Pasto, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador

In this episode, I finally made my way out of beautiful Colombia and into amazing Ecuador. Once there, Tracy catches up with me and, basing ourselves out of Quito for a month, explore together the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Here ya go… the video if you prefer.



It was hard leaving Colombia; I really love that country – very friendly and very beautiful. But, after six weeks there, it was time to move on. On the way to the border with Ecuador, I stopped to check out an amazing church built right into the valley – Las Lajas.



Getting out of Colombia was dead simple, and super-fast – I passed through immigration in less than two minutes and out of customs in less than five. Entering Ecuador was also simple, but there was a long line at immigration and I waited in the hot sun for over two hours to make my way through the queue. Gone finally were the harassing and tiring days of Central American border crossings.



The first thing I noticed about Ecuador was the scenery, along the Andes Mountains, and the excellent roads. The road surface was some of the best I had seen during my whole trip, including the United States!



I stayed in Ibarra the first night, which in and of itself is not that great a town. In a do-over, I would have stayed in Otovalo, which I actually visited later with Tracy.

The next day I made my way into the sprawling city of Quito. Quito is the world’s second highest capital in elevation at over 2800 meters. It is also situated in a valley with amazing surrounding views of the Andes. There, Tracy and I rented an apartment for a month to base ourselves out of as we visited the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu.




The following day, Tracy arrived. I had not seen her since Seattle (four months ago!) and was excited to see her. After getting settled for a day, we went out exploring.

First, we visited the Old Town in Quito, specifically the Plaza Grande de la Indepencia, with its Spanish Colonial architecture, including the Iglesia Santa Barbara and Catedral Metropolitana de Quito.







We ended the day at El Penecillo, a huge statue of the Madonna made from aluminum overlooking Quito.



The next day, we hired a taxi for a tour of our own making. We first visited Quitsato, where a monument marks the actual equator (as opposed to some other more touristy areas where the marker is in the wrong place!). There is also a large sundial here that marks the equinoxes and seasons.



In Otovalo, a town with a majority of indigenous people, we went shopping in their market where you could literally buy anything from TVs to chickens.





Their traditional clothing was also interesting.



Just outside of Otovalo is the Cascada de Pechuge and after a short hike we were rewarded with some pretty cool scenes.



On New Year’s Day, 2017, Tracy and I boarded a plane from Quito to the Galapagos Islands, a long-time dream of ours as scuba divers.

We stayed in the town of Puerto Bazquerizo in San Cristobal for a couple of days to hang out waiting for our cruise to begin. We chose the Expedition Yacht Galaven. Resting right along the equator, the temperature was amazing ranging from a high of 75 to a low of 72, and the views of sunset were spectacular. And the town had several residents that loved lounging wherever.







Here was our home for eight days.



From which we toured the islands.



The Galapagos Islands were formed by volcanic eruptions and are mostly covered with lava flows, especially in the low lands. The western-most islands are relatively young, at less than 500,000 years old, and the volcanoes are still active. The highlands, between 500-1500 meters, are covered in dense, rich jungle.









For the next eight days we visited six different islands, making land excursions and going snorkeling on most of them. The Galapagos, of course, offers a unique perspective on evolution as most of the species there are endemic, meaning they exist nowhere else on the planet. And because of the unique, and isolated, environment, and differences in similar species on different islands, Darwin was able to develop his theory of evolution based upon his travels there on the Beagle in the 1830s.









The most notable of these species are the giant tortoise, marine iguana, and flightless cormorant. Still, Galapagos, as a National Park of Ecuador, is teeming with all kinds of wildlife, both above and below sea level, including penguins, frigate birds, sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, and sunfish. A particularly interesting species included the Blue Footed Boobie, which would dive bomb the ocean in groups to catch their prey. There are also several breeding centers scattered throughout the islands to ensure these precious few species continue to thrive.

We saw so much wildlife that we were always guessing what each creature was. A running joke was that if we said, “That is probably an ‘Endemic, Darwin, Galapagos, Lava <fill in the blank> species.” And, funnily enough, we were often right, haha.

We even celebrated Tracy’s birthday onboard one night!



After the island tour, Tracy and I stayed behind on Santa Cruz Island for several more days, to relax, and more importantly, to go scuba diving. We booked with a local dive operator on Santa Criz Island and loved every minute underwater. Lots and lots of big animals including Hammerhead, White Tip, and Black Tip Sharks, Sea Turtles, Mobula and Eagle Rays, sometimes schooling, and Galapagos Sea Lions.







