Colombia’s Mighty Magdalena

By Joe Berk

I felt a mix comforting mix of “been there, done that” and smugness when I read the Wall Street Journal yesterday.  The lead photo in the paper’s “Off Duty” section was strangely familiar, and as the coffee kicked in I realized it was because I’d been there:  Colombia’s Magdalena River.  My Magdelena photo (one of many) is the photo you see above.

The Wall Street Journal article featured places not part of the borscht belt (i.e., typical tourist destinations), and the stops it recommended along a Magdalena River cruise were locales I’d been to: Barranquilla, Cartagena, Mompox, Magangué, and others.  I’ve been luckier than most because I’ve had enjoyed incredible motorcycle adventures:  China, Mexico, the Three Flags Classic, Baja, the Western America Adventure Ride, and more.  The ride through Colombia and along the Magdalena River, though, was in many ways greater than the other motorcycle adventures.   The Journal’s story had me thinking about Colombia again, and I thought I would share a few photos of the places it mentioned with you.

Mompox

Ah, Mompox.  It’s pronounced and sometimes spelled Mompos…an amazing city, unlike any I had ever visited.  The night we were there I wanted to stay in the hotel and post a blog for my CSC readers, but good buddy and ride leader Juan told me:  Joe, your readers will wait.  You need to see Mompox.  He was right.

Magangué

We began our ferry ride to Mompox from Magangué (pronounced ma gong gay). It was brutally hot and humid and we had to wait a couple of hours for the ferry to arrive, but that ride down the Magdelana was worth the wait.  Dreamlike, it was a scene from a 1930s adventure movie.  Peaceful.  Indiana Jones.  That ferry ride had it all.  There are more adjectives I could use, but you get the idea.

Barranquilla

I first saw Barranquilla (pronounced bar en key ah) on an earlier business trip to Colombia.   I’d just purchased a new Nikon D200 (the cat’s meow back then), and it had a backfocus issue I later had corrected (you can’t see it in these photos, though).   I felt like Indiana Jones at a beauty pageant.  If there are unattractive women in Colombia, I couldn’t find them.

Cartagena

Yep, that Cartegena, the same one as is R0mancing the Stone (although that movie was actually shot in Mexico).  On that same business trip, we took an afternoon to visit Cartegana, about an hour and a half down the coast from Barranquilla.

There were many things in Colombia well beyond what the WSJ article covered:  Honda (the town, not the motorcycle), Covenas, Volcan Los Nevados, La Playa de Belem, Barichara, Villa de Leyva, and more.   I saw them from my RS3 motorcycle (the carbureted version of the RX3) and you can, too, if you don’t mind living vicariously through my lens and keyboard:

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