The Places In Between

 We have discovered our new favorite road treat. Just barely pre-ripe mango slices with lime juice and salt. There are vendors at all the tollbooths, which are unfortunately for our wallet prolific, selling all sorts of drinks, fruit and unidentifiable fried treats. Yum! Now only if we had a blender and some rum…

 It is so wonderful being back in the van again. Claudette is running like a champ, the air is cooler with the higher altitude, and both of us have slept better in the last few nights then since we got on the sailboat. The southbound route we chose winds through pastures and rolling hills, which slowly are turning into mountains, which will soon turn into the Andes. All these little teeny tiny towns whose names have probably never graced the expanse of a Colombian map. I personally think they are better kept secret. 

Colombians know how to eat. Each meal starts with a hearty bowl of chicken or beef soup topped with fresh cilantro. A plate of steaming corn-cakes (Colombia's version of the "tortilla" ) with butter follows. And if your still hungry, that is when your actual plate arrives! A typical plate will often have a meat entree, here in the foothills Brian and I are digging the carne de res (steak!), a small mountain of rice, a fried plantain, a small salad of onions/ tomatoes/cucumbers and beans. If you were smart, you also ordered a jugo naturales, which are the most amazing super fresh fruit smoothies made from fruits picked just days ago from the jungle and blended with a little ice into perfection.  Have room for dessert? Probably not. But I bet thats pretty tasty too.

Yesterday we found a natural reserve that protected the Rio Claro basin. It was the perfect place to spread out a little and set up the tent for a night of camping under the stars. A total bonus was that some trails had been developed alongside the river to some amazing swimming spots. Of course Brian found the twenty-seven foot high jumping platform and somehow convinced me to entertain him and the group of rafters that showed up (an audience!?!) by a few courageous attempts and one successful jump into the river from the rocks. 

Tomorrow afternoon we should hit Bogota. Im super excited to spend time with our friend's family in the city. But now is the time for more un-mapped small mountain towns. 

First night out of the city. Though I wish the view could have been a little better.

Mountain town

The captain taking a load off. 

Moountain town!

Yep, I think were out of the city.

Mango treats! Muy Delicioso!

What? A little mountain town? 

Getting "centered" 

Brian says that my nervous "tell" is a little double hand scratch. I think he is right. 

Hooray! I did it! And Im still smiling!

Just because we have drivin 11,700 miles doesnt mean that we are going to sacrifice comfort. Yes, that is the giant foam pad from the bed he is moving to the tent. 

Watch out for the cocodrillos!! 

Big pots over wood stoves and chorizo hanging from the ceiling? Now thats a good kitchen.  

One culinary treat that Brian and I are not super fond of...  Latin American's  love and obsession with mayonnaise.  

Roadside treats!

Back in The Saddle Again!

After about 9 hours of killer South American bureaucracy, we are back behind the wheel!! There were eleven(we counted) separate documents that needed to be stamped, signed, inspected, copied and delivered to different locations around the port but we persevered and took delivery of our cars just before closin' time. Another huge thanks goes out to Zachary & Sachi, with whom we tackled the Darien Gap(and many a brew after the pick up). Both are amazing journalists and those who are interested can check out one of Sachi's surfing documentarys here http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/chasingtheswell/. Zach has been recording the Darien experience for an upcoming show premiering on PRI's "The World" and rumor has it that Linds and I may make an appearance...

safety first in the port.

docs needed for car retrieval in Cartagena

Its funny how giant Columbia feels already. After having driven through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama- all countries that could fit nicely in a corner of my home state of Arizona, Columbia is a big'un. We made tracks out of Cartagena yesterday and stayed in a small town about 5 hours drive south. We've got our sights on the highlands north of Bogota where we aim to camp for a few days and cool our heels a bit. And then down into the city to find our friend Ingrid's family!!! Its been over four months of van living since we pushed off from Portland, some days it feels like a lifetime. We have both been itching to get on the road again as we were two weeks without the van, so off we go!!

the streets of Cartagena.

not too sure about this... it was out in front of agricultural store. 

Shipwrecked

One thing has been decided for sure. Brian and I are land lubbers. Our high seas adventure was definitely that… an adventure. But don't worry, the boat didn't actually sink. Not that the ocean didn't give it her best effort, though. Curiosity got the best of us while we were waiting in Portobelo, Panama to load onto the sailboat that was going to take us on a five day journey through the San Blas islands, and then though the open ocean to the second half of our journey down the Americas, landing in Cartagena, Colombia. We checked the maritime weather websites to see how our trip would fare. We saw it then and got to experience it firsthand. Conditions; hazardous. 

