Mark Wallace travels the world on his BMW R1200 GS Adventure
After more than a year since our adventure in Chile, I’ve reunited with Ayleen Martinez for a tour of Colombia. We’re documenting our journey in a new YouTube series, in English and Spanish! It’s the Colombia VLOG 2021. I’ve embedded the playlist below so you can keep up with the latest adventures.
If all goes as planned, I’ll be back in Colombia in just a few weeks. Of course, during these unpredictable days, anything can change at a moment’s notice.
I’ve been locked down in Argentina since March 20, 2020. We are still in quarantine here in Buenos Aires. For those of you who are counting, that’s just over seven months.
The government has been slowly phasing in different businesses since June. Last week they finally reopened the airports for limited service. All of that adds up to good news for me – I’m finally able to leave Argentina with my motorcycle.
I left Manizales on a foggy wet morning. I’d gotten word from friends in the south that the Pan-American highway would be open for 36 hours. Now was my chance to get to Ecuador. The roads down the mountain where curvy but devoid of the normal onslaught of killer semi trucks. It was a beautiful ride that would only get better. In a short time I found myself on a two lane divided highway. I was actually able to ride at speeds above 100kmh. The day was absolutely spectacular.
Things are a bit sketchy right now. I’m sitting in a hotel room in Manizales, Colombia looking for the safest route to Ecuador. There are protesters blocking the Pan-American highway and there have even been reports of violence and a few deaths. I’m not sure how real the danger is, but I’m taking no chances. All of this is happening in the southern part of Colombia, down by Pasto, but that’s exactly where I need to go to make it to Ecuador.