Saturday afternoon we eventually set off from Bello, a lot later than planned, sister in law drives a 20 year old Corsa (about 10 hours newer than her father's Chevy Sprint) and drives slowly. I guess within the pathetically low limits that exist here, but no-one else seems to stick to them. She's also a middle lane hogger!
On a dual carriageway just after a roundabout her hazards went on and she pulled over in the outside lane, then says something about a mobile phone. My wife had out her mobile on that but if the front of the car where the windscreen wipers and as we went around the roundabout it flew off. Minutes later she had recovered it after playing chicken on an extremely busy road. Another delay.
We set off again, through one of the many tolls that seem to exist, and she pulls over again without much of the way of warning. Supermarket, right next to a dual carriageway, with parking spacesuits reverse out of... Onto the dual carriageway!! We come to our "return" this is effectively an exist in the middle of the dual carriageway that puts you entering the opposite carriageway in the outside lane, like the ones closed in most places in UK these days (Higham?). Worse than that it was to go accross. In the UK at least this was done at a right angle with a clear view of traffic. The return in Colombia requires a look back over the right shoulder/mirror looked ok so just hit the accelerator almost rear ending her on the otherside.
By now it was well into dusk and we were leaving a nice dual carriageway for a single track, unmade in places, ascending a mountain. I love driving and I love the challenge of driving up and down mountains... In the day time. But after dark on a track with significant unguarded drops in places...? Yeah being it on.
After squeezing past vehicles descending, who at least seemed to understand the concept "right of way", we eventually came to our destination, another challenge simply turning into the drive and up to a pair of single story houses. Parked the car and were introduced to more cousins of my wife, then fed delicious food. They had prepared a Chinese style veg and coconut rice with meat - they really nailed it.
This place was a sprawling finca, weren't given a tour so haven't a clue how many bedrooms, but there were 13 sleeping there altogether. My wife kids and I had a sizeable en-suite... No windows, but it did have an external door.
As it was the day after my birthday I was forced to do the pinata. Blindfolded and turned around this way then that. I channelled my inner Like Skywalker and completely destroyed it with my first attempt, cutting short their fun.
Then the beer, aguadiente (think pernod) and Buchanan 's whisky flowed. I crawled into bed 1am, they went for a bit longer.
But not before a magnificent thunderstorm had appeared over the mountains the other side of the valley, giving a light show that Spielberg would have been proud having in "Close Encounters", eventually we started hearing the thunder, followed by rain.
A really good night.
This morning after a fabulous breakfast; arepa, scrambled locally sourced eggs, cheese and their version of black pudding with a cup of tinto, we were taken on walk. This walk involved ascending a good few hundred extra feet up the mountain side to a swimming pool filled from a spring on the mountain side, no-one said anything about swimming so I didn't have the right shorts... But when it's sunny and close to 30c. Who cares?
Water from a spring... Is very cold. But refreshing.
Back to the finca, lunch ( nice but not as good as last night or breakfast) and now back in Medellin. The motorway here pretty much as the M4 East from M25 on a Sunday afternoon. Caught up in today's results and into TWTD world whilst we wait for dinner.
Tomorrow we commence the journey back to Bogota, it can be done in 10 hours, but after dark there is still the threat of bandits so we will break the journey in half and stop somewhere the other side of the mountains in the lowland plain before the next ones that hold Bogota high above Colombia, a capital city that reigns over it's country from on high.
We may even split the journey into 3 parts, we are not keen on to much time in oxygen starved polluted Bogota, we have to return the car on Thursday, our flight is Friday landing LHR @ 3pm Saturday, normally kick off time, though not for us, Rochdale's now a midweek trek for the superfans. |  |
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