Blogs from Sogamoso, Cartagena, Colombia, South America

From Bogota we made it to the Caribbean coast. Santa Marta was our first port of call and that's about all I can say about this town. There's little wrong with Santa Marta, but then there's very little worth going there for. There's the obligatory street vendors which do some good food and it's chilled enough for you to wander the streets supping a cool, refreshing beer. But the beach is not particularly clean and it's next to the busy port. There's a couple of decent restaurants, Lulo did great lunches and we had amazing coconunt lemonades at Tierra Negra (probaby the best non-alcoholic drink ever invented). We just used it as a base for doing the things we really wanted to do. THe first stop was Tirona National Park. It is amazing here as the ... read more

Kate arrived in Cartegena a few hours after i did and checked into the hostel. The whole district was without water and would be for the next 16 hours we were told, so still smelly but blending in with the other back packers, we met up with Pete and wandered around the city until it got dark. We ate street food and drank from snow cones, it was idyllic. unfortunately, the water hadn't yet been restored when we got back to the hostel so we went to bed on the relaxed promise of showers in the morning.... very Caribbean!! Eeeeeasy!! Sunday - 4 November - Still no water this morning so, today Pete, Kate and I took a trip to the Volcan de Lodo El Totumo a mud volcano 50kms northeast of Cartegena. We, I acting ... read more

Colombia – Jeff Arrivng in Colombia obviously comes with some reservations based on what has been reported in the media about the country for the past fifteen years. Drug cartels, guerilla soldiers (The FARC), kidnappings, etc. As we traveled, it was also a place that topped most South America travelers’ list as a favorite country in the continent. Erin and I were both nervous and excited to experience Colombia with all of the conflicting information. Our arrival city, Cartagena, is a large city full of Spanish colonial history and arguably the principal location for Colombian tourism. As our boat pulled in we passed by the old castle like fortresses that guarded the city hundreds of years ago. It did not take long for us to realize how hot Cartagena was after we had docked the boat. ... read more

Oh where to begin this one. I suppose I can start off by saying the adventure is back on, that the everyday habituals has officially come to a close for me. What I mean is that I’ve been fired for faults not of my own, and I’ve decided to stay in Colombia a while longer. What this means for you, is that you’ll get some more exciting, exotic stories from me again, as I'm about to embark on more adventures this month! My boss has never been super kind to me. Everybody at the hostel is constantly walking on eggshells with her, we never know what her mood is going to be like and the guests have even told me themselves they’re absolutely frightened by her -to which I can only agree. As far as I ... read more

We left Saturday morning to Santa Marta, a 4 hour bus ride, to meet up with Stefan and Willie for my nice, long weekend off. After a confusion of sorts on where we were supposed to meet up with the boys and losing my phone in a taxi, which Juan Manuel immediately jumped on a random motorcycle to go chasing after the taxi in a sea of taxis in order to try to get my phone back (but returned with no success, the motorist wouldn´t drive fast enough); we all decided to head to Palomino, an hour and half past Santa Marta. I felt really bad since Juan Ma was only coming for the night since he had to be back for work on Monday. But he said he was ok with going so much further ... read more

The coastal vacation started off with plans to spend soaking up all the joys paradise has to offer but turned out to be quite a crazy, death defying adventure. We basically found ourselves constantly playing with fire and somehow only coming out with a few burns. I seriously don’t understand how we survived them. Carrie is another volunteer from England and had planned to travel to the coast on her last few weeks here in Colombia, it was the perfect chance for me to get there as I’ve been itching to go since my arrival. Plus the past few weeks have been filled with pointless, various drama with the administration here at the organization, which has caused much unneeded stress; ie they tried to charge me double rent (they’re constantly trying to find a way to ... read more