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Published: October 8th 2009
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It has been a while since the last blog but time flies by so fast when travelling!
Finally it was time to move around in Southamerica and discover this beautiful place! I started off with a flight from Rio to Caracas. It was such an amazing flight, as I saw Rio from above by night, which was very impressive. After a stop over in Sao Paulo I landed in time in Caracas at 4.30 am in the morning. I have booked a trip to Los Roques and it was now the advanture to find the domestic airport to catch my flight at 6.30 am. This was definitely an advanture as it turns out that the airport is 1 km away from where I landed and there was no bus or anything going there, and walking in the darks is for sure not recomended. But lucky me I run into a Swiss guy, living and working as tour guide in Caracas for the last 20 years, who offered me a ride to the place. So I was there in time and ready for some sun and beach but before that, another advanture awaited me as I had to board a 8
seater plane to get there! I was a bit scared first but after we reached the archipielagos I was absolutely amazed from the view above and forgot all about the plane.
Safely arrived I was lead to a gogreous Posada in the middle of the island. The main Island is very small and only a few sandy streets are leading to the little town. After breakfast I was off to the beaches with the Brazilians I met at the Posada. It took us a wet and bumby one hour boat ride to get to one of the most amazing beaches I have ever seen. We stayed there for the day, enjoyed the water and sun! The ride back to the main island was even worse, the sea got rough and it was so bumpy, a rollercoaster ride was comparable to it, but we had our fun :-)
The Posada served an excellent dinner and by 10 pm everyone was off to bed, beside me! I had a cockroach attack in my bathroom and had to stay up another hour to get rid of them. Well, two guys of the Posada spend some time to kill them, thanks god!
The
next day it was unfortunately already time to leave this paradise but first I had one last hour at a beautiful beach before heading out.
My next stop was Merida in the Andes, which I reached by bus from Caracas. 14 hours later the scenery has changed and instead turquois blue water and white beaches I was surrounded by mountains. Soon I realised that it is low season and not much happening in this place. I spend the day discovering the city and see what I can do the next few days. I was not up for to a two day hiking trip so I decided to do part of the hike by myself the next day. I met some people with a guide who went on the two day trip on my way, but I was glad I decided against it. After so many months doing nothing, I got some muscle pain the next day. So I was not too sad to hang out at the hostel for 2 more days and checking out the thermal bath close by. Unfortunately I forgot it is Sunday and the bath was packed with locals.
The next day it was
time to leave Venezuela for Columbia. Venezuela has some beautiful scenery but somehow I did not quite "warm up" with this country and its people, so I was looking forward to a change. I was a bit anxiouse about the journey but after I meet a girl from Belgium on the bus in Merida, doing the same trip, I felt a bit more relaxed. The bus took us from Merida to Maracibo, where we had to change. There was the option of por puestos (taxis) or a public bus. We went with the public bus as it was cheaper. The ride was for sure longer and hotter, as there was no aircon. Short before the border we were asked to change to a jeep, which was packed and 3 more guys on top of it. Crossing the border was easy, a stamp on the Venezuelan side, one on the Columbian side and here I was, welcome to Columbia! We were lead to another bus, which brought us to Santa Marta and after 20 hours of travelling I arrived my destination! I was tired but happy everything went well, as I heard and read many stories before.
In the hostel
I meet a women from England, with whom I spend the next days. We went to the beach to try to cool down in the water (it was about 38C), had good nights out and just relaxed. One day we went to the famouse national park, Tayrona. After a 1.5 hour walk through the jungle we arrived at beautiful beaches where we enjoyed the cool water. It was definitely worth the time and the walk.
After 4 days in Santa Marta, the English Girl and I was off to Cartagena further south. Cartagena has beautiful historic center, which we visited for dinner the first night. It was a rainy day but the next day it seemed to clear up and we decided to go on a boat trip. Unfortunately the trip was not too good, the weather turned bad again and by the end we only spend 15 min at the Playa Blanca, supposed to be the most beautiful beach in the area. However, we meet some Columbians on the boat and had a good laugh with these guys.
The next day we visited one of the beaches here but compared to Santa Marta, it was not impressive at
all. I was planning to leave the next day by bus for Bogota, which was supposed to be a 22 hours journey. The night before I was told that there are some chaep flights, which I found the next day online. Therefore I could spend another day discovering the old center before I was off to the Capital of Columbia, Bogota.
Now I am in Bogota, enjoying the cool weather again and catching up with emails and wander through the city, which is 2600m above sea level, before heading furhter south.
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