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Published: September 5th 2009
Bienvenidos a Colombia!
I know, I know. I've been a horrible blogger. I've been in Colombia for exactly one week and all those salivating at home for some of my delicious travel stories have been met with great disappointment. I hear ya...
Well, all I can say is that there is so much to do and so many people to talk with that the fact of sitting at a computer to write has simply not been tops on my agenda. Nonetheless, I promise to make a better effort going forward. Having gotten that off my chest...vamos!
After a couple uneventful flights and seemingly endless hours, I finally touched down in Cartagena. Despite freezing for a couple hours while sitting in Bogota, I am greeted into Cartagena with a smack in the face of humidity. Now I grew up in Florida, but the Cartagena heat combined with 99.9% humidity seemed far worse than anything I experienced during my childhood.
I figure I'll begin my backpacking trip off in true form by foregoing to the taxi at the airport go off on foot in search of the bus into town. After about 20 minutes and a sleeping pill-inhibited attempt at communication in Spanish, I decide to give in and hop in a taxi. Hey, at least I got a cheaper fare than at the airport!
Luckily, I have reserved a dorm bed at the Casa Viena because it turns out to be the most popular hostel in Cartagena. That being said, its still pretty small. Also, I had the saving grace of air conditioning in my dorm! So I drop off my stuff and head towards the old town for a stroll and some lunch. After walking and sweating for a bit, I drop into a cafe for a bite. When traveling, I always go by the old adage if its good enough for the locals, its good enough for me. This restaurant was literally teeming with locals so it ended up being a good bet. The food in Colombia tends to be a little on the plain side. Meat, rice, beans/lentils, and a "salad." More on this later...
As I settle back into the hostel, I begin to chat around and make friends. I become fast friends with a South African named Luke. Luke is 24 and just completed law studies so naturally we had a lot in common. Also, it turns out Casa Viena is literally filled with Irish! Fiona and D turn out to be the best of the bunch and we all get to chatting around a bottle of aguardiente. Aguardiente is the national spirit of Colombia. Its fermented sugar cane liquor with anise. I would call it Jagermeister lite. Very easy (and dangerous) to drink.
Luke and I later meet a Belgian named Dorian. Now, it turns out that this particular Belgian LOVES american football. For some reason, to me this is hilarious! So the 3 of us go down to the road to a little local bar and Dorian and I trade stories and exciting moments from years past on the gridiron. Afterwords, Luke, Dorian, D, Fiona, Jackson (New Zealand...ahh yess its business time!), and others head down to the Casa Havana for drinks and salsa dancing. The live salsa band was amazing and a little british girl even attempted to teach me a little salsa. Turns out...I am a HORRIBLE salsa dancer. Either that or she was a terrible teacher. For now, I blame the latter.
Since I was essentially operating on borrowed time, I duck out early and sink into my dorm bed. Thank god for air conditioning...
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Nancy Brereton
non-member comment
Buenos días!
Hola, mi Hijo, I think that's the extent of my spanish! I took a look at Parque Tayrona on the web, so amazingly beautiful......did you rent a hammock and sleep on the beach? It also said the surfing was amazing ( bad rip tides)? Anyway you can share pics? New sites, new people to know,what more can you say. I guess I can't complain about our weather, but boy I am missing the cool breezes of Venice. What season are you in Columbia? Please tell Adam I send my best and please you 2 don't get into too much .......! Te amo, us Madre