Hola jolly fun seekers. It has been a while since I have been to a computer and much has happened. I left Cartagena on my bike and headed toward Santa marta. The first day I made it to the mud volcano and camped there for the night. Nobody lives at the volcano they all live in the town close by and commute each day. So I got there about3:30 and asked if it was alright to camp and they said sure. Then at 5:30 everyone left leaving me alone. Talk about peaceful and quiet, it was fabulous. I woke up the next day and made it to Barranquilla. Not much to say about barranquilla it´s a city bigger than Cartagena but there is really nothing there to recommend it. Whereas Cartagena is a tourist area Barranquilla is an industrial area. I had only planned on staying there a day or two but a part on my bike broke when I got there and it is only available from the person who built the bike. So I had to take a few days and figure out what to do. I thought of sending the bike back to Mexico and continuing the trip using busses or whatever but I culdn´t find a box. So I decided to go to Santa Marta on bus and just bring the bike with me. I got here and got to my hostel and was talking to the owner and told him what the problem was and he said maybe he could take a look at it. He did and said he know a machine shop in town that could make the part. So we went there and for less than it would have cost to ship the parts from the U.S. they made me the parts I needed and 2 spares so I am back on the road again. I like Santa Marta and will be here for a few more days. I am planning on doing a tour to ciudad perdida on snday or monday. It is a 6 day hike I hear it is very nice. When I retire from there it is on to Bogota and some crisp air. Bogota is about 8000+ feet above sea level. (2600 meters)It has low temperatures of about mid 40s to highs of mid 60s. Sounds like Gunnison this time of year. At any rate one of the great spectator sports in Santa Marta is watching the hookers stroll by at night on the malecon. I wnder how many of them are actually women. No I´m not interested in finding out. I have no use for AIDS in my life. Well my time is about to run out so I better go.
The road goes on forever and the party never ends
hasta la vista baby
Charlie