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Colombia is an incredible country to ride a motorcycle in. It’s so good, it’s now one of our absolute favourites – despite nearly riding off a cliff and getting stranded on a mountain without water overnight. Here’s the story of our mad motorcycle ride through Colombia…
This travel blog recounts our motorcycle adventure through Colombia in 2024 as part of our round the world trip. To read more stories from our travels check out Our Adventures
Colombia Motorcycle Travel Blog
By Andy Davidson
Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller
One way out
It’s not going well… “This can’t be right,” says Alissa, exhausted as she unclips our panniers again so we can squeeze our motorcycles around boulders in the road.
Huge landslides from the recent storms have destroyed the trail, leaving it covered in rocks, with bits of mountain blocking our path and with sections missing. Nobody has been up this way in a long time. Our gear is soaked in sweat, the going is painfully slow, we’re alone, running out of water and losing light. But it’s the only way out – and we have hours left to go.
We turn a corner to find our track washed away with only a thin slice of mud on the edge of a cliff to ride over. I just about make it and then hear Alissa scream behind me. Her back tyre slips and the bike starts to fall. Somehow, she manages to hang on and save it before they both go. We take our helmets off, our faces caked in a paste of dirt and sweat and look at each other. We haven’t been this tired since Siberia six years ago. But it’s funny how you keep going in these situations, until one of you nearly falls off a cliff, and only then it’s “Maybe we should stop now?” We’re not going to make it out before dark and make the call to camp…
In between a rock, a ferry and a hard place
This is not where we expected to be tonight. For the last few days, we had been staying in a beautiful 100-year-old coffee farm owned by a friend.
After a few days, he put us in touch with his cousin, Julian. The cousins and their families own a mining company and two mountains connected by a river. Julian met us in a nearby town, took us out for breakfast and then for a ride on his private land. As we were about to leave for our next destination, Julian suggested that instead of going back on ourselves and around (4 hours) to get to our next town, he could open up his mining ferry for us to get across the river. Once over, he has a private road leading up and over his mountain that we could use.
The road is gated at the top, not open to the public and the only access from here is via his ferry. But all we’d have to do is make it to the ridgeline and the gate, which his workers reckoned would take an hour (the chin-scratching should have given us a clue). We crossed the river at 4pm and the road turned hard – fast. But the ferry was opened especially for us and then closed again and that was it. We were alone with no way back and no choice but to push on.
Home for the night
Finding a place to pitch isn’t easy. We can’t camp on the road because rocks could fall on our tent, so we keep going until we finally find a bit of track with a protruding flat cliff edge far enough away from the mountainside. The worry now is that the edge might collapse during the night. Either way, it’s not our main concern, we’re more worried about water as we’re down to our last litre and rationing it.
On the bright side, it’s not dark for long. Our tent flashes like a techno-rave as thunder and lightning rip through the sky. We lie awake contemplating how this happened. We shouldn’t be surprised. Since we landed in Colombia, we’ve had a string of close calls. And most of them have involved cliff edges…
End of the road
Weeks ago, Alissa asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, so I found two trails on the map separated by a river with a tiny track connecting them and suggested we try and cross it. Again, it didn’t go to plan. The single lane tracks were overgrown and covered in knee-high rocks.
Alissa fell behind trying to get around a boulder and I checked my mirrors to make sure she was alright. The second my eyes returned to the trail ahead I nearly threw my heart up. I grabbed the brakes, squeezing for life and stopped just before the road ended. A gigantic landslide had completely swept away the trail leaving a long vertical drop in its place – and that was nearly the end of my trip. It seemed like a fun way to turn 37 at the time though.
A little nudge
If I had gone down, at least it would have been my fault and I wasn’t pushed. A week before I was stuck behind trucks barrelling along a steep and sandy mountain road. Waves of dust billowed into my face as they narrowly avoided crashing into each other on downward bends. I tried to overtake but the truck in front slammed on its brakes, creating a cloud of thick yellow dust and then disappeared into it.
