Located in Colombia’s coffee region this little town of 2000 inhabitants is located amidst the lush green mountains this area is famous for. Our first day here we walked to a coffee farm where a tiny old man took us around and we picked, roasted, ground and drank our own coffee beans. God I love this country! The second day we hiked in a near-by national park. I know I describe everything as amazing and beautiful, but this place was truly stunning and perhaps the most beautiful place we’ve been so far. We arrived to the park early in the morning [View Full Entry]

---

---

Pablo’s hometown. No longer the world’s cocaine capital, it actually reminded me of Vancouver. It had a cooler climate, described by some as the city of eternal spring, and the area we stayed in was very posh and full of funky clothing and ultra-modern furniture stores. Our hotel itself was also super modern (painted a lovely shade of lime green!! with dark wooden furniture and hard wood floors). The kitchen was also very funky and I regret not taking a photo of it. I had a wonderful day checking out shops and drinking incredible cappuccinos. So nice after the 6 day [View Full Entry]

---

---

Next we were off to Taganga, on the Caribbean coast where Dana got his dive certification and our starting point for the lost city trek. The Lost City is a recently discovered Tayrona ruin which lies deep in the jungle and closest road is a 3 day hike away. In 2002 some tourists were kidnapped from the site by the Colombian rebels, FARC, since then there are always 40 military personal stationed at the site. (These poor guys are so bored on their 6mo posts and are always eager to visit with the tourists who show up and let us hold [View Full Entry]

---

---

Finally we arrive in South America. Cartagena is the most beautiful and romantic city in Colombia and possibly South America. As we sailed in on the calm water just after sunrise, the first thing we saw was the old wall which was built around the old city to keep pirates out. The city had been sacked and burned down a few times by Captain Morgan as it was the port town where treasure hunters left back to Europe. As we approached we saw several ships which looked like tanks zooming around with giant machine guns at the front. A bit intimidating [View Full Entry]

---

---

Surfing Paradise! Yesterday Dana was telling me his ideal vacation spot would be in a remote location with rustic living conditions and few other people to share the waves with while surfing. Today we found it! Dana met a Swiss architect who was renting out a big house by himself for a few months and invited us to stay with him. Our answer of course, was yes! To get out there you had to sit or stand in the back of a semi truck crammed full of up to 50 people for an hour drive on the worst roads in Costa [View Full Entry]

---

---

We wanted to spend some more time in Panama but we had already spent way more time in Central America and we were eager to reach Colombia. In Panama City we explored the old city which was destroyed by Captain Henry Morgan in the 1600s. Some of it had been rebuilt but there were a lot of buildings with collapsed floors either filled with garbage or quite contrastingly, plants and trees. Everywhere you looked there were stark contrasts. You would see a fine dining restaurant next to an ancient abandoned building, and next to that an equally decrepit crumbling building but [View Full Entry]

---

---

We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time! The plan was to sail through the San Blas Islands for 3 days then on to Colombia through the open sea for 2 more days. The islands are inhabited by the Kuna, an independent, indigenous population living only on these islands. Every Island was owned by a family and some of the smaller ones had just one house on them. Our captain was a crazy-looking old guy from Spain. Our ship was a 50ft older boat and we had 6 other travelling companions, from France, London and the US. [View Full Entry]

---

---

By this time I was feeling dirty and in need of a splurge so we rented a nice (5star standard to us) little room which was CLEAN (thank the heavens), and had a porch steps away from the sea. We watched the sunset over wine and guitar. The second day Dana went surfing and I had the day to myself to work on my residency applications, swim in the pool and go for a 2 hour kayak through the mangroves. A man was cutting down coconuts and with them down came a fer-de-lance, a deadly snake. No one was harmed but [View Full Entry]

---

---

This is a special little place, in the undiscovered wilderness of Costa Rica. It is remote, isolated and has little to no development, and therefore, very much off the beaten path. To get there, after several bus rides, you take a boat to a small town as there are no roads. This tiny boat, so full that the water was only inches below the sides, did ok until we came out of the river mouth and into the open ocean where there were enormous waves crashing over us. The driver was pretty amazing and managed to get us there in one [View Full Entry]

---

---

There is only 1 reason to go to this town of 100 people: surfing We had a fun few days here with a mixed crew of Aussies, Dutch, Americans, Israelis, and Canadians, but with one common goal: a good wave. Unfortunately, the swell wasn’t very big while we were there so entertained ourselves with lots of rum and dancing. There was a huge tree that had fallen over on the beach on which we would sit in the evenings and watch the sun set. We saw a Tico with a huge Iguana over his shoulder which he claimed he had caught [View Full Entry]

---

---