Quito fascinates me. The city is divided into two parts. The historic colonial center and the bustling energetic modern downtown. With my bike safely nestled into the narrow corridor off the lobby of my hotel I set off to explore Quito at night. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, Colonial Quito is a […]
Santuario de Las Lajas, Colombia. Before kissing Colombia goodbye I had to make my pilgrimage to Las Lajas, just 10 miles northeast of Ipiales. Without a guidebook or any prior knowledge of anything but the primary tourist jaunts or major cities, Las Lajas was a mystery to me. But nearly each Colombians who I discussed […]
The ride from Cali to Popayán is stunning. Blessed with good weather, decent roads and lush green jungle that crawls up the mountainous terrain. Glittering reflections off corrugated roofs that dot the hills in the distance catch my eye. I see no roads climbing the hillsides, but along this road young men ride horses or […]
Coffee & Bananas Everywhere in the department of Quindio, Colombia Sprawling rooftops and homes of Montegregro, the heart of Colombian Coffee growing region. I loved getting lost and riding up and down the hills of Calarca, Colombia – also in the coffee growing region. Moving coffee and other goods is still done by horse drawn […]
A plan for an early start was foiled by early morning rainfall. I waited. But as the clock ticked, I got antsy. So I packed the bike and headed toward Manizales. Climbing through the mountains the temperature started to drop. Then I descended into a valley and out of the rain. It was in this […]
Getting out of Bogota was easy thanks to Mauricio’s map and the help of my friends at the Capital Hotel. I had noticed it earlier at the Girag office at the airport, but I finally figured out what was going on. In many of the Latin American countries I’ve been wandering through police officers are […]
Hello South America. Happy Birthday, too. The little over an hour flight to Bogota was quick, easy and extremely scenic from my window seat as we flew over the Darien Gap and pristine islands with crescent shaped white sandy beaches. I blast through immigration and customs at the airport and in less than an hour […]
The Panama Canal represents an amazing feat of human accomplishment. Perhaps most amazing to these eyes is the fact that completed more than 90 years ago, the “technology” behind the workings of the Panama Canal hasn’t changed. The canal extends nearly 50 miles from the Caribbean at Colon to the Pacific at Panama City. If […]
Though I thought South America and I would be very acquainted by now. But as these things go timing is everything. And in this case, my timing was a bit off. As the days draw closer to my birthday, I hope to have my first day riding my motorcycle through the lush tropics of Central […]
Riding over the Puente Centenario (Centennial Bridge) over the Panama Canal sent chills down my spine. It was a weird feeling because for the first few moments, I thought I was riding over a river. But remembering the image of the tall towers of this suspension bridge as graphical icons on Panama license plates, it […]