As I waited for it to settle, another truck appeared through the haze. To my right was a steep drop and now to my left was the oncoming truck’s cab inches from my helmet. The driver smiled with a shrug as if to say sorry for what’s about to happen. I nodded, knowing what that meant and immediately leant the full weight of the bike onto my right leg. I clenched my teeth as my boot pushed stones down the cliff. He squeezed through with millimetres to spare and then bang – his back end hit my pannier and the CRF and I started to turn sideways. I fought the bars, nearly ripping them out of the clamps for what felt like a lifetime until the pushing stopped and he trundled off with a friendly toot-toot of his horn.
The other side
Back in the tent we’re finally treated to longer periods of darkness between the flashes of white. As my heartbeat slows down, I start to relax and thoughts of crumbling cliffs subside – allowing the other side of Colombia to flow in…
We’ve been here for over a month already and started from Bogota (we flew our bikes over the Darien Gap from Panama). We quickly left the city and headed for Cocuy National Park – one of the few places in the world where you can find glaciers in the tropics. The higher we rode the better it got.
At around 3,700m we rolled through a Páramo – a high-altitude ecosystem desert found in the Andes full of weird flora and fauna that has adapted to the cold and wet conditions. We keep going through the mountains higher into the clouds until the trails become jagged and we zip up our jackets and feel frost on our noses.
But it’s not all wild mountains. The towns here are out of this world and our favourite Colombian hobby is finding dirt roads that connect pretty pueblos (towns).
Pueblos
We ride past men sitting around drinking coffee on street corners wearing big black sombreros and old brown ponchos. The houses are colonial in style and often all painted the same bright colour. Each beautiful town has its own church and little main square lined with shops and cafes. Hot chocolates, salty cheese, tasty empanadas and cakes at every stop. We stay the night and chat with locals, and in the morning we load our saddlebags with food, our tanks with fuel and head back out to explore.
But every so often, we fall in love with a town and stay a while. Jardín is one of our favourites, so we have another go at celebrating my birthday and book a cabaña up in the hills in the middle of a coffee plantation overlooking the town below. It’s paradise.
Colombia is mesmerizing and ever-changing the more we ride. From the tallest palm trees in the world to dry tropical forests, red deserts, green mountains, ancient history and stunning little towns scattered throughout.
San Agustín is home to the largest collection of pre-Hispanic stone sculptures in South America, created between the 1st and 8th century AD by a people whose origins and disappearance are unknown.
Cowboys
We love the charming towns, but the tucked-away villages are even better. We pulled into one and were met by around 50 cowboys. A young boy quickly became our guide and took us to his favourite lunch stop for the most delicious potato balls and then showed us around. Seeing all the cowboys made us want to have another crack at it.
We love riding horses, but the last time we rode was six years ago in Kyrgyzstan, and it did not go well (long story). So, once we reached Filandia we headed straight for Steel Horse Colombia. We had read about them years ago and always planned on visiting.
We went out with two guides and spent the day chasing trails over mountains and through rivers. Some of the downhills through slushy mud were hairy, but the entire experience was incredible. And galloping through pastures when your rhythm clicks and are in sync with your horse… there’s no better feeling.
READ MORE: How to Go Horse Riding in Colombia
Wake up
The sun breaks and thoughts of pretty pueblos disappear as we’re woken by a dozen goats sniffing our tent. With dry mouths, we’re packed up and blasting up the mountain within minutes – the ridge firmly in our sights. Two more hours pass until we hit a barbed wire gate marking the private road’s exit. We get through and 20 minutes later find a viewpoint with a little café.
The owner is confused as to where we came from because there’s only one track in and out to his café and we appeared from the bushes. We couldn’t explain, we just needed 8 bottles of water, 3 Cokes and two fruit juices.
