http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/MRJ SthAmericanAdventures/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from MRJ SthAmericanAdventures en-us Thu, 15 May 2008 17:32:29 BST Thu, 15 May 2008 17:32:29 BST After spending the previous few weeks chilling on the northern coast of Colombia followed by five days out at sea and on beautiful islands arriving in the bright lights and concrete jungle of Panama City was a little shock to the system. After a very long day of travelling in the middle of no where and feeling like we had been on a complete adventure we were happy to be finally in the city and f http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama-City/blog-231332.html Well this is a long and adventurous story with so it is going to take me sometime to tell I think. Our plan was to get a yacht from Cartagena to Panama which would stop on the way at the beautiful San Blas Islands. We had met many people who had come from Panama and also many that were also planning on doing what we were and along with that we had heard many mixed stories. So armed with this kn http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-231330.html We had gone back to Cartagena to find ourselves a yacht to sail to Panama and found that we had a few spare days. I decided that some sightseeing was in order as the previous time I had been in Cartagena was spent partying at the fiesta. I booked myself on a tour to the nearby mud volcano something that was pretty rare and I had been told was definately worth going to see. After being picked http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-231309.html So we had finally made it to our final destination in this part of the world and I was happy to be back in Colombia again. Straight away the difference is obvious as there is a lot more money in Colombia than other countries and people here are happy to see tourists in their country. The infrastructure is better the people are more educated the shops are nicer the houses are nicer the people http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Leticia/Rio-Yavari--Amazon/blog-224869.html The day had finally arrived for me to be sitting on a beach taking in the tranquility........a feat I had been trying to obtain for many months and had pretty much given up on as there are very few good beaches in the countries I had been in. Sharyn and I got ourselves organised and then got a lift into Santa Marta with Santiago to catch the bus out to the Parque Tayrona. In Santa Marta we had t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Parque-Nacional-Tayrona/blog-221337.html After a slow start Darragh Sharyn and I made it to the bus station and onto a bus that was apparantly going directly to Santa Marta about 4 hours north of Cartagena. It didn't take long for all of us to get comfortable and enjoy the chance to do nothing for 4 hours on the bus. Only a couple of hours later though we pull into a large town and were told bluntly to get off the bus and change to a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Taganga/blog-221336.html After yet another long bus ride this time consisting of a couple of screaming babies I finally made it to the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. I had left Sharyn behind in Medellin and jumped on the bus with Darragh an Irish friend we met in Salento in order to get to the coast to smell the ocean air. I did guess that Cartagena would not be the ideal place to be to enjoy the ocean but it was a grea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-221335.html After leaving Salento in the early hours we headed off towards the city of Medellin. Again yet another endless windy road was our path and again we were witness to amazing scenery as we made our way north. It seemed today that the hills were even greener steeper and more magical then I had seen before in Colombia. By this time my patience for taking long bus rides was waining and with 2 hours http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/Guatape/blog-221078.html After taking off from the Leticia airport we were bound for Bogota the capital of Colombia. Sharyn and I had both wanted window seats that would allow us some good views from the air over the jungle region but as we took off the area was covered in cloud and our view lasted for all of 4 seconds. As we got further from Leticia the sky began to clear and we did get some awesome views of the jungl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Salento/blog-221077.html Time had come for us to get organised and get back on another boat and head further down river to Leticia Colombia. This time we were ready to be hassled at the port by people trying to help us to do things that we were more than capable of doing ourselves. For instances organising our voyage with the captain of the boat. As we arrived in our moto taxi it was surrounded by men trying to help b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Leticia/Rio-Yavari--Amazon/blog-221075.html We had finally arrived in Iquitos the world's largest city that can't be reached by road. My first impressions of the city was that it stank not of anything in particular and not all the time but as we drove into the city in our moto taxi we got quite a few whiffs of off fruit bad sewage muddy water and god knows what else. Along with the smells my first impression was that this place was a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/blog-221074.html After spending many days in transit we took a while to get going on our first morning in Yurimaguas. Our plan for the day consisted of finding a hammock for me eating as usual internet and finding a boat. It turned out to be in this order where if we were thinking logically it should possibly have been the opposite. Luckily though after spending a few hours wandering around we headed down to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Loreto/Iquitos/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-212898.html So time had come for us to start what seemed like a huge mission......to get from Cali in the south of Colombia down to the port town of Yurimaguas in the north of Peru. From here we would then catch a boat upriver but before that we were going to have to travel through 3 different countries in areas where tourist were not so common and were expecting the possibility of delays at any stage. Fir http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/blog-212897.html After a relaxing few days around the Popayan area it was time to get on yet another bus and head north again to the city of Cali.....home of famously good looking women salsa and apparantly the city is the world leader in plastic surgery. Luckily this trip was only a few hours on a paved road as my patience and enjoyment level of taking a bus ride is diminishing as the days go by. Cali itself I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cali/blog-212896.html After saying goodbye to Christian in San Agustin there didn't seem like any reason to stay any longer so the following morning we headed off to our next destination. After walking into town with all our bags we decided to take a car to the crossroads out of town to catch the bus heading to Popayan by doing this we would save ourselves a bit of money. After making it to the crossroads we saw ou http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Popayan/blog-212895.html After leaving the Galapagos Islands I was on a plane bound for the capital of Equador Quito. Quito is situated across a beautiful Andean valley and is flanked by volcanic peaks. The day I arrived was sunny so I had a great view of the city and the area around it as I came into land. Quito was a major Inca city that was destroyed by Atahualpa's general Rumiahui shortly before the arrival of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Quito/Quito/blog-208913.html The time had come to head over to the Galapagos Islands a place that had been at the top of my wish list for quite a while. The diving here is supposed to be amazing and I was hoping that my dream of seeing big schools of hammerheads swimming over the top of me would come true. Along with the great diving the Galapagos Islands are reknown for the large amounts of wildlife many species found on http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos-Islands/blog-207397.html The time had finally come when I was to arrive at the beach and back to my beloved ocean.....I had been in the hills for many months now and had not been swimming in the ocean since I left Rio. After living by the sea for the past 6 years I was definately having withdrawal symptoms by this stage and I was counting the hours to when I would get to be back on the beach. I travelled over night up t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Piura/M-ncora/blog-206706.html To leave Huaraz I decided that I loved buses so much that I would take the route to the coast that was longer bumpier and more uncomfortable. I wanted to drive through the Caon Del Pato...the road weaves around the base of the caon and at the closest point the walls are only 15m apart. To do this trip I had to go on a chicken bus a term used for the local buses where anything from chickens http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/blog-206705.html On arriving in Huaraz I had to organise the trek up in the mountains. The day that I went to do that I was invited along by one of the guides to come for a short walk in the nearby hills with some of the people that would be on my trek for the next 4 days. Why not I thought and took the opportunity to have a bit more of a look around and also to do something different than sit on my bum which I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/blog-206693.html