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Published: April 30th 2007
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Well after nearly 3 weeks in Colombia, I have finally found time to add a new blog. It has been somewhat of a change of pace since leaving Cuba and we now find ourselves quickly approaching the end of our trip. That said, much has been explored in Colombia and some adventuring remains.
We arrived in Bogota from Havana on April 12th, one month after leaving Lima, Peru for this fabled island. Cuba was an incredible experience but one that was hard on the pocketbook, therefore it was with some relief that we landed back on the southern continent to find prices more to our liking. Bogota, set at 2600m or so was a refreshing change from the heat of Cuba and was not unlike spring in Vancouver. Cool to cold night followed by warm cloudy days, not bad.
spent days exploring the city but not wandering too far from the hostel as this was Colombia and we were no longer in the safety of Cuba. The difference between the two countries is striking. Immediately upon returning to South America we were greeted with homelessness, slum housing, human misery and children walking bare footed in the city, a
extremely religious in Colombia
A statue at the top of the peak overloooking Bogota strk contrast to the relative equality and prosperity of Cubans. In no way is Cuba perfect but there is little poverty on that island compared to the shocking poverty found all over the Southern continent. Really is quite something to consider given all the difficulties the cuban have faced, while Colombia has been the second highest recipient of American aid. Where that aid is going I am not sure but there was no sense of it within the capital city. My guess its in the jungles where US planes help to spray Coca and other crops with carcinogenic pesticides and in the amazonian villages where paramilitary groups, linked to the governments of both the US and Colombia fight left-wing guerrillas who are forced to defend their lands from forced evacuations. Nuff said....
After spending the week in a great hostel with a good travel vibe, many games of pokers and movies, we headed north east to the historic town of Villa de Leyva. Riding the bus in Colombia is somewhat of an experience and we immediately realised that we were indeed back in South America. Our direct 3.5 hour bus turned out to not be so direct, stopping for
Playing poker in the hostel
You win some you lose some... 10,000 peso buy in! any waving hand and picking up people until we could hold no more. We were only slightly late - 2 hours quite the difference on such a short ride and I think it would have been faster and easier to ride a bike to this town. Nevertheless, we found a decent little hotel as a drizzle of rain fell over our faces as darkness aproached.
We spent the next few days enjoying the quiet pace of this small village, finishing off our visit with a wonderful day in an incredible market.
Next morning we packed our things and headed to a town called San Gil, supposedly the home of Colombian extreme sports. Arriving late we found a fairly shitty little hostel that someone had for some reason recommended to us. Not great and when we did finally lay our heads on the moldy pillows, sleep did not take us very quickly. In fact neither of us could fall asleep because of the creepy crawly feelings we had. I forgot to mention that we had finally dropped altitude and were now low enough to feel the equatorial heat, not to mention to near 100 percent humidity of the rainy
Villa de Leyva
A very old village - 400 plus years season. I counted each hour passing, reminded of the time by the ringing of the village church bell. By 2am, both I and Laurence had had enough of this terrible place. We decided to pack our things and jump on the 3am bus to Santa Marta, a supposed 12 hour ride to the Carribean coast. Waking the owner of the hostel we explained our discomfort and he was nice enough to call us a taxi and not charge us for the night, big bonus!
Once again, our direct bus to Santa Marta was not so direct and we finally arrived at 630pm, 15 hours after leaving our creepy and dank hostel room. Not the easiest of rides, Laurence and I did well to pass the time and enjoy the amazing scenery Colombia has to offer. Situated near the equator but harbouring fingers of the Andean chain, Colombia is home to the most diverse range of habitats on the Southern Continent. Its beauty is in the velvety green of its lushious scenery. Nowhere have a seen a greener country.
From Santa Marta, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the village next door called Taganga about 5km outside of
town located in the next bay. We had already picked a place to stay for the night and were happy to finally drop our bags and make a home for the night. The one thing we may have not been prepared for was the overwhelming heat of the Carribean coast. Like a blanket, the humidity and heat combined to smother us and bathe me a layer of sweat. As Matty, would have said, I was a sweaty mess!
Taganga turned out to be a wee bit of a dissapointment as the beach was not great or anything really too speak of and it was too damn hot to really do anything during the day. We did manage to find a pizza place run by a guy from la belle province de Quebec who cooked for us and fed us lots of beer. Other than that Taganga was a bust and we decided to move onwards to Cartegena. But first we would have to make a brief detour to the town of Barranquila in order to change our return flight home. Saving the story for beers and a deck, long story short Colombia faced a nation wide blackout the same
Incredible Market
drank fifty cent beer while cruising for mangos... thats slang for young avocadoes... day we arrived in Barranquilla ( what do you mean you need electricty to change our flight?) making for a long and complicated flight change. Nevertheless, by day s end we had changed our tickets and made it to Cartegena, where we now find ourselves.
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Frank D
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prosperity in Cuba???
"contrast to the relative equality and prosperity of Cubans" Dude, I don’t know where in Cuba you stayed at, but Cubans die of hunger every day their food is given out in daily rations that barely feed the children and they are forced to work on the fields plus the dictator Castro micro manages every aspect of Cuban life, not to mention there is no freedom of speech!! I know all this because I work with a Cuban guy who got to the states 3 years ago, if life was so great in Cuba we would have never come to the states! Now, about Colombia if you are so shocked about homeless people you should try and get out of suburbia every now and then go to downtown Miami or Detroit or any other city fo that matter you will see homelessness in every country on the face of the earth. Instead of criticizing you should remember that not all countries are equal and that all those people are fighting really hard, everyday to make a better life for themselves and their country.