MOTOLOMBIA – TOURS AND RENTALS

TOUR SPECIFICATIONS:
Total days: 14 (including arrival and departure)
Riding days: 10 (city tours and activities scheduled on non-riding days)
Tour distance approx: 2500 km
Tour start & end: Medellin, Colombia
Tour cost rider on BMW G650GS: $4,990 US
Upgrade to BMW F800GS: $700 US
Pillion rider: not recommended
Passenger in chase vehicle: $2,990 US
Accommodation: Nice guesthouses and small high level hotels and best option available
Single Room Supplement: $600 US

Tour profile: 50% paved roads 50% gravel and dirt. Varying from small sealed mountain back roads with some potholes to muddy and sandy dirt roads and car tracks. Many curves, several Andean mountain passes and extreme scenic routes. For riders with off road experience, good curving skills, ability to stay calm in hectic traffic and the ability to ride hard and many hours per day.

Weather: Temperatures vary between 22 to 35°C (71,6 to 95°F), but temperatures can drop a bit more going over the mountains passes. It is recommended to ride with ventilated riding gear. A pull over rain suite is a good idea to carry against mountain temperatures and possible short rain showers.

Requirements: Valid drivers license with motorcycle endorsement, Passport/ picture ID, Credit Card for Damage Deposit hold and +650cc motorcycle riding experience.

Dirt and mud sections

WHAT´S INCLUDED:
- On bike bilingual tour guide (English, Spanish)
- Optional support vehicle with trailer and space for passengers and luggage or second assistant on bike guide
- Accommodation 13 nights at top class hotels and resorts or best option available
- Breakfast every day, welcome and farewell dinner
- Motorcycles included BMW G650GS (single cylinder) with Giant Loop soft bag system
- 3rd-party liability insurance (SOAT)
- Rider accident coverage
- Fuel
- City tours, coffee plantation tour, visit to Salt Cathedral and national parks
- Transfers to / from Medellin airport
- Gift T-shirt

Butcher in the outback

WHAT´S NOT INCLUDED:
- International flights
- Lunches and dinners, except for welcome and farewell dinners
- Personal expenses and activities
- Personal health and travel cancellation insurance
- Drinks and snacks
- Upgrade to BMW F800GS (additional cost: $700 US)
- Fully refundable damage deposit for motorcycle rental held on Credit Card

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
Medellin: Colombia’s second largest city. A modern city with a great metro system that connects the city center to two spectacular cable car lines up the step valley slopes. Botero Sculptors. Fancy restaurants and bars in Parque Llaras guarantee a big night out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medellin

On tour river crossing

Manizales: In the heart of Colombia’s coffee region. Beautiful scenery and twisty roads. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manizales

Coffee region: Old colorful coffee plantations farms, Coffee plantation tour, tranquil colonial village Salento, worlds tallest palm tree’s in The Corora Valley and coffee, coffee, coffee. Coffee_production and Salento,_Quindio

Colorful houses

Bogotá: 8.5 million people in the huge capital of Colombia. City tour to Gold museum and Cable Railway to Moserrate at 3152 meters altitude. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogota

Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira: 200 meter underground considered one of the most notable achievements of Colombian architecture.
Salt_Cathedral_of_Zipaquir

Tatacoa desert: In the middle of Colombia’s green and fertile landscape lays the Tatacoa Desert. A 350 km2 area right in the rain shadow of the Andes mountains. Once covered by ocean, now second most important site of finding fossils in South America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatacoa_Desert

Escobar's first drug transporter

Pablo Escobar’s ranch: A crazy man’s crazy creation. The Napoles farm is a Jurassic themed ranch with big animals walking around like on the African savanna, private runway and helicopter landing site next to the mansion of the worlds once riches criminal. Its now a state run museum and wildlife park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacienda_Napoles

Cali: The salsa capital of the world and known for its female population often refereed to as the world most beautiful women. Cali is a laid back big city with a tropical feel to it and a climate of around 30C year round. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cali

El Penol: A enormous rock in the middle of the lake district. The climb up the many stairs will award the climber with an incredible and stunning view of hundreds of lakes and huge mansions on private islands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Pe%C3%B1ol_%28monolith%29

