17.02.2020: Salento to Mirador Tambo Jardín Finlandia
From Salento, our plan was to drive all the way up north to Barranquilla, on the northern coast, because Kirsten wanted to go to the carnival. It's the second largest in South America after Rio de Janeiro and it was taking place over several days in February including her birthday. However, Barranquilla is almost 1000 km away from Salento and we only had four days to get there. So we needed to get a move on.
First though, we needed a new relay for our engine fan. We left Salento and drove to Armenia which is 45 km away and a far bigger town. We were hoping to find what we needed. We drove to various places and eventually found an 87 relay, but we need an 87A which they don't have. The 87 relay will leave the fan running constantly so that means Kirsten will have to physically plug it in and unplug it again, as and when I need the fan!
That's not exactly perfect, seeing as the relay is under the dashboard on the drivers side! It's really awkward to get to and I certainly can't attach it whilst I'm driving!! But at least it meant the fan would work and we wouldn't overheat. So once we had a new relay we drove to a shady spot on a side street and Kirsten spent almost 2 hours attaching it – there are five different wires that need attaching to each side and it's not easy to do.
In between one man came out to see what was going on so we needed to explain, and then another lady came out from the house where we'd parked. She'd used Google translate to find out how to ask in German if she could help! Really sweet! We finally finished just before 6 pm and drove to a kind of motorway services station called El Tambo, which is on the main road north towards Medellín ... and the fan works again! Yippee!
18.02.2020: Mirador Tambo Jardín Finlandia to Supía
It was really hot overnight and the following day things didn't go very well. We made a huge mistake trying to set up a Western Union transfer using my credit card. It involved a video call to Lithuania (!!!) where I needed to hold up my passport in exactly the right way so they could take a photo to set it up and then use the online form for the transfer. The whole process took four hours. Then it didn't go through properly and they said I'd get the money back in a week! Jeez!! What a total waste of time! I had to ring up my credit card bank to tell them what had happened and to check if anything had been taken from my account! The whole thing cost a lot of nerves.
We finally set off and after an hour, stopped for some supplies. Kirsten went shopping whilst I cleaned our fridge because milk had spilled out all over the inside! When Kirsten got back she checked the receipt and saw that she'd been charged 10,000 pesos (almost 4 US dollars) instead of 3,000 pesos for a few potatoes! She'd obviously been overcharged so she went back ... no, the price was correct! Ouch! They better taste good at that price!
We tried a different road north to avoid roadworks on the main Pan-American Highway. Another mistake, because the road went over the hills. It was extremely narrow with lots of curves and bends and the fan didn't work! We had to pull over when the temperature went up to 105 and check everything. Then the fan started working again!
Fortunately we only had a bit more uphill to do and then the road descended down into a valley. We just made it to a Texaco station before dark where we could park up for the night. It had taken us four hours to drive 130 km and we hadn't even got back to the main road. Maybe the roadworks would've been quicker? But at this rate we weren't going to make the carnival.
19.02.2020: Supía to Santa Rosa de Osos
The next day we got back to the main road and hit lots of trucks and traffic plus more roadworks. We were lucky going north because we only had to stop once for 12 minutes. Those going south had hours to wait! It was really hot and Kirsten had to keep climbing into the back to get us drinks, in between plugging in and unplugging the relay for the fan! The wires were getting really hot so we put the heater on full blast to cool the engine rather than use the fan! We were sweating buckets!
There were several tolls along the way and lots of heavy trucks. We were going up and up, along a very windy road and got stuck behind slow moving trucks – 5 miles an hour! We pulled over for a coffee break and also to give the engine a rest! When we started off again our fan belt was screeching. Hmm! Maybe it needs tightening? Well, not on this mountainous road. We'd have to wait until we got to the next town.
The road went up over 2400 m (almost 8000 feet), back down into a valley and back up again. We hit more traffic and it was really slow going. It was already dark by the time we got to a small village called Santa Rosa de Osos. We headed to the fire station where we knew we could park for the night. Unfortunately there were some extremely steep roads in the village and some very narrow turns that Winnietwo couldn't make – he has a very wide turning circle. So I had to reverse to get him round them!
By the time we got to the fire station it was already dark and it had just started raining. Kirsten went inside to sign us in and find out where we could park. We were allowed to park behind the building in an enclosed area. But ... we were smoking!! There was literally smoke coming out of our bonnet! But there were no warning lights on the dashboard. Oh oh, is it our brakes? The roads we'd just driven along were extremely steep so it wouldn't surprise me.
