We (Gareth , Dave and me) stood in the old town waiting for a bus that supposedly went passed the canal locks BUT ended up somewhere else after a hour ride. A lady on the bus told us we couldn’t get off as we were in the “wrong” area of town and it is “very danger” […]
Archive | South of the Border
South of the Border
Motorcycle adventure in South America/h2>
Riders: Gareth Morgan, Jo Morgan, Dave Wallace
Motorcycles: MW F800GS
Distance: 11,421km
Countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, USA
Trip description: A run from Panama to California will cover no fewer than 9 countries of South America. The motorbikes were strategically left behind from our last adventure so we can get straight into it.
Blogs from the trip
We wait in Panama
It was a saga beyond anything we had previously experienced, but we thought we had the bikes into a freight plane and left for Panama to wait for their arrival. Dave met us at the airport, looking a bit glum as he had just discovered his bike was in Miami, we smiled and told him […]
Quitting Quito At Last
Don’t get me wrong, the capital of Ecuador is not a bad city, in fact we’ve grown rather found of it. It’s just that we’ve been here too long – too long trying to line up air transport for the bikes to Panama. And it hasn’t been easy, things are not straightforward here in Ecuador […]
Just another day on the Pan-Am
I’ve been spoilt. Not in the usual trust fund baby style however, a more Morgan-esque approach has found me on the back of Dad’s bike for the past week through Colombia. Riding pillion has its advantages and instead of pothole dodging I’m lucky to get a good look around, it’s with this spectator’s insight that […]
A sleight of hand
Usually we have been pretty lucky with our travels but I’ve been done for the second time this trip. Firstly my $1000 stash of US dollars was taken either from the hotel room in Houston when we were at breakfast or when the luggage was handled at the airports Houston / Quito. Hidden deep in […]
Every South American country has been ridden. YI HA
We started in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, French Guiana, Suraname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, and finally Ecuador. We had a couple of breaks home to cuddle grand-babies and mow the lawns. What a huge continent, and an epic adventure. We have been lucky to have our youngest off-spring, Ruby, along for the last […]
Huge Relief
It has been nagging at me for 3 months now – the fact that we entered Colombia with our bikes illegally – no immigration stamp and no certification for temporary importation of the bikes. I wouldn’t normally be concerned but stupidly we forgot when we came in from Venezuela down a lonely back road and […]
Las Lajas
Right of the south of Colombia a couple of kms north of the border with Equador sits an amazing cathedral built atop a viaduct that bridges a steep ravine. It’s orgin is thanks to a vision of the Virgin Mary seen on a rock in the mid 18th century, against which now the church is […]
All a bit FARC’ing close
Colombia remains embroiled in a struggle with the insurgents of Left and Right battling for control of its lucrative cocaine trade. As we ride south from Bogota – and we’re only a day or two from the Ecuadorian border now, things have become a bit more militaristic on the road. The army roadblocks, searches of […]
Great to be back in the saddle
Well I thought I should let you know how great it is to be back on the road. Gareth has Ruby on the back of his bike and I have his huge waterproof bag. Ruby and I are sharing the absolute minimum of clothes and we have everything on in the cold of these high […]