From Cartagena we made our way to the north east to a town called Santa Marta that everyone raved about. Unfortunatly our hopes were dashed when we arrived and it was quite a contrast to Cartagena. Not what we expected. After two days and spending time in town and the local bay the guide books suggest you go to, Taganga (dont bother bocas del toro in Panama is much better and as for the next beach, it was chaotic everyone vieing for your business we spent 5 minutes there before leaving). We had a lovely meal on the front in Taganga [View Full Entry]

---

---

Taganga is a drowsy and someimes very noisy fishing town east of Santa Marta, that attracts scuba divers, snorklers and young hippies. Juice carts abound.... semi-circular restaurants vie for your custom and anyone who has something to sell will find you. Fishermen bring in a fresh catch daily. Many old barques lie picturesquely along the beach. Where I ate one day I was remembered the next mainly because I had brought in six other people. Cartagena had been left behind early Sunday morning in the driving rain. It had been raining for 16 hours. The streets were flooded. The friends who [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hiking through the jungle, white sand beaches, stomach problems, nomads, hippies, vanilla skies and lightning storms..i.e. my first encounter of one of Colombia's biggest natural attractions: Parque Nacional Tayrona. I knew about Colombia's natural beauty, I heard of Parque Tayrona but I didn't have any idea of what to really expect. First off Tayrona park is enormous. I only spent one night there when usually people spend at least 4-5 days. So, I'm sure I'll me making another visit again. The journey starts with a short road trip east of Santa Marta with my new friends Antonio, Diego, Kathy and her [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi all, hope this finds you all well. As you have probably guessed we have made it to south america. Sounds easy dosent it? Well i wasn´t! We decided to take the road less traveled and make our way to Columbia by flying to a remote Panamaian boarder town on the Carribean coast and catch a series of small boats to the first major Columbian city. I sounded easy enough until we arrived at the boarder town (viallage) but without my pack. Usually not a big issue but there were only 3 flights a week and its not accessable by road [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sunday day of rest my ass, more like only day the maid doesn’t come and I have to pick up after myself. I am rife with gray hairs. I spotted one on my arm the other day and its physical removal has done nothing to mute the knowledge of its existence. Out there floating in the wind, a banner to my aging. I made it safely back from the US, and brought something with me that most people take the opposite direction, a terrible case of the runs. George Washington's Revenge as it's known. It was nice to be home and [View Full Entry]

---

---

After I sweated it out on the mammoth trek I headed To Parque National Tyrona, with Tamzin and Paul. The nation park was absolutely beautiful and contained prefect beaches, white sand palm trees and turquoise water. It was a very stressful couple of days, alternating between working on my tan, swimming and reading. I managed to survive the hardship I was face with and emerged browner than ever! I did have to pay 10 bucks to sleep in a hammock which was incredibly expensive! After leaving the beach I went to Taganga to start a diving course. It was a very [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have just returned from the most amazing 6 days spent trecking through the Columbian jungle. We set off on Wednesday in a group of twelve to reach a lost city hidden in the depths of the jungle. The area is controlled by the military at the moment and we had to pay them off so that they would protect us, as in 2004 8 tourists were kidnapped! We didn't have any problems on the trip and the whole area felt pretty safe. On our first day we walked for about four hours, most of which was uphill. After about [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've become a mountain man. I recently for the first time tamed and rode a Nor'easter to town. I have been certainly secluded in and loving the mountains. Since I left school I went to Piero's bday party at a gun range in Bogota where all the posters of the bad guys have mustaches (confirming suspicions). I touched the inside of a hippo's mouth, saw a baby Andean spectacled bear (rarest bear in the world). I've been woken up in the middle of the night by an earthquake. While riding my “mountain horse” in said mountains, it lost it's footing, [View Full Entry]

---

---

A trip to ancient Tayrona Indians’ Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) is more like a journey to another world. It’s an intense 6-day uphill trek that can only be described as unique. On the way up through seemingly boundless dense rainforest one can easily why this country is such an easy place for guerillas to hide. Fortunately, this is now one of the areas that are back in the control of the Colombian government, and the various army posts along the way ensure that the chances of you running into trouble are small. Along the path, as well as on the actual [View Full Entry]

---

---

We managed to find our way to Taganga, a small fishing viallage that is taken over by holidaymakers and tourists. Rather like when we lived in Taupo, you left home during the holiday season because it went crazy. Our transport included a taxi to the bus station, the taxi driver had no idea what our Spanish meant and he finally figured out our hand gestures and the odd word in the dictionary. We then managed to find a bus to Santa Marta, we passed alot of low lying homes with water everywhere - possibly from the down pour we had the [View Full Entry]

---

---