Colombia Sahagun N 08.92174° W 75.44414° We stopped for the night at an old gas station in Sahagun. We learned of this spot from the questconnect folks. Their directions and GPS coordinates took us right to it. A pretty run down place, but seems ok. Lots of fire flies in the grass area behind the gas station. Practiced my poor Spanish on the pump attendant, asking if we could stay the night.
Colombia Taraza N 07.58746° W 75.39509° There were many places today that would have been suitable for camping. Two that come to mind:
  • Just before Buenavista there is a Terpel Gas station with a large parking area across the road
  • In the town of Taraza there is a water park that is fenced and looked suitable. Though we did not ask if overnight parking was permitted.
Colombia North of Bello N 06.39512° W 75.43827° Another gas station, this time an Esso on the East side of the highway that has a large fenced truck parking and storage area behind it. The lady pump attendant unlocked the chain so that we could get in. No charge. Through the mountains today there were many gas stations or restaurants that may have been suitable for camping. We think they area called Estadero. Just North of where we stayed there is a water park that we had heard of from other travelers. We could not get inside the park with our vehicle due to height restrictions but there is a bus parking lot outside that may have been suitable.
Colombia Porce N 06.55041° W 75.21086° Tonight we are at Estadero Punta Aparte, in the "town" of Porce a spot we found out about from the travelin-tortugas. It's a busy place with lots of buses and trucks pulling in. But the folks here are very friendly and put us in a place out of the flow of traffic. The Texaco at location N06.09.487 W75.37.254 that we saw this morning south of Medellin was crowded with trucks but seemed like a workable over night stop.
Colombia Near Lebrija N 07.13618° W 73.32442°

Camping

Just south of Lebrija we found a truck stop, restaurant, hotel and tire repair. Talked to the man that ran the tire shop and hotel. Nice truck stop and hotel called Estedero Punta Del Nus towards the end of highway 62 at the town of San Jorge Del Nus, N6° 29.845 W75° 49.652. Very inviting but not far enough along for us.
Colombia Chicamocha National Park N 06.79002° W 73.00397° The parking lot at Chicamocha National Park is a great camping spot. Though getting permission was a bit complicated. We had to ask, in turn, the park guards, the park administration, and the national police detachment stationed at the gate. Along the highway into and out of Bucaramanga we saw a number of large modern gas station come truck stops that looked like possible overnight stops. On the first climb out of Bucaramanga we saw a place advertising camping but unfortunately missed getting GPS coordinates for it.
Colombia Barichara N 06.63663° W 73.21071° Just before entering Barichara there is a Madonna shrine or monument on the left hand side of the road with a space behind it that is pretty well shielded from the view of passing traffic. We were in Barichara when it was time to stop for the night and the only other option was the town square. There was a place closer to town offering shaded camping but the entry gate had a height restriction and was not suitable for us. Would work for SUV's and might work for van conversions. We had not checked out San Gil so did not want to temp fate by driving there in the dark in the hope of finding something.
Colombia Villa De Leyva N 05.64867° W 73.51908° We approached Villa De Leyva from Barbosa via Arcabuco and had to ask people a number of times for directions even though there were a few road signs. This approach finds the Bomberos and the entry road to Camping San Jorge before entering the town of Villa De Leyva proper. The GPS coordinates of the entry to Camping San Jorge in front of the Bomberos are N 05 38.833 W 73 31.003 while the camping ground itself is N 05 38.921 W 73.31.145. This is not the same as the coordinates we got from travelin-tortugas and dare2go folks, both of whom gave N 05° 38.922 and W 73° 23.240. As you can see the N coordinates are close but the W are not. I could speculate that the W reading should have been W 72° 32.240. My GPS says that reading is close to the town. We also saw a Zona De Camping close to the main square in Villa De Leyva at about the intersection of Calle 10 and Carrera 10. It had a narrow gate that would give width and maybe height problems to some vehicles. But for SUV's and Vans would be a convenient place.
