That, however, had been far from self-evident. Thus far, Los Llanos, praised on the back of a truck in black and red letters for being paradise, had consisted of grasslands fenced in by cattle ranches. We didn’t spot any sidetracks and were getting quite frustrated about this. We were further aggravated by the bad road on which we were driving. It cut straight through the Los Llanos plains, which stretch across parts of eastern Colombia and southwestern Venezuela. Instead of asphalting the road (as the locals had been promised for years), the paving had been executed by throwing 4 to 8-inch stones on the surface and hoping that the weight of the oil trucks would make them sink into the earth.
The result was worse than washboard. We were bouncing up and down and the Land Cruiser suffered from the constant vibration and bumps. The question was not if somethingwould break, but what, and when. Screws quickly started falling left and right. The first fell on the windshield wiper. Coen tried to retighten it but to no avail. That whole section of the car is skewed. Since the second necessary bolt had already missing for ages there now was not much left to keep the A-pillar in its place. Five minutes after we were back on the road one of the screws above my side of the windowpane fell on the floor mat. We sighed and battled on.
Our speed was further slowed down by an average of three speed bumps for every mile orso. There were warning signs alright. However, their location bore no relation to the actual“ policias acostados” (literally 'sleeping police officers', as speed bumps are called here). The noise of driving was horrendous. Coen’s window was rattling and the fridge was bouncing up and down. Coen’s eyes were focused right in front of the Land Cruiser to find the least damaging course and so I was his eyes for looking into the distance. As talking was impossible because of the racket, I indicated bad spots coming up using my arm. As the day wore on, Coen’s already bad mood worsened. It doesn’t happen often that he continuously curses everything and everyone. Neither does it often happen that I don’t want to be in Coen’s company. However, this was one of those moments. The road was so rough that our moods had deteriorated into exhausted, brute irritability.
All around us, vast cattle ranches stretched across the landscape. Fences denotedownership: white with blue tipped fences, black with red tipped fences. The cows, big andwhite with a big hump, had no shade to speak of except for an occasional, lonely tree. It had to be scorching hot for the animals. Parts of the fields had been burned to stimulate the growth of fresh grass. Was this the exciting, off-the-beaten-track road we had picked for our ultimate road trip in Colombia? Would we have 500 miles of this?
When we thought it couldn’t get any worse than it was, it fortunately didn’t. On the contrary,things quickly changed for the better in every possible way.
Enjoying It
After our stunning first-night camp, we continued eastward. Road conditions quickly improved, varying from acceptably rough roads to asphalt and beautifully, meandering dirt roads across the savannah. Birds of prey circled above the grassy fields and falcons sat on wooden fences. Other birds we saw were ibises, Jesus birds, swallows, spoonbills and grey herons.
Next, we spotted bigger animals: capybaras. First, three of them on the left side of the road,later enormous groups with lots of young. It was late February and water was getting scarce now that the dry season was ending. Wildlife was concentrated in and around the few remaining water holes. Caimans shared their territory with small, freshwater turtles. In the distance grazed some small deer. We were elated. This made up for all the hardship.
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Meanwhile, side roads were not a given. Late afternoon we came at a crossing with the main road turning south and a smaller one going straight ahead. We took the latter. The surface became smoother and we wondered if this road would lead to the place we needed to go. Time would tell. For now, it was a good option because only ten minutes later we came across a field without a fence. Yes! Part of the vegetation had been bulldozed down, so most likely this was to become an agricultural field, but for this night it was ours. Coen bounced a bit farther down the field, so we were out of sight, standing among tall bushes where we got the occasional company of a deer. Another corner of paradise amidst the wilderness of Colombia’s grass plains.
We had another 300 miles to go and were looking forward to it. This road trip has a lot to offer: traveling off-the-beaten-track, the opportunity to watch wildlife and do some amazing rough camping. To any overlander looking for adventure and pushing bound aries, go check it out!
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