¡Hola Colombia!

Day 1, and I´m in love! Colombia is crazy beautiful. I´ve never seen any land so rich, fertile, colorful and green! My smile´s bigger than a bright orange, harvest moon as I try my best to give you an update. My hands are dancing across the keyboard as I jitter with excitement. There just doesn´t seem to be any chance that I could squeeze in all the details of this journey into one, teensy tiny sitting. A lot of time has lapsed since my last post. I haven´t even written about Canoa, a perfect surf town on the Ecuadorian coast that I recently found myself "stuck" in. I went for the day and stayed for 10. That´s to be continued. For now, here is the skinny on the life of your Pacific Princess:
I´m on a motorcycle tour traveling from Ecuador to Colombia with 2 friends from the yacht club, Jorge and Alvaro. Upòn discovery of my desire to travel throughout South America, they offered to take me with them on their bikes from Bahia de Caraquez (where Jorge´s Catamaran as well as Victoria are anchored) to their hometown of Armenia which is nestled in the central branch of the Andes mountains. They knew that if I headed south towards Peru, I would never get to see their beautiful country that so many overlook. I slept on the idea for a couple weeks, gathering both facts and opinions on the safety of the adventure, and ultimately knew it was for me, my only way. Before I knew it, I was traveling "home" from Canoa to Bahia in order to take off with the guys the following morning. All of a sudden, I was the new kid at school with butterflies in my tummy and excitement in my bones. With only a few short cruises on my dad´s Harley and a couple test runs with Jorge under my belt, this was unknown territory.
Our 7 am rendezvous on Thursday morning came quick with Kim and Pierre, the boys and I all hustling in the boat to get ready for our big day. They boys were back to SCHOOL and in full uniform after a long holiday weekend in Baños and I was following through with a crazy yet all together perfectly reasonable plan. By this time in the game, Kim and Pierre were both wishing they could come and Thomas and Patrick were grinning big (we´d spent many a´day on deck brainstorming the infinite possibilities of travel). This wasn´t exactly catching a wild horse, taming it and riding it across China, but nevertheless they were proud of their older cousin. I only wish I could´ve seen their faces when Pierre and Kim recalled the get-up Jorge and Alvaro presented me for the ride: black, padded pants, big black jacket, goggles, HELMOT (purchased the day before and only a southern belle gets away with sporting a ¨maple camo¨, silver crome-detailed ¨cosco¨), and ¨guantes¨(gloves). At least half of our Puerto Amistad community was there to see me off, feeling like I was going onto the set of a movie. Hello Lara Croft :) We snapped some photos, hugged goodbye and sped away. We were doing it. I was there. There was no looking back. In Pierre´s words, and I concur, this trip would be life defining. In many ways, the possibility of traveling with Jorge and Alvaro across Ecuador and into the mysterious Colombia stirred my courage. Some family and friends cheered and others worried, but spinning away with Jorge and Alvaro on that promising morning was a decision all my own. It came mostly from my wild heart and fearless spirit.
I never even knew fear until yesterday. It feels like it´s been ages since I was huffing and puffing as a woman in labor and SCARED SHITLESS (ear muffs). Surely I´d never be scared of anything if I got off of this really fast horse alive. I´ll spare details for now- but the day did get better when I broke out Coldplay on my ipod and started to look around at the spectacular scene. The juicy ¨oro miel¨ (gold honey) pinapples and sweet bananas in my stomach from a roadside market gave me a 2nd wind that carried us up into the coulds as we climbed the Andes. Through the mist, I caught a glimpse of a giant face sculpted into the side of a rocky cliff. Waterfalls poured before me and deep, green canyons whirled around me as if in a dream. We finally reached Ibarra, Ecuador after about 400 km along our route where we discovered our night´s delight: Hacienda Chorlavi. Again like a child, I was awestruck by this old, perfect farm converted into a hotel. It once was even a monestary. The grounds were stunning, with secret-garden like plazas surrounding. Overgrown paths, brilliant flowers, hammocks, covered bridges, lanterns, ceramic tiled roofs and big shady trees gave us a grand palace to call home. Inside we found tables set, the fire blazing, an open terrace and rooms and rooms filled with gorgeous antiques just waiting for our presence! Very Spanish. We were treated as royalty. Breakfast was even finer than supper and Grandma would´ve been proud of the setting. The sun-lit table overflowed with watermelon, guayaba, eggs, homemade bread, yogurt, juices and coffee. While the boys secured our bags on the motos, I made my way one last time through the grounds, capturing every last ounce of beauty that I could on my camara so that I can share it with you soon.
So this romance continued into a successful, amazing Day 2 of 3 on the road in route to Jorge´s ¨finca¨ (farm). I´m so much more relaxed and comfortable now. I´m actually beginning to love the curves and the bends in and out of the Andes. The joking is endless regarding this transition. Today we finally reached the Ecuador-Colombia border. We celebrated as we made the rounds to the Immigration offices on either side to get all stamped and official. Jorge and Alvaro were finally in their homeland and I was finally going to touch this much anticipated soil. I was truly amazed as we rolled under the welcome sign ¨Bienvenidos a Colombia¨. The land just kept getting greener and the mountains more grand and vast. Surprises were endless. All was foreign. All was familiar.

