http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Colombia en-us Fri, 04 Dec 09 11:32:41 +0000 Fri, 04 Dec 09 11:32:41 +0000 English VersionSo my 24th birthday was 2 days ago and I celebrated it here in Medellin my first birthday out of Nigeria or United States. I was a lot of fun because I'm blessed with wonderful people. My host mum gave me a beautiful earring Lexie y Juliana gave me a purple dress purple earrings and bought me a Chocolate cake Freddy gave a really beautiful wristwatch and Juliana's mum gave me http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-457061.html Ca fait quelques temps maintenant que je n'ai pas mis jour mon blog et pour cause nous avons pass ces derniers jours au milieu des Andes en Equateur sans d'internet ni tlphoneAlors je reprends o je me suis arrete.. Aprs Bogota nous avons pris un bus de nuit pour Cali 12 heures de trajet mais ca ne nous fait plus peur on a l'habitude de dormir dans les bus maintenantNous avons voya http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cali/blog-455359.html After months of preparation both mental and phsycial the 5 of us arrived in Atlantic City the night before our departure to Colombia. There was a mess of feelings surrounding us. It is never easy to leave loved ones. Finally the sun came up and it was time to head to the airport. We reached the counter and BAM dreams shattered. The people at the checkin counter asked us how we were go http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Taganga/blog-454437.html En toen was het de beurt aan Zuid Amerika....Colombia lag het dichtsbij dus doe mij die maar dan....Alles begon het met een piepklein staartje....Voor meer indruk van het leventje hier heb ik videos toegevoegd...zie einde text....er weer meer mogelijk dan gedacht Costa RicaPanamColombiaStond ik daar mijn hele klerenkast bij me om 5 uur sochtends op het vliegveld van San Jose...euh je krij http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-453760.html Hmm... Crazy crazy crazy. I was a little bit disappointed Wednesday because after the weekend there was nothing going on in town no festivities is this what Colombians call a party. And I was prepared for the biggest week of fiestas ever before I leave the country Thursday however started The Big Thing. There were so called Bandos that passed around town. Like big trucks where the beauty http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-453220.html Next we were off to Taganga on the Caribbean coast where Dana got his dive certification and our starting point for the lost city trek.The Lost City is a recently discovered Tayrona ruin which lies deep in the jungle and closest road is a 3 day hike away. In 2002 some tourists were kidnapped from the site by the Colombian rebels FARC since then there are always 40 military personal stationed at http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-453186.html Aprs un trajet de 10 heures nous sommes maintenant Bogota capitale de la Colombie. On peut sentir la diffrence de temprature il fait trop froid ici Bogota est en effet situ 2600 mtres d'altitude donc on a rang les shorts et tshirts pour un jean et anorak.Nous sommes rests une seule nuit Bogota dans une des auberges cot du centre historique o nous avons rencontr un couple http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-452924.html So we have arrived safe and sound in medellin the home town of El Seor Pablo Escobar. Our bus journey unfortauntely was not as pleasant as some before. We luckily got the seats up the front but there was very little leg room and then to make matter worse there was a leak above my seat so my pants started to get soaked. I stuck some tissue up in the roof which slowed it down but I awoke at 4.30 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-452095.html Aprs un bus de nuit qui n'tait pas des plus confortable nous voici maintenant Medellin. Le dossier des siges ne s'inclinait presque pas et en plus on avait une fuite d'eau au dessus de nous Pas facile de dormir.. Le matin nous sommes arrivs vers 6h30 et je ralise qu'une de mes tongues a disparu J'ai du sortir du bus avec ma tongue restante noire et la tongue Dave verte qui chausse http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-452078.html Hey everyone just added photos to lots of my previous blogs so you can see what ive been up to plus a few here from Cartagena. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-451226.html Nous sommes maintenant arrivs Cartagne ville romantique de Colombie. La centre ville est entour de massifs remparts qui le protgeait des attaques des pirates. Larchitecture est coloniale style espagnol c'est une ville vraiment magnifique o il fait bon se balader.Les 2ers jours nous avons visit la vieille ville avec ses nombreuses glises ses vieilles rues qui n'ont pas tellement chan http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-451179.html Aaaahh Taganga... On a pas fait grand chose lbas mais quel bonheur de pouvoir se reposer sur les plages des Caraibes Taganga est aussi trs rput pour la plonge et offre des prix plus que raisonnables.Enfin aprs 2 jours on commencait s'ennuyer alors on a dcid de poursuivre nos diplomes de plonge sous marine. Nous avions dj notre PADI open water le 1er niveau en plonge. 2me ta http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Taganga/blog-451037.html So after a long and gruelling journey over the border from Venezuela which included paying numurous officials off and queing for long periods in the raging heat we finally arrived in Taganga. Taganga is a little fishing village around 5 Km outside the town of Santa Marta. It is very popular for diving and just chilling out on the Carribean. We were particularly excited as it was our first trip to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Taganga/blog-451000.html Gus and Jaida were comfortable. They had finally arrived at Colombias Northern beaches in reasonably quick fashion and had spent four days or so in a lovely beach town named Santa Marta. It was what they wanted maybe even needed after all everyone knows that the hectic life of a backpacker sometimes needs to go back to experiencing some allimportant creature comforts. And thats how they were http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-450295.html Finally we arrive in South America.Cartagena is the most beautiful and romantic city in Colombia and possibly South America. As we sailed in on the calm water just after sunrise the first thing we saw was the old wall which was built around the old city to keep pirates out. The city had been sacked and burned down a few times by Captain Morgan as it was the port town where treasure hunters left b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-448670.html Hi EveryoneSorry that this entry has been so long overdue we have been busy getting settled in our new home in Costa Rica. This entry has some of the photos of our trip through Colombia which was our favourite country which we visited by far and then on to Panama by sailboat via the beautiful San Blas islands.Hope you enjoy the photos thinking of you allYaz and Jack http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-447973.html Popayan to Pasto took about 6 hours we have to haggle for the best price bus company everyone is competing for our fare at the bus terminal in Popayan we settled to the lowest price and we got a proper bus not a van. The bus was good for a good 2 hours it actually have a strong ac then it broke and the heater went on and somehow they cant turn it off so the roof has to be opened to let in fres http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Pasto/blog-447665.html And now for Colombia. I flew into Bogota on a Monday afternoon. I spent the afternoon looking at the old main square and visiting some museums. Colombias most famous artist is a man named Botero. There is an excellent little Museo Botero near the town square that not only features his work but has a great collection of Impressionist as well as Surrealist artists considering the size of the museu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/San-Gil/blog-447637.html Went to a volcano yesterday that spews forth mud that is supposedly the best thing you can treat your skin to. It was amazingly nice getting pampered by the locals getting massages etc. After the mud bath they even washed us in the river and forced us to take off our swim suitsI am too lazy to describe it but take a look at the pictures tons of fun http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-447563.html HOLA A TODOSAgain it has been a while since my last bloghellipbuthellipI really put a lot of effort into this one. After I dont know how many years of travelling around so called 3rd world countries I decided to write about every day things that are normal here but maybe not so normal in other parts of the world.This is probably the longest blog I published but I think it is worth to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-447099.html