So out in the rain we checked under the bonnet. We didn't see anything initially but we did notice that our coolant level was below minimum. We just couldn't see a leak anywhere. We'd have to wait until daylight the following morning to take a closer look. Hopefully the rain would stop by then.
20.02.2020: Santa Rosa de Osos to Medellín
The next morning we took a look at our engine again and our coolant bottle was completely empty! So we tightened up the rubber connection to the bottom of the coolant reservoir and then refilled. Fortunately we had enough coolant with us because we needed 3 litres. We were also leaking grease out of our axle cover. We'd only just had a new one put on! But it looked like there were two small puncture holes and grease was coming out. So we got our aluminium tape out and used that to fix the holes.
We phoned up Henry the mechanic from Cali and explained our problem. He looked up a good mechanic in Medellín and sent us the details. We need to drive all the way back and keep an eye on our temperature. We contacted the new mechanic, Diego, and explained our situation. We told him we didn't know what time we would arrive, but we'd keep in touch. We packed everything up and left at 1pm. Fortunately, it was mostly downhill and I had to stay in second gear to save our brakes. Of course, we had to go back through the tolls and pay for a second time!
At the second toll, we had just paid when a man knocked on our window and said that we were leaking green liquid. Oh no, we knew what that was. We were leaking coolant again. There are a lot of places in South America where no one uses antifreeze. They just use anti-rust coolant or just simply water. So when a vehicle starts leaking electric green liquid, they know that A) we are foreigners; and B) that we've got a problem!
I pulled forward and drove onto the side of the road where we could park. We checked under the bonnet and we could see that we were leaking coolant from what we thought was the water pump. We quickly got out some containers to catch the liquid running out. We might be able to use it again. Plus, it's not exactly environmentally friendly!
We phoned Diego and told him what had happened. He said he'd come out to us. I went to check the other side of the toll station to see if I could find out where we started to leak. I could see that it had happened just as we pulled up to the toll station. We were really lucky that it had only just happened and that we'd made it out of the hills. We only had 27 km to go but it was still too far for us. We would need to be towed.
An hour later, Diego still hadn't turned up. So we phoned him again. Obviously there'd been a misunderstanding. I think he thought we were going to drive in. Anyway, he said he would send us a tow truck. One hour later, Wilson arrived with a flat bed truck. It took about 15 minutes to get our vehicle up onto the back of the flat bed. It wasn't easy though because I could barely turn the tyres unless I switched on the engine but I couldn't do that because we didn't have any coolant left!!
We sat in the front of the truck and were driven to Diego. It took about one hour to get there because of the traffic. Once we arrived however, there was no space to put our vehicle. It was already after 6 pm so Diego wouldn't be looking at our vehicle until the following day. He told Wilson to drive us two blocks away into a residential area where we could park for the night. Kirsten walked back with Diego to the workshop and paid for our tow truck. We didn't have enough cash with us so fortunately we could pay by credit card. It cost us $100! Diego told us he would come round to us at 8.30pm the following morning and we'll drive back to the garage. We'll have to fill our radiator with water just to get us two blocks away!
We would have to hope that Diego could fix the problem because we know we can't get parts here. Kirsten went out in search of food and came back with a pepperoni pizza. It wasn't as good as little Caesars but we still ate it!
21.02.2020: Medellín
Diego arrived on time the next morning and insisted on driving himself. I had to tell him about our turning circle but I don't think he understood because when we turned a few corners we drove over the curbs! We had to park in front of the garage because we couldn't get inside, we were too high! But at least we could plug-in and get electricity!
We shouldn't have read our Fiat manual last night because we realised just how complicated it is to take out a water pump. Only one thing wrong and it will cause engine failure! Firstly, you need to detach the battery. Diego told our mechanic, Alonso, but when we checked the battery was still attached. So we made sure that that got done! We showed Alonso our manual which has pictures of our engine. We had to do a lot of translating from German into Spanish which wasn't exactly easy, but at least he could understand! By 12 noon he'd managed to get our water pump out.
Diego had looked to see if we could get a new water pump. But we already knew the answer – we can't get Fiat parts here! So he sent it off to get repaired. According to our Fiat manual you're not supposed to try and repair a water pump. You need to buy a new one. But we didn't have a choice! Let's hope they can repair it!