Twas on this leg today that my eyes filled up with the most glorious sight! Perhaps the most beautiful lands of my life along this rich and dynamic valley. It struck like the ¨Going-to-the-Sun¨ Road in Glacier National Park, but it never ended. Unlike our protected park, this sacred space was inhabited with people, laced with neatly drawn out farmlands and bustling with animals. There were waterfalls shooting out of every rocky wall and a big, white river flowing far beneath. I couldn´t help but to kick myself for not having packed my fly rod and wondering what kind of ¨trucha¨ (trout) swam below. Within the valley, sharp mountain peaks stood tall to greet us and bright flowers of all shades met us, too. There were horsies and big cows, pigs and lots of puppy dogs. Families walked together, farmers worked the land and Indians dressed in their colorful, traditional clothes took be back in time.

I´m far too spent to write, but enjoy the highlights of Day 2:

-Stopping to see the famous Lajas Sanctuary
-Sitting atop a perfectly soft and white, fluffy llama that was dressed in colorful, traditional garb and even wearing a sombrero
-Taking in the magestic wilderness
-Eating guinea pig for lunch or ¨Cuy¨, Alvaro´s favorite... A traditional and precious dish of the Indians in southern region Colombia
-Rolling through a typical, colorful Colombian town where all of the houses were painted bright with 

detailed patterns and designs

-Seeing a huge crowd of people in black walking towards me and then realizing we were right in the middle of a funeral gathering. The men of the family carried the coffon up high a few feet away from us as they marched towards the church. There was something very sacred about witnessing this. People wept. I could identify with death. I decided right then and there that I don´t want anyone wearing black at my funeral. Bright Colors, por fa!
-Giving thanks for the opportunity to travel with Jorge and Alvaro, 2 very fine gentlemen who are taking great care of me! I affectionately refer to them as my angels!

-Noting that this route is normal for my friends, but exotic for me or anyone not from Colombia to experience. Jorge and Alvaro reminding me that it is extremely rare for a foreigner to be on this spectacular route of the

 Panamerican Highway- especially on a motorcycle because for many years it has been unsafe due to guerillas. I know I´m lucky and truly living with every last bit of wind upon my back.
-Celebrating my brother Hartford´s birthday! I gave ém one to be proud of and wish him love!
-Sleeping like a baby after these long days full of adventure!

Sending love along with Aguardiente Nariño (after dinner drink), Macadamias (we´ll reach Jorge´s Macadamia farm tomorrow) and Champu (a tasty smoothie with a corn base made with fruit native to this region of Colombia),

Catherine