A little less than a month ago I picked up Aaron Rettig, Tyler Bradt and Lane Jacobs at the airport in Bogotá and we made a round about kayaking tour of the Northern half of Colombia. During the journey we definitely spent more time driving around in our ’94 Chevrolet Trooper than we spent paddling down rivers, however in the last three weeks we managed to paddle the Rio Negro, Rio San Juan, Rio Guatapé, Rio Mogoticos and Rio Palomino which are all classic rivers in their own right. We were also turned away from several sure classic rivers because of the guerrillas, the paramilitaries and probable land mines. Perhaps the Rio Mogoticos could be excluded from the group of classic rivers. We made a low water descent which was probably the rockiest class 4 and 5 river I have ever paddled. I broke the seat of my kayak, bruised the muscles of my buttocks and hips by bouncing off rocks and I cut my right forearm and right leg on barbed wire in two separate incidents. I fell three times and once dropped my paddle in the river. While I was kayaking down the river nothing happened with the exception of breaking my kayak seat during an abrupt encounter with a rock, but when we got out to portage the jungle of Colombia beat me down.
River exploration and the jungles of Colombia are not always rainbows and butterflies. The jungles of Colombia are also full of various parasitic creatures such as regular sized ticks, seed ticks, mosquitos, tiny black flies and the parasites play host to even smaller parasites. The jungles of Colombia are also full of various non-venomous and venomous spiders, some of them the size of tarantulas, and non-venomous and venomous snakes. Most often it is the smallest and least pervasive of the dangers that beat me down in Colombia. Most recently I believe I contracted some sort of tick fever or dengue fever on the Rio Palomino in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, My achilles tendons have shrunk to a couple of inches and walking is painfully, I regularly have a high fever and my entire body aches. Several other veteran Colombian kayakers have contracted similar ailments after exposure to ticks, mosquitos and black flies, and they report similar symptoms that usually last a couple of weeks. I am about five days into whatever I have contracted and I hope it passes soon. If not I may have to consult a physician and acquire some antibiotics.
My tour of the Northern part of Colombia has temporarily come to an end where it began about three weeks ago in San Gil. I left my van here before I went to pick up the rest of the crew, but the market for 1955 Volkswagen hippie vans is minimal, so I think I will take a day or two to move it to Bogotá and leave it with the used car salesman that we bought the Trooper from. He seemed to be one of the most trustworthy Colombians I have done business with, so I think I will pay him a commission to sell my van. The van holds a lot of sentimental value, a baby was born in the van with me at the wheel, but it breaks often and parts are hard to find outside of the major cities. It is time to part with the van. The Trooper breaks less frequently, but still requires periodic repairs.
The rest of the crew continued towards the Eastern slope of the Eastern Cordillera this morning. I will catch up with them after a day or two of rest which will hopefully result with an improvement in my physical state, after I perform my civic duties to the U.S. and prepare my taxes, and after I relocate my van to Bogotá or someplace where the hippie van market is thriving. From wherever I end this little side mission, hopefully in two or three days, I will take a bus to wherever the rest of the crew is and resume the kayaking mission. We still have the East and the South of Colombia to explore before the end of March. The kayaking should continue to improve, although it has not been bad, as we move into a couple of areas with the more large volume rivers and more frequent rain.
Even deep in the throes of whatever I have contracted this time, I can say that the rewards of seeing some of the places we have seen and paddling some of the rivers we have paddled outweigh the discomforts of the jungle and endless hours of the four of us cramped in the Trooper. Life would be better if I were not ill, but life is still good.
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