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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Early morning on the 17th of April we arrived at Pereira bus station. We were picked up by Rafael, Martha´s husband. First impression was that he was not a morning person. Probabaly did´t have enough coffee by the time he picked us up (8AM)..... Upon arrival we immediately likes the place. Tranquil, a very nice room, swimming pool and an impressive colinal house surrounded by hammocks. Martha was a lovely warm person, who served fantastic free coffee. Even Yvonne enjoyed it without milk and sugar. The colombians don´t use sugar anyway. They use panela. A very pure and natural form of [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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When I went to meet the kids I was planning to volunteer with they were sitting quietly watching TV but I was immediately jumped on and hugged by 4 little monkeys called, Jhon, Yahaira, Nicole and Cristian Duane. I clearly wasn’t the first foreign volunteer they had seen and without any further questions or introductions I was dragged out to the patio area where they had all their toys to play with them. I had wanted to do some volunteering firstly to improve my Spanish and secondly to get to know one place from a different perspective. I thought that a [View Full Entry]

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Adam and I bought a couch because, to be perfectly honest, we needed someplace to sit. I’m pretty sure the slipping pass to Chalmers for the game tying three only happened because Jors Adam and I were flapping our arms like Angels in the Outfield. Jerry, THE HEAT. It has arrived, in full force. To escape it we went to San Lorenzo this weekend, a nearby mountain town that I visited once a few years ago. Last time our accommodations were pretty sketchy, this time they were amazing. It was like a ski trip, freezing cold outside, at 2200 meters (about [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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After our time spent there, we were all more than ready to leave Venezuela and head for the much anticipated Colombia. Having already changed as much currency on the black market upon entry to Venezuela, we had already increased our spending power there (getting nearly double the "official" rate), however we were duly shafted upon leaving, emphasized by their substantial hike (300%!!!) in departure tax for exiting the country. Furthermore, with the current bleak state of the Mighty Dollar, no-one would accept them for love nor money, posing some probs to those who had only enough currency for the supposed exit [View Full Entry]

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Some people say travelling alone gives you freedom. Bollocks - try travelling without a budget, that really gives you freedom. And so it was I bought me a plane ticket and made an unplanned jaunt north for a square go with the FARC. Ignorance is bliss, and I closed my ears to mutterings in the media about border conflicts, guerillas, drug barons and the like. Having said that, such bravado was put to one side as I shamelessly begged for safe passage through Bogota from a friend whose parents live there. Really wouldnt want to come acropper on my first day! [View Full Entry]

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