Moi! Tanaan paasin vihdoin kuivalle maalle, tosin askeleet ovat hieman hatarat, pari paivaa menee varmaan totutellessa. 3 viikon Linnanmaki-reissu oli....kokemus. Alunperinhan matkan piti alkaa Bilbaosta, mutta kyseinen purtilo ei sitten lopulta lahtenyt ollenkaan, joten suuntasin Italiaan, Genovaan, josta hyppasin toiseen laivaan. Reitti oli: Genova-Marseille-Guadaloupe-Dominikaaninen tasavalta-Kolombia. Yleensa satamassa ei ollut vuorokautta enempaa aikaa tutustua kaupunkiin, Rio Hainassa, Dominikaaneissa en lopulta ehtinyt maihin ollenkaan. Alus oli vajaa parisataa metria pitka MS LICORNE, lastina kontteja. Yritin udella mita kaikkea kuskasimme, mutta edes kapteeni ei sisaltoa tarkemmin tiennyt. Sanoi vaan, etta on parempikin ettet tieda, tosin laivan, joka seilasi Liberian lipun alla, kotisatamana Monrovia, omisti [View Full Entry]

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After spending my last weeks in Colombia partying in Santa Marta, then relaxing and diving in Taganga, I parted ways with Pascal & Julien, and returned to Cartagena with Andy and Emma, a couple I had met about 3 weeks previously in Quito. They had the same plan to take a yacht from Cartagena to Panama, so our itineraries fit perfectly.. Back in Cartagena we headed straight for the marina to find out about potential yachts, and the first one we saw didn't exactly fill us with hope. It was small, cramped, and only sailing in 5 days.. Luckily a family [View Full Entry]

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So we entered South America via the war torn, crime ridden, drug capital of the world where if the paramilitaries, drug cartels or left wing guerrillas don´t kill you then the fer-de-lance snakes surely will. Or so people would think. The reality is that we found Colombia to be one of the friendliest, most welcoming countries we have been to, where people will cross the street to help you catch a taxi, tell you exactly how much to pay and feel extremely happy that you want to visit their country. We started our colombia trip with Cartagena, the beautiful colonial city [View Full Entry]

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Well it seems again I have delayed writing my blog until there is just too much to tell you all! I left Barranquilla pretty exhausted after the carnaval and so couldn't bring myself to join the other gringos in San Gil for any of the adventure sports offered there. I had a look round the small villages of Guane and Barichara, which were pretty but not all that interesting to be honest apart from the beautiful interior of the church in Barichara. A sleepless night with swollen glands in San Gill, waking myself and everyone else up making strange strangled noises, [View Full Entry]

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As I still had not met Daniela (we had some problems communicating with each other, as my cell phone with the Movistar chip from Ecuador does not work here, and as she was in Tierradentro where there is no internet) and was still hanging around in Popayan, I decided to go to an Andean music concert at the Colliseo in Popayán. Not that I am particularly in favour of Andean music (actually wçquite sick of the bands in our Pedestrain zones at home playing El Condor Pasa), but it seemed like the appropriate thing to do in an Andean country for [View Full Entry]

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Daniela and I have now finally met in Cali. Today, together with a guy from Holland and a girl from New Zealand with whom Daniela had been travelling for the past couple of days, we went to the zoo, which is supposed to be one of the nicest ones of South America. Tonight we'll try out Cali nightlife which has a reputation for being wild. [View Full Entry]

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Santa Marta and such So off we go to Santa Marta or better yet...according to my guidebook - El Rodadero, which is the touristy district close to Santa Marta. As the main bus drops us off at the bus terminal. We tell the cab driver to take us to Hotel Becoma...and he had no clue where that was. So I checked my book again and sure enough it says what I thought. So he told us it was Betoma!! SO THERE LONELY PLANET! The hotel was really close to the beach and it didn't seem that bad. As soon as we [View Full Entry]

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The journey from Pasto to Popayán led through beautiful landscape quite distinct from the regions I have seen so far in Ecuador. At times I felt like in Africa: the bus was filled almost entirely with black people (descendants from slaves brought to Colombia centuries ago), black people were walking in the fields and sitting outside the houses along the highway, and skinny white cattle were searching the dry steppes for something to eat. As we descended further towards Popayán the landscape turned greener and towards the evening was illuminated in fluorescent green and yellow, with a rainbow above it, very [View Full Entry]

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When Daniela (the receptionist fro Vilcabamba with who I had climbed Solomaco) arrived in Quito and asked me whether I would like to join her on a trip to Colombia, it did not take her much to persuade me, as after 4 months in Ecuador I did not mind a break from the country. The trip started with a number of difficulties: somebody had advised me that I could leave from Quito´s Northern Ofelia terminal rather than from the main Terminal Terrestre. However, it was not a good idea, as there are only regional buses leaving from there, and it took [View Full Entry]

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I´ve been rocking around the country for the past few weeks trying to see as much of it as I possibly can! MEDELLIN The hostel I was staying in was in a very trendy, rich area. Lots of cool, well dressed people, lots of silicone implants! The best thing I did there was to go paragliding. I never thought that paragliding was something I´d want to do, but for 20 quid for a tandem ride, I couldn´t say no! It was so much fun! It was a little bit scary when you had to run really fast at the beginning to [View Full Entry]

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