The sailboat Luka is famous. She, captain Tom and Wacek(vas-chek) the dog are in the Guinness book of world records for sailing around the world, solo (all alone!), non-stop (not for food or fuel, nothing!) against the winds (the wrong way!). We knew we were in good hands from the beginning. The first three days were near bliss… island hopping in the picturesque San Blas islands, our only concerns were whether we had enough sunscreen on. 

For the last two days on open ocean I cannot really find the words to describe the nightmare of jolting-seasickness haze. Captain Tom had warned us that we would probably all get sick. But one always hopes in these scenarios that they will be the exception. Not fifteen minutes after Tom had us all go below deck for safety reasons (15 feet waves that were breaking over the boat and thirty-five plus winds) I lost my dinner. Brian confessed that was when he started to panic… 15 minutes down, 36 hours to go. 

It was early morning when the seas calmed and we woke to the sight of land. Tom admitted that the conditions were much worse than he was letting on, and the ripped middle sail, from top to bottom, and the broken navigation lights at the bow couldn't lie. Cartagena looked like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. And I think I might have heard angels singing. Land ho!!

If anyone is wanting to do the Panama-Colombia trip by sea, bring your motion sickness medications and definitely go with Captain Tom and the Luka! Check them out at Skipthedariengap.com. 

Cartagena, Columbia looks like a city out of a fairytale. Monday morning we will  go and pick up our sorely missed Claudette from customs and head to the mountains. A little elevation will do us some good. 

Portobelo life

Land Ho! Wait... but we havent even left yet!

Wacek defended his boat with vigor against... everything. He was a good sea-dog.

When the seas were calm and smiles were easy.

San Blas

Happy kid.

Watch out for the reef sharks!

Procuring lunch. Well trying, anyways.

Reaping the fruits of his labors.

The Luka crew. A fabulous mix of Germans, Irish, Portuguese and Portlandians. That night we slept on the beach on an old sail tarp under the stars. 

The Man himself, Captain Tom, with his wife and first mate Bea and head of security, Wacek. 

One of the best views of the whole trip. Land.

Someone finally got a haircut!

A muse of Cartagena

Yum. Thats all there is to say. 

Just a couple of curvy girls out on the town.

The "after" picture. Brian swears he will only get his haircuts now in Colombia.  And I agree. Rawr! 

Booty!

After all we had read about shipping our car to Columbia, we have been relieved(so far) with how easy its been. We lucked out and found a great couple to share a 40' shipping container with. Zachary and Sachi have been driving south from Los Angeles for about 8 months in a '94 Tacoma loaded down with surfboards(literally, they have 6 or 7 with them). After a car inspection in Panama City, we took to Portobelo and checked into a diveshop/hotel for a week. On the Caribbean side of Panama, Portobelo is an old Spanish port that was frequently raided by pirates (the Spanish stored and counted their stolen gold here so who can blame em?). Henry Morgan sacked the port in the 1600's and Sir Francis Drake's ship was sunk about a kilometer off shore. The dive hotel has been a great spot to hang out and snorkel and read while waiting to load the van at a shipping port in Colon. We went in yesterday to hammer out all the rest of the paperwork drop the car and though it took about 8 hours to make all the stops and get our paperwork completed, it was easier than anticipated. Any readers interested in the specifics of the process, please email- we have a great contact at the booking agency and can explain in detail the process. And so we left the van and Zachary's truck(the "marshmallow") at the port and bussed it back to Portobelo. We'll see her again in Columbia! 

When I got my PADI open water certification for diving a few years ago, it took an online course, several hours of classroom instruction, weekly trips to a Gresham swimming pool and a weekend in the Puget Sound. Before they took Lindsay to 45 feet today she was taught a few hand signals and how to clear her mask. The lesson took all of 8 minutes. She demonstrated her calm, calculating manner when after the mouthpiece became separated from her regulator 30' she found her safe second almost immediately. We dove down to a line of reef and checked out the remains of a 400 year old wreck that is suspected to be Drake's ship. Not a bad way to spend a morning. 

huge!

The Marshmellow & Claudette.

official business, Zachary recording every word

get off the cannon, Linds.

Zachary & Sachi

This is Boris- our booking agent for shipping the rigs. so far so good...

when the construction @ the panama canal is finshed, it'll be able to handle a single ship loaded with over 10,000 of these bad boys.