I
t was the beginning of my
first ever long-term overland-
ing trip with my partner Kel-
vin, and we were both brim-
ming with excitement and
trepidation about what lay
before us ... the unknown ...
We stood there; looking out of the
hotel window onto the busy main
road in anticipation of collecting our
bikes from customs later that day, we
thought we were going to die … what
the hell were we doing? The traf-
fic looked chaotic and crazy. To our
amazement and relief, once we were
immersed in the hustle and bustle of
the cars, bikes, taxi’s and buses on
our old DR650’s it was a pleasant sur-
prise, and more like organised chaos,
plus the drivers looked in their mir-
rors. Amazing!
I have to say, any anxieties we
had faded very swiftly. Colombia
surpassed my expectations in mul-
tiple ways, not just because of all it
has to offer in terms of biodiversity,
but due to its people. Immediately,
what struck me was the happiness
and kindness of the Colombian’s, and
their intrigue about who we were,
why we decided to visit their wonder-
ful country, and whether we felt safe.
We did!
On the way back from the airport,
having struggled to get our bikes to
stay alive long enough to get to the
petrol station, and with more stuff
than two people could ever need
when travelling, my bike decided
it wasn’t going to play ball and the
clutch just decided to give up. Luckily
it wasn’t broken, but it overheated in
the traffic. Immediately, two young
guys jumped out of their car, one ran
to Kelvin and told him I was stuck and
the other ran to me to check I was ok.
How nice is that? People would ig-
nore you back home. After a few ad-
justments of the cable and lever, and
a bit of a cool-off, we were on our way
again, and the guys who stopped were
happy to leave us. What a great intro-
duction to Colombian hospitality.
TRAVERSE 81