GlobeRiders Tierra del Fuego Adventure 2018 Chapter 01

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Cartagena now seems like a distant dream.  It was balmy and warm.. Beachy and laid back.  Beautiful people and wonderful food.  It was the vacation before the journey.  I will return to Cartagena before going back to Hawaii.  It was a wonderful place to begin our Globerider’s journey.

Now, leaving Cartagena is an entirely different story.  I can’t even begin to explain the traffic.  People here have a mission to be the first in line in any traffic situation.  You fight to hold your own and on two wheels that’s not always easy.  Needless to say it was a challenge to get out of the city that first day of riding.  The following days through Colombia were full of twisty roads filled with all types of long haul vehicles and buses that needed passing.  Bravery or stupidity (plus a lot of skill) became the game of the day.  Our mantra is “just get there safely. Finish the journey”.  We visited amazing countryside with wonderful, friendly and happy helpful people. 

The border crossing into Ecuador was a bit long and taxing.  In reality, after Cape Town to Cairo, it was almost a piece of cake.  The border employees just did their job.  All and all it went rather smooth.  Riding in Ecuador was a nice experience.  The roads became wider and smoother.  People didn’t seem to be quite as aggressive until we arrived in Quito.  I don’t remember too much stress arriving but leaving was a taxing experience.  Harrison and I got separated early on while exiting the city.  Some how I got ahead of him.  I found a long stretch of highway under an over pass (it was raining and foggy) and called him.  He called me back shortly and with the help of “Find my Phone” app we determined where each of us were.  20 minutes later we were back together.  Onward we go!   Ecuador was green and beautiful.  Wonderful riding through the mountains.

Crossing from Ecuador to Peru was a different experience. The night before our crossing we stayed at a border hotel.  1-2 star.  We had a wonderful happy hour and interesting dinner at our Hotel Abierto {aka- Hotel California)  It was the day of the Superbowl and the young ones watched the game in the bar while the rest of us talked about our day. A memorable evening.

A 3 hour crossing from Ecuador into Peru and wow, what a difference.  The scenery became dry and desolate and the roadsides filled with garbage.  It was quite a shock.   As we moved further south the landscape improved and cleaned up a bit.  Still, a huge difference.

Lima was nice.  Crazy traffic and a hectic 2 days.  Onwards to Nazca.  Harrison and I had been here 20 years ago and hardly recognized the place.  We had a nice time there.  Over the mountains to Cusco.  Gained altitude so quickly it made your head literally spin.  Foggy the first part of the day but when it cleared up it was absolutely stunning.  Otherworldly.  
  
I hope you get some sense of our adventure from this post.  Just know that we are having the time of our lives and enjoy your thoughts and encouragement. 

Until Next Time,

Debbie and Harrison

Wow another great GlobeRiders adventure, this is my 7th trip with GlobeRiders.  I did the South America trip back in 2010 with Helge and two other Amigos. It’s quite different from last time I road this trip, for one the roads are better, also it’s a larger group and what is making it extra special is my wife Linda, who I wasn’t married to on the last trip is riding two up with me on this one.

Its been kind of an interesting experience this time as there are many things I can’t remember from last time, like a road or place, then there are moments when I can totally remember the road or the place clearly.  One day that came back clearly to me was when we stopped for lunch [see photo below] which is just a small roadside stop in a very small town in the middle of nowhere and it turned out to be the same place we had lunch 9 years ago and what was wild nothing had changed. They still had a hanging pig outside [I’m sure or hope it’s different pig] the same menu same pictures on the wall and I swear it was the same people cooking and serving. It’s kind of like the story in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, like I’ve forgotten a lot from last time I was here and some things have changed but as I ride certain parts come back to me and I remember my life then and compare it to how it is now, kind of a cool experience.

So far from Cartagena, Colombia to Cusco, Peru its been going great. We’ve had the challenges of twisty narrow mountain roads of Colombia choked with indescribable truck traffic spewing out diesel fumes while in hot humid weather wearing full riding gear, but we loved it. We loved the uniqueness of it all and the demands it puts on you, not only in your driving skills but your ability to “go with the flow” and fine the magic that happens everyday. But those truck choked mountain roads seem so long ago now, since then we’ve experienced some epic riding days from well engineered highways to mind blowing mountain passes with miles of countless twisties taking to us literally to break taking altitudes in the range of 4500- 5000 meters.

We’ve also got to experience two boarder crossing so far, which really is more like four, because you first need to clear yourself out of one country through immigration, then you need to clear your bike out of the country through customs, then you need to check yourself into the next country’s immigration and check your bike into the next country’s customs. Clearing customs requires purchasing insurance at the border, getting all your documentation inspected and approved which usually also includes a customs officer inspecting your bike to confirm VIN and Plate numbers match the documents you have presented. You need patients with border crossing as they can take 4-6 hours to get everyone processed, but again if you can just “go with the flow” there is also some magic moments that add to the memories. One border crossing memory between Ecuador into Peru was when one of the rider’s bike [Spike] had an issue with a rear tire and it was decided by Helge to get him through the border crossing first so he and Helge could go find a place after the border crossing to get the tire changed out. You have to understand that this is nothing like home with full services tire shops, if you’re lucky you can find basically a shack at the side of the road that not only has some tools to do truck tire repairs but is also the family’s home.  I ended up meeting with them as they were close to finishing the tire change out and got to watch the guys interactions with the man who’s “shop” it was and the family. The young kids where so engaged with the whole experience of these foreigners basically at their home working on these strange looking machines, it was fun to watch it all.

