Popayan and San Agustin

The long wait in Cartagena spoiled our expectations for Colombia. We cancelled our plans to visit Santa Marta, Bogota, and Cali, and stopped in Medellin only for one night after our trip from Cartagena.

From Medellin we went to Pereira, Northeast from Cali, and then South to Popayan. This will put us a few hours away from the border with Ecuador.

The road from Medellin to Pereira is all mountainous and tiresome, but equally nice. It was well worth the trip because Pereira is a great place to stay.

All of Colombia countryside was populated along our route, with agriculture and livestock reaching to the top of the mountains. Pereira seems to be a wealthy place located at the north of a flat valley used primarily for sugar cane production.

We decided to bypass Cali just to avoid another big city, and continued all the way to Popayan. Our feelings about Popayan are mixed and certainly influenced by the horrible night we had at the hotel. We didn't notice, but it is located right next to a night club so the noise kept us awake the entire night, so now I am in no good mood towards Popayan.

 

During the day we went for a walk to the city center, where all the houses are painted in white. The main plaza has huge trees and is surrounded by churches and convents (all white). We were surprised by the silence during a Friday evening: no music, no laughs, and subdued conversations. It was almost unreal considering that it is in the middle of noisy Colombia, but life became normal once we stepped away from the plaza. Overall Popayan is a sad place, resembling more a cemetery than a normal Colombian city.

Our logical conclusion was that people refrain from making noise during the day but discharge during the night at our hotel window.

There are two ways to go from Popayan to San Agustin, and in both cases we had to cross the Central Mountain Range towards the East from Popayan. The shorter one was destroyed by the guerrilla some years ago and now is in reconstuction. The longer one implies a long detour and is about 14 hours long. We took the shorter road and it was a great mistake because it is almost impassable. We drove during 6 hours to cover less than 50 miles, bumping over rocks and mud to cross the Central Mountain range. However, we had our reward when we arrived to the San Agustin archeological site. The original inhabitants made some interesting sculptures some 3000 years ago, and apparently are comparable to those found in Easter Island.

To return to Popayan we decided to take the longer road, driving north to Ibague, West to Armenia, and then South again to Popayan. However, that is easier said than done. Crossing the Central Mountain Range was again a nightmare, this time because of the heavy traffic, therefore we decided to spend the night ar Armenia and continue tomorrow morning on our way South to Popayan and, with luck, to Pasto, near the Ecuatorian border.

 

We had some excitement once we reached the top of the mountains, when I noticed that the car brakes were not working. After a moment of panic I was able to control the car and continue very carefully down to Armenia. Tomorrow morning, after fixing the brakes, we should be back on the road.

 

Climbing the Central Mountain Range, East from Popayan.

 

A view from the top of the mountains.

 

This is from the archeological site near San Agustin. The dead people was put in a big hole, on top of which there was a statue covered with stones, as in this picture. The stone at the top resembles a table, thefore each archelogical site is now called "a mesita" ( a small table).

 

this statue was made to honor some pregnant lady.

 

 

 

The sites were looted before a serious effort could be made to save the statues. Still, the are plenty of examples to look at.

 

 

this one is called "the triangular face"

 

 

Not only people but animals were also represented.

 

 

A lady with a small girl. n fact, the ear rings of the lady and the girl's hair look quite modern!

In Cartagena

No panic, we are still alive.

We are experiencing some technical difficulties to upload pictures and access my blog account and load pictures. I have been struggling during the last two or three days, and I hope to be luckier today.

We stumble on a little problem: there was a container congestion at the port of Cartagena and, as a consequence, all shipping was delayed. it took us 10 days of waiting and finally on Tuesday afternoon I was able to get my car out of the port.

What did we do during all this time? Well, first of all we put our brains in sleeping mode (not that it was too noticeable) and took very long naps during the hot Cartagena afternoons. We also took long walks along the old city center, the fortresses, and the beaches. It was a nice break for our routine, but it was way too long, so once we got our car we decided to leave immediately. Now, after a 13 hour drive we arrived to Medellin, from where we will continue to Cali.

