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Central/South America 2019Central/South America 2019
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Central/South America 2019

August - December 2019
August - December 2019 Read more
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  • 90footprints
  • 9countries
  • 103days
  • 710photos
  • 51videos
  • 19.4kmiles
  • 10.3kmiles
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  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    1
    Day 33

    31. Colombia - Bogota - Museo del Oro

    September 24, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Museo del Oro is supposed to be the best gold museum in the world. I thought it would be about gold as a source of wealth, but it was more about gold as a raw material for creating objects.

    There was a cool video that showed you how nuggets of gold are melted and turned into objects. Outside of that, this wasn't really my thing. But Craig, who has been working with gold all his life as a jewelry manufacturer, thought it was wonderful. He was aghast that I considered not putting it in the blog. So Craig, this step is for you.

    Oh, btw, if you ever get to Bogota, you must go to the museum's restaurant. The food was excellent and prices very reasonable.    Read more

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    Day 34

    32. Colombia - La Plata

    September 25, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    On the way to the Ecuador border...

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    2
    Day 35

    33. Colombia - The Andes

    September 26, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    This was the 4th day out of the last 6 that we would be in the car for 6-9 hours, and I was starting to get a little cranky. But Colombia is a big country, we knew this, and you've got to drive through it to get to the Ecuadorian border.

    Our ride from La Plata to Popayan required us to cross the Andes. The majority of our travel was on jutted, rocky, gravely dirt roads, filled with monster potholes. The roads were narrow with almost no traffic, but our pace was about 10-15 mph because of road quality. A tough and somewhat physically uncomfortable ride.

    But the scenery was nothing short of spectacular.

    The Andes is the longest continental mountain range in the world, running 4300 miles from Venezuela down the western side of South America through Argentina. Its highest elevation peak is 22,838 feet (located in Argentina), second only to the Himalayas. Something else I learned: The peak of Mt Chimborazo in Ecuador (part of the Andes), is actually the furthest point from the earth's surface to its core, due to the "equatorial bulge". So, Mt. Everest, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

    In the end, the ruggedness of our drive was completely offset by the stunning beauty of the environment through which we were truly privileged to travel. It was overpowering in its unspoiled, breathtaking magnificence.    Read more

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    Day 38

    36. Border Crossing - BORDER CLOSED

    September 29, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    We arrived in the Colombia border town of Ipiales last night. We planned to tour the town today (Sunday), and hit the border crossing to Ecuador, 5 miles away, first thing tomorrow.

    We have since learned that the border is closed due to protestor activity, and has been for a few days. There is limited info on when it will open again; the protestors are apparently scheduled to enter discussion with the gov't Monday. Word is, it may open Wednesday. It also may not. To add to the mix, the Pan American Highway from the Ipiales border to the capital city of Quito Ecuador (about 4 hours) is filled with political activist based road closures.

    The other border crossing opportunity through San Miguel is 10 hours away, and while we would dread the drive, partially retracing our steps (which included a construction based delay, stopped dead, of over an hour yesterday - ugh), we're not entirely sure that that border is open either. In addition, the roads leading to that crossing are labeled with a US travel advisory level of 4 (do not travel here).

    "Official" information is impossible to obtain. Craig is gathering information from fellow Overlanders through an Overlanders blog. We are also in touch with the Frenchman with whom we shared the shipping container for the car from Panama to Colombia. He is in the exact same situation as us, except he has a fellow Traveller who needs to catch a flight back to France from Quito. (Not sure that's gonna happen). There's another guy whose Colombian visa is expiring. If he can't get out of Colombia before that, good luck crossing the border afterwards. He'll have a weeks worth of administrative paperwork and fines to deal with.

    Do we stay in Ipiales, and hope that the situation with the protestors resolves itself, and that the border opens in the next few days, as opposed to the next few weeks? In which case we can get to Quito in 5+ hours.

    Or do we travel the "travel advisory 4" dirt & rock roads leading to and from the San Miguel border crossing, adding 2 days to our journey?

