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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Here's another one that will fool you:
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willyAirstream
Super Nomad
Posts: 1786
Registered: 1-1-2010
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Strange things happen in Panama, in only a few hours, he grew it back like a lobster.
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
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Growing up in Miami, arguably one of the hottest/muggiest places in all of the United States, I thought I was familiar with stifling tropical heat.
Cartagena, Colombia made the hottest summer in Miami seem like a visit to the North Pole. This place was downright hell on earth. The temperature
in the shade would hover around 95F at 90% humidity. I think Sheena figured out the heat index came out to around 130F degrees. We spent most
of our time huddled up in our air conditioned hotel room waiting for the cargo ship to arrive with the 4Runner.
The short excursions we did make out of the hotel showed us a beautiful city full of life and action. If I could get permission to strut around town
in nothing but a thong and sandals this would be my kind of city. Ahhh ya, you got that vision in your head now and its NEVER coming out.
Our hotel had a rooftop area where we could hang out, drink beers, and watch the baseball games that took place all day in the street
below. These guys were serious about baseball. We watched many fights and arguments break out over calls, score, turns, you name it, they loved to
argue about it. I think they spent more time arguing about baseball than they actually did playing. Either way it was great entertainment as we sipped
beers watching the sun go down.
Keith and I enjoying yet another heated argument in ladies street baseball.
We had a great view of the spanish fortress across the bay from our hotel. The "Castillo San Felipe de Barajas" was beautifully lit up at night.
Alongside our shipping partners Adventure the Americas, we were hanging out with our friends Drive Nacho Drive who found the hotel in Cartagena. Many
nights were spent sweating it out on the roofdeck enjoying the view and talking about adventures we have had and many more to come.
Eventually our ship arrived at the port and it was time to do the dirty. Team Adventure the Americas and I studied up the best we could to get a
general idea of the process and headed out.
NOTE: Unfortunately our camera battery died and the charger was locked up in the truck. We have no pics of this process. I apologize for the WALL OF
TEXT 
Our first step was to head to the Seaboard Marine office to receive our official "Bill of Lading", basically a sheet confirming all of our payment and
container information. We grabbed a cab who took us right to the port about 15 minutes from the hotel. After asking a million questions to random
people at the port we finally found a little window tucked behind some trees where they had our paperwork waiting and confirmed the container had
arrived. YAY! Our trucks were in Colombia... Somewhere.
With our Bill of Lading in hand we hopped another cab back to the DIAN (Colombian customs) building where we needed to register for a mandatory
container inspection. We would need this inspection of our container/vehicles before we could legally leave the port. At the customs office we were
directed to an uninterested lady who took our paperwork, stamped a few things, and told us the inspection was scheduled for 8AM tomorrow. Alrighty
then.
We decided to go back to the port that day and attempt to physically locate our container in order to be best prepared for inspection the following
morning.
Back at the port we spent 2 hours hassling anyone and everyone that would listen. We knew the container was at the port, we even had a general idea of
where, but no one would actually let us in to see the damn thing. Eventually these gaggle of gringos peeed off enough people that the head of Port
Security was brought out to talk to us. Bossman said that we could not access our container today since we did not have proper footwear and we needed
hardhats to enter the actual container area. When we balked and argued he promised that tomorrow he would personally escort us in his truck to the
container to meet the inspector. Score!
With not much left to do for the day we headed back home.
Next morning we were up early, I squeezed into Lauren's baby-sized sneakers (I had only brought sandals and you need closed toe shoes to enter the
port) and we headed back to the port.
Upon arrival, we asked around for our supposed escort from the Head of Port Security and were directed to his office.
We knocked on the office door, no one home. We asked around some more and were directed to another office where a lady got on a radio, relayed some
unintelligible information, and told us to wait.
10 minutes... 20 minutes... 30 minutes... By now it was 8:15 and we were worried we were going to miss the inspector. We asked the lady what was going
on and in typical Latin American process she told us to wait some more...