Cartagena has very nice features for the tourist, such as the old city center, the San Felipe Fortress, the long walls protecting the city from attacks by the pirates, and the museums. We particularly enjoyed the Gold Museum, showing fantastic work by the indians before the Spanish arrival. Also, the Modern Art museum has a great collection of works by Enrique Grau. I recommend both museums to anybody wishing to spend some time in Cartagena.

We also visited the Inquisition Museum by it was revolting, and also the Historic Museum, but we found it too simplistic and biased, so we don't recommend any of them.

The beach areas are well developed and remind me of places as Miami Beach, crowded with tourists.

However, there is a big contrast between the areas visited by the tourists and the rest. Walking a few blocks away from the tourist attractions starts the real Cartagena, where normal people lives and conduct their businesses. Those places are crowded, with broken streets, garbage everywhere, and polluted air. That put Cartagena much closer to hell than to heaven, and this is odd in a place that is apparently rich enough to live in better conditions. At this point one can ask what is the rol of the government, because, for what one can see, the rich part of the city gets more than their fair share of the funds. Nothing new under the sun.

 

We took route 25 from Cartagena to Medellin. This is all mountain road, twisting alongside the Cauca River, and going through many little towns. Driving is slow and tiresome, but very picturesque.

 

 

The Castillo de San Felipe. This is a fortress built by the Spaniards between 1600 and 1700 to protect the city against the pirates.

 

Another view of Castillo de San Felipe

 

 

Don Blas de Leso. This was a basque who faught many battles for the s crown. In some of these battles he lost one leg, one arm, one eye, and, according to rumors, he also lost a very uniquely masculine feature.

He successfully commanded the defense of the city aginst the attack by Admiral Vernon. He gave them a good trashing just to remind them not to mess with basque people.

 

 

The historic city center. Narrow streets showing colorful houses, many of them with plenty of flowers in the balconies.

 

 

Another view of the historic district

 

 

The beach area of Bocagrande. Typically flooded with tourists from all over the world.

 

 

The business district as seen from Bocagrande

 

A view from the hotel room. On the background we have the Convento de la Popa at the top of a hill. Very dangerous to climb it on foot.

 

One more view from the hotel room.

Test #2

Another test

About the Ulysses

The Ulysses is an almost new sailboat made to order by Captain Miro with the idea of traveling around the world. Starting in Poland he sailed by the European coast and then across the Atlantic to the Caribean. Captain Miro is working the route between Portobello and Cartagena collecting money to continue the rest of the trip.

 

On the other hand, the only crewmember Miro was also a Captain before being engaged with the Ulysses (he is also a great cook...!). They are now planning to continue their trip around the world, and I am left envying them for this new adventure.

 

We were totally confident on the capabilities of the Ulysses and the crew. Captain Miro built one of the boats that sailed through the Northern Passage, and this is enough qualification for anybody. Miro and Miro were completely professional and very helpful before, during, and after the trip.  Not only that, but they also filled our time with stories and jokes, sharing the catch of the day and everything else on board, making the trip so much funny. I would recommend them to anybody wishing to repeat my own adventure. This is not a sales push, but an heartfelt wish for Miro and Miro.

 

The Ulysses at Portobello Bay

 

 

Captain Miro and Miro, enjoying the calm seas on our way to Cartagena.

 

 

Trip to San Blas and Cartagena

We finally got on board the Ulysses on Tuesday night. The Captain and the only crew member are Polish, both called Miroslav, Miro for short. The other passengers were Patricia, from Canada, and Jane and Victor from Manchester, England. We slept in the boat and departed early on Wednesday morning. The captain already told us that we would sail against the waves so we were on guard about possible sea sickness. However, soon all the female population of the boat fell sick in varying degrees and went to lay downstairs. For them the 10-hour trip was quite miserable, and we felt so sorry for them. We tried to mitigate our sorrows drinking some beer and chatting all the way while waiting to catch some fish. Our patience was rewarded because we caught a couple of makerels. As soon as they were caught they were quickly beheaded, gutted, skinned, cleaned, and chopped into bitesize pieces, which sprinkled with lemon  made an excellent instant sushi. Now our remorse was compounded because we thought of the women and also of the dead fish, but beer helped us to clean our conscience.