We needed some cash. So I walked about 20 minutes away to a shopping mall to see if I could find a bank or a Western Union. Changing money isn't easy, as I found – banks won't change it, Western Union can't change it, but a money changer can! After that I went to an Exito supermarket and found that that wasn't easy either. If you want to buy cakes you need to pay for them first. For that you need to go to a cashier at a different place. But then you need to know the name of the cakes you want to buy in order to pay for them! Of course I wasn't going to be put off because we're talking about cakes here!! I finally managed to work it out!
By 3 pm we still had no water pump. And then a heavy storm came over us with thunder and lightning and it poured with rain for almost two hours! There wouldn't be any more work done that day. But at least our repaired water pump arrived.
22.02.2020: Medellín
The next morning we needed to get up early because Alonso our mechanic was supposed to start work at 7 am. What we didn't realise was that it was Colombian time, so he didn't turn up until 8.30am. At least our football match started on time at 7 am, so we managed to watch most of the game before our mechanic turned up. Unfortunately our team lost! Not a good start to the day!
After four hours we finally got our water pump back in and Diego had even managed to get us a new Fiat timing belt! Unfortunately we couldn't get a new axle cover, so we'll have to leave that one on and hope it holds. In Euros the tow truck cost €90 and the work cost €238, so it was quite an expensive time for us. But it could've been a lot worse. We were fortunate that we managed to work it all out before we suffered catastrophic engine failure.
It was 1.30pm by the time we left and we drove to a jumbo supermarket. We parked up and Kirsten went shopping. Mistake, because she bought four large cakes and eight chocolate bars including the rest of all our shopping and used up all our cash! Shit! She should've paid by card to save our cash. Double shit! Plus she had to leave the cappuccino behind because there was not enough cash! Triple shit! Then I made a list of all our repairs that we had done since October, only 4 1/2 months, which cost us US$1411! Quadruple shit!
Afterwards we drove back to the residential area where we parked two nights ago but unfortunately it wasn't a very peaceful night because of dogs barking and, at 4 am, a cat jumped on our roof and woke us up!
23.02.2020: Medellín - Comuna 13
Our original plan had been to bypass Medellín and drive straight up north to get to the carnival in Barranquilla. But after our water pump repairs, we weren't going to make it for the carnival. So we decided to make the most of our time in Medellín and go and see one of the major tourist attractions here, Comuna 13.
We had already worked out how to get there the night before, but first of all we needed to find a parking garage for our motorhome. It would be easier to leave Winnietwo in the city centre and use public transport. Unfortunately, the first three parking garages we'd already looked up, were closed! Well, it was a Sunday. So we drove around the streets for a bit and finally found one that was open.
There was netting suspended above the parking area inside, probably to stop bird poop and leaves from falling in. Unfortunately, it was a bit too low for us and we ended up getting our air vent caught in the netting which kind of pulled the top of it off. We managed to grab a ladder and screw our heating vent back on.
It was going to cost us about US$10 for the day but that was fine as we had a security guard to look after our motorhome. It was almost 11 o'clock in the morning by the time we walked out but fortunately, the garage was only across the road from the metro station.
The cashier at the metro station was very kind to us and explained the whole system. We have to buy a card which we can top up. Each journey cost about 80 US cents regardless of how long. Once you go through the barriers at the other end though you will have to pay again to get back on. We said where we needed to go to and the very nice lady explained exactly where we needed to go and where we needed to change. It turned out we would need three journeys each but we could use one card. The total cost was about $6.
With our new metro card we set off and got onto our first metro which is above ground. Changing trains in San Antonio was a bit complicated because of construction work. We weren't the only ones having problems but we finally worked it out. In San Javier, the end station, we took a side trip and got onto a cable car which was superb.
Each car can have take to 8 people and they arrive every minute. Unfortunately, the windows inside are either dirty, scratched or very milky, so they are not ideal for taking pictures. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the ride. We met a Canadian couple from Montreal who now live in New York. They are on vacation in Colombia and it is only their second day in the country. Yesterday they went to a football match in Medellín and were very enthusiastic about the fans. They didn't take much notice of the game! In a few days they will take the 6-day hike to Ciudad Perdida - a large urban complex of the Tairona that has been "swallowed" by the jungle near Santa Marta. The guided tour costs $300 US including meals and overnight stays in hammocks. Sounds interesting, but there are certainly a lot of mosquitoes and the heat up there makes the trek exhausting.
