Some time ago, a friend of mine had undertaken
the same adventure that I was embarking upon
now. He had told me stories that were equally
enthralling and hair-raising. It was a territory
where Government militias and guerilla forces
roamed freely, and where the legendary Caño
Cristales- a river whose water sparkles in five
separate colors- runs through the wild jungle. It
was a land speckled with illicit fields of coca and
cannabis, of friendly farmers and insane 4x4 off
road adventures. It was one of those special
places in the world, a land of equal parts danger
and beauty where you experienced moments that
made you truly feel alive.
The road to Bogota was nearly deserted and I
made the journey in record time. But the traffic in
Bogota itself was horrifying. It took me almost
two hours to get from one end of the city to the
other. But the time was not entirely wasted.
Somebody I encountered in the city limits told me
that he knew some special places to visit, well off
the beaten track. I will definitely return to follow
up on those tips.
Once we reached the other side of Bogota, the
drive to our final destination was pretty. I was
cruising through a mountain gorge leading to the
city of Villavicencio, the capital city of the Meta
district. Villavicencio, or “Villavo” as it is known
to the locals, sits at the heart of the Colombian
countryside. It is the gateway to the vast plains
of Los Llanos. The area is the heartland of
Colombia’s agriculture and produces endless
quantities of livestock and rice. The local
plainsmen are referred to as “Llanero”. Like the
American cowboys of yore, they are known as
strong, hardworking people who are very
attached to the land.
My contact had arranged a bed for me at a hostel in
Villavo. After 9 hard hours on the road, I unslung my
gear from my bike and threw it in my room. I was
fatigued from the road but not tired enough to sleep,
so I decided to relax for a while in the living area. We
would be undertaking this 4x4 trip with several other
people- our driver, a mechanic, and five other
adventurers. But so far, only one of the fellow
travelers had arrived. I knew that the others were
coming from Medellin, and like me, they had a long
ride over the Andes to reach Villavo- so I wasn’t too
worried about their exact arrival time. Colombians can
take it slowly, even when they “have to” go
somewhere, and time does not have the same force of
control over daily life here as it does elsewhere. In a
strange way, I have to agree with that outlook.
Hendrik, our contact in Villavo, is an adventurer in the
classic sense. He is what they call a “patron” here in
Colombia. The word has many definitions: a person
who acts as a guardian of others, who uses his wealth
and position to help others in need. As we sat talking
in the hostel lobby, he asked me if I knew what I had
coming on this trip. He told me that it had rained for
22 days in a row on his first drive of the season. The
best time to visit is from June to December, and the
road is almost impassable during the remaining
months.