Blogs from Ciudad Perdida, Santa Marta, Colombia, South America - page 5

Now we´re talking. Colombia has skyrocketed in the South America rankings and is most definitely living up to its hype as a backpacker favorite since you heard from me last. From Medellin we caught our last foreseeable overnight bus ride up to Cartagena and a day later we continued from Cartagena on to Santa Marta. Upon arriving in Santa Marta, we immediately signed up for a trek departing the next day for Ciudad Perdida, or in English, the Lost City. Although six days is the common time frame for this excursion, the 11 of us (and by us I mean random gringos in our hostel) opted for the five day version, which only differs in that it covers more ground on the last day. Consisting of 2 Americans (Drew and I), 4 Irish, 1 Scottish, 3 ... read more

We left Salvador and headed to Belem in the North of Brazil. From here we decided to take a 5 day boat trip up the Rio Amazonas, but as with most things in Brazil it ended up taking 6 days. The view was amazing and it was great to travel up the Amazon. The boat arrived a day before we where due to leave, so we went aboard and set up the hammocks, hoping to avoid making the same mistake as we did in Paraguay. However on our return the next day we found that the spacious deck had transformed into hammock mayhem. There were hundreds of hammocks on each floor and where in between, under and over our own. The only way to get in and out of the hammock zone was to crawl on ... read more

Well, Since I've been appearing in Frans blogs, I decided I better write one of them. So here goes the first Colombia entry. Well, Colombia gets a lot of bad press so it was hard not to arrive with a few preconceptions. In Panama we had seen the Colombian tourist board advertisements on the TV, telling us the when you go to Colombia 'The only risk is wanting to stay'. After a couple of days we soon realised how beautiful and safe Colombia is & how much they are doing to shake off the bad image. We arrived in an amazing colonial city called Cartagena. The old part of town is contained within the original city walls & everything inside has been preserved in the old colonial style. The city was decorated for Christmas & had ... read more

And so, with a HUUUUUGE sigh of relief, and the knowledge that we were entering our 18th and final country of this trip, we eased quietly into Colombia. And as we sat on our small and quiet bus, trundling its way slowly across the very top of South America towards Santa Marta, the chaos and anxieties of Venezuela evaporated slowly from our minds, as the beads of sweat also evaporated from our foreheads under the welcome aircon. It had been a while since we'd taken a bus anywhere, having flown for freedom out of Venezuela, and the pint-sized Colombian coach had an air of Postman Pat about it as it rolled up and down hills and around corners, along a smooth road with lines and everything - a sure sign that we'd arrived in place that ... read more

Nach vier stuendiger Fahrt mit dem Bus von Cartagena sind wir in Santa Marta angekommen. Die Stadt liegt direkt am Meer besitzt aber ansonsten nicht allzuviel charm und ist fuer uns eher ausgangspunkt fuer unsere weitere reise in die Sierra Nevada und fuer Parque de Tyrona. Nichts desto trotz haben wir eine nette und guenstige unterkunft in der casa familar gefunden und erkunden sonntags die eher menschen leeren strassen. Nach einigem hin und her ueber die Promenade finden wir nach einer guten stunde fuessweg direkt vor unserem hostel das beste fruehstueck dass wir bislang auf unsrer reise hatten. Leichtsinniger weise haben wir uns jeder ein riesen omlette und einen gigantischen fruchtsalat bestellt... zusaetzlich zu einem liter frischem fruchtsaft. Von unsrern tischnachbarn wurden wir dafuer muede belaechelt, da sie bereits um 10 uhr morgens groesseres in angriff ... read more