Enfin, on peut prendre la route…il est 11 h, direction Santa Marta puis Taganga ou un ‘’pote’’ de nos maîtres- compagnons nous propose son stationnement …

Tu sais X L la Colombie fait 1 141 748 km carré pour 35 135 000 d’habitants

Cela doit faire 31 habitants au km carré c’est génial

Allez, X L arrêtes tes savants calculs et regardes donc ce petit village de pêcheurs

Oui, c’est ‘’super divine’’, sauf la route qu’il faut emprunter…pour accéder à sa villa, c’est ‘’n’importe quoi’’ avec de l’inconscience totale en plus…

X L je te dis que comparativement à la route de Prudhoe Bay c’est du ‘’pipi’’ de cabri et notre Gaulois a de l’expérience, n’oublie pas que notre convoie va bientôt traverser la cordillère des Andes donc ici à coté c’est du gâteau et n’oublie pas la maxime de notre famille :’’ l’inconscience c’est le carburant des voyageurs et baroudeurs ‘’ Ouaff Ouaff…

En plus, tu vois cette ville, Santa Marta, est inondée dès qu’il pleut…il va bien falloir monter…Ah ça ira, ça ira ça ira …

Tout va bien, nous sommes stationnés avec vue sur la mer et sur la corde à linge des voisins ou se côtoie le linge et le poisson qui sèchent au soleil…c’est original…

Bon voila 4 jours que l’on se relaxe…avec la sérénade d’un ami personnel du’’ pote’’

…la fiesta c’est bien…mais ces bêtes géantes elles vont longtemps m’empêcher de bouger…

Enfin ces bestioles qu’ils appellent langoustes sont devenus inoffensives et dire qu’ils osent manger ça…

 Moi je fais la’’ baby sister’’ devant ma gamelle… On a jamais vu autant de 4L ‘Renolte’ comme ils disent ici…

Les humains ont décidés que l’on allait faire de la marche à pied pendant 5 h dans le parc Tayrona qui est le préambule de la cordillère des Andes, c’est la sierra Nevada 5775 mètres et si il n’y a pas trop de nuages nous pourrons voir les neiges éternelles…

Il y a des indiens là bas tous vêtus de blanc et des singes qui vont te ‘’maaanger’’ tout cru XL …

Bon ok tu as gagné Ulla moi je reste ici….avec toi car toi tu es dangereuse pour ces peuplades inoffensives …

Ah oui Ulla tu avais raison…regardes l’état de nos compagnons, ils ont marché 8 h…’’N’importe quoi’’

Allons visiter le ‘’viverio’’ (pépinière) d’une relation au Pote du Gaulois

Humm…ça sent bon et c’est beau toutes ces fleurs que les Colombiens achètent pour embellir leur maison et jardin et en plus le prix est plus que raisonnable…c’est un tiers du prix que dans les caraïbes…

Ça c’était une journée relax…

Ulla , j’en ai encore la’’ chair de poule’’ la nuit ou les voisins ont crié ‘’Au Feu’’ et sont arrivés chacun avec un seau et nous d’amener les jets d’eau et d’ouvrir nos 3 extincteurs…pour éteindre l’incendie de notre maison roulante…quelle catastrophe…

Regardes les dégâts …que va-t-on faire?

La climatisation est totalement fondue…

Le réfrigérateur aussi et le toit est béant…quel malheur…

Tu crois Ulla que nos maîtres-compagnons vont avoir assez de courage pour réparer et faire les travaux de tout cela?

Oui, X L malgré mon chagrin car je ne veux pas rester là, il fait 33 degrés à l’ombre, c’est insoutenable et en plus c’est impossible qu’ils abandonnent ce super voyage à 70 pour cent du parcours …

Il faut faire ce qu’il faut car ils sont conscients nos maîtres que cet accident de cours circuit ne fera pas fondre la volonté de découvrir les autres pays qui nous attendent avant d’aller à Ushuaia,

Selon le copain qui habite ici les travaux devraient être fait à Medellin car à Santa Marta, ils ne sont pas compétents puisqu’il fait trop chaud, ils n’arrivent pas à se concentrer et font du mauvais travail comme très souvent dans les régions trop chaudes.

