my Medellin post. Santa Fe de Antioquia can be found an hour and a half to the northwest. You reach Jericó after a three-hour southward drive and Jardin is a tad further away, about 3.5 hours to the south.
Historic towns around Medellin
Santa Fe de Antioquia
As a former capital of Colombia and a national monument, Santa Fe de Antioquia is a popular place. It is a beautiful, eye-catching, and photogenic city of 23,000 inhabitants. But there is one problem. For us anyway. Its climate is tropical and humid, due to its low elevation in the Cauca River valley and proximity to the equator. It was in the mid-nineties when we arrived (35°C)!
Driving to Jardin
Scenery on the way to Jardin
Hot parking spot in Santa Fe de Antioquia
(As always hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Our first “meeting” with the town didn’t go well. Checking the map for the best route to a free overnight parking spot we had found in our free app iOverlander, we’d picked a one-way road towards our site, thinking it would be wide enough and less littered with haphazardly parked cars. We were right, but… the road went steep uphill and, without any indication, was blocked by road work! We couldn’t go around it. We couldn’t turn around. We couldn’t back up, down this steep and bumpy road without visibility. All the while, motorcycles kept passing us (they could go through) and lined-up cars behind us kept honking.
I enabled a neighbor’s help to open the locked gate of his driveway and guided Mark to safely turn around. We headed back the way we came and my husband was ready to abandon our planned visit. I persisted. We were all sweating (and panting), there was no shade anywhere, and options to camp were limited. On foot, I checked out a parqueadero (parking lot) that abutted the historic center. Big buses and trucks were parked there, so we would fit. We just needed to navigate one more narrow road. Mark obliged and we hid inside our camper, fans on full speed, for the rest of the afternoon.
Night scene
Lit-up historic buildings
Cute courtyard
Door at night
Well taken care of buildings in town
Church on the main plaza
When the temperature dropped slightly and darkness set in, the three of us quickly walked through the center of town. Unfortunately, the moods didn’t improve. Being kept awake all night by arriving and departing buses, garbage trucks, and dump trucks didn’t help the situation by morning. Mark had had it with this place, so I ventured back into the historic part early and for just one hour. Then, we moved on. Did I mention it was Mark’s birthday?
Nun walking the streets – my artist friend Laurie made a painting of this photogenic scene
Roaming About – Liesbet Collaert & Mark Kilty & Maya
We have been perpetual nomads as RVers, sailors, house and pet sitters, and overlanders since 2003. Currently, the three of us are roaming about South America in our truck camper Thirsty Bella.
As lifetime adventurers, we are self-employed and maintain a tight budget. This blog is about all that – and more – to inspire a life less ordinary. Don’t dream but do! 🙂
