Blogs from Colombia, South America - page 263

Wow! I loved this experience! I got to white water raft just outside of San Gil, Colombia in the Rio Suarez...which at the moment has class 3, 4, and 5 rapids...major white water....and it was my first time! Such an adrenaline rush and mental challenge...along with a serious physical challenge. I don't remember the last time I worked both my mind and body so I went with a new friend from the hostel...another solo backpacker from Montreal...really cool guy. He and I both wanted to go rafting, but didn't think we could go because we didn't have the 4 people required to make a group. That is until 3 Colombian girls and a Swiss couple showed up that morning also wanting to go...so off we went! Our hostel owner arranges the trip through a local adventure ... read more

I left Bogota to San Gil so that I could do some paragliding. I wanted to do it in Medellin the week before, but never woke up early enough. So here I came to this small town in the Santander region after a 7 hour bus ride north from Bogota. I arrived in the town...very well kept, active, but not overwhelming. It has a beautiful plaza with a fountain, lots of trees, and benches full of local families, couples, friends, and food vendors. The church is quite old, big, and well maintianed as well. The best part was that I stepped off the bus and was sweating again...I was soooo happy to be out of the cold in Bogota and back into warm weather...but not too warm, just right! I immediately got a taxi to the ... read more

Teil 2 - Cali Die folgenden Tage verbringe ich mit Antons Mutter, einer resoluten älteren Dame, die in einem schmucken Reihenhäuschen in einem der zahlreichen condiminios, einer eingezäunten Wohnanlage, residiert. Sie ist bereits im Ruhestand (was ihr eine Vollzeitbetreuung hinsichtlich meiner Person ermöglicht) und kümmert sich rührend um mich. Allerdings hat sie ein äußert hohes Angstpotential - hinsichtlich ihrer Heimatstadt, den Menschen dort und natürlich hinsichtlich der Tatsache, dass mir etwas zustößt. Eine ihrer eisernen Regeln, die nur in absoluten Ausnahmesituationen gebrochen werden, lautet: „Verlasse niemals das Haus nach 6:30 Uhr abends.“ Bis auf ein paar wenige Ausnahmen verläuft die erste Woche genau nach diesem Schema. Zunächst einmal steht allerdings Einkaufen auf dem Arbeitsplan. Sie fragt mich, was ich denn gerne so esse. Ich möchte keine Umstände machen und e... read more

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Hola from Medellin! This past week has been a crazy one! It started on a not so positive note with me getting food poisoning. Well it could have been anything really - a stomach bug, something I caught off one of the kids at Antorchas or being bitten by some strange Colombian insect! Either way, I was out of action for nearly 3 days. Apparently it's a so called 'right of passage' that everyone goes through within the first week of getting here. I had to miss out on work, eating, drinking (anything) and sleeping... it wasn't a fun time! I pulled up ok by friday, so that night a group of us decided to go for a few drinks where the locals do. I don't know if I've mentioned before that tourism still isn't a ... read more