Hot hot hot. 32 degrees and very humid. No wind. That is the weather in Cartagena that met me at the airport... No AC and no hot water in the house. But actually, hot water is not a requirement in this heat... The AC on the other hand... I actually did not plan to go to an Internet cafe today, but since they have AC, it seemed like a good option... :o) Apparently the "cooler" temperatures will get here next month, but I beleive that is barely going to change things... I normally wake up before 6 am in the morning to go walking with Mariela, the lovely lady I am staying with. Even then the temperatures amount to about 30 degrees C (aprox 87 F). And we are not talking Arizona-dry-heat, where you don't sweat ... read more

Last Saturday Carolina and Felipe took me to the coolest restaurant I have ever been to in my life. This restaurant is located in a place called Chia, outside of Bogota, so it takes a while to drive there. When arriving I actually wondered if there was a theme park or a tivoli or something, and then Carolina turned around and said "we're here". Hm.... I thought. The restaurant is huge and is just.... PSY-KE-DE-LIC!!! There are tons of different rooms, stairs and corners and a big dancefloor and decorations, tons of decorations. I actually cannot describe it, but I just LOVED it!!! I had the chance to be there during the week-end of Amor Y Amistad (Colombias Valentine extended to also include friendship), so there were actors going around acting for, and with you, and ... read more

Preparing for my trip to Colombia. I realize that it is not very easy to pack for X number of months, not knowing what you are going to do... Hahaha... So I guess I will just buy what I need over there. Tonight I will have a last night with Pierre - we will spend it in Paris - Paris is magic as we all know ;o) Anyway, You are mostly welcome to visit me, I hope I will see a lot of you over in Colombia!!!... read more

Ahhh!!! I found heaven on earth, and it is called Chapada Diamantina! From a very charming town, Lencois, remaining from the diamond mining era, I took a 3-day hike in to the natural reserve - 3 days filled with stunning views, waterfalls, swimming and diving, rivers, hiking, wild animals and sleeping in caves. It all started last Friday when Team Blonde (named by the only brunette in the group) went on a 3-day hike with Augosto and Serginho (ahhh... another one of those unbelievably gorgeous Brazilian hunks that you can't stop staring at) in Chapada Diamantina. The first day we started out by seeing Cachoeira da Fumaca (Smokey Waterfall) from above, sliding out on a rock, watching the amazing waterfall, the water disappearing in the wind before it travels the 420 m down to the pool ... read more

After some hectic days, we finally arrived to La Paz, the worlds highest capital (which is not really the capital... anyways... and we being an American girl and two French brothers - great travel companions). Before this dazzling city I had the opportunity to visit the Uros people, living on the floating islands made out of reed in lake Titicaca, Copacabana (no, not in Rio) and the Sun Island, where, according to the Incas, the sun was born. These are all beautiful and worth visiting places, but still quite crowded with tourists. I also had the opportunity to try one of the local dishes - al paca (lama), which was, to my big surprise, really good. The second day in La Paz was spent biking down "the worlds most dangerous road" (or if you prefer "the ... read more