After Galapagos, we returned to our apartment in Quito for just a day, not even 24 hours. The next morning, we were back at the airport headed to Machu Picchu. It truly was a trains, planes, buses, and automobiles journey – we flew from Quito to Cusco, via Lima, then hired a taxi for the two-hour ride to Ollantaytambo, where we then caught a train to Aguascalientes (there is no road). In Aguascalientes, we then took a bus up to Machu Picchu on a perfectly sunny day. If you go, make sure you take your hiking boots because you do a lot of walking, but the views are spectacular!!





I was also very impressed by how things moved around Aguascalientes as there were no roads – these guys moved everything via wheelbarrow up some very step hills.



After Machu Picchu, we made our way leisurely back home (to Quito). We stayed in Ollantaytambo for a night and then Cusco for two nights. Both of these towns are of Incan origin laced with Spanish Colonialism. We didn’t want to leave as the vibrations here, the connection with Mother Earth, are incredible.







We also stopped off at Mayas, near Cusco. These concentric pits were built by the Incans, so it is supposed, as a laboratory to determine the best places to grow crops.



We finally made it back to Quito after missing our connection in Lima and went out exploring for another day before Tracy headed back to Seattle.

First, we took the Telerifico (a cable car) up a nearby mountain at nearly 4000m. Again, we had perfect weather and the views of the surrounding Andes, the volcanos, and valley below where Quito resides were amazing. I even broke out the drone.





Next, we visited the Casa del Hombre, the home and museum of a famous Ecuadorian Artist by the name of Guayasamin. No pictures were allowed inside, but two quotes really caught my eye, the first of which inspired Guayasamin, but was an old Chinese proverb:



“I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a child that had no feet”

And, believing he would return after his death:



“Maintain the light lit because I will always return.”

Guayasamin’s art was about the horrible conditions about which cultures went through to finally find peace, and preached (he was not a preacher) that peace is within us. Very moving.

After more than a month, it was time for Tracy to head back to Seattle. I waited for four months, since leaving Seattle myself, to see her again and it hurt like hell to say goodbye again.

The impression that leaps into my head about the Galapagos is of a place the Ecuadorians are working very hard to protect. Rightfully so, I think, because the natural beauty and ecological significance is hard to put a value on. It really is a wondrous place, even UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site owing to its unique biodiversity.

So, too, is the Sacred Valley of Peru, which is also labelled a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Highlighted by the remarkable archaeological and cultural accomplishments of the Incas, and the torrid history of the mixing of South American and Spanish peoples, represent yet another magical place on Planet Earth worth visiting. The peoples’ pride in these places is abundant everywhere you go.

One last note… although we only spent about 7 nights in Quito, we got really lucky the first night Tracy arrived with a taxi driver that ferried us around whenever we needed a lift for the next month. We must have spent a full day in his car riding to and from all the sites we saw in and around Quito, as well as taking us around for errands. We struck up a good friendship with him as we tried to enhance our understanding of each other’s languages. We will miss you, Edison.

Quito, Ecuador to Tacna, Peru

In this episode, after a month exploring the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and the Sacred Valley in Perú with Tracy, I set off to explore these two great countries by motorcycle. The two countries are side by side, yet so different in many ways.

Keeping with the program, here’s a video version of this post.



I spent a few days in Quito getting ready to get back on the road. This involved not only prepping the moto with service and taking care of a few logistics, like laundry, but also getting my mind ready again. After a month living in relative comfort and safety, I knew I needed to reflect on the miles and places ahead. So, to start, I planned a short day’s ride to Baños. I soon discovered, though, that the roads and scenery in Ecuador were top notch. Seriously, these were some of the best riding roads I’d experienced since Mexico.

Baños is an amazing town a couple of hours south of Quito along the PanAmerican highway. It is surrounded by mountains and waterfalls, which were visible even from my hostel.





While in town, I signed up for a 4-hour tour on one the Chivas (an open top bus), stopping in at all the major waterfalls, including the Cascada del Diablo, an absolutely huge chute of water. I also tried some ziplining. It’s stopovers like this where I feel more like a tourist, but I did enjoy my first easy day back on the bike!



The following day however, tested me. It was a wet ride through the mountains and I was cold and shivering in the fog. Cuenca is another in a long line of colonial Spanish cities, and one of the first I’d seen in a while that was clean and orderly.



The churches in Cuenca were the first I’d seen that were painted hues of blue – very pretty.



It was in Cuenca that I also I had my first thoughts of getting to Ushuaia. I think it was the cold and wetness of riding here that got me thinking about several friends who were just making it to Ushuaia and telling me it was cold, windy and wet there!