Et bien tu vois Ulla, la persévérance et la volonté font battre les montagnes comme on dit chez nous…

On part en direction de Barranquilla…

Tous moyens de transport est possible, ici….

Cet homme en moto est un ‘’Stop Stop’’ en clair c’est la solution taximan utilisée pour transporter des personnes à condition d’avoir le casque et un deuxième gilet comme celui-ci et l’autre serait un camion décapotable…original…

X L, maintenant que tu as appris à lire, fais moi plaisir tu dois attentivement parcourir cette lettre, que nos maîtres ont reçu par mail de l’ambassade de France à Bogotá

Without a phone call on your part for the last five days, our compatriot, Mr J.L. B… worried about you and informed this Embassy which seized the local police authorities.

If the security situation has improved recently in Columbia, most of the rural areas of this country, as well as the secondary cities must still be avoided by travellers.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in its schedule « Advice to Travellers », that we invite you to consult, advises against, taking into consideration the numerous risks incurred, trips by land especially regarding, as far as you are concerned, a trip aboard a good quality vehicle with foreign registration plates.

You will find, hereunder, the recommendations available on the web sites www.diplomatie.gouv.fr and www.ambafrance-co.org. We advise you to enlist on this Embassy’s security list.

Respectfully,

French Embassy in Bogota

Security

Risks linked to violence

Security in Columbia has considerably improved since 2001. However, Columbia remains a dangerous country (17 198 homicides during 2007). If it is appropriate to distinguish the risks linked to political violence (especially in the isolated countryside, also affected by anti-personal mines) from common law crimes, local delinquents do not hesitate to attack foreign citizens, sometimes violently.

The economic capital of Columbia is no longer the most dangerous city in the world : the homicide rate went from 381 dead for 100,000 inhabitants in 1991 to 29 for 100,000 in 2006. In as much, the aggressions are not rare there, as in all Latin American cities. Some neighbourhoods of Medellin must be avoided at all costs, during day as well as night – for example, Aranjuez, Guyabal, Castilla and Parque San Antonio. The districts of Laureles Estadio, la Candelaria and Las Palmas can be considered as the safest in the city ; it is however appropriate there to respect the general security regulations enounced hereunder.

Finally, to reach or leave Medellin, it is preferable, at night time, to transit by the Olaya Herrera national airport (located right in the heart of the city) rather than by the Jose Maria Cordoba international airport (located in the outer suburbs).

In the countryside

It is formally advised against, in any case :

                To visit rural areas and the secondary cities of the Bolivar, Guajira, Cauca, Huila, Caqueta, Guaviare, Magdalena, Valle del Cauca, Choco, Meta, Cordoba, Sucre, Cesar, Putumayo, Arauca, Narino, and Norte Santander districts, as well as the North-East part of Boyaca and the municipalities located on the outer limit of Antioquia, in which the presence of illegal armed groups is still being felt.

                It is formally advised against entering Columbia by land. Mafias and armed groups in fact abound in all the border regions.

Any travel by roadway in these regions must be avoided, especially at night : barrages (79 during 2005, 180 in 2006) and kidnappings (800 in 2005, 687 in 2006) are indeed not rare there. Everywhere, our compatriots are invited to limit their travels from city to city, except by plane and with well reputed airline companies.

Excursions on the archeological site of San Augustin are advised against for security reasons. Nevertheless should some French citizens wish to reach this site, they must do so from Neiva which they will reach by plane. A trip by land from Popayan to the site is to be avoided. At Neiva, one must resort to the services of a tourist agency able to organise the trip by land to San Augustin and the site visit in acceptable conditions.

The city of Mompos is one of the Columbian touristic sites of major cultural interest.  One must NOT go there by land from Bogota. However, travel can be envisaged by road from Carthagena, via Carmen de Bolivar and Maganga, on the condition of travelling only during daylight hours.

