Our trip from Termales del Ruiz took us northeast along highway 50. This was honestly one of the most beautiful roads I've ever been on. The thing about driving in Colombia is that most highways are two-lane, curvy roller coasters hugging mountainsides (and usually with people passing recklessly on every curve!). This highway was much less busy than others we've driven, so it made the whole drive more enjoyable. I would highly recommend this drive in anyone's Colombian road trip--as long as you have a reliable car. 😓
Now, to give some back story on Vanna Blanca (as she is so lovingly named). You see, a few months after we got her, she started simply shutting off--like no fuel was getting to the engine. We were usually able to sit and wait 10-15 minutes and she would be fine again, but we knew something was wrong. We had her in for multiple "check-ups" but our mechanic claimed nothing was wrong. However, this kept happening very inconsistently. Mostly when it was raining (who knows why) or on longer drives. Aaron was convinced it was the fuel pump, but our mechanic said the fuel pump was fine. During the time leading up to our trip, she had been running great and we were hopeful. But, to be safe, 4 days before we took our trip Aaron had our mechanic replace the fuel pump completely because he was convinced that was the culprit of our driving woes.
Fast forward to our trip: She had been running fantastic since we left Cali. But about 3.5 hours into our second day of driving, she started quitting--doing the same thing she had done before. She quit at least 10 times before we arrived at
Rio Claro Reserva Natural, our destination for the night. At this point, we were so perturbed (and thankful that we actually made it to our destination) that we decided to just pitch our tent and forget about it for the night.
Rio Claro is a natural reserve in between Medellin and Bogota. It's a gorgeous, clear river which cuts through a canyon and is surrounded by jungle. You can swim, tube, raft, and spelunk in the reserve. Unfortunately, the river was incredibly high and roaring when we were there, and we decided it wasn't safe to swim. So, we spent our time drinking wine at our campsite and listening to the cacophony of tropical birds. It cost 50,000 pesos for us to camp (and this includes entrance into the reserve).
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| Holding tight to a stalagmite at Rio Claro. |
The next morning we broke camp in the rain and awaited Vanna's fate. Sure enough, she quit right away. So, we made it our goal to get to Doradal, a small town a few kilometers away and hope someone could help us. We literally sputtered into a gas station and asked for help. While a concerned semi-truck driver examined her, he said it had to be an electrical problem. So, he directed us to a local guy in town who specialized in electrical work on cars. After barely making it to his shop, the camo clad shop owner replaced the tiny connecter between the fuel pump and the main power source. 10,000 pesos later (about $3) we were on our way!
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| Coffee makes everything better. |
The van ran great. We were on our way albeit hesitant. And then, after about 40 minutes of driving, our dreams were smashed. Literally. But this time, it was WAY worse. It was a game of constant stop and start...hoping we could get out of the construction zone with no shoulder just so we would have a shoulder to pull over to (and cry on). We had no choice but to turn around. We thought that if we could somehow make it back to Doradal, we could have an actual mechanic look at it. Finally, we jerked into Doradal, back to the camo clad electrical man who told us to go down the street and find Julio, a local mechanic.
After asking around, we found "Julio" and he said he could take a look. Meanwhile, Aaron and I went to go get lunch and beers at the gas station next door. For anyone that knows Aaron and I, we both handle frustrating situations in very different ways. Aaron gets quiet and eats while I blabber and cry. While we ate, Aaron ran back and forth to check on the van. The guy said it had to be the fuel pump (even though we told him that it had been replaced just says before). He said he was going to take it out and test it and see if it worked off the car. Well, it turned out that the fuel pump didn't work at all. Turns out our mechanic in Cali had put in a "refurbished" fuel pump which was basically crap. So, Julio was going to try and get us a new one ASAP (which in Colombia time means 5 hours). It seemed every half an hour he said, "The motorbike with the fuel pump will be here in 30 minutes." So, in true Colombia tranquilo style, we spent about 5 hours drinking beer at the gas station with Julio and his friend while waiting for the part to arrive. We also played with Manuel, the 3 year old son of the woman running the gas station. Aaron taught him how to count to 5 in Spanish and taught him how to make animal noises using an app on his phone.
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| Aaron and Manuel |
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| Waiting for Vanna's diagnosis. |
By the time 5:30 rolled around, the part finally came! However, it started downpouring and getting dark. Julio and his team installed the new fuel pump while Aaron held an umbrella over their work space and shined his headlamp in the right direction. Needless to say, this wasn't your usual mechanic shop with a car lift or, ya know, a roof.
At a round 7:00pm, we managed to find a hotel room for the night. We were exhausted and frustrated. I would say relieved, but even though the van was "fixed," we were extremely hesitant. Our next stop was the Chicamocha canyon which was about 7 hours from where we were. We were already about 12 hours from Cali, and if we kept driving north and something happened again with Vanna, it would be more even more disheartening and inconvenient. It just wouldn't be smart to keep driving further with such an unreliable vehicle. Best case scenario was that we made it home with no problems and find out that the fuel pump was the actual issue. Therefore, we made the decision to reroute our trip and head back toward Cali via Guatape and Medellin (both places Aaron had never been). Guatape is known for its huge rock which had rock climbing, so even though our goal of climbing for 5 days in the Chicamocha canyon was over, we could still get some climbing in.
***Fun Fact! Doradal, the small town where we were stranded, was the home of Pablo Escobar's enormous estate complete with a house, sculpture park, airport, go-cart racing track, and zoo with animals from all over the world including hippos, elephants, and giraffes!
Hacienda Napoles is now a theme park/hotel/zoo open to the public.
Thankfully, we made it to Guatape without a hitch! Vanna ran perfectly. We found a great hostel to camp at in Guatape with our own private beach!
Casa Encuentro was a bit expensive at 25,000/person per night for camping but included a delicious breakfast.
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| "Whiskey Before Breakfast" -- on the banjo and in the cup |
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| Campsite kitchen |
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| Sunset view from our tent! |
We hiked the BIG rock, El Penol, the first day there. It's over 700 steps to the top. The view of the lakes was beautiful even though it was a bit rainy. But our main goal for staying in Guatape was climbing! After hearing that the climbing was "closed," we went to find out for ourselves (as all true climbers do). Sure enough, we hiked up to where the climbing was and there was what looked like a brand new sign basically saying no climbing. There was also a barbed wire fence blocking the entire area. Our climbing hopes were crushed.
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| Posing in front of El Penol |
We decided to spend Christmas Eve in Medellin and then drive back to Cali on Christmas day. We enjoyed wandering the crowded streets of Medellin's center on Christmas Eve. We sat in Botero Square and watched the parents waltz by with plastic wrapped bicycles and larger than life stuffed animals. Although Christmas Eve day was bustling, that evening was dead. Christmas Eve is a family holiday and most Colombians gather at the homes of their families, so it was difficult to find any restaurant open. Therefore, we celebrated Christmas Eve in the best way possible: cheese, wine, and reruns of Indiana Jones on the TV. New Christmas Eve tradition? Maybe. :)
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| Botero Square: Mango Micheladas |
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| View of Medellin from the cable car. |