Ecuador is not that large a country and in less than a week, I found myself at the border town of Macará. It was another day of riding through heavy fog and cold. But, I happily ran into another adventurer, David, from Germany, heading north to Prudhoe Bay.



I also met Betty and Beat from Switzerland, who have been travelling for a couple of years now in their Overland Toyota.



From my hostel in Macará, I could see the mountains in Perú through rainy mist.

My border crossing experience entering Perú was not ideal, but still better than those I experienced in Central America. The one immigration person was asleep and had to be rousted and the one aduana agent had to finish his breakfast first. Haha.

When I entered Perú, they were getting massive rains in the north, which made for not only a wet and cold day, but a very muddy one as well. It made the roads quite hazardous and I saw two buses overturned on the side of road. I finally made it to Chiclayo, but even that town was suffering from massive flooding.





The next day, I finally had decent weather and the desert, mountain, and ocean all came together in a beautiful landscape.



I ran into Mark from Saskatchewan and Don from New Hampshire and we ended up riding together for a bit. We stayed together in Chimbote and then split up the following day as I peeled off into the Miraflores section of Lima.





Don did pick up a nail somewhere and got a flat, but just a mile away was a tire shop. This guy had us in and out in less than 30 minutes.

Miraflores is a wonderful neighborhood, super modern, clean, and family oriented. It’s a place I could live tomorrow and I didn’t want to leave.





While in Miraflores, I watched the Superbowl on Spanish ESPN. I was very disappointed they did not have any funny or entertaining commercials on the Spanish version.

In southern Perú, I stopped in for a couple of days in Nazca – and it was HOT! Turns out the Atacama Desert starts in southern Perú and stretched half way down Chile. Nazca is famous for huge line art drawing on the desert floor.



The drawings are huge, of uncertain origin, and 2000 years old. Most peculiar among them is a figure that looks eerily like an astronaut. I took an airplane up to check them out.









In Arequipa, I came down with my second bout of a stomach bug, which is the absolute worst travelling on a motorcycle. For several days I could not be more than 5 feet from a toilet. But, Arequipa is yet another beautiful Spanish colonial town surrounded by three volcanos. Also, all the old buildings, including the large church in the square and a monastery, were all built with white volcanic rock.







My last town by motorcycle in Perú was Tacna, a hot, deserty border town. And yes, the traffic was a bad here as it had been throughout Perú.

My overall impressions of Ecuador and Perú are very positive. In Ecuador, the roads are great and clean and the drivers are good, just the opposite in Perú. But, in both countries, the scenery is beautiful and the people engaging and friendly. I ate something bad both in Ecuador and Perú, still not sure what, that sidelined me for several days each time. Maybe it was these?



Lessons Learned:

1) Ecuador is a great country for motorized vehicles of any sort. The highways are immaculate, well-maintained, and fast. And gasoline is the cheapest I’ve found during my whole trip, about $1.75/gallon for the good stuff.

2) One thing I noticed in Perú was, what I think, it is full of the world’s worst drivers! You really have to be on your toes there. People there see two lanes painted on the road and try to fit five lanes wide of traffic into them. It’s very chaotic. They also use a horn blasting system that I never figured out, but it’s a constant and distracting cacophony. And the buses… OMG! The buses simply go where they want and everyone else just has to get out of their way. There’s another dangerous habit I witnessed. The stoplights have a visible countdown timer and people routinely time their sprint from the lights ahead of this timer, like with a second or two left, they take off. Meanwhile, people also maximize their green lights squeezing through even after the light changes to yellow. Why I never saw an intersection collision is beyond me.

Tacna, Peru to Ushuaia, Argentina

In this episode, I traverse the length of Chile, cross into Argentina and make my way to “El Fin del Mundo,” the end of the world. The further south, the colder and windier it got, but after arriving in Ushuaia, I was overcome with emotion.

Why stop with the videos now? So, here you go.



My first stop after crossing the border was the coastal town of Iquique… it was fun riding down through the mountains and into the dunes along the coast.



But, to get there, I had my first taste of Chilean roads, just south of the border.



Although northern Chile forms part of the Atacama Desert, the scenery along the oceans was brilliant.



Next, I stopped in Antofagasta and Copiapó, and then La Serena, which is another city along the coast. As I mentioned, the coastline dominates most of Chile. What’s interesting about Chile is that at its widest point (West to East), it’s only 240 Km wide. As you travel south, you have the ocean of your right and the mountains on the left, the whole way down the length of Chile.

I stopped in Concepción for the night, but really didn’t see much. My hostal was away from the city center and the ocean, so I took a couple of days off to work on the blog.

