2 months in Colombia, 2 months with our camper van and 2 months of seeing a country with new eyes. The last time I visited Colombia, I came with a backpack and travelled by bus. This time, we would travel with our own vehicle and a strong focus on combining the journey with our favorite things to do – climbing, highlining and mountaineering. We share many pictures and day to day stories on Instagram and Polarsteps. Here, I’d like to share some more of the emotions and feelings that travel with us. Let’s start at the beginning:
We arrived in Cartagena and went directly to the small town of Turbaco, were Laura, Adrian and our camper van were waiting for us. Laura and Adrian had built it themselves and had travelled all the way from Urugay to Colombia.
Being welcomed by such experienced travelers made the start really easy for us. They had taken care of the accommodation, and we could ask them everything. Still, just walking through the streets of Turbaco was overwhelming. Loud music from speakers, cars, motor and people everywhere and the burning heat of the Caribbean were a wild mix. Even with the instructions of Laura and Adrian, easy tasks such as getting a Sim-Card and a car insurance felt like a mental challenge to us. In between all of this, there was also this incredible excitement of unpacking bags, moving into the van and getting to know every detail about it.
After three days, it was time to say goodbye to Laura & Adrian. Where one journey ends, another one begins. A strange feeling for all of us. From now on we would be on our own. First, we had to organize a few things. We needed new tires and a gas refill. After working us through task #1, getting gas, we we already exhausted. Especially the combination of 32°C in the shade and the wild traffic of Cartagena cost us a lot of nerves. After an unsuccessful try we escaped to the beach and calmed down our mind.
However, with the German restlessness of an unsolved task, we left again after two nights for the tire mission. Unfortunately, it was Saturday morning. As a result we spent three hours in a traffic jam and arrived at the first store 5 min before they closed. What a surprise, on a Saturday at 2 pm. That day, we were really lucky because other stores worked late and we left at 6 pm with new tires. We were successful, but completely exhausted.
At the beach, we had already decided to leave the heat and the Caribbean coast and head to the mountains. On the way, we had another few tasks to solve. The gas still needed a refill and the balancing and alienation of the tires was also necessary. This time, we tried it in a different town, which was already a lot calmer than Cartagena and therefore also a lot more relaxing for us. We could complete almost all our tasks. At least we got enough gas to survive a bit and the tires were all aligned after the second try.
A few days later we arrived at La Mojarra, Colombias best climbing crack. From day one, we calmed down. We had reached out to the local slackline community and together we had some amazing days climbing and slacklining. In those days, talking with the locals, I realized how rusty my Spanish was. I used to be pretty fluent, but this was eight years ago. We usually got along, but at the end of the day my brain was tired and Lukas, completely new to the language, said nothing anymore.
After a week, we moved on to the National Park of El Cocuy. We had done some research on how to get there, but apparently not enough. We ended up on some pretty nasty dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, wondering if we would make it out of there. With the help of two police officers we did the research we should have done before and chose a better road for the second half. However, when we arrived in El Cocuy, our car had an engine warning. We spontaneously changed plans and camped in the middle of town instead of the remote campsite and postponed the solving of car problems. First, we wanted to focus on planning our time in the National Park. We had the following situation: We were not acclimatized yet and the National Park starts at 4000 masl, our car was useless, the National Park has several 5000m+ peaks but allows only three permitted hiking paths, guide obligatory and we had contact to a guide who liked to ignore the official rules and knows how to get around them. Now it was up to us to create an itinerary. With all those restrictions, making plans was stressful. We felt completely incompetent and it took us a few days to understand the place, the rules, the prices and the people. In the end, we decided to stick to the rules. Instead we would set up a Highline outside the park. Still, we had quite a hard time dealing with this feeling of incompetence. At some point we accepted it and took this as a learning. On a journey like this, we will be constantly at a new a place and it will always take a while until we understand our new surrounding. Sometimes slower, like this one, sometimes faster.
Once we had our itinerary planned, we were back in the flow and enjoyed the mountains, the nature and had a really good time with the people.
But then, reality hit hard again. 10 min after leaving the town, our engine went into the limb mode and we could barely accelerate anymore. El Cocuy is a two hour drive on mountain roads away from the next big street. After the first panic moment, we started setting us small and achievable goals, like finding and reaching a mechanic. Like this, we moved through the issue and had a surprisingly good time, because Wilson and Leidy did not only solve our mechanical problem, but also invited us into their family and showed us how life in El Capitanejo looks like.
Our next stop was Suesca, where we met another part of the slackline Community. For more than a week, everything was taken care of. Together we made plans and went from one amazing slackline spot to the next. We could focus on the good sides again, such as climbing, slacklining and getting to know Colombia and the Columbians in Suesca, Sutatausa, and Bogota.
Together with Slackliners from Bogota, we left for another mountain slackline project close to the Nevado de Ruiz. Besides the tricky weather, we had a really great time and even got a glimpse of the harsh life the local farmers life in the mountains.
After almost two weeks of being constantly around people, we were looking for some „me-time“ and found it at a place I knew from my previous journey. I had this place in very best memory, but when we arrived, the vibe was strange. Some places change.. Instead, we went on a four-day hike to the Nevado de Tolima. After the days at the nearby Nevado de Ruiz we had a better understanding of the place and decided to ignore the „guide-rule“ and gave it a try. On the way, we met many locals, even some guides and no-one had any problem with us being on our own. And just like that, we made it to our first 5000m peak of this journey and my first 5000m peak ever.
We continued further South. On the way we got stung by something while climbing, roasted in the heat while visiting a desert, a nausea and fever from something and at the end we were pretty happy when we arrived in San Agustin. The temperatures were moderate again, I was back on track and all the bites were gone. Our motivation for adventures was back and we continued to Pasto on the search for climbing cracks. We found them and had some really good days with great climbing, fun searches for the right path and a horse that followed us around.
Then, it was time to continue the journey and say goodbye to beautiful Colombia. It was my second visit and one more time it felt like it could also be a place to stay. The sport opened the door to make many friends, allowed us to see places off the beaten track and let us dive deep into the countries vibe. Strangers helped us to navigate through life, when we were struggling with the new lifestyle. Many things work differently than back home, but usually even to the advantage of travelers. However, everything that works differently is difficult at the beginning. After two months in Columbia my Spanish got more fluent again and Lukas can already have small conversations. We are already much more relaxed when things break or don’t work out as planned and initial challenges have become our daily routine.
Our favorite place so far? Probably La Mesa de los Santos and La Mojarra.
Our favorite moments? Sharing the highlife with the local community and seeing Colombia through their eyes. Because for all of us, life and nature is a big playground.