Home stretch
An hour later and we’re sitting in another little town square, sipping coffee and watching the world go by. We get some strange looks sat next to our bikes covered in so much dirt and smelling like old goats, but the looks are always followed by friendly smiles, inquisitive questions and welcomes.
We’ve fallen in love with Colombia and don’t want to leave – cliff edges n’ all. Chasing pueblos and crazy roads have become an addiction. On the way to the border with Ecuador, we try to squeeze another off-road route in and detour for the “Trampoline of Death,” but after everything we’ve just ridden, it’s like riding the M4 to Slough. The addiction calls for more but we’d need years here to properly explore all its nooks. Just as well, out of the nearly 100 countries we’ve travelled in, Colombia is the first we’d seriously consider living in – one day…
With thanks to…
Steel Horse Colombia
If you’re this way, definitely stay at the farm and try a day out with these stunning horses! They’re super well looked after, the farm is brilliant and so are the people. Check out our horse riding guide.
Santiago and Julian
We didn’t know Santiago and Julian before travelling to Colombia, but everything they’ve done for us has been just incredible. There are such cool people in this world. A huge thank you to Santiago and Julian for giving us the opportunity to ride this incredibly beautiful and untouched slice of Colombia. What a privilege and what a ride.
Danny
Four years ago we were riding through Cambodia and stopped at a hotel for a few nights in Siem Reap (beautiful place), while there we met Danny – a round the world motorcycle traveller from Colombia.
Like us, he’s still on the road and just ridden through Africa, but luckily for us, he’s just flown home to Bogota for a little while, and it’s been awesome catching up – and eating our bodyweight in food together. Follow his adventures as Esta es mi Vuelta.
Bernice and Camillo
Bernice (a fellow Brit) and Camillo invited us to stay with them. And we could definitely do with a rest so we gratefully accepted. Such a welcoming couple. We had a blast eating tasty traditional food and chatting the night away.
We love meeting people who are out there following their dreams, and that’s exactly what these guys are doing. Camillo’s an architect and they’re building houses along the edge of a large nature reserve for wildlife lovers. We got to check it out and it’s stunning. If you’re interested, have a look here.
Everyone we met in Colombia
Thank you to everyone we met in this incredible country, to everyone who chatted to us, stopped to say hello, shared stories with us and helped us along the way. We love Colombia, it’s one of our absolute favourites and we’ll be back.
Read more on motorcycle travel in Colombia
Thanks for checking out our Motorcycle Travel Blog Colombia. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more related articles on riding in Colombia and South America that we recommend you read next.
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We hope you enjoyed our Colombia motorcycle travel blog. Please share any thoughts or questions in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
Guys, I don’t have a heart condition and I’m glad I don’t. Because your recounting of the mountain road scared the hell out of me! I know you need to be a little nuts to ride around the world but that Colombia ride definitely confirms it. And it makes a trip to Spain look oh so pedestrian. Please stay safe and keep on entertaining us with your fantastic stories.
All the best
Paddy
Hey Alan! haha thank you very much for your comment – and very kind words! Much appreciated.
Cheers and all the best,
Andy
fantastic adventure mis amigos…how is yer spanish these days
Hi Tony! Haha we’re still practicing! But it’s hard! Getting there – very slowly. How’s yours?
Cheers,
Andy
Glad you two are doing well, mostly! Jim and Connie, we met in Laredo in Baja while we were in our Syncro Westy van at that camp/yoga retreat place. Good luck and safe travels.
A lot of very good pictures and story! inspiring!
thanks
Thanks Peteris, glad you enjoyed the read 🙂
Cheers,
Andy
That moment where Alissa’s back tyre slips on the cliff edge and you’re already on the other side — the helplessness of that must be something else entirely. Do you think the detour felt worth it once you were finally through, or does that kind of close call linger longer than the scenery does?
Hi Adam, good question!
Adventure is discomfort recounted at leisure…
🙂
Cheers
Andy