Day 30 Wednesday 24th October: Dodging lots in Colombia

John writes: today at last we started the long drive in our Dodge, the arch rival to Chevrolet and with Chris feeling somewhat treacherous. We were unsure of the road or traffic for our 300kms drive to Monteria so departed early at 7.15. No concerns required as much of the road was dual carriageway with a great surface and little traffic.

Road signs raised expectations of wildlife sightings but despite silhouetted anteaters, crocodiles, monkeys and sloths none was spotted in the flesh although we did pass 3 pigs clearly off to market and remarkably still already.

The countryside was different to our expectations of lush tropical bush, with much prosperous looking farmland and some undulating pastures dotted with oak like trees which could have been deepest Sussex!

The roads were generally smooth with the exception of one 50km section where there were significant pot holes requiring some more dodging by Chris. Local authority priorities appeared wrong with workers strimming the edges instead of repairing the lunar like tarmac. Entrepreneurial spirit shone through with a couple of guys rushing out to fill the potholes with earth as we approached but sadly their efforts were in vain as we kept driving without paying.

Life appears very different to Bogota and Cartagena with simple homes and some looking quite basic.

Mike’s playlists were belting out adding to the atmosphere and it was quite appropriate when Colombia’s alternative national anthem came on!

Progress continued ahead of expectations and we only had 2 place road blocks, one of which we drove around and the other of which we were waved through with lots of friendly laughs when Chris responded to their Spanish in his best Luton English.

Driving standards were pretty good and we only spotted a couple of suicide missions – overtaking on blind summits or corners. The one accident we did spot didn’t appear too serious although there was no sign of the driver.

Things deteriorated at our coffee stop when new boy Paul didn’t like his coffee which was served up in a soup bowl and had more sugar and milk than coffee. Not quite the explosion of flavour he was expecting in Colombia – more like a damp squib but at 25p he shouldn’t complain.

I drove after the coffee mishap and again great progress until about 15kms short of Monteria when another dodge was required. The main road just stopped. It was shut with no explanation why and no detour signposted. Fortunately Chris’s rally map reading skills came in and he found the closest rally stage through the countryside of farmland and a few hamlets but lots of potholes and muddy terrain. However with sniper like accuracy and 7kms later we returned to the main road!

Much more comfortable than Frankie’s slick shod Porsche but never as good as a trusty GM car and Chris’s ‘power on through’ driving advice was applied by me in a machine gun manner which sadly took its toll on our 2wd Dodge.

$70 later in Monteria and we are fixed and back on the road ready for the similar distance to Medellin tomorrow. Much more challenging driving than today and similar to parts of Central America with very twisty roads and climbing to about 5,000 feet. Medellin has been cleansed of Pablo Escobar but nevertheless we will be continue Dodging on our route south.