March 2 2017, Puerto Carreno, Colombia

I managed to snatch Luises banana bag, amonst other things good at keeping bananas fresh!

Puerto Carreno was a blast, hot days, 2pm siestas, wonderful food, good company and ping pong every night. I saw the sunrise over the Orinoco and Venezuela, what do I do now?
Going in Venezuela, for many reasons was not good but more important was that it's March 2nd and I am still in Colombia. Most appealing was riding for 10 days with the big tailwinds in the eastern plains.

After many days in the boat, turning the pedals was a great escape, I was free again and not in the mercy of the river and The "Titanic".

There was a neat brown line for 300km or more that I spotted on Google satellite maps and I decided to give it a shot. There would be not towns or houses that sell cold sodas, crazy delicious hawaiian pizza breakfast bread and I'd miss few people I met on the way.

some of the finest quadra track out there

The road was great, singletracks, quadratracks, road, multiple roads, no roads and few fences.

At four I saw a house with people so I stopped to ask for water. I was greeted with a chair, a cold drink and an invitation to stay the night.

Pedro, Maria and their grand daughter Camilla, few horses, a bunch of dogs, lots of sheep and ninety cows. A cow needs at least 4 acres of land. It was amazing to see how much the little girl helped, her enthusiasm and politeness. Pedro and Maria had moved here twelve years ago and started a ranch out of scratch. They build the house, fences and everything else. Pedro told me he biked to Carreno then before he had a motorcycle, a 100km ride one way. They used to have the cows drink water from the Caño but one or two would fall and drown every year so they got a pump now. They get light and power from a solar panel and have a tv. There is no phone or anything so they have a radio, everyday at 4, the station would announce and read any messages for the people living here. They grow a bit of corn for the chickens, cane sugar for the cows and horses, yuca and all sorts of bananas. The few things they need they get from when one of the bigger ranches that has a truck goes to town. They also have the most comfortable hammocks I have ever met and taught me a few things about cooking and taking care of cows.

cows stampeding out of the plains to go drink water

I was happy how far my spanish has gotten and was able to ask more and learn more. I took off under the big sky and with the big tailwinds.

At noon a moto drove by and told me there was a town nearby. Woohoo! 1hour later I rolled into the thriving metropolis of La Esmeralda.

I was making good time, the fat bike was perfect for this terrain and the wind was lovely. I got off the road early to find a good spot and watch the sunset. The sound of the tailwind at camp was refreshing and meant no mosquitoes but also reminded me of how nice the ride was and how miserable it was to ride against it with Luis. As hot as the day was, nights were cool and after the hot days much more enjoyable.

If the road got worse, there was almost always a nice moto track that skips all the bumpy, sandy or dusty stuff. Except sometimes it goes into a random direction and you may need to backtrack for a couple of minutes.

kind of what its all about! absolutely love this place

Othe times there would be a random section of road for few hundred meters before it aburptly stops and it becomes a free for all - pick your own route. Driving one of these in a car or a truck must be very challenging.

Or taking a moto with your kid on the front on a motorcycle that is too big!

With this being a bigger road there was lots of traffic, I saw a truck and few cars. Several motos buzzed past, one stopping to see if Fathorse was a moto. The other good and bad part was the stores which sell cold soda and with the heat it was hard to resist. Cows were moving on their way and donkeys were very surprised to see me.

It rained for a bit so I kept going until the sunset. They have been amazing here every single days. These plains kind of grow on you.

The morning takes me to another world, a world of baby pine trees and whole forests. Deer and other weird animals run away from you and sins tell the heavy trucks to get off the road.

La Primavera. Dont get me wrong, things here arent as wild and remote. There are towns like these. Few people I met two weeks ago on the way to Careno spoke with me. I set off on a wild goose chase to find internet in town.
First I had to wait until 2pm for the places to open, one wasnt open and another had no internet, the third told me something was down and there was no internet in town and to come back tomorrow.

On the way out I chased a truck down. These things really take a beating. I was having too much fun so the wire holding my handlebar roll snapped. The bag went straight down making the bike feel more stable.

and after town, you are on your own. pick your own route

I took an alternate route and set up onn a car rut, not a bad place to camp dealing with the grass would definitely be worse than somebody driving next to you.

Ants, for some reason really liked the corn water. They quickly organized and ants were pouring down from far away nests ro come and look at the grey maze river. Then they bagan destroying it, taking away soil and lugging giant rocks. The big ones were obviously in charge (or trying to catch and eat the small ones?

Few trucks started buzzing on the main road at 5 and i was ready to go too after 20minutes of snoozing and aboutas much to pack up.

I met Marco, marching 250 cows to Puerto Gaitan to be sold, they have been traveling for 6 days and had 7 more to go. They only cover 25-35km per day and feed and drink the animals at fincas on the way. I strongly considered joining them for a day or two but I dont think I can handle cow pace, all the mooing and all the dust.

The road, many times was quite bad, no good lines, no alternatives and no magical smooth moto track.

Noon came and I had a trucker appetite and was ready for a standard 2 hour-dog-days-of-summer nap. Eat like a trucker, nap like a dog and ride like a horse. there you have it!

Later came a big junction with lots of big traffic, looks like some oil camps down the road. Prices nearly doubled so I was happy to have stocked up some food from that one town a while back.

less glamourous camping in the grass but still amazing.

Not many shortcuts or off road options, the whole thing was a big rocky mess. One thing that helped was seeing how the trucks were struggling, slower than me, rocking, clinking and clanking on the rocks, might as well drive a locomotive on this road. Poor fellows doing this for 8-10 hours a day... wait.. i am doing the same thing.

Eventually I reached pavement and rode past some hotels to Puerto Gaitan. Pavement was ubelievable and I was quite happy to be on it.

time to take a nap! dont drive if you are tired!

puerto Gaitan on the way out, i spent an hour napping under shade in the main plaza and free wifi

Under the constant buzzing of the tires I made good time before the sun fell and went to ask if I can camp at a finca. There were few very cheap hotels but I could not sleep indoors with a fan when outside gets so cool and fresh at night. At the finca I ate amazing rice-chicken-fish bowl and even joined in for a birthday celebration. Interesingly Colombians sing "happy birthday" in english. I woke up to classical llanos music at 4:30, singing about towns I have visited, venezuela and cows.

ooh, i guess giving birth is not easy...

I rode past few towns, big sugar plants and endless tree plantations. I got offered a cat but the little buggers dont run very well. Eventually I made it to Villavicencio to wraping the ride of the plains at 920km.

From here the plan is to cross the cordilera oriental then go to Los Nevados and then figure a way to Pasto and Ecuador. Its bee great here in Colombia but I am itching to move on.