So the next installment of our trip starts in Quito (Ecuador) where we based ourselves for a diving trip to the stunning Galapagos Islands. Just as well coz my arse is killing me having been constantly in the saddle for a couple of weeks.   Martin went off in search of a deal with the tour operators and after considerable investigations we discovered our options were pretty limited.  Finally we opted for the 5 day/4 night boat tour package at about $1,300USD each plus diving at $90USD a dive, it would eat heavily into our budget.  This is the most expensive place in the world to dive but we bit the bullet and spent 4 days on a fantastic boat with 14 other shipmates.  Our fellow passengers from Sweden, UK, Germany, Australia and South Africa were a great bunch and it was nice to relax on the Pacific ocean touring the southern islands of the Galapagos and seeing the unique geography and wildlife that has made these islands so unique.

 

Martin and I were adamant that we wanted to dive to see hammerhead sharks.  We did 3 dives and on the second one, 3 hammerheads swam right above us.  It was a fairly brief encounter but amazing seeing their silhouette just a few feet above our heads.  We were satisfied and finished the dive relaying our tales to our fellow passengers.

 

After our 4 days in the Galapagos it was time to get back on the road and back to Quito to get the bikes sorted.  Having had some work done on mine when we arrived in Quito and a quick service at Ricardo's workshop we were ready to stack in some miles over the next month or so.  We need to get a lick on as we only have about 6 weeks to get through Colombia, Central America and Mexico before crossing into the States.

 

From Quito we spent a day riding to Colombia and with a fairly easy border crossing our first port of call was the town of Popayan.  It was easter weekend and we were in for a shock!!!  It would appear that most of Colombia descends on Popayan to celebrate the religious holiday and as we pulled up in the centre of town we were mobbed.  About 300 people crowded around us and the bikes, and families were queuing up to sit their kids on them and take photos.  Next a TV film crew turned up and because of all the interest wanted to interview us.  The interviews were undertaken in Spanish and we blagged our way through, probably telling the camera that the women here look great in thongs.....Its the only Spanish we learnt!  I just hope we weren't live on TV!!!

 

So you have all heard the stories about Colombia, the drug cartels, guerilla movements and bandits being just a few.  Bogotá the capital is officially listed as the most dangerous city in the world and we heard of an American guy called Glen Heggsted who had ridden his bike from Alaska to Latin America and was kidnapped by the ELN guerilla movement and held hostage for 5 weeks.

 

We saw none of the problems we expected to encounter and everybody here was so friendly.  Every town has a police road block before and after it and each time we were waved through with gleaming smiles from the local law enforcement. However, maybe it was coincidence that my bike started back firing again for the first time since Africa as it burnt off excess fuel in the exhaust.  It was very amusing as we approached a military road block or small town and the bike sounded like someone firing a shot so everybody cowers down or hits the deck...I must admit i had some fun with that knowing exactly how to make the bike backfire.  Colombia is truly a wonderful place though!!!!

 

We ventured to the southern capital of Cali, a great cosmopolitan city to hang out for the weekend.  Unfortunately Martin had started to feel unwell here and couldn't decide if he wanted to drink beer or which orifice he needed to point down the toilet pan first!!  Judging by his face i think he chose the wrong one a few times!!!

 

From Cali we rode up to the northern city of Medellin. (pronounced m-e-d-e-g-i-n).  The ride was spectacular through lush green mountains with tight sweeping bends.  Colombia is completely mountainous in the north and makes for great motorcycling even if very tiring as any lack of concentration can result in a big off down the open side of the mountain.  Errr... best we slow down a bit then!!!  As a city Medellin is famous for all the cocaine trafficked to the USA and home of the once notorious Escobar family who headed up the largest cartel in the world.

 

Upon arrival in Medellin in the dark (not a good idea riding in the dark in Colombia) we were looking for a bikers hostel (Casa Kiwi) as listed in our ever faithful 'Lonely Planet'.  We were unsure of how to find it so stopped to ask some motorcycle cops if they knew of its whereabouts.  Quick as a flash they hopped on their bike 2 up and gave us and armed escort through the city. Once at the hostel they were fascinated to learn more about our trip and even gave us permission to take their photos which is a big no no in this part of the world.  We hung around in Zona Rosa in the centre of the city for a few days mainly gawping like a couple of numb skulls at the stunning women here.... oh and because Martin still had a bad case of the squits.  It was a great place to chill out & rest up until Martin felt better.