The cable car ride to La Aurora station is really worth doing. It takes you directly above the houses and you can see people in their living rooms or on their terraces! The ride goes over a mountain slope, then down steeply and then up again to La Aurora. It's amazing how closely the houses and huts are built here - steep on a slope with very narrow streets.
We got off at a viewpoint to get a view over Medellín but unfortunately it was a bit hazy. We had the final cable car to ourselves to get back down to San Javier and then walked about 1 mile to get to the escalators of Comuna 13.
San Javier (official name Comuna N.º 13 San Javier) is one of a total of 16 Comunas (neighbourhoods) in Medellín, Colombia's second largest city. Medellín has more than 2.5 million inhabitants. For years, Comuna 13 was a war zone in which changing parties fought for the upper hand. During drug king Pablo Escobar's terror regime, civil war raged in Medellín and throughout Colombia between security forces, right-wing paramilitaries and the left-wing Farc guerrillas.
Comuna 13, with around 43.5 inhabitants per 1000m², was one of the most densely populated areas in the city of Medellín, and even that figure is probably an underestimate. According to figures for 2017, 161,000 people lived in an area of around 7 km², in poor conditions, on steep slopes.
In the 1980s Comuna 13 had become known for bloody and deadly clashes between rival drug gangs. The cartel's power was partly due to the strong social tensions, large class differences, unemployment, an ongoing civil war and the willingness to use violence. Medellín reportedly had the highest murder rate in the world, with more than 380 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Almost 7,000 people were killed in the city in one year alone. In 2017, the official murder rate was around 21 victims per 100,000 inhabitants. That is 18 times less than in 1991.
In December 2011 the area became famous when a system of giant outdoor escalators were opened. There are six sections with a total length of 348 metres, taking people up or down the equivalent of 28 floors. This social project by the city administration made it easier for people to reach their houses, particularly older residents. Today, the whole area is a huge tourist attraction and people make their money in the many restaurants, shops and stands or as tour guides. It's hard to imagine how dangerous it used to be here.
We didn't take a guide because there were so many people it would have been difficult to hear a word. There was loud music, with competing songs being played but most of it was Michael Jackson. I started dancing carrying my red rucksack in front rather than my back and even attempted a moonwalk. It certainly entertained the locals who think I'm a lot older than I really am because of my grey hair. My dance moves amazed them!! Kirsten killed herself laughing too!
We went up a few of the escalators and started exploring. We even found a kiddies slide and had great fun taking videos of the two of us. But we didn't have it to ourselves for long because shortly afterwards everyone else discovered it! We went on all the escalators and saw a huge amount of murals. The sun had come out and we finished the drinks we'd brought with us so had to buy more.
A lot of teenagers from the Comuna earn their money with really good street dancing. I couldn't resist strutting my stuff again and tried using my upturned umbrella to ask for tips. But nobody gave me any money. Sniff! Obviously I need more practice!!
I also did a Shakira bum wobble and tried a Mary Poppins performance in front of one of the murals. A young Colombian shouted "Mary Poppins, que dulce!" (Mary Poppins, how cute!) I even "kneeled" unintentionally by miss-timing my jump, trying to spread my feet wide like Mary Poppins. It didn't quite work!! And the umbrella didn't hold me up! Laugh! We certainly had a lot of fun!
On the way back to the metro we took a look at the Comuna 13 cemetery where there are a lot of graves of very young people. Murals pay homage to some of the youngsters who died far too early. Here we really became aware of how desperate life had been in Pablo Escobar's time. But unfortunately there are also current death dates, including many young girls. Depressing! Even if life expectancy is higher today and violence is lower than 20 years ago ... the fight against poverty is still prevalent.
At around 2.30pm we took the metro back into the city centre to Plaza Botero where there are the ugliest sculptures I've ever seen! Then we walked back to our parking garage via the pedestrian zone. Winnietwo was now parked all alone. There was a Chinese restaurant right next door and we spontaneously picked up a large portion of fried rice with chop suey - we actually ordered vegetarian, but there was a lot of chicken in it. No matter - we were really hungry, especially after all the dancing! Plus, we'd climbed over 500 steps!
We drove back to the residential area where we'd stayed before, drank loads of cups of tea because we were dehydrated and I took ages writing my diary. Despite the stress of having to get a tow truck, and wanting to bypass Medellín, we certainly made the most of our unplanned stop here and really enjoyed ourselves.
Getting towed & Helen's Reincarnation as Michael Jackson
