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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: overlanding (page 2 of 3)

A Popular & Fascinating Destination in Colombia: San Agustin’s Archaeological Park

May 30, 2023 / / 23 Comments

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.

Main church in San Agustin
People watching with a drink
Mural with dogs
My favorite shot of town
Vendor stalls at the square
Walking goats in town
Eating out at a funky burger place
Our best set lunch meal (vegetarian) in Colombia!
Produce market in town
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Colombia’s Capital and Surroundings – Historic Bogota, Camper Work in Cota, Cute Guatavita, the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira & Tire Terrorists in Soacha

May 20, 2023 / / 30 Comments

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).

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Welcome to the Coffee Region in Colombia – Filandia, Salento, and the Majestic Wax Palms of Valle del Cocora

May 17, 2023 / / 27 Comments

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!

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A Trio of Quaint Historic Towns in Colombia – Santa Fe de Antioquia, Jericó, and Jardín (Our All-time Favorite)

May 9, 2023 / / 30 Comments

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
Chapel next to our parking lot
Picturesque streets by day
Small church
Pretty corner
Street view
Close-up patio
The main square during the early morning
Church on the main plaza during the day
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A Glimpse of Medellin and Its Surroundings – One of Colombia’s Most Popular Destinations

April 27, 2023 / / 31 Comments

Before experiencing Medellin and environs, we first had to get there – and find places to camp! After our little adventure in Florián, we had a long drive, not so much in miles as in time and bad roads.

Medellin in Colombia
Medellin and surroundings

“Isn’t Colombia famous for its toll roads,” you ask. I would think so, based on the number of them – and they’re pricey relative to local standards. Yet, nobody talks about them. The main reason I mention toll roads here, however, is because some most of them suck. At least north and east of Medellin. They contain potholes, speed bumps, shifted tarmac, wide cracks, dips, and gaps – and you have the privilege to pay for hitting the obstacles. Hard. Because, you know, the speed limit is all of a sudden much higher on these “highways.”

That is my long-winded way to say that we hit a pothole really, really badly. Neither of us had seen it – I had my eyes on my tablet writing a message (since we were on a smooth toll road, right?) and Mark was staring at the navigation screen to check a potential turn-off.

This is a toll road

At the time, we only discovered that the backside of our camper (a structural problem we thought we’d fixed in the US) had become separated again, something we had to fix ASAP. Later, we discovered other issues with the truck as a result of this mistake and the massive impact of the camper and truck bed colliding. From then on, it has been ALL eyes on the road ALL the time…

It took us two days and a loud night along the “highway,” before we reached Rio Claro. We hoped to relax here for a few days, visit a national park, and enjoy swimming in the clear river as – at this low elevation – it was quite hot and humid. We’d quickly stopped at Hacienda Napoles as well, known from Pablo Escobar movies and documentaries. It was closed that day – and expensive, so we’d pass anyway.

Rio Claro upon arrival

We arrived at a recommended campsite along the Rio Claro river around 5pm and took a refreshing swim and cold outdoor shower. Then, I had a translation job. But the cell service was very hit or miss and it took me hours to make little progress.

Maya loves meeting cows
Everything was soaking wet after the storm
Rio Claro after the rain storm

That night, a huge thunder and lightning storm arrived (which had Maya hiding behind our pillows again). In the morning, the river had turned brown and the internet remained elusive. We drove a few hours to a mirador (viewpoint) in the mountains, where I had to work against the clock to get the assignment finished. Talk about stress. A loud and sleepless night followed.

Our long-anticipated destination

Mark, Maya, and I were excited to finally meet Susan and John in person. It was a long time coming. Expats in Colombia, their lifestyle and travels (in country and abroad) had always intrigued me and I’d been following their blog Latitude Adjustment for many years. When they moved from Medellin to El Retiro a couple of years ago, it all sounded so nice that I wanted to check out their town as well.

Our camping spot for five nights
The river in El Retiro (Retiro on maps)
Riverside walk
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Why We Love Villa de Leyva, Colombia – Camped for a Week in This Picturesque Colonial Village

April 6, 2023 / / 27 Comments

After a long day on the road with the necessary stress and quarrels, I was in a bad mood when Thirsty Bella rolled into Villa de Leyva, located in the Colombian department of Boyacá. We pulled into a free parking lot, which in my mind would be level, covered in soft grass, and sprinkled with fellow overlanders. I looked forward to finally sitting outside in our camping chairs and having a chat with like-minded travelers, since this town is on the tourist map.

(Click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Driving into Villa de Leyva
At least nobody was parked along the streets!
Approaching the parking lot where we’d camp

In reality, it took us a while to get relatively level on our wooden boards, nobody else was there, the green from the photos were poky weeds, and I got eaten alive by nasty no-see-ums in the process of getting settled. Tons of bumpy bites erupted; they would itch for weeks. Never have expectations!