A highlight of the trip was stopping at Casa Matte’s in Santiago, a moto-oriented hostal in the heart of the city. I had good fun hanging for several days with Frank and Scott, who I’ve met several times during my trip. And Karen and Brian also joined us… all Stahlratte alumni! It also gave us all a chance to work on our motos.











I made way over to Pucón on several folks’ suggestions. Pucón is known as the adventure capital of Chile. It’s a large area filled with mountains, volcanos, and includes Chile’s second largest lake. There, I stayed at MotoCamp Chile, but after some serious downpours, it was sort of a muddy mess. Still, seeing other overlanders on their motorcycles gathering in one place is always a thrill. I even ran into Bryan and Karen again, who I’d first met on the Stahlratte last November.





I left Pucón early and headed to Puerto Montt, where I had an impending date with one of the many ferries that get you from place to place in Patagonia. While in Puerto Montt, I took care of some laundry and restocking some supplies, and also took a trip out to Osorno Volcano, an 8,000-meter behemoth that many say resembles Mount Fuji. While hidden by the clouds during the ride there, I was rewarded once I neared the summit as the clouds gave way to sun, which provided amazing reflections off the ice-covered top.



Puerto Montt reminded me a lot of Newfoundland.



Next, I made arrangements to board the ferry. It’s mostly a cargo and passenger affair, so there were not many private vehicles. And as far as I could tell, I was the only motorcyclist. The ferry takes a circuitous route from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, a meandering 900-mile trip through the narrowest and most scenic places I’d ever seen – the Patagonian Fjords. I spent 4 days and three nights on a mini-vacation, chatting with my fellow travelers and taking pictures as the scenery scrolled by.







In the end, I was glad I took the ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. While, I could have taken the Carrera Austral, I really needed some downtime as I was growing quite tired of the day to day grind of moto travel. It’s not that I don’t like it, I do. I mean I really love this lifestyle. It’s just my mode has been one of constant movement for months on end and seeing my desire to get to Ushuaia was constantly in my thoughts, I was getting drained.



Arriving in Puerto Natales in southern Chile, again I was immediately reminded of scenes of Newfoundland, which makes sense as both places are roughly the same distance from the equator. It was a rainy and cold day and I began worrying about the absolute barrenness of southern Chile and Argentina. I made plans for a long ride across the continent to Rio Grande in Argentina, which meant taking a ferry and then crossing the southern border.

After crossing on the ferry, I was officially in Tierra del Fuego. Tierra del Fuego is not attached to the South American continent, and as all areas of Patagonia is considered protected. Rolling hills, and violent winds, dominated the senses I continued riding south and east.



The road, actually the only road, connecting Chile and Argentina down to Ushuaia was about 50 miles of hard pack dirt with a little mud. I hooked up with a pair of riders, both on bikes I was surprised to see tackling these roads, a chopper and a big cruiser. One of them even had a bad off on the road, but they were great people.

I arrived late in the night in Rio Grande, Argentina, which is only a few hours from Ushuaia, for a rest. It had been a long 12-hour day, but I was excited about the next day and reaching my goal of El Fin del Mundo.

The next day, I took my time getting up and ready for the final push. As it turned out, the road was not as barren as I thought it would be, with small towns dotting the way south. The further south you go, the bigger the mountains become. Eventually, you reach a pass of 2000 feet or so and on the other side lies Ushuaia, where you are greeted by the really cool entrance signs to the town.

There, I met Chris and John, who I had met the day before at the ferry crossing, and Frank, again. They decided to book into the same hotel as I, and as soon as we dumped our gear, we headed out to the national park sign marking the end of Ruta 3.



I had been building up to this moment for nearly two years and when I saw the sign, I almost broke down, overcome by emotion. All of the area is a huge tourist attraction because it is jaw-droppingly beautiful. But, none of that mattered that day. After more than 10 months on the road, exploring North, Central, and South America, I had made it!!! Whew!







Not long after, my mind turned toward home. I was ready.

Ushuaia, Argentina to Miami, Florida

In this episode, I make a U-turn in Ushuaia and start my journey back to the United States along the long, straight, cold, and windy Ruta 3 in Argentina. In Buenos Aires, I make arrangements to ship my moto to Miami, familiar territory.

And for those that prefer moving pictures…



Ushuaia was cold and grey when I decided to mount up and head out. There was also lots of evidence of snow the night before. But, the euphoria of making it to Ushuaia still fueled my inner soul and I felt like nothing could ever stop me now.



