90 kms. 94 altimeters. After we left Roldanillo the day before we have been riding in a wide flat valley at 1000 mtrs altitude. The valley was formed by the river Cauca, is flat, fertile, app. 12 kms wide and 200 kms long. The main produce here is sugar cane. As far as the eye can see. We see many “trèns de cañero”. These are tractors or big American trucks pulling up to 7 or 8 big wheeled wagons full of sugar cane, which they transport from the fields to the many small sugar cane factories. These road-trains are maybe up to 40 – 50 meters long. A phenomena that comes along with the sugar cane is the black people. The population of Colombia is pretty well mixed as to skin colour. But in the area of the Caribean coast the great majority is black, in Medellin f.i. and Bogotà the majority has a much lighter skin. Now, in this sugar can area, we only see black people. Obviously a consequence of the slave trade, cheap (or costless) labour in the cane fields.
Puerto Tejada is a black town. Along the way several people signalled us not to go there, we were advised not to take the very basic hotel in the centre, we were urged not to leave the square, all because it would not be safe. Mucho peligroso! The main fear of the people seems to be the criminality of especially the very young, 12 – 13, children that commit even armed robberies. Even at 07.00 in the morning, when we had our breakfast in a cafetaria on the square, we were warned not to loose our bikes out of our sights. They were just 3 meters away from us. To us it seemed all a bit too tense. Yesterday at a drinkstop the landlady, hearing that we had cycled so far on our own and that we were to continue furhter south, said: “Ooh, que dios t’accompagne”. That god may accompany us. We think this has been the case all the time, as we have experienced no threat at all during all these 2500 kms.

The track: Download 20100219buga_puertotejada.gpx