The region of High Baudo, on the Choco Pacific Coast (Tribuga Gulf and cities of Nuqui, Arusi and Bahia Solano-Ciuad Mutis) appears in the catalogues of some travel agencies specialized in eco-tourism. This area must nevertheless be considered as extremely dangerous : several tourists of who one European citizen, were kidnapped there by the FARC during January 2008. It is thus absolutely not advised to stay in this region.

It is also recommended to never reside, even in a temporary manner, in hotels or villas located outside cities, even on the outskirts of large cities : in August 2007, 22 of our compatriots were thus kept as hostages for several hours, then stolen by several armed men in the property they had rented about fifteen kilometers from Pereira, in the coffee region ; kidnappings, attacks are regularly communicated in « fincas » hotel residences set up in the rural areas. Only the largest closed and permanently guarded developments (« compounds ») especially located in the South of the Cundinamarca district, offer acceptable security conditions.

Map of regions advised against in Columbia

The regions indicated in red are strongly advised against. The regions indicated in orange are advised against except for absolutely necessary professionnal reasons.

Donc amis lecteurs toutes les photos que nous vous proposons de la Colombie seraient dans les zones rouges car nous n’avons pas été à Bogota qui serait la seule ville déconseillée mais plus sûre…’’N’importe quoi’’

Tu sais X L je ne comprend pas cette lettre qui est arrivé pour nous arrêter et vite prendre l’avion,…abandonner notre matériel pour retourner dans un pays touristiquement reconnu exemple La Turquie , L’Egypte l’Indonésie….car là bas il n’y a pas de farc…

 Oui,Ulla moi non plus mais ‘’no comment’’ médite la dessus…

Fortunately our companions did not follow the advice of certain European administration executives, since, according to them we couldn’t cross this beautiful… so harshly criticised by moralists and sellers of limited freedom….. country by land…

Yes, I think I learned that these people think that only Europe and Northern America are nations in which one can live freely.. Total stupidity if you ask me.. Come on, let’s get on with our trip… towards Sabaneta/Medellin

In any case in Sabaneta the people are adorable especially in the Mayoria…

……Ulla, the embassy was right : See how they look at the way these animals are looking at us, but I’m resisting, you know…

….Super, we don’t  have any trace of that mean fire ; it’s even more beautiful than before…

Let’s head for the South….

But they’re driving like madmen…XL, we’re going to die… they’re overtaking in the turns : They’ve gone mad or something…

A means of transport without fatigue… but the houses are really sad looking on this road…

Ulla, wake up… look, we’re being stopped on the road, but please don’t bark….

Bad news : our insurance is falsified. It’s thus a forgery we paid 250 dollars in Carthagena.

Moreover, the police tells us that it’s very usual here, so we’re being escorted to the next pueblo (village) to subscribe a new insurance policy but a real one, this one… and only valid for a month’s time…

A whole roasted chicken for 14 pesos.. that’s 7 dollars or approximately 4 euros…

XL, get up… look, an angry and roaring volcano….

No, I prefer to look at the countryside with its flowering sugar cane….

Yes, you couldn’t care about the road tax cost also and nevertheless we have 6 axles… !

Pasto and its numerous churches

Green coffee

Ulla, we’re nearing the Equatorian border… In any case, we’ve travelled 2,200 kms from the North to the South of Columbia which is some country, thank you for your kindness and thank you too, Ulla, for your close-up protection… even if not once did we feel threatened or in danger and without the least worries…

You see, Ulla, thank goodness that the « farc » who hide with the bandits in the mountains did not kidnap us as I think the French taxpayers would again have had to take money from their pockets… Ho, ho !!

I saw that the police stopped us, it’s true… but first hailing us by holding out their hands to us and I only felt respect, when you yourself are a respectable citizen, it’s really the preventive police here and we had forgotten that that could exist… as was the case before in our country… please don’t change, policemen…

For the remainder of the trip....