I had a fabulous time at the Hotel El Prado. Staying at this
Classic hallways
wonderful and historic hotel was a perfect idea especially for celebrating my 60th birthday. This is the kind of hotel that is elegant, classic and has fantastic architectural details. There is also a large attentive staff. Harly helped bring all my stuff and bags to the room and through out my stay he would check in on me. He would see me in the hallway and do a discrete detour to ask how my stay was going and if I needed anything. He was terrific. Hotel El Prado is like from the old Hollywood movies where people drink martinis and get dressed up for dinner. I loved it. My room was very comfortable too. I not only had a shower with hot water but also a deep bath tub. I took advantage with a few good soaks. There was a shower head and a toilet seat too - living large!!
Hotel Prado at night
Barranquilla graffiti
On my second day, I remembered that I had a flat coming into town. I went to the luggage storage room where Myrtle was secured to check on the rear tire. Sure enough, it was flat. I took off the wheel and removed the tube. Using my pump to add air I checked everywhere to find the leak even putting the tube next to my lips to feel for air escaping but I couldn't find the puncture. I added more and more air until the tube was 3 times normal size. Then I remembered that I have a bathtub and brought the pumped up tube to my bathroom and looked for air bubbles under water. I found it and the puncture was very, very small. I think I didn't add enough glue to completely seal the patch when I repaired the puncture the first time. Instead of messing around with this I threw a new tube in the tire. Then came the job of replacing the wheel. I asked my buddy Harly to help. He was great. He helped by lifting the rear of the trike and even got his hands dirty putting the chain back around the Rohloff sprocket. Pphheeww! This is not an easy job but we got it done and I feel confident the tube will hold air now. I really need to figure out a technique to do this easier on the road. The thing is, and as weird as this sounds, I hardly ever get flats. Most tours I don't have any flats and when I do, most often it is on the right front wheel. I don't think I've had a rear flat for 3 years. Hopefully, it will be another 3 years until the next one.
Flat again
Birthday cake from the staff
The 3rd day was my 60th birthday and the staff came to my room with a piece of cake and sang happy birthday. This was very sweet! I, of course, was excited to turn 60 and thrilled to celebrate in this historic hotel. Later I went to a fabulous restaurant and celebrated with a wonderful meal, maybe the best I've had in Colombia. It was one of the those meals that I'll remember for years to come.
I did a little bit of sight seeing but I didn't feel very comfortable walking too far from the hotel. Barranquilla is known to have very dangerous neighborhoods. The thing is, I don't know where those neighborhoods are. This is a big port city with a population of around 1.5 million people. It isn't a particularly beautiful or even touristic city. Barranquilla is known for salsa and champeta music. It is mostly famous for having the 2nd biggest Carnaval in the world. Carnaval starts in 2 weeks which is too long for me to hang out for but the city is already getting ready with lots of decorations.
With my buddy Harly in the lobby
Saying goodbye to Hotel El Prado and Harly
I spent 5 nights at Hotel El Prado and then got packed up. Harly was there again to take my bags down to the entrance and he also wheeled out Myrtle. Some of the staff came outside to wish me well and say goodbye. I can highly recommend Hotel El Prado and, for a 5-star, it really isn't even expensive. My upgraded room was $65/night which is a lot in Colombia but very inexpensive in the US.
I left Barranquilla on Sunday
Since I didn't want to find myself riding through a dangerous neighborhood, I checked my route with the front desk staff. They didn't have any recommendations for the next town or a hotel. I rode along the coast thinking I would get views of the Rio Magdelena on the way out of town and, maybe, be able to ride on the malecon. The malecon is very short and most of the river is inaccessible due to construction. It seems that in a few years this area will be upgraded. I left on Sunday, which I think is the best day to enter and exit big cities. Especially in the morning there is much less traffic and the riding is also less stressful.
Beach umbrellas at Puerto Colombia
Puerto Colombia beach
I didn't have any ocean views until I left the city. The first town I came to was Puerto Colombia. I took off the main road to check out the town because I saw on the map that the road looped around. All the roads in this town are unpaved. The town appeared to be quite poor. I saw a couple of hotels of marginal quality. It was fun riding along the ocean on the dirt roads. I stopped to fly my drone and did some active track where the drone follows me as I ride. This feature of the drone is spotty at best. Most of the time it follows me for only a minute and then stops. I seem to spend most of the short battery time reconnecting and then riding again. Luckily, for my videos, I don't need much more than 15 seconds at a time.
