Senior Moments in South America

Greetings Fellow ADV Rider enthusiasts. You may be following mi amigo, Paul S's posting's here under the title "Go Motor Goes South" where I have been adding commentary from time to time. Now that we have arrived in Cartagena I have decided to start my own ride report rather than intrude on Paul's. We do have a different perspective on things at times.

The reason for my title is that we are old guys. I am 63 and Paul is, well, somewhat older than me. It is not for me to say how old he is, but I just want to assure you that Paul expects no special treatment for the number of birthdays he can count. It is nevertheless a factor in how we approach this epic journey. You may have noticed a bit of a dearth of photos on the other report. I will do my best to improve on that. The challenge there relates to the very old IPad I brought with me. It is incapable of airdrops from my phone, which is my primary photo taking device. I will try to keep my iPad handy for pics in the future. Another factor is the deadline we had with the Stahlratt. We were somewhat under the gun to get to Panama and taking photos suffered as a result. I hope I will be able to offer some useful and interesting content here. Feel free to critique my reporting as I want to make this a good read for all.

I cannot get enough of Colombia - will follow this. I just returned from there a couple of weeks ago and am planning my next trip there now - see my report entitled " A Month on a Motorcycle in Colombia".

Hope you take it slow and report a lot. You are in for a treat. I missed a lot last time -like Cartagena- please fill me in.

Following along and wishing you both a great ride.

Started reading your report today just prior to starting this thread. Yours will be very helpful over the next few weeks. Thank you.

Lot's of Colombia ride reports now and I'm happy to follow along with them all. I'm leaving in 10 days back to Colombia and if your plans are visiting Salento let me know?

Cheers

Today was taken up with collection of the bikes at the pier in Cartagena. Not much to report. So I decided to introduce you to Dos and Wamuyu from Kenya. They have been traveling in South America for the past year on BMW’s. They are heading North and we crossed paths in Panama. I’ve asked them to post here as they are loaded with very good insights and suggestions. So Dos and Wamuyu, what are you waiting for?

While senior discounts start as early as age 55, "Senior" in today's western world starts at age 80 - keep that in mind and ride safe - will be following along!

The trip to Santa Marta from Cartagena was a good one, scary congested at times but otherwise unremarkable. Santa Marta was extremely congested trafficwise so we vamosed to Minca. Nice twisty road up to it. A real hippie kind of place. Stopped for lunch and to appreciate the relief from the heat provided by some altitude.

Btw. For those familiar with Columbia I have a question. The last 3 times I have used my credit card, when presented with the slip to sign I have been asked for “quota”. Neither Paul nor I can figure out what they are talking about. Any ideas?

Cuota is the fee or price to pay.....I am not a Spanish speaker but it may be their way of saying heres the fee or price. You would have passed toll booths in Mexico which said please prepare your cuota
Just a guess on my part. Remember how to spell Colombia.

Thanks Cal. Where we’re confused is they seem to be waiting for us to give them a response in order to conclude the transaction. Are they just trying to be polite?

You will get that question (word is “cuotas”) all throughout South America. It refers to a payment option not relevant to a US issued card. Basically a person with a local bank issued card can say up front, at time of purchase, how many billing cycles (cuotas) they want to pay off the principle balance for that purchase, and local people in general do not realize that this type of payment option is not relevant or viable for your card. Just say “sin cuotas” (without cuotas) or press “1 cuota” if they hand you the card reader and ask you to select.

Jim

For a small town, Minca has lots of accommodations and places to eat. A good place to chill for awhile. The lazy cat had a good stir fry.

There is a lot of confusion about the spelling of "Colombia". I looked it up to see why.

And word wonks point out that there’s a historical case for the two spellings. At the root of both variations is an even earlier translation quirk: that of the Genoa-born explorer Cristoforo Colombo. In Spanish, his name became Cristóbal Colón and in English his name is, of course, Christopher Columbus — setting the stage for the “o” and “u” battle.

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/na...s/colombia/article56269340.html#storylink=cpy

"Capital" v. "Capitol"

So how do the people who live in this country spell it ? right now at this moment in time.

I went to Columbia in NYC. It’s in the USA
Go to Colombia to expand your world

Colombia is the only right way to spell the country in South America.

The name comes from the Italian explorer, Cristoforo Colombo.
The Colombo expediton was sponsored by Spain, so the Spanish version of his name is Colon.

Colombia is a Spanish speaking country, so that is why the name is what it is. All the Columbias in North America are English translations of the name, so they are not wrong - just translated.

I grew up near the confluence of the Snake and Yakima Rivers with the Columbia River. I just now learned why it was named the Columbia. It was after the name of the first American ship to enter the mouth of the river from the Pacific, the Columbia Rediviva captained by Robert Gray, the ship was named after what the pre-American Revolution 13 colonies were referred to stemming from Columbus' name. Rediviva was added after refitting prior to the voyage. Similarly, Bolivia was named after Bolivar and California was named after a mythical island in a popular Spanish novel.

Paul and I have been riding south over the last few days. Right now we’re in Villa de Leyva, an area very popular with tourists. I’m finally getting some good food. The truck stop food we’ve been eating along hwy 45 has not impressed me. Was beginning to doubt Colombia had anything good to eat.

We checked into a hotel not far from the very large square this town is known for. At about 11pm we had to evacuate. Apparently they were fumigating the restaurant below the hotel and they overdid it. We were relocated to a hostel like operation run by the Assembly of God. They are currently closed for the season so services are very limited.

This morning we went to the original hotel to retrieve our stuff. They were very reluctant to let us in but eventually relented. I quickly moved all our gear out to the street while Paul watched over the gear. I then started ferrying the stuff to our new place. As I only had a key to the room we were in I could not gain entry through the front door. I knocked, and pushed 3 of what looked like doorbells several times with no response. Looking around in frustration, I made eye contact with an older woman walking my way. She saw my dilemma and pulled a key from her pocket and proceeded to unlock the door. I thanked her and expected she would step inside. She did not but rather continued on her journey up the street. ??? What? Anyway I dropped the first armload of gear and was careful not to let the door latch this time. No one from the original hotel has come to check on us. Curious.