Beaches, mountains, deserts, rain-
forests, waterfalls ... Colombia has it
all. Starting at the coast, our first real
stop was in the North of Colombia,
in particular Cartagena (a UNESCO
World Heritage Site), Cabo de la Vela
on the Guajira peninsular (home to
the indigenous Wayuu people), and
Palomino, a popular destination with
many due to its gorgeous beach and
‘tubing’; an activity of sitting in a
huge, inflated inner-tube for a couple
of hours, floating down the Rio Palo-
mino to the sea. I have to say we re-
ally enjoyed it and it was so relaxing,
especially with no-one else with us.
The ride to the start point was on the
back of two tiny motorbikes in our
swim stuff, trying to hold onto the
huge inner-tubes which added a bit
of excitement. Luckily, we stayed on.
The next stop was in Cabo de la Vela
after a very hot and corrugated ride
from Uribia. We found a little spot
at a place called Kite Addict where
we slept in big Wayuu hammocks
called chinchorros for two nights up
on a platform, so we had an amazing
view of the flat, calm beach and the
stunning sunsets. It is a very famous
place for kite surfing due to the calm
sea conditions and the wind, howev-
er we decided to refrain from trying
it as the likelihood was it would end
in tears and broken bodies. Watching
all the pro’s out on the water was awe-
some though and they made it look so
easy.
The heat for us was a little more
than we could easily tolerate being
pasty poms, however we persevered
along the majority of Colombia’s Ca-
ribbean coast. There was a little too
much asphalt for our taste and with
that and the heat, we started ventur-
ing Southwards.
One of my favourite places to be
is in the mountains. There is some-
thing majestic about mountains and
the rugged landscapes that often
present themselves. Some of the best
riding of my life was in Colombia’s
Andes mountain ranges, of note, the
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