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Published: October 7th 2015
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Alright everyone sorry for the delay in blogs if you have been anxiously waiting lol! I last left off leaving Mexico by bus where I decided to take Ticabus from Tapachula all the way to Panama City and after 3 days, almost 4, I arrived in Panama City late in the afternoon and was so excited to see a great friend of mine, who I hadn't seen in a few years due to me being on the other side of the planet for a while. I met Gloria in Bogota in 2010 and we have always kept in contact talking daily via whatsapp and FB. She is the perfect woman and I've made it known that when she is ready for a relationship I want to be first choice lol. Anyway, I caught a cab from the Albrook station to Hostel Sririri in an upscale part of Panama City and it was close to Gloria's house so it was perfect, we met at a neutral place since I didn't know the city..The corner of Calle 50 lol! I saw her walking across the street and I was in love all over again haha! We hugged and soon decided to get some
food so we went to Papa Johns and had some beers and pizza along with a lot of catching up on things. It was really great, she then invited me to her apartment to meet her roommates and just chill out and chat away the night. About 1am I decided to leave and get back to the hostel, but she invited me to stay with her for the weekend if I promised to cook lol, I said "DEAL"!
I decided to show her how to cook a real lasagna dish, we had fun and it was nice to actually get back into the kitchen with real ingredients 😊. I stayed for the weekend while she was off work and went back to Hostel Sririri for 1 more night to say goodbye to a couple new people that I had met there and also my jeep to Carti was picking me up early the next morning at 5:30am. The jeep came at about 6am and I was the first to get picked up and we drove around to various other hostels to gather the others. San Blas Adventures, I had heard so many good things about so that
is why I booked the trip with them and I wasn't disappointed! The food, the guides (Marco and Angie) were really great people and I would highly recommend going on the trip if you are coming down this way.
We stopped at a supermarket on the way so we could all gather items we needed for the trip, Rum, snacks, water, Rum etc etc. It turns out our jeep wasn't the only one in our group we soon found out, well I did anyway, that there was about 20 people in our group in other jeeps as well. After a few hours ride we made it to the launch point in Carti where there were other groups doing different tours as well. We got to meet Marco and Angie on the docks and after about an hour our lanchas arrived, I have no Idea why, but I was expecting a big ship that we would all cruise on through the islands and stopping and docking in different locations, but it's basically going island to island in little lanchas which was ok. The first night we stayed on Pelican Island and it was MAGNIFICENT! A shipwrecked madman's dream!
Coconut trees everywhere, plentiful fish and conch all around not to mention the bright clear blue sea...JUST AMAZING! Marco and Angie fixed up a hell of a meal on the first night which included all you can eat lobster! It really did outshine the other places we went along the way, for me it did, I love little islands away from everything and everyone, hence why Cast Away is one of my favorite movies lol. A lot of swimming and snorkeling was done on this trip as I love the sea and had an amazing time, met some cool people along the way and I am back in Colombia again!!! The border stop in Puerto Obaldia, Panama, after 3 years is still the same fuckin' hassle it was then. I was glad to get out of there and to Capurgana, which has definitely changed since last time I was there. More developed near the docks. I got stamped in after the 3 hour lunch siesta the immigration guy took and I relaxed for a few days while deciding which way to go....to Cartagena or Medellin...I chose Cartagena because it's a part of Colombia that I haven't been to and also
the forts and history. I had a really good time although I didn't really like Cartagena compared to other places in Colombia I did make a day of walking the fort walls and seeing the fort which is amazing!
After a couple of days there in Hostel Mamallena, I decided I wasn't fully over my attraction to the sea so I booked a trip to Playa Blanca and so I went, I was met in the parking lot by an Argentinian girl who was working for a hostel on the beach and for about $10 per night I could have my own little cabana style room so we walked and walked and walked.....it was pretty far down the beach, but worth it. The sea was amazing and I was thinking "DAMN, I want to stay here" the locals were great, girls in thongs (USA type thongs, not Aussie) on the beach, fresh seafood everyday etc etc! I ended up staying for 3 days and met a nice girl from Barranquilla who is actually a singer here in Colombia and lives and works in Bogota. She had thongs as well OMG lol. She was very cool and down
to earth we hung out for a couple days there swimming, drinking, chatting etc etc I tried to convince May to stay an extra day until I was leaving but she had other things to get back to. So we said our goodbyes and stay in touch via whatsapp now.
After Playa Blanca I went back to Cartagena for the day as I was catching the night bus to Medellin a 13 hour trek lol. In the morning we stopped for breakfast and coffee in a small town in the mountains a few hours away from Medellin and it was just incredible, I wish I could remember the name of the town, I will have to look at the map and see, but it was picturesque in the mountains, clear and sunny ..just incredible!
I arrived in Medellin and I had a reservation at a hotel for a couple of days. I called a friend I have known for a few years and she came over and we had some lunch and chatted away the day. I then moved to Hostel Arcadia where I have been for a few weeks they had openings for
volunteers so I thought I'd do that while I look for teaching work, which has been incredibly difficult so far! So that's my update and I hope to find some work soon as money is getting low 😊
That's all for now.....Buen viaje people and thanks for reading!!
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