After another day in La Paz, I sleeplessly boarded a tiny, mild anxiety-inducing, double prop-plane bound for the jungle town of Rurrenabaque. A short ride over the breathtaking, snow-capped Cordillera Real mountains dropped us down into the Amazon basin. The chilly, dry, high altitude of the west gave way to the vibrant, green humidity of […]
Bolivia was frustrating from the moment Jade and I attempted to cross the border. A lunch break for the vehicle importation office meant that the sole worker vacated the premises for a generous two hours. This gave us ample time for idleness and to sit next to a toothless Bolivian woman that was cooking and […]
The border crossing from Ecuador to Peru could have been easy but my inability to find an illogically placed unmarked building for my motorcycle exportation stamp made the whole process more frustrating and significantly slower than it should have been. My mood wasn’t helped by the fact that I had just said goodbye to Martin […]
The security and fees to gain access to the Galápagos Islands were intensive and expensive. Bag searches, sniffer dogs, and a $160 permit upon landing were required to move beyond the no-mans land of the plane, sweltering tarmac, and cramped security check-point. Already aware of the required hoop jumping to gain access to one of […]
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With the bike gang at a trio, we made a surprisingly lax and slightly convoluted crossing at the border. My dodgy paperwork failed to arise any suspicion, thankfully, and we were away again before the passport ink even dried. Elation and relief swept over us and despite getting pulled aside at a police check point […]
My initial plan to spend just a couple of days in Medellín before moving on quickly stretched to a week. Motorcycle repairs and maintenance were in order after hard riding, dusty roads and small crashes. My left pannier was in all sorts of bother and didn’t want to latch close never mind stay sealed to […]
There’s no way to fully encapsulate Carnival through mere words and pictures. The sights, sounds, smells, and general excitement whirl your senses into a stupor from day 1 and it does not slow down until the festivities end. My initial plan was to spend Carnival in Brazil. The idea was to go through Venezuela and […]
Part of our my goal in South America is some balance of surreal relaxation and dangerous adventure. I have already been dipping my toes into both realms but the next week and half would come to exemplify some of the most drastic examples of either on this entire trip. And I was only three weeks […]
Three weeks in and I still have not been captured by guerrillas or beheaded by cartels. Success so far I’d say. Somehow prying myself away from the intoxicating city of Medellín, I made the long, neck and back-aching, 13-hour ride north leaving the mountainous interior for the dryer, albeit more humid and flatter coast. The […]
My first mistake on my first big day of riding, other than waking up too late, was leaving the specifics of packing the bike until the last moment. Sure I had general ideas about where I might put things but it’s not until you start piecing the puzzle together do you realize that it’s not […]