Puerto Colombia selfie
I got back on the main road after taking a wrong turn to a road that didn't connect. In the afternoon, the winds picked up and I had a terrific tailwind for the rest of the day. Sometimes I also had wonderful views of the sea. I stopped to fly my drone again. This time I lost image transmission. When this happens the screen goes black and I lose camera connection. After a short while, the drone automatically goes into Return To Home mode. In this mode it automatically returns to where you started from. When the drone starts up, there is a loud voice that let's you know the home point has been set. I couldn't remember hearing that command. If the home point isn't set before you take off the drone will return to the last place the home point was set. This point could be a place I visited days or even a week ago. This was a scary moment. Usually, the screen gives you information about how far away the drone is. You can see the distance numbers coming down and you know the drone is getting closer. But when image transmission is lost there is no way to know what is going on. I had no idea if the drone was moving or maybe it was stationary in the air. I typically fly until there is 30% battery left because all kinds of things can happen and it is a good idea to keep some extra juice. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before I finally heard the drone returning. I had no control over the drone and had to let it land on it's own. It landed exactly where it took off from. This was the first time that image transmission didn't reconnect. Usually, I lose image transmission for less than a minute and then the screen comes back. This time I had to land, turn the drone off and back on again before the camera image was visible in the screen. Very strange!
Video from riding Barranquilla to Santa Veronica
I went through another very small town I never did learn the name of. I had my camera out taking video of a group outside a makeshift restaurant. It is very typical that I shoot video while I am riding. Sometimes I shoot because it looks interesting and sometimes I shoot because it is possible that something interesting will happen as I ride passed. Today, nothing interesting happened with the people on the road but I had a touring cycling blast passed me with a very nice kit. This guy was probably around 30 years old and looked European. It was the second time today he passed me and he didn't smile, wave or even acknowledge me either time. It was as if he didn't see me. This was very strange behavior. I have only seen a couple of touring cyclists since starting my trip last November and they were always Colombians. Even though my Spanish isn't very good we always stopped to have a chat. I'm not someone that expects people to stop but I don't think I've ever not waved and said hello to another cyclists especially not to a touring cyclist. The road has been quite straight and flat today. The first time he passed he must have seen me for a long while as he caught up. He went by so fast I hardly had time to react. He must have stopped to eat to give me time to pass him. The second time he rode by I yelled out 'hello' and 'where you going?' but I got no response. How often has this guy seen a touring trike?!? Seriously! How could he not smile and say 'hello' as he blasted passed me? This was a very strange and unusual experience.
In front of my hotel
Little Santa Veronica
Soon I was at the next beach town of Santa Veronica. Again, there were no paved roads. It actually seems that there are not that many paved roads in Colombia in general. Bigger cities and only the main roads between cities are paved. This town was very small. When I arrived the winds were blowing fierce. There was a gentle downhill to the ocean from the main road and when I got to the beach I was welcomed with a panoramic view. This beach was a little piece of paradise. Out in the ocean lots of kite surfers could be seen catching big air. I used my usual technique of looking for the highest rated hotel on Google and pulled into Hotel Juanmar in front of the beach. They had a vacancy for $24 and a secure room for Myrtle. I got checked in for 2 nights. I didn't know anything about this town before arriving but learned that Santa Veronica is a well known kite surfing town and almost everyone staying was from Germany, Holland and Switzerland. It was really fun learning about this sport and watching the kite surfers prepare the cables before going out into the water. Getting up on the board isn't easy. This is a sport that requires a great deal of skill and strength.
Kite surfers
While I was at this hotel I decided to enroll in a Spanish Language school in Cartagena. Cartagena is a famous city that should be worth spending extra time in. Language school classes always start every Monday. I had a week before classes start. I asked the school to place me with a family close to the school. My last experience in Bogotá was so great I was worried this school couldn't possibly measure up. The only issue I had with my homestay in Bogotá was the house was far from the school. This time I requested to be within a 20 minute walk to the school. I did all of this online and arrangements were made to study Spanish for 2 weeks at Centro Catalina within a day. I requested a room with a private bathroom would be appreciated but not required and that I would also like to have breakfast everyday.
Looking towards Cartagena from Santa Veronica
Looking at the map, I realized I was much closer to Cartagena than I thought. I had 5 days and only 2 days riding ahead. I booked another night at Hotel Juanmar. The hotel had a restaurant and better wifi than I expected. I was able to work on my videos and do a blog update. I really enjoyed being around the kite surfing culture. In the mornings, the winds were calm enough to fly my drone. Here I didn't lose image transmission. I posted about my lost image transmission experience on a Facebook page and many people responded saying that solar flares were very strong the day I had problems. There are so many things to think about when flying drones including solar flare activity!
Roadside shrine
I heard back from the school with my final arrangements and they placed me with a family that would be ready to accept me on Saturday. This was great. I would have a day to get settled and find my way around a bit before classes started. The map showed the homestay to be just outside the old city walls in the Getsemani neighborhood. This is the neighborhood I was hoping to stay in.
Hola burro
The Hotel Juanmar was fully booked for the next few days so I got packed up and started
Long straight road
back down the road. Today my destination was Manzanillo which is very close to Cartagena. The road started with gentle ups and downs sometimes with wonderful views. I got a chance to fly my drone doing some active track shots and, today, there were no image transmission issues. The landscape wasn't much more than coastal ranch land. I had some good climbs later on and it was hot. In the afternoon, the winds didn't pick up as early as usual and I missed my tailwind. But then, towards the end of the ride, I could feel the tailwind pushing me up the hills. That's the thing about a tailwind, you can't always feel the wind and the sun can be extra strong. I was sweating buckets. I kept having to wipe sweat from my brow so it didn't run into my eyes. I also had sweat dripping from my elbows.
