When we woke up at 6:30 this morning Jax was feeling awful. She must have eaten something last night which contributed to a tummy bug that resulted in her being ill most of the night and exhausted in the morning. The bike is booked in for a service at BMW in Bogota on Tuesday morning however, Bogota is 450km away and locals say 12 hours to get there because of mountainous road conditions so one way or another the trip to Bogota had to happen today in case getting there wasn’t achievable in one day.
The decision was to leave Jax in Cali, to fly her to Bogota tomorrow and for me to make the ride to Bogota today as fast as possible on a light bike. The ride ended up taking 8 hours with no more than 30 minutes of stops for fuel and water however I did encounter a 10km traffic jam resulting from a truck broken down at the top of a very long mountain pass which took over an hour to snake through.
Colombia continued to divulge its beauty as the day progressed. This is a magnificent country and although this statement is beginning to sound awfully clichéd its only because there is so much to marvel at.
The last 5 weeks have been incredible. The journey from Santiago to Bogota has taken us from sea level to 4750m and back! 0 to 40 degrees, through mountains, deserts, forests, jungles, fascinating islands, the equator, ruins of ancient civilisations, old colonial towns, modern cities, hippie villages and all of the accompanying cultures, cuisines and personalities that these geographic changes influence. It has been a wonderful adventure of discovery which has resulted in a mixture of awe and exhaustion. We are both looking forward to going home in 2 days time to see family and friends!!
We return to Bogota on the 14th of April in order to continue the northward journey and the last few days of south America. Leg 2 has been a total of 8400km and a combined 17800km for both legs thus far. Notwithstanding the exhaustion I am looking forward to the next leg…Central America and Mexico, here we come.
Rui and Jax, Bogota, 24 March 2013.
Leg 1 in red. Leg 2 just completed in blue.
Ian Martens
April 13, 2013 at 5:28 am
Hi Rui. Great seeing you again after such a long time. So chuffed to see you so happy and enjoying life to the max ! What an INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE you have embarked on. I look forward to following your next “Leg” and Wish you Well and a Safe Journey, Bud. Take Care and Chat soon