February 12-2016
Arrived in Cali, the lower lands. I had found a hotel in town with airconditioning , Wifi and parking for my bike. It is always a surprise what you will get. The entrance to the hotel was narrow door you can see in the picture and my bike had to go through that door for parking.
The lady said she could help me push it through….well she brought a ramp and the two of us after removing my luggage Pushed the bike in. Wonderful!
Cali is a beautiful town. The river through the city gives it a nice feel. I walked around town what there was to see and of course like the locals do, sit down have a cool drink and eat some of their delicious unusual dishes. Life is good!!
Even if I liked the city very much, the heat was affecting me coming so sudden down from higher altitudes. The thermostat in my body is not as it used to be and no replacement to find anywhere for this 70 yr old body :) … so...... heading next day to higher grounds. I am heading to Popayán tomorrow early.
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From here on I started my thread on ADVENTURE RIDER:
Hi Fellow riders, I have been lurking on the forum for years and absorbing all info I could.
Thanking all of you for bringing valuable info to many riders who want to be long foreign distance travelers.My english is not good and make many mistakes grammtically but also spelling so bear with me.
I turned 70 on xmas day 2015 and had decided that I should not wait to long to finally realize my dream. 70 is a good round number I though.
I have shipped my bike from Florida to Cartagena, Colombia by RoRo Sea Line. I had looked many ways to ship my bike and decided to use the services from South America Explorer. He is an inmate from ADV and felt confident to rely on their services. There was a delay in departing the vessel, but or course that was out of his control. I was amazed about the quickness at the other end of receiving in Cartagena. I had asked SouthaAmerica Explorer to have an agent for me in Cartagena to expedite all the paperwork for the temporary import of my bike. Well I must say, ship arrived 4 AM in the morning and I showed up at 8AM to the harbor and by 11AM I was rolling out of the harbor.I was a very happy customer.
I left my home in temperatures of -11F and arrived in Cartagena in 88F with very high humidity.. Ufdah.. a shock, but felt great finally in COLOMBIA.
I have put some miles already heading South to Medellin and done some sight seeing in the surrounding areas just now am I starting posting.
I thought there are more women on ADV who might like to know about my experience in South America. It is different to be a women alone but not more difficult then it would be for a man. My age helps me that I will be looked at as a mother and not as an attractive young girl.
I ride a Honda CRF 250 have soft side bags and a hard top case, was shipped uncrated and arrived as good as it was.
I got most of my information for my trip form the forum ADVriders.com. Many travelers have posted their trips from all around the world. I decided to collborate and post my trip there too. Most are men riding but much less are women, specially at my young age of 70. Therfore if I could help anybody who is dreaming of doing a long trip like mine, here is my encouragment and story.
I will be inserting some of the question/comments my followers on ADVriders her in this blog as they come along.