What has also making this trip excellent is not only do I get to share it with wife but that she also loves it; happy wife happy ride.  We’ve gotten to celebrate her birthday standing on the equator in Quito the capital of Ecuador and had a birthday dinner with group at a restaurant with an amazing view overlooking the city of Quito. We celebrated Valentines day while taking a sightseeing flight over the Lines of Nazca in Peru, couldn’t have planned this better. We also have an anniversary coming up on this trip should be interesting to see where and what we are doing on that date.

Now those who don’t know my wife, lets just say she’s a hair and makeup kind of girl and this is really outside her comfort zone. She is really enjoying the uniqueness and the contrast between her life at home and those of the people that live here in these countries. She’s enjoying the ride, the scenery and is really enjoying engaging with the people even though she speaks basically no Spanish. In particularly she finds great joy in engaging with the young children, which usually happens when we stop for a roadside coffee or lunch. She brought along some small simple “gifts” that she likes to use to help with the “conversation” with the kids. Sometimes it just blowing up balloons with them or doing paper dolls, kids really respond to the opportunity to engage which brings laughter, smiles and creates another memory for us.

Today Linda is off on a tour of Rainbow mountain which requires a 3 hour bus ride each way an a 3 hour hike. We did Machu Picchu yesterday [16 hrs] so I’m happy just to be here in my room working on this journal looking at the view of the city of Cuzco outside my window.  I think I’ll adventure out when I've finished this and find some lunch up at the city square and just remember that it’s another great day to be a GlobeRider.

I have chosen to share 2 days from my journal of the 14 days we have enjoyed on the road so far. We have a great crew and are enjoying some fun and challenging days on the road. If you would like to read further please go to my blog as follows:

Nickssouthamerica.blogspot.ca 

Day 06, Fri, Feb 2nd - 277km

Today Luis and Moris, two of Helge's pals and helpers joined us on their BMW 800's. They hail from Bogota, helped with trip organizing and are great guys to have around in a pinch; more on that shortly!

The traffic out of Medellin was pretty ferocious even at an early hour so we were glad to ride out in somewhat staggered formation heading for the hills. Boy, were there hills! We traversed up hill and down dale, corners, turns, switch backs too numerous to mention through awesome countryside.

One of the differences here in a country of 48 mm people (GDP about $9000 US per capita but this buys goods at a factor of approx two in purchasing power parity terms) is the amount of traffic. Lots and lots of all sorts of vehicles on the road especially long haul tractor trailers. In the mountains on narrow roadways they are going awfully slowly at times so darting by at opportune times becomes an art form. It is a particular skill acquired with practice and concentration.

Today I was merrily threading my way in a passing situation and around the corner heading towards me comes the Policia, a man and a woman dressed in green and riding a green motorbike. "Guilty as charged!!" He turns around, catches up to me and I am summarily reprimanded in unintelligible, fast talking Spanish.

Luckily Luis was a short ways back as well as our driver Jairo. When they arrived there was an almighty show down for maybe 10 minutes 'forth and back’ (Helge's terminology). They wanted to impound the bike and take me to their station which would have been a big problem. I could see that the negotiations were intense so it was a bit disquieting.

I was very pleased to have the two of them pleading my case, believe me. Finally they let me go with a warning (no bribe money either) and I said to Luis in no uncertain terms to please inform the police officer: "I want you to tell this man that I am happy he stopped me, I was in the wrong and this is a good wake up call".

Truth be known any one of us could have been accosted in a similar vein, it just happened to be me. I was sufficiently humbled to slow down a bunch and stay at the back of the pack for the rest of the day.

For something to do I counted corners in 3 five minute intervals and got to an average of 50; that is 600 per hour and well over 2000 turns for the day. That extrapolates to many tens of thousands of turns for the trip.

It has never happened before but I actually scraped my pedals on a turn. That is getting to the limit of how far you can lean over the bike. The answer is to slow down a bit and take the turn more gradually. Heads up Nick this is important stuff to get right!

Once we got out of the mountains the going became easier on the valley floors where the roads are easier to construct. There were lots of stoppages for road work and I had a chance to take a look at the wide swaths of sugar cane growing in this very rich soil area.

A few comments:

• have seen very little bird life in a country that is supposed to be teaming with birds; actually there is world class bird watching going on just not here;  I find out later that insecticides in the fields kill almost everything, there are zero bugs on our windshields or face visors; no bugs, no birds, pretty soon no bees means down the road nothing will grow, a scary cycle, thanks Monsanto;

 

• we stopped for lunch in what was or maybe still is a narco town; Luis explained that our lovely looking waitress had not only had breast augmentation but also butt augmentation and it was sure easy to notice! Apparently that's the style around here that the narco trade likes;

 

• people are friendly, glad to see us and speak not one lick of English; you better get 'El Bano' right if you want to use the toilette!

