We leave the desert and the valley of the stars, but it’s still sweltering. And there are so many mosquitoes, fleas and black flies that suck every last drop of blood out of us and leave behind horribly itchy welts.

The landscape alternates between arid plains and tropical jungle.

On the road we see warnings about animals on the road such as cows, horses, sloths, possums and animals that we cannot identify on the signs. We also encounter the sad remains of a boa that was obviously in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In iOverlander I find a finca in the afternoon where you can spend the night. It is away from the noisy street and is said to be very beautiful.

We follow a long dirt road across wide pasture land, where a few cattle are standing, until we are at the entrance gate of the country to the finca. It’s locked and the only one.

We wait a long time and after half an hour a motorbike comes with two young men who ask us what we want here. When our app says they want to set up accommodation for travellers, people are a bit dismissive.

One guy listens to what I’ve heard from another traveler’s tale and doesn’t show a sign that he recognizes any of it. I have the impression of being in the wrong place here, but no, this is the right finca. But he has to ask the hosts and calls them. I don’t know if this is the contact from the app.

In the meantime, a neighbor from the farm across the street has also come and curiously asks what we are doing and finds our trip exciting.

The first guy asks what we pay if we stay at his premises.

I offer 30,000 Colombian pesos, ten for each of us, and the boy immediately agrees. That’s only the equivalent of six euros.

The farm is very beautiful. Cows and horses as well as dogs, chickens, pigs and turkeys walk across the bed. Even a huge street of leafcutter ants stretches from a tree at the entrance to the farmhouse to the horizon, although people and animals are constantly trampling over it. Leon is extremely interested in the little crawlers and their march with the heavy load.

There is actually a small holiday home, a tent area, a toilet block and even chairs, tables and colorful lighting by a lake, making it seem like a holiday resort that simply has never been opened.

As we set up the tent and wagon to sleep in, more and more people from the farm come to watch us. We feel like an attraction. There doesn’t seem to be much exciting going on here and apart from us, there were probably never any guests here. I have no idea how this place made it onto the app.

It is very beautiful here. In the middle of the lake is a tree in which dozens of white herons are waiting for the night. The country turns orange. And the mosquitoes, fleas and black flies still find the last free surface on our skin. Our blood donations for Colombia. The bug spray from Ecuador leaves the local bloodsuckers unimpressed.

We pack our things and drive on. The day is going to be tiring and we have some challenges to overcome as we cross the Cordilleras.