As I made my way over the pass rising out of Ushuaia, I noticed I was getting closer and closer to the snowline… until I reached it, and then came head on into heavy snowfall. It was cold, too, right at the freezing mark, and I began to notice what looked like slick spots on the road. I eased my over one, and yes, with my front tire losing grip, I knew it was ice. Luckily the pass takes you over the mountain in less than 20 miles, so I crept along and before I knew it I was back out of the snow and onto clean roads again.



Rio Gallegos is really too far from Ushuaia to make in one day, especially considering the two border crossings and the ferry you have to take. So, I made my to Rio Grande and booked into the same hotel I had stayed in going south. From here, it was time and distance back to Buenos Aires, where I had a date set to ship my bike back to the U. S.



The following day to Rio Gallegos offered some excitement in the form of 30 miles of dirt road that was in the midst of getting some heavy rainfall. It’s the first testing road that I actually enjoyed, thanks no less, I am sure, to the pair of fresh Michelin Anakee Wilds (knobby tires) I was using. Lots of slick mud and deep washouts, but I had a absolute blast scooting along.





I also met Kyrol from Luoisiana at the ferry, who is the beginning of his big adventure through South and Central America.



The next day to Comodoro Rivadavia was the longest day of my trip – 481 miles!! But, I knew Ruta 3 was a good road and pretty featureless, so I did not mind the miles. However, the wind is very strong and relentless, and the road is teeming with Guanacos, so at the end of the day I was exhausted.



I saw several adventure bikes still heading south along the way and wished them well with a big air fist bump.



Another long day in the wind to Las Grutas the following day. Las Grutas was finally warm, about 85F, which I was very thankful for, although deserted, which was strange to me as it appeared to be a well-appointed beach town. Oh well, I had the whole place to myself.

I saw prices rise steadily as I headed north, especially when I reached Bahia Blanca, a huge, modern town in central Argentina. I had to dole out more than $100 for a night’s sleep – jeez! But, at this point, I had less than a week left in this part of the world, and I was only two days from Buenos Aires, so I found it easy not to let things bother me. I was happy to be back in civilization.



I decided to stop short of Buenos Aires in the town of San Miguel del Monte, about 2 hours to the south. San Miguel is a vacationing town along a beautiful lake and I really enjoyed getting a chance to relax and after several long days. I even washed the bike for the first time in months.

I timed it to miss rush hour traffic in Buenos Aires, but the traffic was still very heavy.



Eventually I made it to Sandra and Javier’s house, home of Dakar Motors, a shipping agent. There I handed over all the required paperwork and went through the process of getting the bike ready for shipping. The moto would go on an airplane from Buenos Aires to Miami.

I met several other bikers there who were all at the end of their journey, including Klaus I has crossed the border into El Salvador with.

The following day I had to take the bike to the cargo area of the airport, but first I had to burn off nearly a half a tank of gas I’d so poorly thought out not to fill in the first place. The moto had to be empty, or nearly so, or it wouldn’t pass checkpoint through customs or with the airline, we were warned. But, I managed a loop outside of town and got to the airport right on time.

The process was pretty quick to get the bike ready – remove the windshield and mirrors, deflate the tires, disconnect the batteries, and stuff all of my riding gear into the empty panniers. The panniers were empty because only the bike, tools associated with the bike, and riding gear could be shipped. Which meant everything from my tent to clothes would have to be checked with the airline when I was scheduled to fly out. The whole process took about four hours, including getting the go-ahead from the Aduana. Oh, and I had to weigh the bike – with just the bike and my riding gear and tools, the bike weighed 301kg, or 663 lbs!!! Wow!!







The next day I ventured in Buenos Aires, by taxi, to pay at the shipping agents office. To ship the moto from Buenos Aires to Miami costs $1790. While in town, I took in the sites including the Casa Roja (Red), which is analogous to the White House in the U. S.





Saturday, March 11, 2017 was my last day in South America and I headed to the airport to catch my flight home. I say home, but I knew my trip wasn’t over just yet. I still had a little over two months to meander my way back to Seattle on the west coast.

But, I was beginning to feel a flood of emotions about my trip and knew that in the coming months I would reflect on the trip quite a bit. I felt like I had accomplished something big, something that lots of folks dream about, and knew it would be important to really share everything about my experiences, which would take time.

I finally arrived in Miami after a missed connection in Bogota around 3 in the morning.



I was exhausted and needed sleep, but was excited to learn that my bike did not miss a connection and was waiting for me to pick up the following day. The process of receiving the bike was easy, once I found the right office in the cargo area of Miami’s huge airport. I was in and out in about 3 hours and, after eight months exploring Central and South America, I was back on two wheels in the United States!!