Backroads

Tierradentro grave tunnel site: Unesco world heritage site. Very Indiana Jones like territory with ancient Indian gravel tunnels in incredible good condition. Because of its location way up in the mountains hardly any tourist go there, but that will soon change once the government finish paving the road from Popayan in 2016. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierradentro

Villa de Leyva: Beautiful colonial city in the mountains north of Bogota. Also known for the dinosaur fossils found in the surrounding areas. Home of independence hero Antonio Ricaurte who blow him self up along with several soldiers of the Spanish army: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_de_Leyva

Santa Fe: Old colonial capital of Antioquia. Founded as a gold mining town, now busy weekend escape for the rich habitants of Medellin. The village makes for a nice lunch stop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_de_Antioquia

TOUR ITINERARY (Day by day):
Day 1. Arrival Medellin – Airport pick-up, Welcome dinner and Briefing 19:00. Night out in Medellin. Luxury hotel.
Day 2. Medellin to the lake district at Guatape (El Penol – huge rock with spectacular view of the lake district) continuing over huge mountain pass to Doradal in the Magdalena river valley. Few sections of gravel road. Mainly super technical curvy and scenic pavement and a great first riding day to get to know the bike while enjoying the views. Visit to Pablo Escobar’s enormous ranch Hacienda Napoles. Stay at nice road house hotel with good restaurant and bar, swimming
pool and nice rooms. 2 km to Pueblo with more local style bar’s.
Day 3. From Doradal on gravel roads and small back roads through the Magdalena valley and up through the mountains to Barbosa on the eastern Andes range. Stay in beautiful colonial village Villa de Leyva in a nice boutique hotel with jacuzzi and sauna 3 blocks from the main plaza.
Day 4. Villa de Leyva to Bogota on small curvy back roads with few gravel sections and a visit to the Salt Cathedral 2-300 meters underground in Zipaquira. Night out in Bogota. Luxury hotel.
Day 5. Day off in Bogota. Option for a city tour, sleep in or go out on you own. Night out in Bogota. Luxury hotel.
Day 6. Early take off from Bogota descending the down the mountain to Melgar where the road turn into gravel and bad pavement along the Magdalena river all the way to Villa Vieja on the edge of the Tatacoa desert. Long riding day. Very basis accommodation, clean private rooms in sleepy desert town. Option to go visit the observatory in the desert at 19:00 to watch stars if the weather permits it.
Day 7. 2 hour dirt riding loop around part of the Tatacoa desert in the morning. A stop at the “labyrinth” mini canyon, alien landing site and natural swimming pool, before heading south west to La Plata and Tierradentro on a part dirt and part pavement mountain pass. Basic hotel, with clean private rooms and a small swimming pool.
Day 8. Tierradentro on dirt mountain pass to Silvia – an Indian village and on to Cali on the pavement. Night out in Cali. Luxury hotel.
Day 9. Day off in Cali. Option for a city tour, sleeping in or go out on your own. Night out in Cali. Luxury hotel.
Day 10. Cali to Lago Calima on part dirt and part paved mountain back roads. Calima on to the coffee triangle, local vine tasting on the way, beautiful narrow back roads, with some dirt sections through scenic coffee plantations. Overnight in authentic coffee plantation village Filandia at Colonial boutique hotel.
Day 11. Filandia to Salento in the morning. Visit to the Cocora Valley and a coffee plantation tour before lunch. Salento to Ibague on narrow dirt mountain pass. Luxury hotel.
Day 12. From Ibague to the Magdalena river thorugh oil exploitation territory on dirt and sandy sections of road. Then accending up to 4300 meters at the Los Nevados national park. Passing through old lava rivers, waterfalls and river crossings. Then decending down to Manizales – a university city in the heart of the coffee region. Night out. Luxury hotel.
Day 13. Manizales decending down to the Cauca river at the bottom of the Cauca Valley. Mostly paved curvy back road, few dirt sections, very scenic along the Cauca river to Santa Fe, an old colonial village for lunch. Then crossing the mountain pass to Medellin arriving arriving in time to get a shower and go enjoy the last night out in the city of eternal spring!
Day 14. Departure day, check out mid day and free airport service.