Sailing and South America

       Our last stop in Panama was to visit the famous canal – and it didn’t disappoint! We prepared for the visit by reading David McCullough’s excellent book ‘The Path Between The Seas‘. The history of the building of this man-made wonder and its modern expansion are riveting :). Interesting fact: cheapest passage was 36 cents paid by an adventurous swimmer who had to be followed by an armed boat to keep the crocodiles away from him.

       Well our ‘motorcycle trip’ took a three day break when we and our bikes boarded the Stahlratte (Steel Rat) sailboat to travel from Panama to Colombia. We did this to get around the Darien Gap, a 66 mile section of swamp and jungle that has never been tamed by pavement (i.e. – there is no land route between Central and South America). The normal way for overland travelers to continue their journey is fly or boat around – we chose the sea. It was a good choice because you can’t go snorkeling from the plane!

       We had a great time on our sail and enjoyed a reunion with Jim & Carol as well as making many new motorcycle friends (Mike & Mike, Peter, Marvin, Fran & Yvonne). There was an instant bond with our fellow long distance motorcyclists and we had a great time sharing stories. The crew treated us to amazing cuisine and we were blessed with relatively calm waters. It was a nice break from our usual traveling routine and also enabled us to mentally relax since we didn’t need to worry about security or safety or bike maintenance, etc… We arrived at the small town of Turbo, Colombia where the boat was not able to dock, so, our bikes were transferred mid river to a cattle ferry and from there we drove on to Colombian soil. Our first time ever in South America!

       Only one word remains seared in the minds of our group as we drove from our landfall to the customs office – MUD. Almost half our group dumped their bike during the short drive because of the mud choked roads. Nobody was hurt and we arrived at customs rather dirty but definitely thankful. From here most of us went our separate ways (though we traveled with Jim and Carol for another 36 hours). We were all anxious to explore this new continent!

       Our first major destination was Cartagena. A word I can’t even speak without thinking of the movie, ‘Romancing The Stone‘, sure sign of the 80’s child. But before we could get to Cartagena we had several long driving days filled with construction zones. Fortunately, some beautiful views, a visit to the Volcano of Mud, and six river crossings helped make it interesting (sometimes more interesting than we would have liked:). When we finally drove into Cartagena we were exhausted, but eager to explore this new city. The historic portions of the city are breathtaking – a walled city, right on the ocean, enclosing block after block of beautiful colonial architecture – we loved it! The only downside was the heat. A humid, sweat exploding, energy draining heat that made any movement around noon a monumental effort of will. We survived and thanked God that our room had a window A/C unit that allowed us to sleep at night.

       From Cartagena we drove to the colonial town of San Gil. We were fortunate enough to find an Airbnb with an amazing view overlooking the city. The highlight of our time here was our inaugural paragliding flight! Fifteen minutes of soaring over a beautiful landscape where we gained 2,000 feet of altitude and then rapidly descended doing aerial acrobatics to land right where we started from! It was sublime and exhilarating at the same time – highly recommend if you ever get the chance. On a less exciting note, we spent about ten hours re-waterproofing our motorcycle boots with beeswax (which we had to buy in crude form and purify ourselves). Good news is that it seems to have worked and our toes have stayed dry ever since – a necessity now that we are in the Andes Mountains.

       Next we stopped at Villa de Leyva; another colonial town (they have a few of those here in South America – and Sharon wants to see them all :). Here we stayed at a small hotel run by an extremely friendly family who treated us like long lost friends. Nearby we visited an ancient sundial and other ‘uplifted’ relics (e-mail if you want the whole story), as well as, a whimsical home constructed entirely from terracotta. A neat happenstance was the occurrence of the America’s Cup (soccer, not sailing) during our time in Colombia. Although Colombia did not make the finals we enjoyed cheering and groaning with the locals as we watched. It was such a cultural experience to be walking down the street and to hear cheering erupt from literally every house and business when the Colombia team scored a goal. There is nothing as universally unifying like this in the United States.

       On our way to Bogota we stopped at a salt mine that has partially been turned into an enormous church known as the Salt Cathedral. Located hundreds of feet underground the various shrines, stations of the Cross, and main cathedral take miles of walking to fully appreciate. And nearly everything, from the crosses, to the altar, to all of the sculptures are made of salt! It is a beautiful blend of engineering and art.

       We were thrilled to finally arrive in Bogota to be reunited with family (Chris’s brother Daniel is married to Natalia – a native of Bogota)! Our whole visit we were generously and lavishly hosted by Natalia’s parents Ricardo and Stella (and Matias). We also got to meet Natalia’s brothers Felipe and David and their families. We were able to share several meals together, including a generously funded meal (thanks Brian!) at the restaurant Islamorada.  This is where Daniel and Natalia first met. Also, we had a delicious, traditional, home-cooked meal at Victor and Gloria’s house (Natalia’s uncle and aunt). In addition to family time the motorcycles got two days of maintenance and repairs done at Two Wheels Motors (thanks Alejandro y Edwin). Lastly, we visited a number of churches, museums (including the famous Gold Museum), and other historic sites. The week flew by and we had a blast in Bogota!

                Chris & Sharon