Carribean Coast Continued and the Lost City

This has been the longest time on the trip I have gone without updating my blog. This has been principally because I have been waiting for something to write about. After over 4 months of being on the move, making a headlong dash from Northern Peru to Bogota, and then having Sams friend on holiday with us I have been glad for a couple of weeks where I havent been moving and have had a chance to leave my bag in the one place, cook a few homecooked meals (the food in Colombia has generally been pretty appalling) and rest. Accordingly not that much has really happened, until the last 5 days where I have completed the trek to and from the Lost City (Ciudad Perdida). Now if you thought because I haven't been up to much I havent that much to write about you will be sorely mistaken.

La Bocquila
After Catagena, we headed just 7km down the road to a small fishing village of La Bocquila. 7km is a small distance but La Bocquila was a world away from the hussle and bussle, and tourist hordes of Cartagena. It had a long beach and superb sea food but we were the only tourists in town, a first for me on this trip. Indeed we were the only white folks in town as Bocquila was nearly entirely all black.

Santa Marta/La Rodero
For the first time on my trip I doublebacked on my trip as Sam and I returned to Santa Marta/La Rodero. We planned to stay in Santa Marta, but any colonial beauty it once had has been lost and its now a modern port city that is pretty loud and noisey. Indeed the only thing that it has going for it as far as I have discovered is it is the home of legendary Colombian footballer Carlos Valderama. Who's iconic hair lit up the world cups in 1990, and 1994. Indeed the population are so proud of their hometown hero they have erected a statue outside the towns stadium.

La Rodero while being an out and out resort town offered more facilities, a nicer beach and better accomodation. Therefore we headed back there and rented an appartment for 9 days. It was nice to unpack, unwind, and cook food that was superior to anything we could get in the local restaurants. As stated above it was a pretty uneventful 9 days, however, there were a couple of topics I wanted to write about in the blog.

Firstly, we did head over to Santa Marta for typical Colombian saturday night out. It was interesting to see how it compared to a Saturday night out in the UK. Firstly, the music was all in Spanish and was largely regatone or salsa-pop. Now it wasnt to my tastes I found the production values poor, and the music very repetitive. However, for the locals it was the music they loved to dance to, and boy do they love to dance. Both the girls and the men love to dance and are frequently on the dancefloor, dancing in time with the music and in a very sexual and sensual manner. I was certainly jealous of their ability to move. Everyone danced as a couple, there was no groups of boys or girls on the dancefloor, a partner was almost a pre-requisite to going onto the floor. However, it did seem perfectly acceptable for a guy to ask a girl to dance without it meaning anything else. Like in Bogota, the most cost effective way to drink was a group of friends buying a bottle of rum, whiskey, or aguadiente (a local drink that literally translates as firewater and tastes like sambucca) the guys would then drink straight shots while the girls drank with a mixer.

One of the view daytrips we undertook from El Rodero was to the hacienda (a ranch) where Simon Bolivar died. Simon Bolivar is considered to be the liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Equador, Peru, and Bolivia (which is named after him) taking on and defeating the Spanish. There are countless streets, parks, stadiums etc named after him throughout this part of the world. Bolivar died just outside Santa Marta so we spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon on the estate where he died. They have restored the house to how it was at the time, and still have his death bed, a statue made from his death mask, and various other artifacts. It was certainly interesting to visit and learn more about the history of someone who had such a profound impact on this continent.

I have been on the Carribean coast for about a month now and have generally found the beaches to be pretty disappointing when compared to those in South East Asia, the exceptions being the Rosario Islands, and Parque Tayrona. I don´t know whether this is because the guidebook doesnt cover this region that well as alot of isolated areas are only opening up following years of strife. However, one beach that didnt disappoint was Playa Concha just outside Santa Marta. It was an adventure getting there as villagers had set up a roadblock in protest that their electricity had been off for a number of days. However, we finally got there on the back of motorbike taxis. Partly because of its location, and partly because of the roadblock we found the beach almost totally deserted. It was lovely white sandy bay which because of its coral offered excellent snorkling opportunities. This was my first time snorkling and I thorougly enjoyed watching the multicoloured fish darting amongst the coral. Hopefully I will have further opportunities to go snorkling when I get to Brazil.