We were just about to get up and walk out when a giant Colombian in a hardhat came into the building and told us to come with him. We followed him
through the port entrance, snaked around a bunch of guys ripping apart tons of pallets and bins whom I assume were searching for drugs, and eventually
arrived at a parking lot with a bunch of containers.
Our giant directed us towards the end of the row where we recognized our container number. We ran over to it and found that the doors had already been
opened (We had thought we needed to be present for this process) and the port guys were already removing all the lashings that held the trucks in
place. Keith and I both jumped into the container and inspected the trucks. Everything seemed to be perfectly fine, nothing out of the ordinary, no
damage, and nothing missing. By the time we turned around our giant friend had disappeared and we were standing in the middle of the port with our
container, our trucks, and no idea what to do.
Soon the port guys started yelling at us to pull our trucks out of the container. Uhhh I think we need to wait for inspection?
NO! GET THEM OUT OF THERE!
OK OK, We pulled our trucks out of the container and parked them in the road. Now what?
We asked around if anyone had seen the inspector. Not surprisingly most people didn't know what the hell we were talking about and were yelling at us
to get out of the way. The few that did understand believed that the inspector had already left for the day.
We sent Kevin off to run around and see if he could track someone down with more info while we waited by the truck. Eventually he came back and
confirmed our fears that the inspector had indeed left for the day. Great! We missed him sitting around waiting for this damn head of security guy.
Eventually we make our way back to the Seaboard Marine office to try to get some answers. They too confirmed the inspector had left for the day. They
told us we could park our trucks in front of their office, they would be safe there. But told us we would need to go back to DIAN and register for yet
another inspection.
Sunnuvab... Well nobody said this was going to be easy.
Back in the taxi, Back to DIAN, Back to the uninterested lady. We were registering for a new inspection when an english bloke overheard us talking. He
came over and started chatting with us, we relayed him the whole story of the day and how we missed our inspection. Apparently the bloke imports cars
into Colombia for a living and knows the entire process, all the inspectors, and every loop hole in the book. He took us over to the very inspector we
were supposed to meet this morning. He explains the situation to the inspector who barely even glances up at him before dismissing us and returning to
his paperwork. Apparently the bloke is used this guy pee-poor attitude and keeps pestering him to help us out and just sign off our paperwork without
seeing the cars. Unfortunately, Inspector guy will not budge and brushes us off yet again.
Bloke takes us off to the side and gives us some inside info. He explains that all the inspector cares about is seeing a picture of the car, the
license plate, and a few pictures of the VIN. According to bloke, he goes to the port himself, takes the pics, and brings his camera to the inspector.
He said if we brought pictures of the trucks to the inspector today then we might have a chance of moving on with the process. Only problem he said is
the inspector leaves for the day at 1. We looked at the clock. 12:15.
We thanked the bloke for his info as we dashed out the front door of the DIAN. We start running down the street trying to hail a cab as we make our
way back to the port. Cab scoops us up and we tell him to hightail it to the port. That cab driver driver seemed up for the challenge as we hauled
balls through the crazy streets of Cartagena making it to the port in record time.
We blew through security, ran to our cars, and started snapping millions of pictures of the VIN, the plates, all sides of the car, whatever this guy
could possible want. GO GO GO! Clocks ticking!
Once we were satisfied with our pictures we ran back to the street, hailed another cab and made it back to DIAN by 12:45. IMPRESSIVE!
Camera in hand we run to the inspectors desk. He's not there. Our hearts sink to the floor. Did we miss him??
We decide to take up residence at his desk hoping he would soon return. We noted that only in Latin America could a group of guys waltz into a
government office and start hanging out at random desks.
After about 10 minutes he comes back, yells at us for sitting at his desk, and shuffles around some paperwork. We show him we have the pictures. He
uninterestingly glances at only a single picture and decides its good enough. He starts filling out both of our inspection permits! We quietly sit
there not wanting to pee the guy off anymore. Eventually he hands us some papers to sign and we are done. SUCCESS!!