    As they say in the entertainment world - STAY TUNED!    Read more

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    Day 38

    37. Colombia - Ipiales

    September 29, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Ipiales has 2 claims to fame: it is the last town before the most popular border crossing into Ecuador, and it is the home of Santorio Nuestra Senora de Las Lajas – Sanctuary of Our Lady of the (Slabs) Rocks. We took time out from our research and discussions on how to deal with the border closure issue to visit the single tourist attraction the city had to offer.

    The Sanctuary was built as a shrine to the purported miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary to a traveler and her daughter who were seeking refuge among the rocks during a nasty storm in 1754. Its a popular pilgrimage destination, and there have been subsequent reports of miraculous healing at the site. The architecture of the Sanctuary, which sits on a 130 ft bridge over the Guaitara River is pretty cool.    Read more

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    1
    Day 39

    38. Trampolin de la Muerte

    September 30, 2019 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Well, our Frenchman friend took off from Ipiales to San Miguel (the other border crossing, 10 hours away) a day before us. Based on his feedback, we decided to leave Ipiales and follow in his footsteps. (Another long day in the car – sigh.)

    The road to San Miguel is known as “Trampolin de la Muerte”. Can you translate? Dangerousroads.org labels this road as one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Its also known as “Adios mi Vida”, or “Trampolin del Diablo”. Really? Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but, in the spirit of “adventure travel”, I’m in. Vamanos!

    I’m posting some pics/videos that I’m not sure do real justice to how scary the road feels. The road is just a narrow lane of rocky, rutted dirt and dust, except for the waterfalls that came across the road to find their next path down the mountain. There were times where, with no shoulder and a guard rail that was washed away in the rushing waters of a previous storm, I looked down over a precipice to a several hundred foot straight drop. That’s my fate I thought, should Craig have a leg cramp or something.

    I’m also copying and pasting Dangerousroads.org’s description of the road, below.

    P.S. We made it to San Miguel in one piece. Well done Grego!

    Dangerousroads.org:
    It’s not suitable for public transport or heavy, and was built in 1930 to transport soldiers during the war between Colombia and Peru, and so far has been directly responsible for ending hundreds of lives. Different sources record more than 500 people dead in 2011 and in 1989 about 300 people died in a terrible collapse.

    This track can get very muddy and slippery after rain making it challenging to get through. During and after a storm the road may be impassable, even with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. It’s 70 kms of pure wilderness, challenging road and very light traffic. A no man’s land, a place to connect with nature where you can find solitude and enjoy some of the best landscapes of an already very beautiful country.

    This 70-odd km of narrow gravel road with steep precipices is a real challenging road and a true test of your vehicle and your stamina because the road abounds in twists and turns with wheels sometimes hanging above the precipice. The road includes cliffs, precipices and more than 100 hairpins. The road was built in 1930 and zigzags the Andean mountain range.    Read more

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    2
    Day 40

    39. Border Crossing - Colombia 2 Ecuador

    October 1, 2019 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Success! We reached the border crossing Tuesday, and found it to be the easiest, most organized border crossing yet. Everything in one building (including exporting the car from Colombia & importing it to Ecuador, then checking ourselves out of Colombia and into Ecuador). Would have taken less than an hour, except that they were out to lunch when we arrived. (No, that's not a joke.)

    The refugee crisis (especially with Venezuelans) was reflected by the temporary housing constructed for those with either no passports, or no Visas. There were refugees and their sparse belongings scattered around the building. They teach their children to approach Americans and Europeans and ask for money. We were chatting with an 8 year old, and about to make our donation when military personnel chased him away.

    After crossing the border, we headed to the small town of Coca. Not much in the town, except its proximity to the Amazon.    Read more

  • TravelerCentral/South America 2019
    Day 42

    40. Ecuador - Amazon - Kichwa Tribe

    October 3, 2019 in Ecuador ⋅ 🌧 70 °F

    The Amazon Rainforest is over 2 million square miles stretched out over 9 countries. Since we crossed the border much closer to the Amazon than in our original plan, we decided to grab a tour now.

    We found a 12 hour tour that included 2 parts: the first part with one of the indigenous tribes still living in the jungle, and the second trekking and canoeing through the jungle.Read more

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