The ultimate test of altitude fitness awaits us. We deliberately choose the route from Manizales via the Nevado del Ruiz to Salento in order to spend two nights at over 4000 m on the border of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano national park and test how our campervan Ben and we cope with the altitude.

Climbing and driving at high altitude

We are impressed by our campervan Ben. Thanks to the turbocharging of the engine, it drives continuously higher and higher without any significant loss of power until we finally reach the top of the pass and our camp for the night at 4105 meters above sea level. We are glad that at least our car is coping well with the altitude. Sure – we don’t have time for the long-term test, which puts more strain on the exhaust gas purification system, but for a first impression this detour is enough to put us on the safe side for the heights to come in the Andes.
For the two of us, however, the altitude was a bit more of a problem. Fortunately, we didn’t start at 0m but around 2000m in Jardín, but we are still starting to feel a headache coming on and we both find it particularly difficult to fall asleep in this thin air. We simply need a little more time to get used to the high altitude. But at least the symptoms are not so bad that we have to drive back the first night and look for a place to sleep at a lower altitude. With that we enjoy three days in the high alpine wilderness at the foot of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.

Nevado del Ruiz volcano

From our sleeping spot, we have a wonderful view of the summit of the volcano, and to our surprise, thick clouds of smoke are constantly coming out of the mouth. We somehow overlooked the fact that the volcano is still quite active when we chose our adventure to the heights. Next to the volcano, we look out over barren slopes with cacti, grasses and waist-high bushes. In the distance of the slopes, we can see the last major town of Manizales glowing in the dark of the night – otherwise the surroundings are very quiet and we feel really far away from any civilization.

El Sifon thermal baths

Since the Nevado del Ruiz volcano is already that active, we don’t miss the chance to bathe in the volcano’s waste heat. In our opinion, this is quite safe. About 1200m below the crater at a little less than 4000m, hot water emerges from the mountain and forms a river that is almost boiling at the beginning. The water comes out of the mountain at over 60°C at the source. However, it is not yet possible to bathe in the highly sulphureous thermal water here, it is simply too hot. Pragmatic as the Colombians are, the advice is simple: keep walking down the river until the water temperature is right for you. Where it is right, you can enjoy the thermal water. So far so simple, so that’s what we do and end up spending around two hours in and around the hot thermal water of the Nevdo del Ruiz in the El Sifon thermal baths.

Conclusion of the high-altitude trip with our camper at over 4000m altitude

Our campervan Ben successfully passed the first test at high altitude. We got up and down again without any problems. Of course, we have to pay particular attention to the brake temperature when driving down, as we are traveling with a lot of weight in relation to our braking system and the roads here are a lot steeper than we are used to in Europe. But with enough engine braking, we managed that too. The only drawback: during the suspension check at the highest point of our journey so far, we discovered that the makeshift replacement of our rear shock absorbers had gone wrong. And so, despite the successful altitude test, Paddy is lying under our campervan Ben at 4100m to completely dismantle the torn shock absorber. We won’t let this spoil our good mood though, the right (European) mechanic has already been found and we will soon be replacing and installing the rear shock absorbers.