Walking towards town along the tree-lined parking lot

Luckily, once we strolled over the cobblestones and towards the enormous square for the first time, despite wearing flipflops (note to self: sturdy shoes required), we fell in love with this clean, attractive, and historic town. We stayed the entire last week of January, catching up on internet work and exploring Villa and surroundings. The climate was perfect and hiking opportunities abound, but the following are the main reasons for our fondness of this pueblo patrimonio.

Cobblestone streets
The massive plaza
Careful where you walk!

Our camping spot

Thanks to our free app iOverlander, we zoomed in on this free parking spot along the edge of town, moving once to get more sun on our solar panels. We had plenty of space around us and as long as we didn’t spend much time outside in this bug-populated field, all was good. We soon learned to constantly wear long clothes and socks and shoes. Against the biting insects and to avoid sprained ankles on the cobblestones.

First spot – too shady
Our parking spot for a week
Laundry by hand

Our location was perfect to experience this wonderful village and to make us feel like locals. It was a two-minute walk to a dumpster, mere seconds to visit a hairdresser ($6), the main square was situated about five minutes away, as well as a plethora of restaurants, our favorite bakery needed ten minutes to be reached, and we could fill our tanks with spring water for free a couple of blocks away. Donations are encouraged.

Cute entryway
Filling Bella with spring water
One of the many hairdressers in Villa de Leyva
Time for a haircut

When we topped up again before leaving, a parked car caused us to round one corner a tad too wide. The ladder of our camper took some rooftiles down. We stopped, talked to the owners of the gate, and reimbursed them the $20 worth in damage.

We ran into this little gate roof
The culprit of our not fitting on the road
Pile of broken tiles on the street

The streets

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Off the Beaten Track Waterfalls, Lakes & Small Towns — Traversing Colombia’s Mountains on Dirt Roads

March 28, 2023 / / 44 Comments

The negative about writing these blog posts three months after the facts means that I don’t remember all the details. Like when I’m behind with my diary for a few days – which often happens. A positive – in case of the diaries anyway – is that I don’t remember all the details. So, instead of an hour, such an entry takes half an hour to write. ????

Pretty mountain drive

All this being said, I remember Mark and I wanted to do something different after leaving the sinkholes of Las Gachas: driving to the municipality of Paipa across the mountains, via dirt roads. Why is this such a big deal? Because there is no information available about secondary, or tertiary, routes in Colombia.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

One-lane roads
New road after a landslide
Ooops. We got too close to the berm when passing another vehicle

A lot of rain falls in this country, causing landslides every day. Our thoroughfare might be blocked by fallen trees, piles of dirt, rocks, or other objects. Or, the road might be gone, crumbled down a cliff. In other cases, the streets might be too narrow or low due to overhanging trees. Our truck camper Thirsty Bella is big. In Colombia it’s not an issue of “When will we get there,” like in other countries, but “Will we be able to get there or do we have to turn around hours into the voyage?” Such is the kind of adventures we embark on these months.

Sightseeing in the mountains
Dirt road through the mountains
Scenery along the way
Dominating the mountain roads
Small waterfall along the road

After quickly visiting Guadalupe, filling our fuel tank, backtracking over the narrow, potholed road to the main “highway,” following that south for a couple of hours, and turning off for the rough “shortcut,” we reached Gambita. We descended into this small town, still in the department of Santander, after asking locals if our rig could navigate the narrow streets. It could. Barely.

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Introduction to the New Year and the Colombian Mountains — Historic Barichara, Guane, Guadalupe & Las Gachas

March 23, 2023 / / 34 Comments

On New Year’s Eve, after exploring a few lesser-known towns and sights, Mark, Maya, and I arrived at campground Guiamaro to spend the New Year period with our friends Sheri and Jeff from Canada. But first, we had to navigate the narrow streets of historic Barichara, another one of Colombia’s 17 pueblos partrimonios, which stand out for their cultural heritage.

Driving into Barichara

While small for the US, Thirsty Bella is gigantic for Colombia’s town centers!