 

• no one smokes here;

 

• even though we are getting closer to the equator in Ecuador, the temperatures have been more manageable, approx 26-32;

We are staying in a sketchy place in the middle of nowhere, a jumping off location on the way to our lovely lodgings coming up in Popayan to tomorrow; no soap, no hot water, bugs crawling around in the room, poor me!

Tonight we had our welcome dinner which has been postponed several times. After a few drinks and a poor meal (lucky my lunch was excellent) we all spoke separately about our expectations for the trip. I am always moved especially listening to the newbies (5) tell us about themselves etc and Helge does a great job of orchestrating it all.

In capsule, we have 3 guys in their 50's called the kids, 6 guys in their 60's including our gifted rider Debbie wife of Harrison and 2 guys in their later 70's. There are two side car units and two additional ladies riding as companions so quite a socially mixed group.

Day 20, Fri, Feb 16th - 195 km

After a difficult day yesterday of steep climbs, sometimes zero visibility and elevations to 15,000 feet causing altitude issues, everyone was pretty spaced out that afternoon and evening. Our digs were a splendid countryside oasis that provided us with good food and a nice and deserved place to relax.

Much of the Peruvian way of life we saw along the way was desolate, subsistence living in the mountains. Most villages are dirty and hap hazard; lots and lot of dogs, grazing domestic animals on the roads and herds of semi-wild, long necked alpacas waiting to walk out on the road at a moments notice.

We left in good time and enjoyed Peru's first class road system in a third world country. Starting at 2500 metres we rose to 4000 then back to 2500 then up to 4000 again and completed the day in Cusco at their official height of 3399 metres (over 11,000 feet).

You might imagine the amount of turns, switchbacks etc. to ascend and descend, must have been thousands. Fortunately, the weather was much more cooperative so it was enjoyable albeit still a lot of work.

The highlight of the day was a stop at the Cconcha Raymi Festival. This can best be described in the pics below but in no way can it convey the animal and people noises and smells. It was terrific to witness the locals in their element.

Last comment before pushing the send button, another clumsy effort by yours truly: we were parked at an uneven level at the Fair so Waan walked down the street to wait for me there. What to do with the camera? I placed it on the dash and wrapped the shoulder cord around the left side mirror so it wouldn’t fall. Not! Immediately after shoving off at ultra low speed there was nada steering due to the camer tying up the handle bars. Whammo, down went the bike in the middle of the street! No harm done except wounded pride and a couple of swarthy locals helped with the pick up. This is my diary so it needs to be documented warts and all.

Jairo, our very competent chase car man extraordinaire helped get my bent pannier fixed in a jiff. There were some sheet metal workers in the basement of our next hotel. They went to work and in short order it now closes waterproof perfect, thanks Jairo!

Tomorrow the glories of a full day at Machu Picchu to look forward to!

Hope this 10 day Missive #3 contains something of interest for you! Best, NG

One of my favorite quotations, attributed to St. Augustine goes "The world is a book and those that do not travel read only a page".

Another, penned by Mark Twain: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime".

Thus, once again, we find ourselves riding with Helge and a spirited mix of adventure motorcyclists. Our primary goal: to ride from Cartagena, Columbia, to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, in 62 days. Our secondary goal: to arrive in Ushuaia on schedule, with every rider, passenger, bike, sidecar (yes, two sidecars on this tour!), chase vehicle and trailer that we departed with. Our tertiary goal: to be good global citizens, amicable representatives of our respective countries, proud ambassadors of the international brotherhood of motorcyclists. We're doing pretty good on all three counts so far . . . .

Since departing Cartagena, we've had privilege of riding the lowlands and mountain passes of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Aside from the mind-bending vistas, the new smells, flavors, tastes, customs, the twists, the turns, the smiles and miles, one of the huge attractions in overland adventuring by motorcycle (and sidecar!!!) outside of the so-called "First World" is the sheer joy of riding. Even today, the only laws we cannot violate are those of physics, momentum, traction. Each day we ride unbound by arbitrary speed zones. Within the performance envelop of one's riding ability and machine parameters, and with safety and our Secondary Goal in mind, we ride as fast as we want and conditions allow. We pass whenever we deem it safe to do so, regardless of what color or style of road striping we cross doing so. We lane split. Such activity would land us in jail in The First World, but here, we're not breaking the law per se, we're just going with the flow.

Such unfettered riding is impossible at home. It's the daily special here. We're not outlaws. We ride with full-face helmet, protective riding suit, gloves and boots. The One Law - if you hit another rider from behind, it's your fault, period. No drinking and driving. You must NEVER pass another rider to the right.

We're just in tune with the traffic around us. The sheer joy of "the moto" is realized here like nowhere else I've ridden. We're about 1/3rd of the way into our journey, I can't wait for the road(s) ahead.