Colombia #7

June 2019 – length of stay 45 days

Colombia represented the finalisation of the first continent by driving to the northernmost point which was quite exciting considering that it is very remote and a few people managed to the northern part.

It is also in Colombia that we had to change our route for the next adventure. We had planned to ship the car from Colombia to Panama driving through Central America to Alaska for leg 2. Unfortunately, Costa Rica forbids the entry to right hand drive vehicles which is our case. Therefore, we needed to ship to the next port and the safest option appeared to be in Mexico. We are now going to drive the length between Mexico and Alaska.

Once this news was digested, we only had to enjoy Colombia as we had more time to spend in this country.

To me, Colombia is the perfect representation of a Latin country which is, in a big picture, a country where everyone plays his own music and dances everywhere, where street food is tasty, where you can’t find yourself alone in the streets, where you mainly live outside and all your neighbours are friends, where there is a few dodgy places and where everything is cheap… I found all that in Colombia! And much more…

People

Everywhere we went and even in big cities, people wanted to know more about us, the car and the trip. They are known to be the friendliest people in South America and we can’t disagree with that. We really felt like we were a part of their community or family and in the second case, special thanks to Luz Elena, Oscar, Marianna and Mauricio for their hospitality.

Highlights

Medellin; once the most dangerous city in Colombia, it is now such a safe and lovely city with history, culture, arts, communities and an amazing vibe in each suburb.

Punta Gallinas; the northernmost point of Colombia and South America is like another world.

Guatapé; a man-made dam that seemed more like an archipelago than a dam located in a beautiful area full of incredible rock formations and a new charming village.

Lowlights

Not enough roads. The main roads have lots of expensive tolls and as there is no other alternative roads, the traffic is slow.

Food & booze

I definitely miss my wine so I drink beer! And again, South American beers are easy to drink. The food is not the best but it is okay. At least, we have learned how to make an arepa which is the Colombian bread, actually made out of corn, they eat with everything. Food is cheap.

Camping scene

Free camping is limited, even if we had a couple of amazing spots, it is overall not easy to find good free camps. But the paid ones are often really good and cheap.