We eventualy got going from Cartagena on Thur late afternoom as the port had been closed for some reason. When we left the shelter of the port the wind picked up to 30 knots and the sea was huge and rough, it was kind of exiting to start with but then it was necessary to visit the rail a few times, no tigers left in the Caribean, shot them all. We made really good time and caught up the time lost in port, arrived in San Blas islands on Sun morning. The sea was calm, the sun was shining, and there are about 360 islands in about 250km, they are your typical tropical island, white beaches, palm trees and clear blue seas, stunning, Iwas very fortunate to have visited such a beatifull place. We arrived in Colon yesterday evening, unloaded and heard the news about Mexico and other places, yea, it does not sound good at all. I will get hold of Karen Carter and try to find out the situation there, as I am about to start heading that way. If it is really bad I will probably have to fly to Miami and go on from there, but it will be sad to miss out Central America. Thanks for all the input, the bike survived better than I did, I have shot a fair amount of video and will be moving on tomorrow. More later, Adios.
Colon Panama
April 29th, 2009Cartegena Colombia
April 22nd, 2009
Left Medellin Tue AM and headed for Cartegena, took the whole day, the roads are hectic, many trucks and busses on narrow winding roads. the scenery is really great, many different micro climates. Cartegena is a bit grotty and looks dodgy, the old city and fort are something to see. I was really fortunate with my timing as I managed to find a boat going to Panama tomorrow, it is a 50 ft , 2 mast and we can load my bike. It takes 5 days with a few stops on various islands, basically a sailing cruise to Panama and it will be nice to have a break from the bike and just chill. So hopefully it will be good . Colombia has been really good and is definately worth visiting. So half way through my journey and looking foreward to the second part. More from Panama.
Medellin Colombia
April 20th, 2009
Left Cali this morning and headed for Medellin, the ride through this amazing country side, the roads are good and lined with huge shade trees that almost form a tunnel.stopped for lunch and fuel about half way, after that moving on and a BMW 1150 GS pulls up next to me and motions me to pull over. So I met Louiz a local from Medellin, he said follow me, so we rode on to Medellin and he showed me places and things along the way. It is a stunning ride through mountains and valleys and lush vegetation, this place is amazing and the people are really great to. All allong the way they want to know where you’re from, where you’re going, good luck, safe journey. This is a really nice country, a real jem in South America. Medellin is a beautiful city, the streets are clean, every thing works, and the women are really hot. The climate is just perfect, not hot, not cold, just right, so I’ll spend a day or two here. I’m staying in a hostal owned by a half Kiwi half A merican real cool place, lots of other travelers, so people to talk to, picking up info all the time and cold beer to. M ust go now Adios.
Cali Colombia
April 19th, 2009
I am now in Colombia, dispite all the negative press and coment, it is a really friendly and beautiful country. This is how I imagined a lot of South America would be, jungles and ravines, rivers and mountains and warm. The mountain passes are quite something, really tight winding roads with drop offs that go down for hundreds of meters, don’t want to go down there. The drivers here are manic, so one has to look sharp!, hours of intence concentration, yea I have had a few close calls! I stayed in a hostal with a few other bikers last night, all foreigners and half of them broken from accidents, so I will have to be careful now. O ff to Medellin today, it sounds like a nice place, then maybe 2 more days to the coast, also many more mountains in between, have’nt ridden so many mountains in my life, really beautiful, I just wish that I had got a helmet camera before I left. Must go now, more later Chow.
Banos Ecuador
April 17th, 2009
Left Pisco on Tue AM, saw a terrible thing, a petrol tanker caught fire and losr it’s load onto the road, a buss following also got burned up with all the people in. Not a pretty sight, traffic was backed up for bout 30 km each way. Yea Iam moving kind of fast, it has all been desert since Santiago, to the top of Peru. It was so nice to come into Ecuador and seeing the lush green jungle, it is a real banana republic, thousands of hectars of bananas and other tropical fruit. Took the scenic route through the mountains to this place, it has hot mineral baths and is very scenic. The bike is holding up ok, broke a clutch cable in the middle of nowhere, fortunately I had fitted spare clutch and throttle cables before I left , back tyre is going fast so I will fit a new one in Panama. Off to Quito tomorrow should be good, then off to Columbia, looking foreward to getting to Cartegena on the Caribean where I will spend some time and ship the bike to P anama. So far so good one leg nearly done. Thanks for the posts, sorry can’t answer them all, takes me long enough to do the post. More later Adios
Machu Pichu
April 13th, 2009
Well what can I say! I expected a lot but what I saw was incredible, it totaly blew me away. It has to be one of the wonders of the world. Man it is very difficult to explain, so wait for the pictures. I stayed in a village at the entrance to the valley, it is an old inca fort and settlement, very nice!. Met a french couple who had lived in SA and now live in Cusco and do tourism,they recognised the numberplate. Next day in the square having brekkie an American guy came over for a chat, he lives there and does adventure stuff, he told me of a short cut road through a canyon to the next town I needed to go to. 