The Lost City.
Since I havent been treking since Peru and trekking to the Lost City is considered to be one of the highlights of a trip to South America I couldnt miss the opportunity to complete the 5 day trek to and back from the lost city of the Tayrona Indians. The trek is described by the lonely planet as being an "Indiana Jones" like adventure. Sam didnt want to do the trek due to her experiences in the Bolivian jungle, but fortunately 2 kiwi friends of mine, who I had completed my trek to Machu Pichu with, had arrived in Santa Marta and were keen to complete the trek.

The Tayrona indians built the city over 2000 years ago and it took them 400 years. It consists of over 400 terraces, with a large terrace for the king at the top of the city, then terraces for the nobles further down, and finally at the bottom for the ordinary people. Here the Indians lived, worked, and worshipped for 100´s if not 1000´s of years before being slowly wiped out by other tribes plundering their gold for the Spanish, and by the diseases that the Spanish brought from Europe. The city lay undiscovered except to treasure hunters until 1975 when it was finally re-discovered. However, it is only in the last few years that the trek to the Lost City has opened up as the area was rife with guerrilla and paramilitary activity.

The trek took 5 days, 3 days to the Lost City, and 2 days to return. The trek was tough in that the paths were often very muddy, and often steep. Indeed the first day was the hardest as we had to climb steeply in the heat of the day and a high level of humidity, which when you havent been treking for 2 months certainly takes its toll. You certainly got a level of adventure aswell as you had to walk across rivers up to your waist in water, clamber over rocks, and avoid the odd bull who was blocking the path. The climbs through the jungled mountains though afforded beautiful views, and after a hard view hours of trekking it was great to jump into the clear fresh rivers to cool off. The accomodation was basic, most of the time we slept in hammocks with a blanket to keep you warm at night and a mosquito net to quell the never ending attacks from various bugs and insects. Despite the nets everyone on the trek finished with countless mosquito and sandfly bites. Indeed my legs and feet are still inflamed with bites today.

I had been told that the trek was more enjoyable then the visit to the Lost City, so I didnt have high expectations. But upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised. It was beautifully located at the end of the valley, with a waterfall above it, and lush jungle peaks surrounding it. There are then lots of terraces that have carefully been restored, where once the indians houses stood. Some indian houses have been recreated to give you an insight into how the place must have looked. Sure it was no Machu Pichu but it was still pleasant to visit in its own right. A few years ago guerrillas kidnapped a tourist party for ransom so now to protect from this happening again the Colombian army has a camp at the Lost City. The soldiers were very friendly posing for photos, lending weapons so we could pose for photos, and even giving a number of the boys in our party a haircut!

All in all it was an excellent trip and one I would recommend.

Colombia and Cocaine

On the Lost City Trek we were given the opportunity to visit a lab where they produced Cocaine paste. Now I didnt have the money to pay for the visit so didnt go. However, from speaking to those that did go it was by all accounts quite and interesting tour. The Lab was run by a guy who had worked in a lab run by paramilitaries since he was 14. The Lab he has now is small, not more then a shack, and the impression is its run to make money from showing tourists the process not for large scale supply. He showed those who went on the tour the process as far as making the paste, as the final ingredient to make the poweder is acetone and it is controlled by the guerrillas. He therefore sells his paste onto the guerillas who then add the acetone to make the powder. It is not difficult to see why it is an attractive enterprise as he can make 50% profit for every shipment. To make 1kg of Cocaine he needs 1000kg of Coca leaves these are treated with various unsavoury chemicals such as petrol, and sulphuric acid to create the paste. Salt is also required in the process, so interestingly it is illlegal to be in possession of a large amount of salt in Colombia! Im my next blog entry when I leave Colombia I will write more about the guerillas, the paramilitaties and the governments war on drugs, but im hungry now so am off for lunch.

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