With our official inspection clearance in hand we head back yet again to the port.
For those at home who are keeping track, this is our third visit of the day and our fifth cab ride of the day. Port security is
starting to think we are insane as we check in yet again.
We line up in the main office, wait around for a while, show our clearance forms, pay our port fees, and receive an exit form that we have paid and
are officially allowed to the leave the port. Or so we thought...
We excitedly jump in the trucks, head to the gate to leave, and are stopped. The gate-man is yelling something at me in Spanish. I can see sweet sweet
freedom only a few feet away. I highly contemplate just running the gate and escaping this god-forsaken place. He tells me that I need one more
inspection and to back up and wait.
Today's word of the day is: WAIT
We back up the trucks and sit... and sit... eventually a young kid comes up with some paperwork that we sign and he runs off.
We wait... and wait... 45 minutes later we are having a serious conversation about just bum-rushing the gates and leaving. We even hatch a plan and
send Kevin to retrieve our passports from security in case anything goes wrong.
We get cold-feet at the last minute and abort mission. Opting to just go to lunch instead of ending up in a Colombian prison.
When we return we find the kid waiting around our vehicles wondering where the hell we have been. HA! HOWS IT FEEL!?
He hands us our final inspection documents and with nothing more than a wave goodbye, we drive our vehicles out onto the roads of Colombia. We honk
our horns in a battle cry of victory up and down the boulevard in front of the port.
WE HAVE DONE IT! OUR TRUCKS ARE FREE AND CLEAR IN SOUTH AMERICA!
[Edited on 8-28-2012 by BajaNomad]
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Wow... glad you have the right attitude in dealing with all the drama involved in going to another continent! |
life is all about attitude my friend
gotta stay postive
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
What a harrowing journey. You even lost your leg in the process.
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I want to become a Panamanian pirate
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
Member Is Offline
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Yep definetly dropped a few pounds. Hiking everywhere and not eating all that pre-processed/junk food we get in the states will do that 
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monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
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Defrag, That second photo is beautiful, I love the color contrasts. How are the prices in Cartagena?
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
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Cartagena has two-sides. There is the pricey tourist side and then there is the local side. Often times they are found on the same street. For example
you could spend $25 at fancy sushi resturant or go down the street and eat at the locals place for $2.50.
Needless to say we hung out with the locals 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64854
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Amazing how a diet of mangos, papayas, bananas and other exotics (star apples, guavas, cherimoyas, guanabanas, etc.) will fill you and yet drop the
pounds.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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Colombian junk food (in Santa Marta del Rodadero)
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Amazing how a diet of mangos, papayas, bananas and other exotics (star apples, guavas, cherimoyas, guanabanas, etc.) will fill you and yet drop the
pounds. |
In Cartagena de las Indias
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64854
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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The fruit salads we had in Loreto sure got me re-invigorated to loose weight. I am down 10 pounds since our Baja trip... slow but sure.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | Originally posted by defrag4
Growing up in Miami, arguably one of the hottest/muggiest places in all of the United States, I thought I was familiar with stifling tropical heat.
Cartagena, Colombia made the hottest summer in Miami seem like a visit to the North Pole. |
Cartagena is very hot! Like sitting inside of a sauna. Here are a few photos I took of the area when I visited there.
Cartagena was very tourist-oriented, but the crazy party was north 2 hrs. in the city of Barranquilla during Carnival. It was exactly as I had
imagined.
Cumbia Folkloric Musicians were out at night, in Downtown at the shopping centers, and even at the airport!
[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oS21u_X7R68/UDa9o6Y3tdI/AAAAAAAAAzU/AyipT1hqjJE/s615/7+Cumbia+Musicians.JPG[/img]
Mexican music is seen as exotic - Vicente Fernandez one of the leaders performing Musica Despecho/Mariachi.
Middle Eastern food can be found thanks to the healthy numbers of Immigrants from Syria, Lebanon, China, Europe...
