I'm back. Spent three weeks in Cartagena taking some spanish lessons, not really sure how that worked out for me. Cartagena is a nice place to visit but three weeks was to much. It was really hot there and I was glad to get out of the city and back on the moto. I headed north to Santa Marta spent the night there before heading to Meddellin. I needed some elevation and cooler temperatures. Also. I had banged my small camera pretty good somewhere in Panama and it suffered a major head injury, it was unable to focus. I attempted to get it treated in Cartagena but it was severely retarded and there was nothing that could be done. There aren't many choices in Cartagena and was told the best place to find a camera would be Medellin or Bogota.
On the way to Medellin I spent a night in Corozal, it was a very nice town with lots of activities and food vendors in the city center. In one section a group of about 150 women organized and conducted a jazzercise class. It was more like a dance move class, they started of with a Michael Jackson song, Black or White. Lots of men watching this activity.
The ride up into the mountains to Medellin is a spectacular ride. Lots of well kept dairy farms and beautiful little villages.
I spent two days in Medellin, got the moto repaired at Ruta 40 BMW, I had some electrical issues, bad left turn switch. I also found a Sony dealer and bought a new camera. I'm stubborn and had to have a Sony.
Now I'm in the village of Guatape not far from Medellin. It's famous for the big granite rock, El Penol, that is over 200 meters in height and the reservoir that produces much of the electrical power for Colombia. The town itself is very clean and well kept. Most of the homes and building are decorated with designs called, zocalos. (socles in english) and generally depict something about the families history or interests. The temperature is very comfortable here and at night it gets quite cool. Lots of Colombian motorcyclist ride this area on the weekends. stopping here for lunch.

On the way to Guatape, thought I'd made a wrong turn somewhere and went into a black hole:
From Colombia Sep 13

Coffe break somewhere along the way:
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Meet a group of BMW riders at El Penol:
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220 meters:
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View from the top:
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El Centro, Guatape
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Zocalos:
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From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

Ok, I was walking to the center for coffee this morning and saw this man walking his cow.
From Colombia Sep 13

They walked to the next street and the cow went into the house. I walked over and noticed it was aslo a restaurant and went inside. I walked through a breeze way into a small courtyard surrounded by rooms with closed doors expect for the kitchen area and a bathroom. I have no idea where the man and his cow went. I said hola a few times but no one answered. Everything was very clean and it didn't smell of cows.
From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

From Colombia Sep 13

Short story:
When I was in Panama riding from Chepo to Yavzia a funny thing happened to me. It had started to rain so I stopped and put my rain gear on and then proceeded on my way. I came up on a large truck that was carrying cattle. I followed a ways and then came to straight area where I could pass. It wasn't raining to hard but the water coming of the truck wheels was making visibility limited. So I pull out to pass and as soon as I got along side the truck it starts pouring rain. I can't see anything but I know the road is clear so I throttle it to get ahead of the truck. Just as I start to move ahead the rain lets up and I notice what just happened. One of the cows had her ass against the side of the truck and was pissing.