http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Colombia en-us Fri, 09 May 2008 23:04:31 BST Fri, 09 May 2008 23:04:31 BST So when I said in my last entry that there would be photos coming...I lied. They arent coming...ever. I encountered my first and hopefully only piece of bad luck 2 days ago. I was at Tayrona National Park and decided to go for a walk on the beach. I found a big rock and sat down and with my camera still being new decided to play around with it and try to get to know it better. One mispl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Taganga/blog-274519.html The guy who does Jean Lucrsquos spanish voice dub is a poor replacement for the sonorous manliness of Patrick Stewart. I think facebook status updates are not the most appropriate place to express personal anguish over someone dying. Maybe Irsquom just old and out of touch. One thing I love about Spanish is than instead of paying attention you lend prestar your attention to someone. I do http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/blog-274310.html For the many friends worried about us being kidnapped dont worry We are not being held hostage We landed Friday morning in Cartagena as planned checked into our hotel in Bocagrande and got some breakfast. I had forgotten about all the different kinds of exotic juices they have in central and south america and Colombia is no different. My new favorite is mora blackberry. That morning I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-273986.html Another update...we are in Taganga which is about 510 minutes just outside of Santa Marta which is on the northern coast. To recap the last week or so in San Gil we decided to just go white water rafting and do the paragliding in Medellin. We did a full day of white water rafting and went through numerous class 5 rapids. Due to the water levels we were told that the water was as severe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Taganga/blog-273616.html So I arrived in Bogota's El Dorado Airport today Alone. My friend was coming to pick me up outside the airport. But first I had to get through the hectic tumuluous somewhat cramped El Dorado International Airport. For anyone who is going to Bogota or Colombia for that matter be warned that when you land you don't just walk off down a ramp and into customs You walk out the door climb down http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-272325.html Eens even kijken. Terwijl Joost zich ligt op te fokken omdat hij geen Youtube kan kijken een echte junk ga ik maar eens een update erop gooien. Het is iets van 30 graden buiten maar ik ben natuurlijk weer verbrand. Dus even schuilen voor de zon.Het vervelende is dat het alweer twee weken geleden is eer ik de laatste update erop gooide en er daardoor teveel verteld zou moeten worden om alles te http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-272292.html Wow Im supposed to be partaking in a game of cards at the moment but I feel I should tell you a tad bit about my time in Columbia. Its been great from start to finish. The thing that I noticed most is how nice and helpful the people are. My first day after crossing over from Ecuador I had some troubles finding a bank where I could withdraw money. So the cleaning lady from one of the banks ju http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-271375.html So another big city and to be honest I have started running out of energy for this traveling lark finally. My theory is that to properly get a feel for a city you either need friends there or at least 3 weeks. I had neither in Medellin so after a cursory look around the sights like the plaza de esculpturas.....actually that was it there are lots more sights but I couldn't really be bothered... http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-271368.html My next stop was in the lovely little town of Salento an hour east of Armenia. The town is a typical pueblo paisa and full of colourful fronted houses around the main plaza and lots of people milling around with their ponchos on. I stayed in the Mountain House hostel which is in one of the nicest settings I have stayed in here with lovely gardens and an annex down across a field with the best vi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Manizales/blog-271365.html Hello everyone Today we just arrived in San Gil which is about a 7 hour bus ride north of Bogota. I think the road was more twisty than any road I have been on in Vancouver. Tomorrow we are going to go white water rafting in the morning and paragliding in the afternoon. Then we will be heading to the North Coast to spend time there. While in Bogota we wandered around the city center the f http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/San-Gil/blog-270714.html Popayn y IpialesSantuario de las Lajas http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-270341.html CARTAGENAYvonne was still not feeling well and the busride didnt help. The airconditioning made us feel freezing cold again. We had sleep with our coats covering our heads. We stayed in Casa Viena a basic hostel in somewhat rough street near the colonial old center of Cartagena 10 mi walk. It is a beautiful city but very touristy. Loads of American cruise boats stop here so no its a lot http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-269704.html MEDELLINOur 5 hour busride was not very comfortable due to the blasting airconditioning. This must have pushed Yvonne over the edge towards her illnes massive flue. She felt terrible upon arrival in Kiwi run hostel The black sheep. We arrived on Friday the 18th of April.What we can tell you about Medellin is that it is a very modern city with a very efficient metro system. It tries to shake of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-269703.html Early morning on the 17th of April we arrived at Pereira bus station. We were picked up by Rafael Marthas husband. First impression was that he was not a morning person. Probabaly didt have enough coffee by the time he picked us up 8AM.....Upon arrival we immediately likes the place. Tranquil a very nice room swimming pool and an impressive colinal house surrounded by hammocks. Martha was a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-269698.html After a 10 hour daytime busride from Cali we arrived around 8 PM in Bogota. Our Footprint travelguide recommended a good