Ann and Gordon

Probably the final part of our stay in the Columbian Amazon is all to do with the mad rush out of there. There is one fast boat 6 days a week which goes from Santa Clara in Peru to Iquitos in Peru, some 10 to 15 hours away, depending on the boat and on the state of the Amazon. To get to the boat is a convoluted logistical border crossing exercise. The boat leaves at 5 in the monring. Steve's place is about 30 mins drive from Leticia town. So it was up at half 3, loaded into a car and dropped off at Tabartinga in Brasil (border crossing number 1 achieved). From there it is a taxi boat across the river to Santa Clara in Peru. Then Gordon shows off his prowess in speaking Spanich ... read more

We spent 2 spells in Bogota once before we flew off to San Andres Island, and again after the Caribbean Coast and Ciudad Perdida but for brevity of blog entries we have decided to condense the two into one! Bogota the First Time - 8 July to 11 July We made it! Thankfully this bus ride wasn't so dramatic as our ride into Manizales....it was however just as travel sick inducing.....there is something odd at trying to watch a movie on a bus going through winding hills and having to read Spanish subtitles. We made it though and soon we were whizzing though the Bogota streets on our way to another hostel! First impressions of Bogota are that its actually quite a nice city. It lacks the overcrowded feeling you get in BA and the sense ... read more

We bid farewell to San Andres and uneventfully flew into Cartagena....officially Cartagena de Indies. First impression was that this city was hot.....unlike the island we had just left the cooling breeze was soaked up by the urbanity of the city. We arrived at our hostel where we met up with Wendy and her friend Will. The mentioned that they had enjoyed the few days they had been in Cartagena so far but that they had some reservations about the hostel.......the oven like rooms were the first cross, and being woken up at 3am and being asked to help roll a spliff didn´t add to their rating. We agreed to stay a night and see how we went......a night was all we stayed. As nice as the Hostal Media Luna was in appearance dirty bathrooms, temperamental water, ... read more

Well this is the final South American country that we are visiting on this trip (bar our small re-entry to Peru to get to Lima) and we were excited about it. On our travels up through the other countries we had mixed reports about Colombia. - Some people said "don't go its dangerous.....what with Cocaine traffikers, FARC Guerrilla's and Colombian paramilitary!" - Other people we met said, "Go! It is one of the most beautiful and safest countries in South America. Everyone is very friendly and it has hardly any tourists". The first set of people were those who had not been to Colombia themselves and the latter were those who had! The South of Colombia certainly rings true to the latter comments. Most of the tourists we met were Colombians on holiday themselves and the ... read more

Don´t think just do! Yes there are arguments about the impact that tourism has on the Galapagos. Yes there are arguments that the Ecuadorian Government simply pockets the USD 100 entry fee and does little to assist the Galapagos population. Yes there are arguments that the islands natural beauty is being spoilt. Disregard the arguments and go. The Galapagos aren´t called the enchanted islands for nothing and they rival Antarctica as one of the most amazing places we´ve been in the last 6 months! The variety of wildlife both and land and in the water is astounding and amazingly most of it is indifferent to humans, allowing you to get up very close. Our trip was for 10 days. We spent the first couple in Purta Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. We dove for one day ... read more