Riding my Motorcycle through Colombian Jungle Roads
Entering Colombia - Update 30 (May 2023)
Quito to Bogota, Colombia
Quito is the capital of Ecuador and a very old city. I should have spent a little longer there but I was keen to keep moving after my long stay in Riobamba. I spent one night in a nice boutique hotel with a large private garden, including more humming birds.
I just went straight up the highway to the border crossing at Tulcán. This wasn’t to be a quick crossing, on either side. Colombia especially was painful as Customs wanted the applicant to fill in all the information online for the Temporary Vehicle Import. I had checked but somehow missed that I would need to do this. So I ended up sitting at a computer in their office and slowly filling it in. My Español is haphazardly improving but is still very limited.
But the security guard and the Customs officer helped me along and we eventually got there and I was in to Colombia.
A view from the ride into Pasto. It’s still quite overcast and rainy. It is the rainy season.
So it was almost dark when I reached my hotel in Pasto. It was a shame I had to hurry as the ride in from the border was quite scenic.
I spent two nights in Pasto doing the usual jobs of entering a new country. Getting a SIM card at Claro was hard work this time but I got there. Finding cash from an ATM was also problematic. The first four cash machines just didn’t recognise my Australian card. This is the first time I have had such a problem. I did get lucky with my SOAT (Third Party Vehicle insurance). I was trying one insurance office and a man came over to help me. Luckily he worked in the insurance industry and knew who provided short term SOAT to foreigners. So he kindly walked me to Previsora Seguros and explained my needs to the staff. I paid about $30US for 60 days.
I was keen to get moving to Bogota. It was my best bet for a while, to get some motorcycle jobs done. I decided not to be too boring and go up the main highway, and instead went around via Mocoa.
I saw a number of these furnaces along the road but never worked out what they were doing. Maybe making lime?
The road was still up around 2-3,000 metres and quite wet and lush.
I later found out that part of the road to Mocoa had a name and reputation – Trampolín de la muerte or Trampoline of death. The road was built in the 1930’s and I’m sure was deserving of it’s reputation. But for me it is now a fun, reasonably well maintained ride through the Colombian jungle. It is still a windy, narrow, foggy, single lane dirt road and you need to be careful. I had a pickup truck gently back into me at one point during some congestion caused by trucks, but my yelling alerting the driver before he went to far. Having said that there are still photos on the internet of people getting themselves in trouble. And landslides are still a possibility I assume.
I must admit I found the jungle vegetation more intriguing than the Trampoline of Death aspect.
I had a look around Mocoa but didn’t get a real good vibe. So I ended up staying at this small eco style hotel south of the town. The lady host made me a nice dinner and I relaxed on the balcony with a couple of ice cold Coronas, listening to the birds and looking out over the valley and Rio Mocoa below.
I had some fire flies buzzing around soon after dark which was pretty cool. There are some species in Australia but I don’t remember seeing them before.
I was now down at about 500 metres elevation and it was hot and humid. It was now just a matter of heading up the sealed road to Bogota, with one overnight stop at Garzón, where I had a great stay at Casa El Limonar Garzón.
I was starting to see some Heliconias growing wild along the road.
This orchid was obviously in it’s flowering period with quite a few alongside the road in one area.
These are a load of Chontaduro or the Peach Palm that are native to the tropical areas of South America. It needs to be cooked for a number of hours to be edible.
Waiting our turn to get past roadworks. There are a lot of motorbikes in Colombia.
Stopping at a roadside stall for some water.
At one of the construction stops we were waiting underneath quite a dense forest canopy. After about 10 minutes I noticed these ants on the other side of the road. After a little debate in my mind I decided I really needed to get a photo. So I pulled over a little and got down on my hands and knees and started shooting. I’m sure it provided some entertainment to the 20 other motorcyclists and the busload of locals next to me. I believe they are Hormigas Culonas, large leaf cutter ants. Which are apparently also quite nice barbecued with a little salt. I got a nice smile from one lady motorcyclist. I think she was happy to see me take an interest.
Black Vultures feeding on a dead dog by the side of the road, below. It did get me thinking about morbid things as I rode along. I have now done about 30,000km of riding in South America. In that time I have been very fortunate to not get hurt and not get directly involved in any accidents.
But I have seen many near misses. And come across two separate accidents with young men in Ecuador, that had been hit while on their motorcycle and were waiting for the ambulance. There was a dead lady in Peru who was seemingly hit as a pedestrian. I witnessed a young woman walk straight in front of a motorcycle in the city centre of Sucre in Bolivia. She was hit from behind and struck the road hard and I’m sure at least broke her wrists. Luckily there were some locals that knew what they were doing and quickly helped her. I’ve seen many dead dogs and one lucky one that ran straight in front of a pickup truck in Bolivia. Luckily it hit the centre front and went under, between the wheels and came out the back. I’m sure it was hurt but “flight” mode took over and it sprinted off howling in fear.
A rice paddy near Bogota. Colombians seem to like their rice.
It was a Saturday when I entered Bogota. But that didn’t seem to stop the traffic chaos. I have never seen so many roadworks underway in a city. I eventually made it to my apartment and settled in, ready to get some jobs done.