Still a bit dizzy from the swaying mainland and exhausted by the stifling heat in the city, we set foot on South American soil for the first time at the marina in Cartagena. Our excitement was limited, as we just wanted to get to our lodging, cook dinner, and get plenty of sleep.

We had just had a six-day break from cycling, but now we needed just as much time to recover from it😉. Even though it was actually way too hot for it, we visited the pretty colonial city center and the small, air-conditioned Gold Museum. We got to know Juan Valdez, the Colombian coffee chain, received our first dengue vaccination, and made detailed plans for our route through Colombia and South America. Still, we didn’t really feel motivated to continue our journey. Trash was everywhere, along with people living in and off it, while others drove past them in fancy cars. Adventurous smells of sewage, garbage, decay, exhaust fumes, and street food filled our noses. Added to that was the paralyzing, humid heat, in which sweat ran down our foreheads even when we were doing nothing. Why did we want to cycle here? Couldn’t we have found a more pleasant destination?

We knew our doubts would quickly fade once we were on the road, so on April 22, after a nearly two-week break from cycling, we set off. But already on the first short climb, we had to take a fifteen-minute break from the heat and cool off a little later in an air-conditioned gas station shop. Fortunately, only a supposedly «short» and «flat» stretch lay between us and the Andes, where everything was meant to get better in the cooler heights. But it wasn’t quite that quick or easy after all.

The first few stages reminded us of our crossing on the sailboat: the surface was more undulating than expected, the landscape offered little variety, and David was feeling sick. The heat, an upset stomach, or a lack of salt (maybe it was a combination of all three?) were getting to him. He could barely eat, and whatever little he did manage to eat, he had to give up far too quickly. It didn’t help his condition that, instead of being understanding, I just reacted with annoyance. Traveling with a David who was too healthy to stay and too sick to travel was no fun at all, and I just found everything stupid. Sun stupid, rain stupid, scenery stupid, road stupid, trucks stupid, people stupid, and food stupid anyway. So, we slogged through the heat for five days, stayed in cheap truck stop hotels, took hardly any photos, didn’t try any local specialties, and rarely engaged with the cheerful, open-minded locals. We were too preoccupied with ourselves.

When we finally caught sight of the Andes, the world’s longest mountain range, things started going uphill, both on the road and in our spirits. In one long day, we climbed from 150 to 2’500 meters above sea level and immediately felt much better. Despite the rain and a slight chill(!), the joy of being on the road was back.

We sampled our way through the assortment of bakeries and were delighted by encounters like the one with Andrés, a mobile wafer vendor. He tours the area on his motorcycle, selling caramel- or cheese-filled waffles, two of which he gave us as a gift. He’s saving every Peso of his tight daily earnings to eventually fulfill his big dream: to buy a used vehicle costing 2’000 USD, use it to sell wafers, and explore South America.

The next morning, we met up with Andrés at the town square in Yarumal for breakfast. In his backpack, he brought homemade arepas (corn cakes) with cheese and egg, buñuelos, and hot coffee with milk. Thank you, Andrés, for the great start to the day!

The idyllic hilly landscape, dotted with small farms and countless cows, felt very much like home. The only difference was that here, the milk was transported to the collection point by donkey, horse, or cow, and instead of being turned into Emmental or Gruyère, it was made into white fresh cheese. But with Queso Costeño, Queso Campesino, Quesillo, Cuajada, and the like, life is still quite good for the time being😊.

We hadn’t even left the last cow pastures behind us when we suddenly spotted the metropolitan area of Medellín below us in the valley and marveled at how steeply it spreads out in all directions up the mountain slopes. After a rapid descent, we found ourselves in the middle of the hustle and bustle but quickly reached our accommodation in a quiet, safe residential neighborhood via good bike paths. This is not entirely given, as Medellín was controlled by drug lord Pablo Escobar until the 1990s; nowhere in the world more people were killed every day than in Colombia’s second-largest city! Although Medellín is now considered a safe model city in Latin America, we couldn’t quite warm up to it and had seen enough after a gondola ride and a stroll through the center.
We stayed only two days in the City of Eternal Spring (as Medellín is called because of its pleasant year-round climate), spending half of that time having coffee with Robert. He and his wife are traveling by Jeep from Alaska to Patagonia, and we had already met in Mexico and Nicaragua. It was a joyful reunion with plenty to talk about!

Contrary to expectations, the ride out of Medellín turned out to be very enjoyable. It was May 1st, a public holiday in Colombia. In this metropolis of four million people, Sundays and public holidays mean that three lanes of the highway running through the city center are closed to motor vehicles and reserved exclusively for non-motorized traffic. How amazing is that? That’s something we can only dream of in Switzerland.

The atmosphere among cyclists, runners, and inline skaters was fantastic, and we were delighted both by the many happy faces and by the traffic-free, direct, and relaxed route out of the city. But before continuing on the regular road after 15 kilometers, a security guard wanted to hear all about our trip. He probably understood us just as “well” as we understood him, but the obligatory TikTok video with the foreign guests was a must anyway😉. Right on the outskirts of town, the climb over a pass toward Santa Barbara began. We tackled it alongside hundreds of enthusiastic cyclists… Welcome to Colombia, the land of cycling!

We had actually planned to camp more often again, but when we reached the village of La Pintada at 600 meters above sea level after a long descent, the idea was out of the window. Down here, it was way too hot for us again, and we were grateful for the fan in the cheapest hotel room in town (with a special discount because the TV was broken😉). During the night, we heard heavy rain, lightning, and thunder outside. We were so glad to have a dry place to stay!

From La Pintada, we chose a beautiful route through the coffee region. Aside from the first few (muddy) kilometers along the river, we spent four days riding either uphill or downhill. In 170 kilometers, we covered 5’000 meters of elevation gain and had a blast doing it! Even though we could hardly imagine it given the steep slopes, the inclines on the quiet paved roads were quite pleasant. Only in the colonial villages perched on hills with their grid-like street layouts were the roads insanely steep! This did not prevent us, of course, from taking long breaks in the picturesque towns, drinking Colombian coffee, and watching the bustling activity. People were interested in where we came from, where we were going, and what we thought of Colombia. It happened several times that older gentlemen would put their hands on David’s shoulder and talk to him (judging by the tone, in a friendly manner). Since he couldn’t really understand the mumbled Spanish, he usually replied with “Si” or “¡Muchas gracias!” and smiled.

The mountainous landscape slowed our progress, but we enjoyed the views of the green slopes, which were planted all the way to the very top with coffee bushes, banana palms, sugarcane, or sometimes even corn. It’s unbelievable what rugged terrain people here farm on!

We paid only a brief visit to the city of Manizales before following the rather unspectacular and unremarkable highway all the way to Salento. In this small, pretty tourist town, where colorful houses are lined up very prettily, we are now enjoying a few days’ break.