hostel in the Candelaria area called Platypus. What a shithole this was We got put up in a house next door which is best described as a hangout for squatters. No door to the patio a cat following us around everywhere and a room full of dust and that smelled awful because of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-269691.html The crossing from Otavalo Ecuador to Ipiales Colombia went very well 20 min taxi journey to Ibarra Ecuador 3 hour bus ride from Ibarra to Tulcan Ecuador then a 5 min taxi ride to the Ecuadorian border. No queues whatsoever so we were stamped out of the country within 5 mins. A short walk then over the bridge where the Colombian flag and sign welcomed us. Again no queues so we were stamp http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Ipiales/blog-269678.html Adam and I bought a couch because to be perfectly honest we needed someplace to sit. Irsquom pretty sure the slipping pass to Chalmers for the game tying three only happened because Jors Adam and I were flapping our arms like Angels in the Outfield. Jerry THE HEAT. It has arrived in full force. To escape it we went to San Lorenzo this weekend a nearby mountain town that I visited once a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/blog-268442.html Zo het heeft even geduurd maar ik ben weer ontsnapt aan het dagelijkse leven in Nederland.Er is best veel gebeurd het afgelopen anderhalf jaar. Ik ben onder andere tot mijn eigen verbazing met veel plezier aan het werk. Desalniettemin heb ik per jaar genoeg verlof dagen om nu maarliefst 5 weken op vakantie te gaan. Bestemming is dit keer Colombia beetje onverwacht misschien als je af moet gaan o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-267825.html Hopefully this blog will allow you all to see where I am and to know that I am safe.I have been in Colombia and so far there have been no problem apart from my foot falling down a drain no damage done. I spent a month in Cali with my Aunty and cousins. I had a brilliant time and loved spending some time with them as it dosent happen very often I also had the opportunity to help at the Collegi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-267103.html When I went to meet the kids I was planning to volunteer with they were sitting quietly watching TV but I was immediately jumped on and hugged by 4 little monkeys called Jhon Yahaira Nicole and Cristian Duane. I clearly wasnrsquot the first foreign volunteer they had seen and without any further questions or introductions I was dragged out to the patio area where they had all their toys to pl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cali/blog-266901.html Our expectations surpassed tenfold we ended our three week journey through Ecuador with an overland border crossing to Colombia. Yes Mom Colombia. Colombia is a country that was not even on our radar when left the States last September but conversations with fellow backpackers convinced us that we had to see Colombia. To most Americans who lets face it are not the most adventurous peop http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-264848.html I arrived in Cali at the beginning of the month with exactly 31 days until I need to be back on the north coast for my lift out of here to central America. I wanted to work here for a while in order to improve my Spanish a bit more and to see a part of Colombia from a non backpacker point of view. I had chosen Cali as it is not really on the gringo trail but if I am honest the fact that it lists i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cali/blog-264843.html Whilst in Ecuador I floated the idea that Adam could come with me to Colombia seeing as he didn't have much planned up until his flight from Quito to Peru so I said why not kill the time with me and see a bit of Colombia to boot. The US government strongly advises its citizens against visiting Colombia as does ours but for some reason us Brits just tend to take far less notice of any officials o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/San-Agustin/blog-264816.html The last week or so of my time in South America was spent on the Caribbean coast of Colombia in Santa Marta Taganga and Cartagena. I have included all three in a single blog as I got lazy towards the end of the trip and I didn't do too much on any one day. It could have been a result of the warm and humid climate that makes you constantly sweat or simply the fact that I had travelled the entire http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-264760.html Lisa and I spent a week in Medellin. She had work there while I went to class and explored the city. The city is smaller than Bogota with 2.5 million people. The city is coolor chevere as they say hereas it sits surrounded by mountains on all sides. The down side of this is often the air pollution gets trapped and the air can be pretty awful. There's something to be said for government http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-264093.html I went skinny dipping in the ocean recently and saw my junk surrounded by phosphorescent algae. It was the most beautiful thing ever. If you arenrsquot part of my family take a second and picture it. I watched my first KU game in English in three years and it was the best game ever. Irsquom pretty sure we are going to be national champions. As are the Royals. I climbed to a preColombian http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/blog-263770.html Having recently returned from a Caribbean cruise aboard the excellent ship Celebrity Constellation I came to the conclusion that the Caribbean is actually rather short of interesting places to visit. The weather is great in the early part of the year and there are many superb locations for diving snorkelling or just sitting on the many beaches but there is a lack of interesting towns. Cartagen http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-263734.html HOLA AMIGOSNow broadcasting from around the globe with bitesize clips is the new Dude Show called El Mundo and Its Peeps which you can watch on the following addresswww.youtube.comsalala1980 Once you go to the webpage you will see 6 videos that I have uploaded they are towards the bottom of the page on the right hand side. Click on any one to watch it. Once you have watched it go back to www.yo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cali/blog-262741.html