Colombia Embalse Del Neusa N 05.16737° W 73.93416° Thanks to the dare2go website for telling us about the wonderful camping spot at Embalse Del Neusa. It is a park of some kind that encompasses the entire lake and has a gravel road that circles the lake with camping at many places on the shore. The dare2go GPS coordinates N 05°10.054' W073°56.020' are very close to where we eventually stayed, and together with our free Colombia GPS map brought us right to the place. The GPS coordinates of the entrance gate are N 05 08.140 W 73 58.003. The route we took was from the center of Zipaquira, through Cogua. On the uphill side of Cogua we took the left hand fork in the road and then simply followed the twisting road to the park. As we discovered when leaving the easier route is from the highway to Bogota, about 5 -6 miles before Zipaquira take the almost unnoticed turn to the right at N 05 04.453 W 73 56.371 Along the road to Embalse Del Neusa the camping and overnight parking at Parque Rio Neusa N05 06.500 W73 58.141. It does not look as nice but would be a good stop if you where running out of daylight. Earlier today we were in the town of Raquira. This is a very interesting small town with lots of craft shops. The town had two parquederos that would fit campers. One on the main street with a more suitable second entrance in a side street. The other was in a side street.
Colombia Chia N 04.85745° W 74.04117° We stayed with some friends in Chia last night. Chia Centro is a large mall right next to the Bogota Autopista that has a large fenced and guarded parking lot. We did not try it but there is a chance one could park there overnight.
Colombia Armenia N 04.50696° W 75.65500° We were trying to get to Hacienda Bambusa but ran out of daylight on the descent into Armenia. So with no other obvious choices we pulled into a truck parking lot across the road from a mandatory truck weigh bridge on the road that bypasses Armenia on the way to Cali.
Colombia Hacienda Bambusa N 04.39940° W 75.77524° We would not have found Bambusa without the directions in their website. The GPS coordinates (provided by travelin-tortugas and questconnect)
  • N04 25.30 W75 45.68 for the gate house, and
  • N04 24.00 W76 46.51 for the Hacienda
together with a decent digital map of Colombia only confirmed that we were at the right place. But the map did not have the necessary roads to enable the GPS to route us to the Hacienda. The triangular round about mentioned in the directions is very large, it's more like three connected y intersections than a roundabout, its coordinates are Nnn nn.nnn Wnn nn.nnn. The last of the three consecutive round-abouts is at Nxx xx.xxx Wxx xx.xxx. Just before the triangular round there is a small sign on the side of the road for the gas station La Mia. The gas station, an Esso, is after the triangular round about. The left turn into the narrow paved road after La Mia is a 45° turn not a right angle. On the right hand side of the main road at this turn is a rusty sign to El Caimo. The turn is at coordinates Nxx xx.xxx Wxx xx.xxx I will put these GPS coordinates in after we drive out of here. The last part of the directions seem to be in error. The yellow and black bar across the road can be recognized by the weigh bridge right beside it. That is also the entrance to the property and there is a sign for haciendabambus.com near that gate. From the gate the dirt road to the hacienda travels through banana plantations for a couple of miles.
Colombia Cali N 03.32093° W 76.52387° We stayed the night at Brisas Troicales/Turicentro (N03° 19.256' W76° 31.432') just south of Cali on the PanAm. We heard about this place from someone who had not been to Colombia for 6 or 7 years so we were not sure it still existed, and we had just about given up on it when there it was on the West of the highway. Its a restaurant and swimming park, with a large level grass parking area inside the property. Toilets, cold showers, 3 swimming pools, and quiet. There was no charge for staying the night but we bought dinner at the place. A little North of Brisas Tropicales there is a large gas station on the West of the highway that we did not try but looks like it might work. It was going to be our plan-B if we did not find Brisas Tropicales North of Cali while still on the highway 25 there were a couple of newish gas stations that had enough space for an overnight.
Colombia Popayan N 02.50732° W 76.54816° Terpel gas station north of Popayan on East side of highway. Has a fenced yard without guards where a few trucks parked with us overnight. The surface is a bit rough with broken concrete rubble as the primary surface. About 15 km further north is a new gas station being built, just north of a peaje, that has a very large parking area. Will be a nice place to stop when done.
Colombia Paletara N 02.20326° W 76.49625° We were on the road to San Agustin late in the day and ran out of time so stopped at this village and simply parked in the street.
Colombia San Agustin N 01.89955° W 76.28122° Late yesterday afternoon on the dirt road from Popayan to San Agustin we met a German couple in a black Landrover Defender; they told us about a hotel near San Agustin that would allow us to park on the property. The place is called Anacoana and its about 4kms out along the road to El Tablon and Estrecho. We got water, power, toilets and hot showers. GPS N01° 53.973' W76° 16.873'.
Colombia Patia N 02.07394° W 77.04067° Parador Turistica, Patia slightly south of kilometer post 31 on the southern side of Patia. We got power and cold showers. The price 12,000 pesos per person.