The area around Barichara, in the department of Santander, offers different places to camp in a peaceful environment, but we picked this official camping for its location – away from any settlement and along hiking trails to the center of town and another village called Guane – and its facilities; hot outdoor showers, a communal kitchen, and a washing machine. Of course, our ulterior motive was to escape any NYE fireworks for our stressed-out dog.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

We snatched the best spot at Camping Guiamaro
The communal kitchen
Kitchen facilities – popular with backpackers and tent campers
Honor system for drinks, fresh bread, and laundry
The bathrooms are integrated into the landscape
Rustic, outdoor shower at the campground
Hanging otu with our friends Sheri and Jeff at the campground
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Finishing the Year 2022 in Colombian Small Towns and Nature – Off the Beaten Track in the Department of Santander

March 14, 2023 / / 33 Comments

After our experience in Gramalote over Christmas, Mark, Maya, and I left the department of Norte de Santander and found more touristy areas in Santander; popular destinations for Colombians. We hadn’t seen and still didn’t see gringos for weeks. This made it special for us to meet curious locals and to practice our limited Spanish. Few Colombians speak English.

We split ways with our friends Sheri and Jeff for a few days, as we looked forward to reaching a couple off-the-beaten track places. The less busy, the less fireworks! Our first objective was Chicamocha Canyon and its town along the river, Cepitá. The more you descend in the mountains, the hotter it gets, so we decided to stop for the night at an area near the top of the ravine.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

You know you are in a cooler region when the locals wear wool ponchos
And you know you’re in the mountains when the GPS route looks like this
Narrow road down Chicamocha Canyon

A bit more on edge since the incident in Gramalote Viejo, we both needed to feel comfortable boondocking (wild camping). Being right off the road meant we were visible for passersby, so we decided to only camp here for one night. The view over the canyon was spectacular and we were visited by goats.

Focusing on the tricky road
Campsite on the edge of the ravine for one peaceful night
Visit from goats – we happened to be parked near their trail down the cliffs
Curious goats on the rocks
Morning tea with a view
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The Start of Our South America Adventure in a Truck Camper – Inland to Mompox & Playa de Belen, Two Colonial Towns in Colombia

February 25, 2023 / / 35 Comments

Colombia is expansive and diverse, as we would soon learn. It is the 25th largest nation and has the third-highest level of biodiversity in the world, after Brazil and Indonesia. The country is bigger than Spain and France (or Texas and California) combined. While it had a bad reputation for many decades due to drug trafficking and guerilla activity, especially during the eighties and nineties, it is now regarded as one of the safest countries in Latin America.

Location of Cartagena in Colombia
Departments in Colombia

A thread you will notice throughout my upcoming blogs – and photos – about Colombia is that the people are incredibly welcoming, curious, and friendly, especially on the off-the-beaten-path and that the roads and drivers are incredibly awful; an interesting juxtaposition regarding human behavior!

(As always, hover over or click on the photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Chatting with Colombian visitors to the national park (Photo courtesy of Sheri Ouellet)
The roads in Colombian towns are narrow and busy

I will take the opportunity to introduce a potentially new term to you here: “overlanders.” These are the people who explore countries and continents – even the entire world – overland, meaning by camper; truck campers like ours, vans which are the most popular means, jeeps with a roof tent, and real expedition vehicles, as in old, built-out fire or army trucks. We have also seen Class C motorhomes; a bit inappropriate as they are long, wide, and low to the ground. The act is “overlanding”. 🙂 Just like in North America, our main resource to find (free) camping is iOverlander.

Cartagena – Mompox – Playa de Belen

Mompox (Bolivar Department)

After being stuck in hot and humid Cartagena for five weeks, waiting for Thirsty Bella to finally show up and blowing our budget on Airbnbs without having much fun, we wanted to leave the coast ASAP. We’d need a few days to straighten our home and life out, but most of that would have to wait until we found a cooler, more comfortable climate in the mountains. Once Bella was safely in our hands, we spent a total of five hours on getting ready for the road, filled with propane and fuel, and left the massive city.

Road scene
Driving towards Mompox

Some overlanders meander north from Cartagena, others head south, few drive east (or southeast), and a handful rush through this country with Medellin as their next destination and Ecuador a week or two later. Why go through the hassle, money, effort, and patience for a meager six-month South American whirlwind?

Mark and I were granted three months in Colombia upon entering the country with an option to extend this allowance with the same amount of time. Since we already “lost” five weeks before we even started this adventure, we would apply (and eventually receive) this extension – for the two of us and our camper – in January/February.

Rio Magdalena tributary
Arriving in Mompox – Will we be able to drive through town?
How will we get out of our hotel parking spot?

Mid-December 2022, Mark, Maya, and I decided to head southeast to the heritage town of Mompox (also called Santa Cruz de Mompox or spelled Mompos), which took us two tough and hot days to reach, mostly over slow and potholed roads. Because Mompox is located in the Magdalena River valley, it was even hotter and muggier than Cartagena and we decided to spend our one night there in a cheap hotel ($10/night). Finding one that we could reach – and park at – with our big vehicle was a challenge.

Flooded riverfront
Historic Mompox with ripped-up streets
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