There are 365 islands in the San Blas group, but only a few are inhabited. Many are just a coral reef, and few have a proper name. The inhabitants are Kuna indians, which came to the islands afte the arrival of the spanish conquistadores. We will visit a few of them during a couple of days and then continue to Cartagena.

We arrived to the Chichime Island, one of the San Blas group, at around 6:00pm. Soon after lowering the anchor a canoe with Kuna indians came to offer their handcrafts but we postponned any shopping until fully recovered from the trip. There are a few boats moored around the island and the water is absolutely perfect, so we went for a swim before dinner, and this ended up the day. 

 

From Chichime we went to an unnamed little island. There are three Kuna indian families living there and they were very friendly. At night they prepared a bonfire and cooked coconut rice with grilled fish. Delicious...!

Finally, we visited a third island before preparing for the longer trip to Cartagena.

 

Now the trip from San Blas to Cartagena was a complete adventure in itself. We sailed on an Eastward direction over high seas, initially with an unusual calm weather, but on the final stretch the boat was jumping over high waves with good side wind from the North. The full blown sails proved too much for the strong wind and they had to trim them by half because the boat was tilting to starboard more than desired. 

Sailing at night at full speed over the waves, watching the fluorescence of the plancton behind the boat, and being bathed with salt water over and over again exceeded my poor expectations. 

A sail boat is not a place to look for comfort. Under the deck it is generally too hot, the water is limited therefore we couldn't take a bath in five days, and the constant rocking and tilting of the boat makes sleeping almost impossible. However, looking back to our little adventures, I am glad that we decided to sail instead of flying to Cartagena.

 

 

Leaving Portobello

 

 

 

 

 

Chichime island

 

 

One of the Kuna families, with Alicia and Miro, great guy!

 

Three of their kids. We were surprised to see how well educated and friendly they were, considering that they live in such a remote place and with so little sources. 

 

A close view of the island

 

 

Sailor Miro and the five passengers gathering around the bonfire.

 

 

 

Now we are leaving San Blas and heading towards Cartagena. We will miss this place!

 

 

Happily possing for the camera in the Cartagena Dock. Jane and Victor, Patricia, Alicia, Captain Miro, Miro the sailor, and your humble servant.

 

More about Portobelo

Have you ever thought what happens to a school bus when it is removed from service? Well, we found that they are sold to Central American countries, where they keep working well past their retirement age. In some countries they are used exactly as received without even erasing the name of the school district or removing the warnings regarding student's behavior in the bus. However,  in Panama they are very creative so they repaint and decorate them very artistically. The seats are arranged the same as in a school bus, but in some cases the interior is also decorated. In one bus, there was a long mirror on top of the driver, all borded with long pink feathers and huge stickers with different comments and sayings, mostly referring to well-known women's attitude about men. 

If you zoom in the images painted on the outside you will see that there are no limitations to their imagination, an no special bias on their political commentary.

Boombox music is apparently mandatory, and there are no speed limit high enough for these intrepid drivers.

 

 

 

In front page: Hitler, Obama, Noriega, Osama Bin Laden. There are no taboos.

 

 

 

Another common feature, the two raised tail pipes.

On the roof there are three acrilic domes. At night they are lighted with pink or purple lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another specimen, this time specialized on terror movies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This other set of pictures was taken in downtown Portobelo, at Fuerte San Jeronimo, the fortifications made to protect the area from the pirates. One of the pictures show the brave Generalissimo Roberto with modern pieces of artillery directing the successful defense of the city against the hordes of pirates commanded by the treacherous Captain Tony.