 

From here we would ride up to the Caribbean coast and the town of Cartagena.  A beautiful colonial walled city sadly a victim of the tourist trade and everybody gets completely ripped off.  We had arranged to hook up with Karin one of the American girls we met in Machu Pichu and Guayaquill (Ecuador).  It was great to hang out with her for a few days even if we couldn't afford the same hotel she stayed in so went to a much cheaper joint that is best described as resembling the inside of a caravan.  We did a night bus tour of the city that involves the consumption of large quantities of free rum and a couple of bars en-route.  I have no recollection of it though as the rum is bloody strong here.   After saying our goodbyes to Karin we needed to head south to Bogotá and arranged to ship our bikes out of Colombia and into Panama, Central America.  It is not possible to ride between South & Central America due to the 'Darien Gap' which separates the two continents.  There is no official border and the Darien gap is about 200 miles of bog and jungle.  Our options to ship the bikes were by a smugglers boat to Colon in Panama or air freight to Panama city.  We opted for the air freight on the basis there was a better chance that we would see our bikes again.

 

So here we are in Bogotá the most dangerous city in the world, expecting to get mugged, beaten, shot, stabbed or gang raped and the worst encounter we had is the swing door at the entrance to our hotel.

 

Having spent a day at the airport arranging the air freight of our bikes and booking ourselves on a separate flight at a total cost of just under $600USD each we had a couple of days to kill in the city.  We toured the night life in Zona Rosa (yes all cities in South America have a zona rosa) and spent the rest of out time chilling out and watching films in the hotel.

 

We took the bikes to the airport to get them crated up for shipment and all was going smoothly until we had to wait for the Police to inspect and search our bikes and baggage.  We had done all the customs paperwork and were ready to go.  Sadly the police did not have the same level or urgency and after 6 hours our bikes had still not been inspected.  Time was getting desperate now as we had a flight to catch later in the afternoon to Panama.  Eventually the girls in Girag the freight forwarding company came up trumps and located a senior police officer to arrange the inspection.  It took all of 5 minutes and was a complete waste of time but at least we knew we would make our flight. 

 

We have been in South America 6 months to the day and it has been unbelievable. Both Martin and i have sworn we will visit here again as we have made so many friends and it really is the most amazing place in the world.  A must do on everybody's travel agenda!!

 

Central America

 

As we landed in Panama City & the heat was almost unbearable.  40 degrees late evening and around 80% humidity reminded us that we were smack in the middle of the tropics at the start of the rainy season.  It could be a very wet affair riding through Central America to México this time of year. 

 

We had no idea where we would stay tonight but found a very helpful lady at the tourist info desk who called a hotel for us and checked in.  We traveled to the hotel with a Belgium guy who had just flown in from Brussels and was shipping his bike over to ride Central America for 3 months...hardly worth it really but takes all sorts.  We ended up feeling sorry for the guy as we were telling him that all through our journey we had experienced very little trouble.  On the next day he left the hotel to visit downtown Panama city and found himself attacked and mugged by 4 local guys, returning that evening with cuts all over his arms.....ooops!!

 

We headed off to the airport early next morning praying our bikes had arrived in one piece on the plane last night.  As we pulled up at the Girag offices sure enough both bikes were stood on the pallets they were freighted in waiting for us to collect them.  We finalised all the paperwork for the customs, re connected the batteries and headed back to the hotel.  All in less than an hour.  If only Brazil had been that easy when we shipped the bikes from Africa!!!

 

One thing we really wanted to see was the Panama canal and took a ride out some 20K's away from our hotel.  A truly spectacular feat of engineering and we watched an oil tanker pass through the canal locks.  We were gob smacked hearing that each vessel depending on size and weight pays an astronomical fee to use the canal.  The oil tanker paid $64,000 dollars just for the privilege.  Apparently some crazy yank swam through it a few years ago for a total cost of 36 cence. 

