So I arrived in Bogota's El Dorado Airport today! Alone. My friend was coming to pick me up, outside the airport. But first, I had to get through the hectic, tumuluous, somewhat cramped El Dorado International Airport. For anyone who is going to Bogota, or Colombia for that matter, be warned that when you land, you don't just walk off down a ramp and into customs! You walk out the door, climb down a steep flight of stairs, get on a packed bus, and ride about half a mile to the airport. This was very different for me, but my friends [View Full Entry]

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Wow I´m supposed to be partaking in a game of cards at the moment but I feel I should tell you a tad bit about my time in Columbia. It´s been great from start to finish. The thing that I noticed most is how nice and helpful the people are. My first day after crossing over from Ecuador I had some troubles finding a bank where I could withdraw money. So the cleaning lady from one of the banks just left work and took me around to all the banks in the area until we found one that worked. I appreciated [View Full Entry]

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After a 10 hour daytime busride from Cali we arrived around 8 PM in Bogota. Our Footprint travelguide recommended a good hostel in the Candelaria area, called Platypus. What a shithole this was!!! We got put up in a house next door which is best described as a hangout for squatters. No door to the patio, a cat following us around everywhere and a room full of dust and that smelled awful because of the dampness and the cat. To finish it off, outside there plenty of glue sniffing junkies hanging around.... To make us feel even more welcome the hostel [View Full Entry]

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Our expectations surpassed ten-fold, we ended our three week journey through Ecuador with an overland border crossing to Colombia. Yes Mom, Colombia. Colombia is a country that was not even on our radar when left the States last September, but conversations with fellow backpackers convinced us that we had to see Colombia. To most Americans ( who, let´s face it, are not the most adventurous people), Colombia is a place to avoid. But why? I guess most people think of cocaine cartels and FARC guerillas, both of which are not nearly as prominent as they were 20 years ago. Apparently President [View Full Entry]

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Zo, het heeft even geduurd maar ik ben weer ontsnapt aan het dagelijkse leven in Nederland. Er is best veel gebeurd het afgelopen anderhalf jaar. Ik ben onder andere tot mijn eigen verbazing met veel plezier aan het werk. Desalniettemin heb ik per jaar genoeg verlof dagen om nu maarliefst 5 weken op vakantie te gaan. Bestemming is dit keer Colombia, beetje onverwacht misschien als je af moet gaan op de berichtgeving van de massa media. Ik heb echter verhalen uit de eerste hand gehoord (toen ik ergens tussen Mexico en Panama zwerfde) en die beloofden veel goeds. Neemt niet weg [View Full Entry]

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Hopefully this blog will allow you all to see where I am and to know that I am safe. I have been in Colombia and so far there have been no problem, apart from my foot falling down a drain (no damage done). I spent a month in Cali with my Aunty and cousins. I had a brilliant time and loved spending some time with them as it dosen´t happen very often! I also had the opportunity to help at the Collegio Colombo Britanico which was brilliant and has made me realise that I definatly would like to teach abroad for [View Full Entry]

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Amigo Arrives in South America Hola Chicos & Chicas So I am back on the air typing this blog of Colombian adventures while I am here in Ecuador! S.A has been interesting so far and I am enjoying the ride, even though some of the rides in Colombia were expensive!! Colombia? 3 x the size of France, bordering Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Brazil with a northern Caribbean coast and a western Pacific coast. Unfortunate things that it is famous for are FARC, Nose Candy a.k.a coke and it's most famous drug baron Mr. Pablo Escobar, the ultimate badass drug baron who [View Full Entry]

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Bogotá / Kolumbien [View Full Entry]

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Kolumbien, Maerz 2008 [View Full Entry]

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Bogota is a city of contrasts, offering a huge range in everything--from cheap to expensive (a full lunch for $2.50 to a dinner in the nice parts of town for $35) , from rudimentary to high-tech (horses pulling carts on the street next to their rather advance "bus" metro), from beautiful to disgusting (cool parks and colonial buildings to abandoned buildings surrounded by trash) and from welcoming to not-so-welcoming. (people approaching me on the street and welcoming me to their country to one guy yelling at me "Gringo Go home"). So the whole thing has been very stimulating in many ways. [View Full Entry]

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