Fatima R

8th August-11th August, NYC, USA After nearly 9 months of travelling, our final stop was New York!! I was so excited as so many films have been filmed here, and I wanted to reanact all the places Macaulay Culkin had visited in Home Alone 2 and also Hitch with Will Smith! Not keen on getting the old Greyhound again, we were told we could get a 'Chinese Bus'! So we headed to China Town where you can get a cheaper bus (20 dollars instead of 40) which would take about 4 hours or so. Other than the horrific toilet, it was pleasant. Driving in is so exciting, as you see all the famous skyscrapers including the Empire State Building and I also caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty!! We were dropped in Chinatown, so ... read more

4th Aug-7th Aug, Washington, USA. I was sad to leave the dugan lifestyle, their carefree, laidback lives suited me! We were making our way up the east coast of the states to Washington DC! I was really excited to do the tourist thing and go site seeing! Id almost convinced myself Id get to do the tour inside the white huse and meet Obama, but I wasnt on the waiting list! We took another Greyhound coach (oh the joy!) which would take about 6 hours from Raleigh, North Carolina to DC. This time I dont know what happened but we ended up right at the back next to the toilets, where the constant smell of urine, and heat from the engine made me want to pass out! It was really uncomfortable, and with the lack of ... read more

31st July- 3rd August, Raleigh, North Carolina We left Miami and headed to North Carolina on a 10 hour bus journey, where we were meeting up with a friend we had met in Buenos Aires in Argentina on the TEFL course. We got a Greyhound bus which is the only bus company that runs throughout the east coast. They are definitely NOT famous for their comfort or service! But as most Americans drive gas guzzlers or can afford to fly, there is no real demand for a high quality bus company. I was surprised getting on the bus at the lack of everything.. leg-room, tv's, air-conditioning or sinks in the toilet! The chairs dont even recline! What a contrast to the amazing, 4/5 star quality buses you find in Argentina, where you are offered chocolate dipped ... read more

29th-31st July, Miami, USA. We were flying out of Baranquilla in the north of Colombia, as it was cheaper than flying out of the capital. We'd arrived in the town the day before we were leaving, to make sure we werent late getting to the airport. What a mistake that was! It is an awful place! There is literally nothing there except for dirt, pollution and prostitutes. We had walked around looking for a cheap hostel, and made a mistake by walking into a place with a naked woman painted on the wall of the reception. We were approached by a dirty old man asking us how many hours we wanted the room for! It wasnt quite what we were looking for! We left the dirty little motel and stayed in a hostel a few doors ... read more

24th July, Parque Tayrona, Colombia For breakfast that morning we were waiting for our chocolate bread even before thay were ready. After a few hours of dark clouds, the sun came out and we went to explore the other beaches. Tayrona is spectacular because the beaches are not artificial or dirty. You have to do many hikes through the jungle and under big rocks before you arrive at white sands, clear blue water and stunning views. We arrived at el cabo which is a popular beach for people wanting to camp. It is even more picturesque than arricefes. We saw a hut on the peninsular overloooking the bay which had hammocks you could stay in, these however, were outside our budget! Before we came to Tayrona park i had read that these beaches were some of ... read more

23rd July, Parque Tayrona, Colombia After a night of broken sleep, we woke up at 6am and thankfully had no bites! Getting to te communal showers was like an assault course. You had to balance yourself across pipes, over sewage with insects below.. All this while being attacked by mosquitos. We had heard about a local Panaderia (bakery) which was supposed to be delicious. We arrived just as he was taking the bread out of the oven. You could choose from cheese, arequipe (caramel) or chocolate!!!!!! The chocolate one was huge and unlike english donuts where you just get a tiny squeeze of jam, these ones were oooozing out! Yummy! We stayed on Arrecifes beach after breakfast but annoyingly it was really overcast. We made our way along the beach and then through a short bit ... read more

22nd July, Parque Tayrona, Colombia After 4 days in Santa Marta we were headin to Parque Tayrona. We woke up early to go to the supermarket and stock up on some supplies; cereal bars, peanuts and crackers! We then headed across town towards the market, which was like a carnival, to catch the bus to the park. The bus took about an hour and dropped us off next to a few old shops/shacks. At the entrance we paid the 31000 entrance fee then jumped in a locals jeep for 2000 which took us further into the park. We walked through the jungle in the swealtering heat, exacerbated by the 100% deet we had smothered ourselves in to fight off the hoards of insects. On our walk through the jungle we heard volley of screeching high above ... read more

Santa Marta, Colombia, 18-21st July We left Cartagena for Santa Marta, north east along the coast. We arranged a pick up van with the hostel for 37,000 (about 10 pounds) each which would take about 4 hours. The drive is relatively straightforward and its direct, so no wasting time! When we arrived at Santa Marta, we drove past a screen showing 39 degrees!! It was boiling hot, the hottest temperature we had both experienced since we started travelling! We were dropped off on the main street Carrera 11, so much for door-to-door service, as we had been told by the hostel. We had booked a hostel which wasnt far, so we walked there. The main street was packed with people, and stalls selling fruit, and lemonade, but most sold flipflops! We found our hostel, Hostel La ... read more

15th July, Playa Blanca, Colombia I awoke around 6.30am, before any of the locals, and went to take a few pictures of Jake asleep in his hammock. I hated mine, as it was hot and sweaty and damp! I really needed the bathroom, but was not tempted to go in the shack around the back, as I didn’t like the insects around my feet, so went in the sea! When the local policeman walked past me, I had to pretend I was looking for shells! We’d previously planned to stay for a couple of nights, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to after hardly being able to sleep. We all spent the morning sun-bathing, it was unbelievably hot. Jake went snorkelling by himself amongst the coral reefs. He was looking at an unusually coloured rock when ... read more

14th July, Playa Blanca, Colombia As usual I slept through two alarms so I got up late. As a result we had only 45 minutes to get up and dressed and go and get provisions for our night on Playa Blanca. We made it in time though and found seats on the upper deck of the boat. Sat in front of us were two people we had met in Mendoza whilst we were doing our bicycle tour of the wineries. After debating whether or not it was them I shouted one of their names and it was actually them. The boat was like an 18-30’s Ibiza booze cruise, although the 18-30’s had been replaced with 30-60’s! The DJ would shout out an item of clothing and everybody would take off that item of clothing and someone ... read more