My throwdown favorite - FARAH'S
[Edited on 8-23-2012 by Ken Cooke]
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
Member Is Offline
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Spending the week sweating our butts off in Cartagena we were excited to finally have the truck back and we hit the road the next morning. Camping was
#1 on our priority list. We considered cruising along the Colombian coastline but fearing the mercury would stick near 100F we decided to head for the
hills instead.
We busted out the maps and started searching for the absolute highest point we could drive and camp in northern Colombia. Lucky for us Colombia
contains the first section of the longest continental mountain range in the world, the legendary Andes. The Andes are massive, with over 50 peaks over
20,000 ft high. The average height along the 4,500 mile range is over 13,000Ft. Consider that the highest mountain peaks in the continental U.S. are
just over 14K and you have an idea of what we are working with.
We battled traffic out of Cartagena and eventually popped out into the flatlands of Colombia that divide the coast from the mountains. It was still
incredibly hot here but at least it was beautiful and free from the insane traffic of the city.
The road snaked along through farms and fields until finally climbing up into the mountains. The temperature and humidity faded away and was soon
replaced by cool breezes working their way up the forested canyons. Ahhhh it's good to be back in the mountains, my friends.
We decided to take the scenic route and ended up in Cucuta, a frontier city on the border of Venezuela. Our guidebook warned us this was a sketchy
place and we didn't bother to hang around much. We did however take advantage of the contraband gas that is illegally brought over from Venezuela and
sold up and down the city streets.
$1/gallon! I considered having them just strap a few barrels to the roof.
Fueled up we were soon climbing once again higher and higher into the Andes. We were way out here now and did not see much traffic, just the
occasional hacienda nestled in hills.
Eventually the pavement itself ran out as we found ourselves bouncing along abandoned dirt roads of the AltoPlano (High plains).
We bounced along for hours without seeing a soul. Eventually we decided to just pull over and setup camp for the night.
Not a bad spot.
Preppin' camp that night was a challenge, even getting out to take a pee was a chore as our lungs and bodies acclimated. We felt like 2 fat kids in
dodgeball huffin' and puffin' doing the most basic tasks. We were sitting at 13,000FT. A new altitude record for both us and the truck! Our poor
altimeter was freakin' out and stopped working around 12K. The temperatures dropped below freezing that night. Wild to think that just a 2 days ago we
were dying of heat exhaustion and now I need to tuck my water bottle into my undies to keep it from freezing up.
I had hoped it would roll over!
We got up the next morning and continued bumping down the trail, eventually dropping into a beautiful little hamlet.
As the story always goes out here, every time we think we are Billy Badasses in our rugged 4x4 way off the beaten path, some old claptrapped Taxi
crammed with 8 people comes roarin' past us making us look like chumps! These guys are hardcore.
Our final destination was "El Cocuy National Park". Nestled high in the Andes, this remote and rarely visited park has been described as the "lost
secret above the Colombian clouds". Thoughts of camping in cold temperatures and unlimited hiking opportunities had us drooling over the pages of our
Lonely Planet guidebook. While El Cocuy appeared fairly close on the map we were now entering our third day of driving and still were not even close!
The scale of South America started to settle in as we inched along day by day on our map.
We finally found ourselves trudging up a small mountain road to the quaint colonial town of El Cocuy located just outside the national park itself.
A lonely soul was slowly making his way up the mountain road, he stuck out his thumb and we offered him a ride on the sliders of the truck. He thanked
us for the ride as he hung on for dear life twisting through the wild mountain roads.
While El Cocuy is just a sleepy mountain town nowadays, our research showed that as little as 10 years ago the town was at the front lines of the
Colombian F.A.R.C and E.L.N. rebel movement. Nowadays farmers and town folk go about their business trying to forget the hectic past. We found the
town to be friendly, the people very warm and welcoming.
We posted up in a cheap hostel for a few days as we waited for our friends Brad and Sheena from <a
href="http://drivenachodrive.com[/img]DriveNachoDrive</a> to catch up. Our plans were to head into the park and do some much-needed
backpacking/camping together.
