Colombia!

Colombia!

We entered Colombia through the very chaotic Ipiales border. This border is like no other (so far) in that Colombia and Ecuador allow free movement and stopping to have one’s passport stamped and vehicle inspected appears to be optional. This allows sneaky overlanders to store their vehicles in either country long term by ‘stamping out’ of either country and then proceeding to the other country ‘under the radar’.

Our first stop after crossing the border was Las Lajas – a very beautiful church built over a river that gives any French chateaux a run for its money. Next we visited Colombia’s version of Venice, a small village called El Puerto on the banks of Laguna La Cocha. Although it is now rainy season in Colombia, we enjoyed our visit and tasting some of the local specialties.

We then drove the ‘Trampolin del Diablo’ (Devil’s Trampoline) or ‘Adiós Mi Vida’ (Bye Bye My Life) road across to Mocoa. The road definitely lived up to its name!

From Mocoa we headed up to San Agustín, on the way treating ourselves to roadside ice cream and a trout dinner (though not at the same time).

At San Agustín we visited the archeological park. We met Domi and Vero again at La Bonanza and shared a lovely Moroccan feast prepared by our Moroccan hosts Kika and Anouar. We then played games into the evening while the rain came down around us.

Just outside Palmira at the local airport is an Aeronautical museum housing planes, trains, automobiles and a giant model railway. Francine waited in Big Bertha while Dave visited.

Next up was a forest reserve renowned for its howler monkey population. We didn’t know if it would be open (apparently by reservation only) but, as luck would have it, a bus with a research group from a university pulled up behind us and we were allowed to join them. It’s hard to describe what a howler monkey sounds like – its sort of like the wind blowing. We were lucky to see two troops on our hike, one very vocal.

We then stayed with Jorge and Angela on their small finca just outside the coffee capital of Armenia for a couple of days before heading off to visit the local villages of Cordoba, Pijao and Buenavista (more narrow roads!)

We then headed north to Filandia, a very touristy town where we spent two nights. By now we were getting used to the incessant rain, mainly falling in the afternoons. From here we wanted to go to Jardín and had two choices – the long way on tarmac, or the short way via Riosucio. We took the short way and there were a few raised eyes brows in Jardín when we said we had come ‘over the top’. It took longer than expected as we had to wait for some landslides to be cleared.

Jardín is a beautiful town. The houses are immaculate and in the centre is a huge square and a very impressive church. We really liked it and enjoyed hiking around its surrounds. We also got to see the usually elusive “Andean Cock of the Rock” close up. There is a “lek” (area in which the males display to attract females) near the river and we walked in to find around 20 colourful males hopping around in the branches and making a lot of noise.

On our way north to Medellín we stopped to hike 12km to the Amaga viaduct (and back). The first afternoon we turned back because of an impending thunderstorm, but were successful the next morning. A very pleasant and popular hike along the old railway line, through tunnels and with cafes along the route.