I have been blessed to spend the last 2 weeks in Apartadó, hosted by Beltran Florez, a motorcycle mechanic. There is always plenty going on, and this photo essay covers vehicle culture in Apartadó along with a few excursions in the surrounding countryside. Apartadó is flat, hot, and humid, but it makes up for that with wonderful food and kind-hearted people.
A little bit of life....
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| Meet Beltran. |
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| Yeah, that is a painting of Don Quixote, Jesus, and Simon Bolivar. |
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| Belmotos is strictly business! |
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| As they say here, from the tree comes the twig. Beltran and his son, Santiago |
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| We eat motors here at Belmotos |
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| Monkey and Fruit. How do you play? |
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| showing how to make peanut butter, since it is not available here. |
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| these gloves were new in nicaragua. a reminder of the paddling journey |
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| always a sucker for silly socks. I love me some ''foodball'' |
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| Daniella (15), Santiago (11), Beltran (36) making squinty faces |
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| you aren't cool unless you have a mohawk mullet with flames on the side. |
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| luxury service in the motor-trike taxi. i like the dual baby ladders |
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| Beltran stops for all stranded bikers. |
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| Danielle and Santi on a house call. |
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| Scooter diagnosed as a bad cylinder in 15 seconds |
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| top end of motor removed and ready for the machine shop in 30 minutes |
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| price of gas and diesel in colombian pesos per gallon. |
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| off to the river |
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| Beltran and his crew, and their ''otra naranjas'' AKA other halves of the orange. |
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| old chevy and banana trees |
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| The bananas always have lots of fun trails to explore |
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| motorcycle escort to carry the old people and dogs with sore paws |
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| biking on a rickety swing bridge. always fun |
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| amateur boxing is a great way to get your lip busted |
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| Translation of T-shirt: Smile if you want me. |
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| Scrap metal run on a Bajaj Classic. |
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| Land Rover Santana tub at the scrap yard. Sigh. |
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| Wama! |
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| inside a Wama! |
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| Wama seed! The white stuff is sweet and pithy. |
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| chopped land rover |
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| since about 95% of traffic here is motorcycle, the handicapped still ride. Here, the shifter is modified suicide-style. He has to take his hand off the right handlebar to shift on the left side. The sticker says: Disability is not a problem, it is a reflection. |
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| This bolt-on drive mechanism is common for the wheelchair bound. |
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| Head gasket replacement and top end rebuild with basic tools... |
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| Scrap run! Aluminum runs about $1.25 a kg, or 55 cents/lb and iron is about $0.20 a kg. Here, a tricycle with driver ran 240 kg of scrap to the yard for $3.50. |
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| All the banana trucks here are old American Fords, Chevys, Dodges, and Internationals. Each night they all park in a dusty lot on the edge of town. All customized by their owners. |
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| Here comes the lime trike! |
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| Local boys show off their wheelies on a Honda Cub 90cc |
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| Diahatsu pickup truck |
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| bags of cacao (chocolate) ready for sale |
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| yum! where chocolate comes from. |
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| a motorcycle culture takes its toll on the bodies of the populace. cute girl with some nice road rash. |
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| the long wheelbase jeeps here are used as taxis. this was a political parade, that turned into a water fight. our street became a gauntlet for all the buses and taxis. |
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| the local boys were popping all the balloons and dousing anyone who came near. |
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| nobody was safe |
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| who did that? |
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| checkers is popular here. the rules are more involved than american checkers, adding significant strategy to the game. |
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| things got exciting when the gringo gave the local expert a run for his money. |
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| tricked out willy's. yes, the jerry can in back is orange, too. |
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| the discotecas here compete for business with deafening music, big screen TVs, crazy lights, and fog machines. |
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| It didn't stop these motorbiking Canadians from joining us for a wild night out. |
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| Cruising through the bananas in search of another swimming hole |
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| Beltran always knows the back way. But good luck keeping up with his hotrodded 1976 Yamaha RS125 as he disappears around the bend. |
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| Beltran's mom and daughter get to work on some sancocho, a delicious traditional Colombian soup. |
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| The local women are always checking out the gringos. So far, they don't seem too impressed. |
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| Beltran and Giovani are chopping plantains, yucca, and potatoes for the soup. |
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| Paseo de Olla means, ''pot trip.'' you load the pot on your motorbike, and ride to the river to cook out. A colombian tradition. |
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| Good swimming holes are abundant. |
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| just a reminder that boys have bad ideas all around the world. |
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| exploring the river is always fun, even if everyone bleeds or gets sunburned |
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| ingredients for sancocho: beef, tomato, onion, boullion, potato, yucca, plantain, salt, lime juice, and cilantro |
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| Troy and Nathan rode down from Canada. A great day on the river with new friends. |
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| headed back to Apartadó |
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| true Paseo de Olla form. Man, woman, dog, pot, motorbike. |
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| Big motorbikes with Canadian tags always draw a crowd. |
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| especially when the police want a bribe. |
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| yesterday, i joined a Spanish marine biologist for a day checking out a sustainable oyster cultivation project |
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| we crossed the gulf of Uraba to the mangroves |
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| the oysters? they´re in there somewhere. |
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| in the labyrinth of mangroves, GPS is the only way to find the sample areas. |
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| yes, they are growing! |
