Neil and Laura

The above panarma is of the fort of San Felipe de Barajas, it is the strongest fortress ever built by the Spanish and was never taken despite numerous attempts. We're back in Cartagena for our last couple of days soaking up as much heat and sun as we can take. We've put a lot of miles on our sandals and one of Neil's was coming apart, we remembered passing an old cobbler on the street last week and decided to try to find him. We found him not far from our hotel and asked him if he thought he could fix it, he replied, we understood some of what he said then he went to work. 10 minutes and $2.50 later Neil's sandal was as good as new. ... read more

The above panaramic photo is another one of the squares in the old city. We remember having lunch here 8 years ago on our first trip to Cartegena. Friday was another relaxing day, we swam in the hotel pool, walked around the city and came across a park with alll kinds of large iguanas. They were not caged or contained in the park, they just seemed to be wandering around and enjoying having thier pictures taken. Saturday we got some pictures of the kids printed and on the way home gave them to their parents. The kids loved them and ran around with them showing their friends. That evening we sat on the steps of the local church where the entire neighbourhood gathers every evening. It's quite a party atmosphere with street vendors, the kids running ... read more

Today we decided to visit one of the less afluent areas of Medellin, just a few short years ago this area was a cultivation zone for Pablo Escobar's army of assasins. The demise of Escobar and the introduction of the metro cable car system initiated significant social change. The once waring neighbourhoods are now relatively peaceful, with the violent death rate dropping from over 6000 in 1994 to under 400. The cable cars, the first in the world to be used as public transportation, connects the slums on the hillsides to the wealthier downtown. We traveled across the city by metro, transfered to the cable car and travelled up the hillside in under 25 minutes and for less than a dollar. The system is now being expanded to other areas as well as being copied in ... read more

Yesterday started off great, the weather in medellin is absolutly perfect, mid 20's every day and only slightly cooler at night. We took the subway to the city centre and wandered around some of the meseums and shops. We snapped some pictures of some of the Botero sculptures donated to the city by Colombia's most famous artist Fernando Botero. As you'll see in the attached photos, Fernando likes his art supersized. Not only is his art visibly stimulating, it's also physically stimulating as he designed it to be touched. We then toured the botanical gardens, at this point Laura started to feel a little under the weather. We found a shady spot under a large ceiba tree and spent an hour relaxing on the grass. On the subway while heading south, Laura's condition worsened. We quickly ... read more

We got up early (8:30…..LOL) and headed out to tour the salt mines in Zipaquira, a small town about an hour north of Bogota. We hopped on one of Bogota’s Transmillenios buses, Bogota’s version of a subway system. These double length buses have their own dedicated lanes and are clean and efficient. Arriving at the northernmost station, we then had to grab an intercity bus for the hour long drive through the country side. Upon arriving in Zipa, we made our way to the square where we toured a very pretty but rustic church. The tour book said that the salt mines were located southwest of the square so we took our best guess and headed into the hills. We found the mine and descended deep into the depths feeling the cool, damp slightly sulphurish air. ... read more