Eventually they arrived, we loaded up with supplies, acquired some permits for the park, and hit the dirt road to head deep inside El Cocuy Parque
Nacional.
[Edited on 8-28-2012 by BajaNomad]
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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Now, on my bucket list!
I hope to one day drive my Rubicon down this desolate mountain dirt road.
[Edited on 8-28-2012 by BajaNomad]
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6346
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
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Ken,
El Cocuy was one of the places my mom and dad regularly visited when we were citizens in Venezuela. The farthest South we went was Machu Pichu, where
I also remember my legs feeling extremely heavy.
But the heaviest they ever felt was a above a town in Switzerland, at the base of the Matterhorn, where we took a ride on a gondola that took us to
about 18,000 feet, close to the Matterhorn.
TALK ABOUT HEAVY LEGS!!!
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
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These travels are so enjoyable to read.
The Andean village and landscape could just as well have been from Peru to the south.
The worst headache, "soroche", I ever got was at Cuzco, Peru. We all drank matte tea for about 1-2 days to get rid of it. 12,000 feet is where it
always started. Even climbing Mt Whitney brought it on right around "Trail Crest". Probably a bigger problem with advancing age.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Udo
Ken,
El Cocuy was one of the places my mom and dad regularly visited when we were citizens in Venezuela. The farthest South we went was Machu Pichu, where
I also remember my legs feeling extremely heavy.
But the heaviest they ever felt was a above a town in Switzerland, at the base of the Matterhorn, where we took a ride on a gondola that took us to
about 18,000 feet, close to the Matterhorn.
TALK ABOUT HEAVY LEGS!!! |
Those sound like some amazing travels. I traveled by motor coach in Bern and Lucerne, and saw the Matterhorn - I can't imagine actually traveling up
18,000 ft. close to it!
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting
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Amazing! Keep 'em coming.
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defrag4
Senior Nomad
Posts: 536
Registered: 2-5-2011
Member Is Offline
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The 4Runner led the charge tracing through the sinewy backroads of El Cocuy National Park. Due to the consistent rainfall around this time of year,
the unpaved road had transformed from nicely packed dirt to slick snotty mud. I had to use 4x4 a few times to make it up the inclines.
Traveling with our good buddy Nacho is kinda like hiking with a fat girl. Sure, sometimes you gotta stop and help her up the hills but... she
always has the best snacks!
We scoped out a flat spot of land in the mountainside and excitedly setup camp. Coming off weeks of insane paperwork, expensive hotels, flights, giant
cities, and a general overload of "the real world". We all needed some time to decompress, reflect, and re-align our chakras in good ol' mother
nature.
I do not think we could have picked a more beautiful place to do it. I stepped out of the truck into a fairytale scene. We were parked 2000 feet above
an expansive deep green valley, dotted with ancient stone corrals, and bisected by a raging river cascading over giant boulders below.
Next door to our campsite was a small mountain cabin. Brad and I went over to investigate. It was there where we found the owners insanely cute
daughter, Jenny, wandering around with her dolly "Nina"
Jenny introduced us to her mother who agreed to let us camp for the whopping price of $2/per day. The family piped spring water down from the mountain
for the site and even had a nice little shower if someone felt brave enough. Only the set of icicles hanging off the showerhead to deter you.
We spent the next few days camping out, exploring, acclimating ourselves to the 13,000 foot altitude, eating like kings, and generally loving life. To
steal a line from my friends Life Remotely, THIS IS WHY WE OVERLAND.
Jenny was very intrigued by these milk faces in their big trucks sleeping outside her cabin and came over to talk from time to time.
My poor attempt at child interaction. I am not good at kid.
I am good at scaring them off though, Jenny sneaks off under the barb wire fence to her cabin.
Rest of the story and pics on the blog at http://homeonthehighway.com/el-cocuy-parque-nacional-the-hid...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64854
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great stuff!! I really appreciate that you are taking the time to post here on Baja Nomad, thank you!
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