I lost image transmission just after taking this picture
Looking down
Pigs doing what pigs do best - rummaging through garbage
When I got to where I needed to turn off the main road to the beach, I was pleasantly surprised to see a shopping center with a big Carulla market. This is an upscale market that is usually only in bigger cities. Apparently, this beach town has some money. Manzanillo is very convenient for people from Cartagena to escape the city. Seeing this market, I wondered if the hotels were going to be more expensive. I stopped at the market for some bottled water and an avocado. I had a recommendation for the Hotel Aria and made my way there. This hotel was much fancier than the hotel I had stayed in the last 3 nights in Santa Veronica. It was also much more expensive. But my room had a fantastic view of the ocean with big balcony. $55/night did not seem expensive. $55 is questionable level for getting a hot water shower. When I looked into the bathroom, my hopes were raised when I saw 2 water knobs - one for hot and one for cold. Unfortunately, only the cold was functioning, darn! Although I have to say, at this point, I really am getting used to taking cold water showers.
Guy with a horse waiting for a job
Hotel cat
Room view in Manzanillo
I spent 2 delightful and very relaxing days at this lovely hotel on the beach. There was a big terraza on the roof where I flew my drone from. Often, when I fly from a new location, the drone needs a compass calibration. If there is too much metal close by the compass calibration will fail. This terraza was made of cement which meant there was lots of rebar. In order to get the drone calibrated I had to descend to the beach and then go back up to the roof to fly. I had to do this both mornings.
View of Manzanillo and rooftop terraza - I am in shadow
Beach beds for hotel guests
Sunset in Manzanillo - fishermen putting out nets
Cliff at end of Manzanillo beach
Covered shelters for rent - Manzanillo
With hotel staff leaving Manzanillo
On Saturday, I was excited to ride into Cartagena. This is a city I've heard so much about. Everyone raves about how beautiful it is. I needed to find my way to my homestay family. I plugged the address into Google and got nothing. Hhhmmm...interesting. In the final email from the language school, they supplied me with photos of the family and a picture showing the front of the house. Part of the description was that the location is across from Plaza de la Trinidad. I put Plaza de la Trinidad into Google and got directions. Since the route was only 12 miles and the family asked me to come after 2 pm, I waited until noon to get packed up. The route was very flat and as I approached Cartagena there was more and more traffic. There were also lots of high rise apartment buildings and large hotels on the beach. It was wonderful when I had a bike path all along where the high rise buildings were. This path went for quite awhile but I lost the path for the last bit into the city and there was also no shoulder. By now, I know that Colombians don't care about bikes or trikes being on the road. The traffic seemed to be mostly taxis and buses and they went around me - no problem. The route to my homestay went along the old city walls which are huge and grand. City walls always give off a special ambiance from a time of pirates. It didn't take long to find Plaza de la Trinidad and from the pictures I easily recognized the home stay. The outside of the house is painted a brilliant cobalt blue. Yahara answered with a big smile and welcoming hug. She knew I was cycling into the city but didn't understand what a tricycle is. Her house isn't big but, luckily, she had enough room for Myrtle in the entry way and was ok with having a tricycle in her entryway. Ppphheewww!
Old wall - Cartagena
My homestay in Cartagena
With Yahara, my homestay mom.
Yahara is a very warm and caring woman. Her house is old, not in great repair and has an artistic feel. There are many large paintings on the walls and everywhere there is lots of color and plants. None of the doors in the house have locks, in fact, the doors to my room don't even close completely. This is also true of the bathroom door. All the rooms are small and my room, in particular, really is the size of a closet. It is so small I had a strong reaction of surprise. I have a twin bed, bed table and book shelves. There is no window and the walls don't go all the way up to the roof. One wall has the bathroom on the other side which is shared with Yahara and another young student, Aisha, from Switzerland. The plaza outside the house is very popular with young people and tourists at night. There is always live music and dancing. It is incredibly loud every night. Under almost any other circumstance, this situation would be really awful for me. I can't explain why it works but it does. I love being here. It really is a unique experience.
Typical colorful street in Cartagena
Street mural
Customs building
Once I got settled, Yahara had a woman come over to give her a pedicure. She asked if I wanted one. Yes, I would love a pedicure. Funny enough, on Sunday, I was scheduled to be on Gary Soloman's Laidback Bike Report show. We did a sound and wifi check while I was having a pedicure in the living room of my homestay. The wifi connection was strong enough for video chat. Gary tried to have me on the show during my last tour in Mexico but the connection was terrible so this was a relief for both of us. After my pedicure, Yahara and her sister took me out to lunch just a block away. This neighborhood has tons of restaurants. After lunch we walked around the old city and Yahara explained about Cartagena. She also showed me where the language school is. Yahara doesn't speak English but was patient with me when I said I didn't understand. I am super excited to be here and looking forward to starting classes on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment