Caribbean Coast (1)

On March 21, after traveling over 16,000 km, crossing 7 countries (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia) in about 5 months, we arrived at the Caribbean Sea, in the small town of Necoclí. Seeing the Caribbean Sea, which, by the way, at least in this part has a color more of a greenish gray than the Caribbean blue that I often dreamed of when I planned this long journey, I felt an overwhelming emotion realizing that we had successfully crossed South America, from the now very distant Patagonia to the tropical landscapes with palm trees on endless beaches of the north of the continent. The Caribbean feeling is felt primarily not through the typical landscape, but through the dramatic change in climate. If until three weeks ago we actually used the heater for the last time at night, because we were still in the heights of the Andes, here, on the beaches of the Caribbean, the humid and overwhelming heat of the tropics is felt instantly, as soon as you open the door of the camper.

Driving relatively slowly along the Pacific coast from Necoclí to Cartagena, we spent the night several times in campsites or hotels located right on the beach. Once we arrived near Cartagena, we decided to take a break from the expedition and stayed three nights at the upmarket Aura Hotel Baru. After crossing the entire continent, three days of doing nothing is good!

As many of you probably know, although they have a land border, there is no road connection between Colombia and Panama. The Pan-American Highway is interrupted for about 80 km, unfortunately, this relatively modest distance requires complicated and financially expensive logistics with naval transport... The Ro/Ro ship from Cartagena (Colombia) to Colon (Panama) is scheduled for April 14 (the camper is sent by ship, we have to take the plane), we hope to go through all the customs formalities well and leave for Panama on time.

The route from Popayan to Cartagena, you can see here: https://mapy.com/de/zakladni?planovani-trasy&am…Baca selengkapnya