I rolled into town alone and a little flustered. My first town arrival without my beloved travel partner Anna and I was daunted. But after a frustrated yet determined hour I unloaded my dusty pack onto the squashy bed of a hostel of which I was the only occupant. After another hour of so wandering the few streets of the town I felt much better. A Thursday night; the town was void of tourists and got on its merry way without interupptions. A beautifully colourful craft market was winding up in the town centre square, people were cooking steaming piles of corn and miscellaneous meat on the side of the road, and a group of men were playing an animated game of what looked like four square, but with a little rubber ball, and standing about ... read more

Now Salento was more like it! Everything we were hoping Manizales would be (and wasn't quite) Salento was! It's a teeny little town set in a hushed foggy mountain valley. There are only a few streets and one main plaza like in all the tiniest towns we have visited. It's quiet here, no moaning buses and screeching vendors and the views are so splendid you can spend all day just looking at them. All the men are genuine certified cowboys; donned in cowboy hats, ponchos and gumboots and riding horses everywhere! Plantation House, the only hostel listed in the Lonely Planet was full, but we discovered that there are about 30 other hostels in the town. We stayed one night at the republic artisans which was a little bit expensive but came with, I kid you ... read more

Cartagena, what an amazing city. In truth we weren't very excited about going to there, we had been having such an incredible time traipsing along the coast and we thought that although a vital stop in the Colombia journey, Cartagena would be just a big loud city with mediocre beaches. We were wrong. Cartagena is a big city, and the beaches, at least in the immediate city can't compare to Tayrona or Cabo de la Vela, but it is very unlike anywhere we have been. We set ourselves up in the Getsemani district, which is where most backpackers go, in a lovely hostel Casa Viena in a dorm with air conditioning! What a luxury, and a very very hot city. Alot of people were complaining about the heat, but we absolutely loved it. On our first ... read more

So for those of you following along, we had just left Taganga to make our way to Parque Nacional Tayrona! The entry was surprisingly gruelling, after two bus rides we arrived at the gate. The guide book said it was about a 3km walk to get in so we decided to skip the taxi and walk it ourselves. The first 3km was quite easy, just walking along a smooth flat road, although slightly uphill. It was hot though and our packs were heavy but we stayed perky because we knew it wasnt much further. However, it would seem that it is about 3km to reach another entrance where cars can no longer get through, then it is a further 3 or 4 kms to the campsite! The walk was quite difficult, really narrow muddy tracks through ... read more

Sitting here in Bogota wearing a summer skirt, long woolen socks and my thermal, wearing all the warm things I have while my pants drip dry. Today the rain has not stopped pattering away on unpredictable Bogota, we ventured out briefly for huevos y jugos (eggs and juice) but got so completely soaked that we have been locked up for the rest of the day, reading in hammocks, drinking cups and cups of strong sweet coffee and plotting our future plans. There couldn't be a nicer prison! Today is our final day in Bogota, we will leave for further north tomorrow, to eventually reach Cartagena and soak up the rays. Don't worry, Bogota hasn't been all raining and inside activites (as lovely as that is). We have been exercising our lungs (literally a breathtaking place) and ... read more