It was just like the Matlapitse and saved me about 100 km . I then had to cross the Andes, it is a realy stunning drive, the most incredible mountain passes, canyons, rivers and surrounds. I got caught in a storm on top of the Andes, it was fierce, wind, rain and snow. The mist was right down, I was in the middle of nowhere, luckily a trucker came along and I followed him down. Stayed in a grotty little town that night,nice to be warm and dry. Next day I moved on to Nazca through this great scenery. Nazca, no big deal moving right along, moved on to Pisco and went out to see the Islands, Balletos, the poor mans gallapegos, it was great. So I am just chilling nowat the coast. It is nice and warm, I move on tomorrow north, want to try to get to Ecuador in 2 or 3 days. Bike had a few problems, a bit of TLC and a few other things, also down at sea level and running on higher octane fuel. The fuel has been very poor since Bolivia and the bike has been grumpy, she now has new legs, pretty cool! More later Adios.
Cusco Peru
April 10th, 2009
Well I’m now in Cusco, off to see Machu Pichu tomorrow! Left Uyuni on tue am, with 2 new amigos, Fredrico from Argentina riding a Suzuki DR 800 Duelsport and Zach from Alaska riding a Suzuki DR 650, we all jyst met up in Uyuni and rode on. It was like something out of a western movie, rolling into these small desert towns in a cloud of dust, causing quite a stir. Bolivia is a real third world country, very poor and basic. But I did have a pizza in Uyuni that easily rivals the Pots pizzas, look sharp Garry. There are heards of alpaccas and llamas, the small ones are realy cute. Also in the markets there is realy cool knitwear, had to leave fast! So 3 amigos rode on to Oruro where we stayed and had a night on the town. Next day Fredrico left for Brazil, Zach left me in La Paz, Irode on to Copacabana on lake Titicaca, stunning place. Pity it was raining and I had a puncture on the way, no worries the hotel was great, realy cheap and lots of hot water. Left for Cusco this morning in the rain, it’s clear here now, a real touristy town seems quite nice. So off to Machu Pichu tomorrow, can’t wait!
Iuni Bolivia
April 7th, 2009
Rolled into Iuni in a cloud of dust this afternoon, yea it was heavy going from San Pedro. Had lunch on the moon yesterday, in the Lunar Valley stunning, went up to Ei Tatio geysers yesterday PM, they are up the road from San Pedro 5000m up in the Andes. they are best seen before sun rise so I spent the night up there in a hut, thankfully, it was minus 9 this morning. The geysers are stunning blowing large amounts of steam and water into the air surrounded by volcanoes. The mountain pass down is a nightmare, gravel road, Ihave been doing a lot that lately. The road here is all sand flats, salt flats corrigations, ruts from trucks and real dry. Iuni is a small dorp in the middle of the desert, lots of back packers and other travelers. Met up with some other guys on bikes all just travelling around. Move on tomorrow toward La Paz and lake Titicaca. All going well more later.
La Serena
April 4th, 2009
I left Pucon and headed for Santiago, it’s similar to Taupo in NZ . Chile is much greener and lusher than Argentina, the change is from when you cross the border. Moving on it becomes like the KZN midlands lots of forrestry, mixed farming etc. Chile is much more advanced and happening than it’s neighbour, newer cars and trucks, industry that is organised and well run and much more. I spent the night on the Pacific coast, it was like Clifton in CT but no other houses really majic. Then moved on to Santiago where I had to find a new tyre and chain and some other stuff, it is a huge city, very well organized, but the trafic is hectic. Managed to find and do what I needed toand moved on north to La Serena. It gets drier as you go north and becomes desert. From La Serena Iwent in land to El Qui valley, wow what an amazing place, vineyards and orchards in the middle of the desert in the valleys and up the mountains, I can’t explain, nor can photos, it’s just amazing. I then moved on to Antofogusta, found a cabana on the beach so I’m chilling today, move on tomorrow to San Pedro D Atacama, it’s in the middle of the desert, a huge salt pan, a lunar valley and hot springs. The desert here is just dead not a tree, or plant, or a blade of grass, just sand and rock, no animals or birds, nothing! It’s quite intimidating at times, have to take spare food, water and fuel with. From there I’ll go in to Bolliviar and on to Peru. More later
Pucon
March 31st, 2009
Arrived in Pucon today, wow the trip here was awsome. Pity it’s still raining, move on tomorrow toward Santiago, need new tyres, done 7000 k’s and they are nearly done. Apparently it gets warmer at the coast. I met up with this Belgiun guy riding a BMW 1200 GS before El Bolson in this huge storm, I bumped into him again here so we had some more beers. It is a really stunning place with the volcanoes, mountains and lakes, loads of tourists. later Bruce