From Ibague we descend from 1300m all the way back down to 350m, and back into the heat! It’s a beautiful descent and for about 15 miles I barely touch the pedals. It’s great to have some ‘easy’ cycling for a change, and although we’re on main roads, they’re not busy at all. We’re heading …
Salento-Toche-Ibague
While hundreds of tourists pile into various coloured jeeps and head off into the Valle de Cocora to see the famous wax palms, we head off in a slightly different direction, and it makes all the difference. This three day route has to be the highlight of the whole trip for me so far. Sixty …
Eje Cafatero (coffee country!)
We’re heading into the coffee axis and I’m excited! I’d been wanting to get to this part of Colombia for ages, this is the area where most of Colombias coffee comes from, and I was excited to explore it. The first part of the day was tough, we had to cycle from 2100m up to …
Medellin – the famous city…
In the end we only spend two nights in Medellin before once again our friend Luis comes to our rescue, picking us up from our hotel with our bikes and all our bags, and escaping the busy city to stay a few days with his sister-in-law in their Finca in El Retiro, a beautiful region …
Cartagena to Medellin – the journey begins…
The first thing I notice is the weight of the bike, it’s so heavy it’s wobbling, and I’m struggling to stay upright! The next thing is the intense heat, it’s only 9am and already I can feel myself starting to sweat! And then there’s the noise, the city is bustling. Cars, buses and motorbikes beep …
Bogota to Cartagena – before we cycle we are tourists in the city…
We’re sat on a bus, it’s a very comfortable bus but it’s slow. We left Bogota, the capital of Colombia, at 1pm this afternoon and will hopefully arrive at Cartagena on the Caribbean coast at about 11am tomorrow. Approximately 22 hours to travel less than 500 miles. But this is one of the many subtle …
4 weeks time
This time in 4 weeks we’ll most probably be boarding the plane at Heathrow – no more preparations – our lives for the next 12 months packed underneath the plane (hopefully!!) along with our bikes. En route to Bogota, Colombia, where we’ll start our cycling adventure cycling from the top of South America all the …
Kilimanjaro – walk to freedom
The much anticipated knock at my tent comes at 11.30pm, it feels like I’ve been sat waiting for it for hours. I only went to sleep at 9pm. This is it, summit night, no going back. I turn on my LuminAid solar tent light and dress as quickly as I can in my 7 layers, …
Not just a Scrubba…
On a recent month-long expedition to Tanzania with a group of excited teenagers hoping to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, my best friend and most valuable possession became the ‘Scrubba’! Its main purpose being a travelling washing machine, on my month long expedition with very basic facilities it became so much more than that! So I feel in order to do it justice and thank my Scrubba for being my best friend, below I have listed the 5 ways my Scrubba came to my rescue.
Coast to Coast in a day…
I awake early to the sound of the radio alarm and the heavy rain noisily tapping on the velux window above me. I immediately remember what day it is and what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m a mixture of excitement, anticipation and trepidation. Today I’m attempting to cycle Coast to Coast in a …