There are three options for traveling from Columbia to Panama, although only two of them are popular :) Many people take a 5 day sail/snorkel cruise from Cartagena to Panama via the San Blas Islands ($375 p/p) or a direct flight to Panama City ($250 p/p). The third option is the much less traveled overland route involving boats, buses and planes, which skirts the caribbean coast of columbia crossing into Panama outside of the Darian Gap ($120). We were interested in saving some money as well as having a little adventure so we started researching the route but could find little [View Full Entry]

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It was nearly 6 am as we stepped off the air conditioned overnight bus into the hot, already muggy morning air. We were immediately awakened by people moving everywhere. Music, smoke, food, bustling vendors and street people hustling for money. We shoved our way into the crowds to get our bags then haggled with a band of taxi drivers for a 30km ride into town. We wouldn't need a cup of coffee this morning, as cars, motorcycles, horses, buggies, and buses jockeyed for position passing one another on the two lane city streets into oncoming traffic; honking their horns and swerving [View Full Entry]

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San Gil Columbia was one of the most scenic and traditional towns we´ve been to. This area is widely known for the outdoor activities including white water rafting, cave swimming tours, hiking and $10 bungee jumping!! Haha!! After our 5+ hr bus trip from Bogota we were wonderfully welcomed by Shaun at Macondo Hostel. No wonder Lonely Planet tells travelers to see him!! The hostel was comfortable with incredibly friendly staff and with the perfect cat mascot!! The cat took care of all bugs who dared to venture into the courtyard. Also worth mentioning is the Awesome breakfast we had a [View Full Entry]

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A visit to Columbia was not part of our original travel plans so we were naturally excited (Chrissy: I´d say apprehensive) to be boarding a plane headed to Bogota! There is an obvious negative stereotype associated with Columbia due to the heavy flow of cocaine and the ruthless history of internal conflict, but we met so many travelers who claimed that Columbia was their favorite South American country... so we had to find out for ourselves. We had no idea what to expect and nothing to compare it to other than the 1980's movie, "Romancing the Stone". :) We knew that [View Full Entry]

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After another overnight bus, we arrived in Salvador de Bahia famous for preserving traditional Bahian culture, samba music, the martial/dance art of capoeira, Rastafarian religion and for the worlds biggest party known as Carnival!! We arrived early around 6am then took a cab to Hotel Estrela in Pelourinho, the historic district of town. Pelourinho means whipping post in Portuguese and the location was a major slave auction port outlawed in 1835. When we arrived we were greeted by an incredibly nice receptionist who had been working at the Hotel for over 14yrs and learned English by wat [View Full Entry]

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We left Paraty and were bound for an idyllic surf town in the North of Brazil called Itacare. There was no direct bus, so we made the 2 hour trip back to Rio de Janerio (which is absolutely stunning at night) and then arranged for a 25hr overnight bus to Ilheus. We made a bet about how many times this bus would stop along the way with the maximum number of stops being 10. Lucky for us this particular bus had incredibly social personalities cracking jokes at each other and giving the bus drivers a hard time. It was a fun [View Full Entry]

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In a state of disarray, Chrissy and I had no idea we would end up in Paraty until our boat arrived back at the mainland from Isla Grande. We ran into Roey and Nero, Israli travelers we kept crossing paths with :) and they described a quiet colonial town on the Costa Verde (green coast) only a short bus ride from the port of Angra Dos Reis. Since we had no other plans it sounded perfect! Paraty (pronounced Para-che) is a historic town with fresh seafood restaurants, large cobble stone streets, and picturesquely restored Portuguese colonial buildings dating back to the [View Full Entry]

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After spending a week in Rio de Janerio we were ready for some peace and quiet and a little beach time to recover! We were in luck, some of Brazil's most gorgeous beaches and exotic rainforests can be found 200 km south of Rio on the island of Isla Grande. Isla Grande boasts over 200 beaches and historically was a pirates hideaway and was later used as a prison. Interesting enough for us! We left Rio with our Irish friend Scully and had picked up Canadian Crazy Andrew. We grabbed the typical taxi-to-bus terminal, then took a 2hr bus ride to [View Full Entry]

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There is a reason Rio de Janerio is famous! It is a sprawling city of over 6 million people built amist patches of jungle and lush mountains filled with monkeys and tropical birds. It has world class beaches, Copacabana and Impanema, magnificent views from both Sugar Loaf Mountain and Cristo Redeemer and a raw, none stop night life where anything can and does happen! The beaches in Rio are where people go to "see" and to be seen!! Both men (except John :) ) and women wearing next to nothing as bathing suits. There was a steady flow of micro bikinis [View Full Entry]

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Iguazu Falls stradles the National Border of Brazil and Argentina and there will always be controversy about which country provides the best view. In our opinion you should see both sides BUT if you only have one day... see it from Argentina. The Falls were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, and is currently on the list as one of the New Natural Wonders of the World. The Guarani legend says that Iguazu Falls were created when a jealous forest god, enraged by a warrior escaping downriver by canoe with his lover, forced the riverbed to collapse therefore producing [View Full Entry]

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