 

 

 

 A view of Fuerte San Jeronimo

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Portobelo Bay, from the turret of an Spanish gunner. Just imagine what would it be to see tens of pirates ships waiting on the outside...!

 

 

Generalissimo Roberto proudly displaying the modern artifacts.

 

 

Once again, Generalissimo Roberto directing the fire.

 

 

 

 

 

Portobelo, Panama

 We are getting closer. Now we stay in Portobelo, some 20 miles down the road from Colon, on the Panamanian Caribbean coast.

We are waiting for two things:

- The shipment of our car which, if everything goes well, should be completed on Friday morning. I should see it again once we arrive in Cartagena, Colombia.

- Our own trip to Cartagena is now scheduled for Friday evening. We will spend the night on a sailing ship and leave early on Saturday morning. The boat will stop for almost three days in the San Blas Islands, and arrive to Cartagena after five days. I may not have good internet connection so it may take me a while until I post anything else on the blog.

In the meantime we are having a great relaxing time at Portobelo. Definitely, this is the place to go if you want to forget about the entire world.

Portobelo was one of the main exit points for Spanish ships departing to Europe loaded with American treasures. It was also very much appreciated by British pirates, who attacked the place several times. 

 

 

Portobelo Bay. One of these boats may be our transport to Cartagena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view of Fuerte de Santiago, on one side of the Portobelo Bay. It was also used as a 'casamata', the place to store the explosives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Costa Rica to Panama

 119100 miles

We left the hotel without a specific plan, so we drove around the mountains just to enjoy the place. This took us to the town of Fortuna and the nearby volcano El Arenal. This volcano is still active, but fumes and lava are difficult to see because it is normally covered by clouds. Still, it is a nice mountain and it was worth the trip.

 

When driving in the mountains the landscape changes continually, and our focus keeps changing from a close tree, to a nearby bridge, to a distant farm, or to a remote mountain ridge, over and over again through hundreds of turns in the road. By night time we were exhausted and looking for an hotel. We ended up in dump called Berlor, near the San Jose airport (better to avoid it...!).

 

On Saturday we went to Volcan Poas, which normally is also clouded and difficult to appreciate. However, we were extremely lucky and the sky was clean at the top, so were able to see all the details. There are roads taking you uphill, and a short walk from the parking lot to the crater. The volcano is also active with fumaroles arising from the inside rim of the crater.  Close to the crater, and at a slightly higher level, is Laguna Botos. It results from rain water accumulating on an extint volcano crater.

 

We ended the day driving across San Jose to the city of Cartago, some 15 miles South of San Jose. This is a nice, clean, and colder place, where we spent the night before continuing to the border with Panama. The hotel is in the second floor of a restaurant, and , as it was a Saturday night, we had free live music from 20:30 until midnight.

 

We had one more border crossing, this time out of Costa Rica and into Panama. This probably was the best of all of them. All very professional and fast, letting us pass in about one hour. After the border we spent the night at Santiago, half way from the border to Panama City. Here started our real challenge: This is a big city, with an impressive waterfront all covered with skyscrappers. The place is hot and humid, the streets are mostly broken down because of a big project to build a Metro, the streets don't have a posted name, and traffic is really bad. 

 

We had to take our car for inspection before taking it to the Colon for shipping, therefore we could't avoid getting into the big traffic mess. Otherwise, it is much preferable to move around in a taxi.

Tomorrow we will go to see the operation of the Canal, and after that we will coordinate the shipping of the car and our own transport to Cartagena, Colombia.

 

 

 

Entering a small Costa Rican town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A common view of the Costa Rican mountains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

El Arenal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crater of Volcano El Poas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laguna Botos.

Beautiful but don't even think on jumping in: it is acid water and probably you won't look too nice after the bath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A logarithmic spirals' bouquet from mother Nature.

Note that the big spiral is formed by smaller identical spirals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A  view of downtown Panama City, where rich people lives and conduct businesses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A  view of downtown Panama City, where poor people lives and conduct businesses.