The BC Buckaroos pass through Panama - On to South America
November 25, 2008
Hola, we are now in Columbia, in the City of Medellin.
It was once the capital of the drug trade here in this country. As far
as I am concerned, seeing it now, it may as well be in Vancouver,
British Columbia. The probably did not expect a population of five
million when they built up high in the mountains. It is very scenic and
it is 
very
busy. We are in a hostel waiting for our bikes, which should be here
tomorrow. The weather is raining and kind of foggy. This country has
many high mountains and very steep winding roads, which is very nice for
the bikes.
We are looking forward to riding south in two days. As it turned out, we rode from Panama City, out towards Colon, Panama. On the way, we encountered a police checkpoint, where we picked up a police escort all the .jpg)
way to Portobello.
There, we planned to board a sailboat. As it happens there is a huge
shopping district in Colon, and many people carrying cash go there in
taxis and buy things. The highway robbers try to pull them over and rob
them, so the police have road stops all over and checkpoints set up to
provide escorts to tourists.
very
busy. We are in a hostel waiting for our bikes, which should be here
tomorrow. The weather is raining and kind of foggy. This country has
many high mountains and very steep winding roads, which is very nice for
the bikes.
way to Portobello.
There, we planned to board a sailboat. As it happens there is a huge
shopping district in Colon, and many people carrying cash go there in
taxis and buy things. The highway robbers try to pull them over and rob
them, so the police have road stops all over and checkpoints set up to
provide escorts to tourists. We went to the sailboat jump-off point, which is a
hostel that arranges boat trips to Cartagena, Columbia. We went in to
the hostel, where we met a couple from Montréal, Canada .jpg)
riding
two BMW 1200´s, as well as an American couple on a third BMW 1200.
There were only two more spots on the boat, which was a 50-foot
catamaran. Brendan and Filipé took the remaining spots. There were no
more boats, so we rode back to Panama City and arranged to ship the
bikes in a cargo plane for $700 US. We booked ourselves on Copa
Airlines to Medellin for $300 US. Since they only have cargo runs on Wednesdays, we will wait for the bikes for another day or so.
riding
two BMW 1200´s, as well as an American couple on a third BMW 1200.
There were only two more spots on the boat, which was a 50-foot
catamaran. Brendan and Filipé took the remaining spots. There were no
more boats, so we rode back to Panama City and arranged to ship the
bikes in a cargo plane for $700 US. We booked ourselves on Copa
Airlines to Medellin for $300 US. Since they only have cargo runs on Wednesdays, we will wait for the bikes for another day or so. Today we went to a big BMW shop in the city. I bought a pair of riding pants
for $80 US and some synthetic oil. Riley got a pair of Meltzer tires
for $150 US. Things are cheap here! We had fun at the shop, as the
people there are also part of a huge riding club. The owner came out to
meet us. He has ridden from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina,
which is about as far as you can go in the western hemisphere.
Covering the walls of the shop, he had many neat pics of the Yukon
Territory, including one of him at the Sign Forest in Watson Lake.
for $80 US and some synthetic oil. Riley got a pair of Meltzer tires
for $150 US. Things are cheap here! We had fun at the shop, as the
people there are also part of a huge riding club. The owner came out to
meet us. He has ridden from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina,
which is about as far as you can go in the western hemisphere.
Covering the walls of the shop, he had many neat pics of the Yukon
Territory, including one of him at the Sign Forest in Watson Lake. 
While
there, I also fell in love… with the new BMW F800 GS, a twin Rotax with
some sweet lines. Anyhow, we will keep you posted, so far so good,
Columbia is very pretty, modern and extremely clean city. It is not
what we were expecting, so it is a nice surprise.
Take care, talk soon. Dan Burns.
Email James McGillis
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