Blogs from Colombia, South America - page 266

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South America » Colombia » Magdalena August 20th 2008

Hello to all my friends and relatives. I am embarking on another adventure, this time with Project HOPE to provide health care to people around the Caribbean. After spending a few days visiting with my son, Daniel, in Florida where he goes to school, I’m flying to Colombia to join the Project HOPE staff, medical personnel from other agencies (Operation Smile is one - they do cleft lip and palate repairs) and a large contingent of US sailors aboard the USS Kearsarge (check out the link - this ship is amazing! And explore the site for more information about the current ship and its predecessors. Additional pictures here. ). There are two teams - one stays on the ship for the surgical procedures (there are 4 operating theaters on board) and the... read more

South America » Colombia » Cartagena August 20th 2008

They are a couple of blog entries back...check them out...they are not quite complete yet...a few more are coming. :) ... read more

South America » Colombia » Tolima » Ibagué August 19th 2008

We need to keep moving as we've still got some distance to cover yet and lots of things we want to see, so to get to Bogota we decided to hop there seeing as many places on the way as we could. First up was a 3 hour bus from Popayan to Cali (Colombia's third largest city). We would have liked to have had time to explore Cali but there are other places that we want to go more so we headed straight out to Armenia a further 4 hours away. Armenia's setting is its biggest attraction as it sits between a valley and some of the highest mountains of the Cordillera Central mountain range. The town itself was pretty ugly (aka it was a shit hole) but we didn't arrive until late afternoon so didn't ... read more
Ibague main plaza
Art, Ibague
Scenery Armenia to Ibague road

South America » Colombia » Cartagena August 18th 2008

Ola!! OK this entry is going to be much much shorter..... i promise!!! :o) Been in Cartagena for over a week now and i absolutely love it... hence why im having trouble leaving! Staying in a really cool hostel, have met so many amazing people and made lots of friends and the town is really beautiful! Got here last Sunday after getting the overnight bus from Medellin! Came on my own as Paola wanted to spend a few extra days with her parents and Siemei was ill! The bus ride was fine though and slept quite well despite the bus being freezing again.... was well prepared this time!! :o) Got to Cartagena about 10am and got the bus into the city center! When asking for directions to the hostel when i got off the boat, some ... read more
Dinner with everyone from hostel!
Old Town!
Clubbing with Irish guys and one of English girls from my school!

South America » Colombia » Pasto August 17th 2008

After queuing for what seemed like forever to leave Ecuador we walked over the bridge and were surprised to find only a small queue on the Colombian side (we're guessing that a lot of Colombians only bother with immigration on the Ecuadorian side). It only took 20 minutes. The guidebook says to be prepared for thorough bag checks and if you don't have a return ticket (which we don't) the officer sometimes overlooks this for a 'fee.' The FCO's (UK Foreign Office) advice is that it depends on the whim of the officer that day as to whether they let you in or not. Well we had the friendliest guard ever who was only interested in joking about how long we'd queued on the Ecuadorian side. Not one 'proper' question and stamp in passport printed with ... read more
Cathedral, Popayan
Church windows
Scenery outside Pasto

South America » Colombia » Quindío » Salento August 9th 2008

Heylo everyone! OK here comes the first of three entries for the last week!!....... Last Thursday, Paulas parents took us to Bogota train station for 6am, where we got the bus to Armania. Freaked ourselves out a little bit before boarding the bus as Paula had been chatting to a woman, who had asked her where Siemei and I were from, where we were going etc., and then left! I didn’t really think anything of it, as everyone here is so chatty and friendly but Paula started panicking a bit saying she had to stop giving out so much information about us when chatting to people and she thought it was weird that the woman didn’t have any luggage with her and disappeared quite quickly and didn’t come back, so obviously hadn’t been waiting for a ... read more
Making sugarcane lemonade!
Eating Maize!
On Willy jeep to Coffee Park!

South America » Colombia August 9th 2008

Hello everyone!! Heres for the last entry.....!! Sorry there werent many photos in the Santa Elena entry.... will add some more when i have more time and also Paula has quite a few of the photos!! Got a bus to Medellin and from there we got a 3 hour bus to Rio Claro! Paula was trying to give me a Spanish lesson but some weird guy sitting in front of us kept turning round and staring at me non-stop and was starting to make us a bit nervous because he seemed far too interested and we are still quite paranoid about the FARC so Paula started praying for him to get off the bus, so I thought id join in - the next stop he got off! He was replaced by a guy in a Bayern ... read more
Hostel!
Hostel!
Siemei and me on Marble Beach rope!

South America » Colombia » Medellin August 9th 2008

Hello!!! We had one last yummy breakfast in the hostel on Sunday morning and then got the bus to Armenia, where we then got a 6 hour bus to Medellin! Paula gave us an altitude sickness tablet which knocked us all out….have never slept so well on a bus hehe! Had lunch at the bus station and then got a bus up to Santa Elena which took nearly an hour! There Paulas uncle and his girlfriend picked us up! They don’t really speak any English but are soo lovely! Its so sad though - the girlfriend, Janeth, is in a wheelchair as she was shot in the back 15 years ago when she was just 17 and hasn’t been able to move her legs since! That was back when Medellin used to be the most dangerous ... read more
Me and dogs!
Fondue with Family!
Paula and I in hostel!

South America » Colombia » Bogota August 8th 2008

A Short Time in BogotaCartagena to Bogota was twenty hours of what actually amounted to pretty good rest. Well good rest for a twenty hour bus ride anyway. Which means I was kinda pooped. At anyrate, I´d headed this way in hopes of catching up with my newfound friend Monica who´d offered me a place to stay after knowing me for approximately 30 minutes.I love Colombia.Unfortunately Sticky Taganga had snared Monica as well and she was still there as I arrived in Bogota. In true Colombia form, she still offered me a place in her home (even though she wasn´t there to make sure I wouldn´t steal the silverware). As it was, I didn´t quite feel comfortable crashing in her pad without her there (I´d be too tempted by all the shiny forks...) so I went ... read more
Little Freedom Fighter
Candelaria
Waiting for the bus...

South America » Colombia » Popayan August 8th 2008

I've uh, been a bit remiss about writing lately.Part of the problem is this location. It was serene and beautiful with access to one of the best town in Colombia to view "indigenous" culture. Unfortunately there wasn't much else to do there besides ogle at locals and look at buildings. And even this culture hound architect can only do so much of that.I guess I should have been happy to get a restful respite after Cali Colombia tried to wear holes in my dancing shoes, but well, ya'll know that just ain't me. As it stands, after a half a day of wandering Popayan taking pretty pictures, I was pretty much sure that everything looked the exact same. When they said it was the "White City" they wasn't kidding. Since everything looked the same I (you ... read more
Dusk.
Day
Silvia




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