Welcome to Colombia!

We are in Bogotá, Colombia, but not quite the way we planned it, because the camper is still on the truck. The reason for that is that the ship carrying the vehicles (Gabi and Rainer’s and ours) was delayed until Saturday night. But with the help of the officials of the Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Barranquilla (which even supplied a fork lift to lift one of the MAN’s spare tires onto its roof), we finally were able to drive out of the Barranquilla port on Sunday late afternoon.
We will detail our shipping experience in a separate post real soon, we promise...
The four of us camped that night at the “Policia de Carreteras” and ambulance station east of Barranquilla, where we celebrated the arrival of our cars in Colombia. The next morning Gabi and Rainer drove to Santa Marta, while we headed toward Bogotá, where we arrived on Tuesday, December 23rd, at 3 PM.
The two-day drive was pleasant and safe, and roads were quite good with only a few short rough spots. Significantly, there are plenty of signs pointing the way, which is a real treat after their sparseness in Mexico and Central America. If you know where you want to go in Colombia, you probably can find your way even without a map. The climb from the Magdalena River at Honda 9000 feet up the Andes to Bogotá is spectacular.
We’ll be in this big city for a while, and we already went slope’n with our buddies this weekend at the grassy slopes north of Bogotá (see also http://shredair.com/andes/2007/choconta/index.html). Shortly after New Year’s, we’ll head for the “City of Eternal Spring.”