Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Across the Darién Gap into Bogotá, Colombia!
A new chapter begins: South America!
Disconnecting the battery.
Trying to get an early start for the shipping process and making sure that we were running our bikes really low on gas, Dan ran things a little too close and ran out of fuel two kilometers from the terminal. While we were deciding what to do, 6 other adventure riders waved to us as they rode by. We caught up to them at the terminal, and one said that he had recognized us from our ADVRider thread. Neat.
After spending two hours trying to line up quicker transportation for the bikes to Cartagena, we ended up falling back to our original plan. Leo, Cheryl, Dan , Conchita and I pulled into the Girag shipping office at the Panama International Airport at around 9:30 AM on Oct 29th, along with one other biker on a KLR (Ben from Australia). Several hours later and $550 poorer, the bikes were left in the hands of the experienced Girag personnel. We set off with our fingers crossed to find a flight to
Bogotá for ourselves. The bikes were scheduled to arrive in Colombia at 10PM on the 30th, so that gave us some leisure time.
Conchita, Dan and I opted to fly out of Panama on the same day at 7 PM ($275/each), while Leo and Cheryl decided to fly out the next morning.
The 1 hour and 40 minute flight was uneventful, except for our video cam getting heisted out of our checked-in luggage. Copa Air says, "Sorry, we are not responsible for that sort of thing." It is my own fauly really. I should have carried it on, but I had forgotten about it. Oh well.
Stepping off the plane, we noticed that the temperature was way cooler than what we had gotten used to. It was a surprise to learn that Bogotá's yearly average daily temp is only 14 degrees. An elevation of 8,600 feet is responsible for the chilly weather.
Overlooking Bogotá on Mount Monserrate (recommended by my brother, Mike). It is the funniest thing - we keep on bumping into Leo and Cheryl. In a city of 7 million, what are the odds of bumping into them again at the bottom of the tram?? Very good, apparently!
They had hired a taxi driver as a tour guide for the evening, and he took us all over the city. First stop after the tram was in the University district to try Chicha, a very cheap drink (less than $1) made with cornmeal. It is popular with the students because of the cost. Chicha was unanimously disliked by all of us!!
But it was fun!!!
Then it was off to try some typical Colombian food. A full meal for seven of us including drinks was only $179,000 pesos. About $85.
Now we are off to Girag to find out how the bike made it. Wish us luck!