 

Today was our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY since we left Marlow on the 1st May last year.  Just another riding day though and we crossed the border into Costa Rica.  The heat was unbearable so we opted to take a mountain route hoping it would be cooler at altitude.  It was, but also very misty and visibility went down to less than 10 meters in places.  It was hairy to say the least.

 

We headed for Antenas a small town just outside San José where we would meet up with Carolyn, Martins ex lodger back home in Marlow.  She is working on a teaching assignment there for a couple of months.  We arrived in Antenas in the dark having had an off duty drugs enforcement cop called Felipe guide us through San José on his little 125 Honda bike.  Carolyn and her friend Mark were in 'Ricks' Internet cafe waiting for us as we pulled up and gave as a great welcome.  Rick is a bit of a legend locally and was keen to get our picture on the wall of his very chic cafe.  We were invited as guests of honor to a party he threw for friends and locals.

 

As we hung around Antenas for a couple of days we met a guy on a KTM who looked vaguely familiar.  When he introduced himself it turned out to be Dan Walsh of Bike magazine...the nomadic journalist who has spent many years traveling the world on various bikes writing great articles about his experiences.  We had heard that Dan was in Buenos Aires when we were there and kept an eye out for him but we missed him.  We ended up spending a few nights with Carolyn, Dan and some of Carolyn friends sinking many beers and tequilas.

 

We visited a couple of volcano's in Costa Rica that were spectacular.  Particularly as the Arenal volcano that spews rocks and lava almost constantly.  To experience its true effect you need to visit at night so Martin took a ride out on his bike to see it and we then went on an official tour the next day.  The tour itself was not great but the opportunity to bathe in the hot springs for a few hours afterwards was fantastic. A group of us took a taxi to the volcano at night to watch the molten lava rocks rolling down the side volcano wall.

 

As we headed to our next destination a jobs worth copper pulled me over for speeding in a 25kmh speed limit.  Now in perspective that is about 17mph.....My bike will roll faster than that!!!  He issued me a ticket and told me i would have a $50 dollar fine to pay at the next border as it will all be on computer.  Yeah right!!!  This is the 3rd world and nothing gets done that quickly.  Must admit i was a bit concerned that for once they maybe efficient but when we went to the immigration and customs to exit Costa Rica.....Nothing!!!

 

Our next country was Nicaragua the poorest country in Central America.  We headed for the town of Grenada and loved the place so much we stayed for a couple of days.  The opportunity to ride along the edge of lake Nicaragua and get some photos of 2 giant volcanoes that rise up out of the lake was too hard to resist regardless of the fact we were sweating like asthmatics who just won a free entry to the London marathon!!!!

 

We flew through Nicaragua which was a real shame as it was definitely on of our favorite countries so far.  We debated crossing into El Salvador but decided against it and stuck with our original plan of heading into Honduras.  We had no maps for Honduras other than a basic outline of routes in our 'Lonely Planet' book and sadly the information this gave us regarding the roads was not accurate.  We ended up on 200K's of unsealed road which is normally not a problem but we are now running road going tyres and not semi off roads and they are getting pretty worn.  The road was bumpy and lots of rocks that reminded us of our time back in Africa.  We made it unscathed and fortunately the rain held off.  We had been lucky so far in CA and not experienced any rain when riding....could this continue!!!

 

So again just a few days in Honduras and onto Guatemala.  I think the immigration and customs people are a bit shocked when they see the entrance and exit stamps in each country being just a couple of days apart...Perhaps they are thinking of reporting us for speeding as we have managed to ride the length of each country so quickly!

 

We wanted to visit the famous old city of Antigua and by-pass Guatemala city.  The cobbled streets lined with colonial buildings were stunning and the city itself is surrounded by three huge volcano's making for an idyllic setting and views.  We hung around here for a couple of days to soak up the culture and of course consummate amounts of beer.  

 

So here I will leave it at country number 31 and let Martin fill you in on the next leg of México and the start of the United States