Colombia Pasto N 01.20324° W 77.28199° We parked in a gas station beside the hotel that Bernie and Sandra stayed in. It was in the city so was somewhat noisy. North of the town at the top of the climb was a large truck stop that would have been our choice had we not had vehicle problems in the group.
Colombia Patia N 02.07352° W 77.03942° We camped at the same Parador, swimming complex at Patia that we used on our southern journey, see 27th August 2009 journal entry. This time the price seemed to be lower - 6,000 pesos per person. The news of the day that might be of interest to other travelers however was buying Colombian vehicle insurance in Ipiales. After some searching we found a SOAT office near the town center on Calle 12 between Carrera 6 and 7. The lady that sold us the insurance obviously knew about tourists with vehicles. She told us she was available on Sundays and holidays if needed. Here are the contact details. 
						MULTISEGUROS
						
						Olga Lucia Mejia
							Gerente	
						
						OFICINA
						Calle 12 No. 6-25 Local 03
						Edificio Santa Clara
						Tel  	7255852	
						Cel  	317 538 5539
						email 	olgamejia@hotmail.com
						IPIALES-NARINO
Colombia Buga N 03.83504° W 76.29813° By luck we found a great camping place for the night. Just south of Buga, and north of Cali, we came upon the entrance on the eastern side of the highway at GPS N 03 50.23 W 76 18.07 to Parque Natural Regional El Vinculo. The camping area in this park is at the top of a modest hill from which there are great views of the valley. There are toilets, electricity, cold showers, a large and nice picnic shelter and a kitchen area. The hill got a slight breeze when we were there, which was a great relief from the humidity and insects.
Colombia Ibaque (near) N 04.40716° W 75.33572° We found an old section of highway that had been bypassed by a bridge and pulled in. During the night a few locals walked past on their way to somewhere but no one bothered us. About 6:00 am the next morning as we were preparing to leave an army patrol turned up. We did not really understand what they were telling us but it seemed that this area was still somewhat dangerous and they made gestures like bombs exploding. They stopped traffic on the highway so we could exit the side road and we were on our way. A better choice would have been a few miles farther along the road where we could have parked near the army control post.
Colombia Rio Chicamucha N 06.82713° W 72.99115° We spent the night at a gas station just north of where the highway crosses the Rio Chicamucha. We initially tried Chicamucha National Parque only to find out that the park is closed on Mondays. The police at the gate were still prepared to ask the park admin if we could stay, but the administration office did not answer their phone. Next we tried a restaurant/balnerio in the valley north of the park and just north of the crossing of the Rio Chicamucha. This was a nice place, but unfortunately they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (except when there are holidays - that's why they were open today but would be closed tomorrow and we wouldn't be able to exit). They suggested the gas station about 1 km up the road.
Colombia Aguachica N 08.30199° W 73.59821° We started looking for a stopping place early today. There was not much today, except drive and we did not want to cover any more ground. We found a 24 hour restaurant with swimming pool just south of the town of Aguachica that would let us park for the night. We spent the afternoon reading, having a few beers, a short swim and eventually dinner.
Colombia NP Tayrona N 11.27612° W 74.11759° We arrived at the gate to the Parque National Tayrona just after 5:00 pm to discover that entry is not permitted after 5:00 pm. So we camped at the gate. It was expensive, 30,000 pesos and a toilet you paid extra to use.
Colombia NP Tayrona N 11.31556° W 74.08010° San Neguarge beach. While this place does not officially have a zona de camping - at least according to the map at the park entrance gate - no one seemed to mind that we stayed the night. One of the soldiers we talked to said it was ok. Facilities were limited - toilets were available for a small fee and we saw no water supply.
Colombia Cartagena N 10.40235° W 75.55682° The Cartagena Plaza hotel. After checking in to the Cartagena Plaza we spent some time checking out other hotels on the peninsula called Boca Grande. None that we could find offered secured parking for a vehicle the size of the Tiger. The reason we looked around for other options is that the plaza is not great. The first room we got had no hot water (actually no water in the hot water faucet at all) and the towel rack fell off the wall at the first touch. Also the wifi service is not working anywhere in the hotel.
Colombia Cartagena N 10.40235° W 75.55682° A note on shipping from Cartagena to Panama. Part of the formality at the Cartagena port is a drug inspection by Colombia Policia Nacional. The owner of the vehicle is required to attend this inspection and remove all (or almost all) contents from the vehicle. The inspection takes place inside the port facilities. To gain entry to the port facility one must provide evidence of health insurance that would provide treatment should one suffer any injury while in the port. We only found out about this from our customs agent.