As usual, our day starts with a stroll for some coffee.  Today it’s a short stroll with cafes all around lining the colorful square.  We don’t really know what to expect from the ride today because we’ve simply picked the curviest route to the coffee farm to which we’re headed.  Google Maps street view shows paved roads in the places we looked, but who knows.

This colorful pueblo called Jardin is definitely one I could settle into for a few days of relaxing and dining and drinking coffee.  It’s truly beautiful.  And the colors.  All the cafes around the square use the same simple wood chairs with different colors and designs.  It has a very real Euro quality with a certain colorful yet basic element that makes it uniquely Colombian.  And this is combined with an on-again off-again rain that keeps everything a touch shiny and fresh.  Even the dogs around the square are healthy and really friendly.  It’s tempting to just while away the day watching the life of the square.  But alas, our explorers would not be explorers if they were lured in by the seductions of every pretty town they entertained for an evening.  Onward.

We shook off the allure of this garden city, packed up, headed out, and weaved our way through the cobbled streets.  We were immediately met with such jungle beauty that we slowed down and tried to breath it all in.  All the flowers surrounding us created a surreally colorful world, and the thick, moist air brought the floral fragrances deep into our lungs. Just outside the pueblo limits, birds were scaring up out of the brush in bright blue-green almost turquoise and shiny reds like the birds themselves invented their radiant colors to rise above the cacophony.  Over the thousands of miles I’ve ridden in my life, there are small sections of road that stand out in my mind and shine a brighter beacon than others – this was one of those mornings.  So smooth and peaceful on perfect swerving roads surrounded by soft jungly beauty.  It was easy to think that the ride would continue like this all the way to Hacienda Venecia…

Nope.  This is Colombia, cabron.  The smooth, simple beauty lasted about 5 miles more before the road vanished and turned to dirt.  I was sad to see the quality change, but it turned out to be maybe our best day of riding so far.  The pavement was gone, but the dirt was in pretty good shape, albeit wet from the constant rain.  We also hit a few huge “puddles” that I would call ponds if they weren’t on the road.  I don’t know if there were fish in them because the water was so muddy.  These aren’t a problem for these big adventure bikes – assuming there are no unseen boulders, slick mud, sand or moss, or really deep pockets or ruts.  Those can all wreak mischief on these big machines.  Given that the water in these small lakes is an absolute brown, we have only one choice. Just go man.  Give er.  And see what happens. Luckily these ponds were deep but passable.  And super fun.

Unfortunately for me, my bike is NOT set up for this kind of riding.  My bike at home has a lift kit on the handlebars and I rotated them to raise them a little bit more so that I can stand up on the pegs and not bend over.  This bike is impossible to stand up on for me – the handlebars are just too low.  It made the water crossings a little awkward, but totally doable.

By the time we made it to the top of the mountain, it was no longer “raining,” but it was so foggy that the air was just wet and felt like rain.  We could barely see in front of us.  The first photo below is that view of the fog, although it’s a lot foggier when you are riding into it.

After about two hours, the dirt finally ran out, and we found pavement for the last half of the ride through more small towns and across the river.  We ended up riding 4 1/2 hours without a stop, and neither of us minded it – I was shocked when we realized how long we’d been riding.  Our minds were clearly far more focused on the job at hand than the pain on our dainty little bottoms (well, mine at least, can’t speak for Gio).

The turnoff to Hacienda Venecia is a “hard” right, and for this kind of hard right, Google should yell it or say how serious it is about it being a HARD right.  We both take the turn too wide but manage to just look foolish.  And then of course more slippery rocky road awaits us, but we handle it like old pros and navigate towards reception.  We finally find the office to check in, and I’m thinking, oh no, I’ve reserved us two nights here, and this does not really look like what I was expecting.  Have we been fleeced?  Uh oh.  We check in at the guest house with the lady there, and she points us in the direction of the main house.​

As our 4 1/2 hour epic ride comes to an end, we leave the guest house, and we think we’re home free for sure.  Nope.  We get close and then find ourselves facing a fairly fast-moving river.  Hmm.  Well, obviously everyone goes this way, so let’s giver.

Off Eric goes, (and remember how I told you about this bike not really being set up for me) a little clumsily at first.  You can’t see this, but I’m headed down a very steep, slick rock hill and need to straighten out to ensure I can pick a line and then get enough momentum to not be bothered by the current.  Divide by 7 multiply by pi carry the 3 remainder of…

Gio takes a smoother path through.  Look at that pro just smoothing through the stream like he’s been riding GS’s his whole life:

We pull up to another building, and again, I’m thinking, this does not look like the place in which I was looking forward to spending a relaxing day.  Wrong building.  So we keep on to what looks like a dead end at some maintenance buildings.  What the?  A guy there points to the gate, but it does not look operable, and he tells us to park the bikes there and then walk our stuff through the small door.  Good thing, because the gate was guarded by a huge peacock.  I’m no expert in peacocks, but this one is huge.

Then we walk onto the grounds of the main house, and instantly all of my concerns are erased – this place is magical.  It’s hard to describe, so I’m just not going to bother.  I’ll just send you along on a photo tour of the grounds.  But try to imagine the bird calls and hummingbird wings and peacock screeches and soft humid air the smell of bananas and sweet flowers and pure peace.

And the birds.  How I wish I’d had a telephoto lens.  Next trip, I must bring two cameras – this one for on the bike and another for the evenings that has a telephoto.  I tried to capture some of the birds, but I couldn’t get close enough to most of them to really capture the colors and personalities of these outrageous creatures.

Eventually, it was time for dinner, and we assumed that we’d be eating with the other guests, but to our surprise, they set a table for two.  We’re the only ones here.

People come here all the time but I’m pretty sure we bring our own brand of cluelessness. At dinner she’s telling us (I think) to come and get the food so I stand up, and clearly that’s not right so I sit down really fast, and she starts giggling and digs deep for patience and explains that I need to grab my soup bowl and come to the buffet.  I do as I’m told.

Dinner was fantastic, and we were starving.  We simply didn’t stop until we’d eaten everything they served to us. Chicken, potatoes, a great salad, some fresh fruit juice all capped off by some kind of a roasted date with a soft cheese.  Fantastic.

The mosquitos are not terrible, but they’re definitely present, and I’m kinda glad about that malaria medication we brought along. Sure wish I’d been a bit more militant about taking it everyday. Started up again here though!  I’m sure I’ll be fine.

We called it an early night and closed up our rooms to keep the bugs out.  The peacocks didn’t start screaming until about 5am thankfully.  Around that time I heard something crawling around above me, and I assumed it was on the roof and not in my room, but I didn’t turn on the light.  I preferred to live with the mystery.

Tomorrow I plan to be here all day and enjoy the solitude and peace of this place.  Gio is planning to go off on an adventure.  I am tempted to go with him and to not miss out on another epic adventure, but honestly, there is almost no way I’m getting on a motorcycle tomorrow.

Our route brought us here today.

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