Blogs from Parque Nacional Tayrona, Santa Marta, Colombia, South America - page 2

Sme v Santa Marte na severnom karibskom pobrezi Kolumbie. Mesto nic moc, ale hostel At Jackie's je prijemny. Trosku som sa tu v tento den zezoterizovala. Betho z Nemecka mi na pockanie vyrobil naramok z farebnych spagatikov na nohu a ucil ma zonglovat. Vyrazame do narodneho parku Tayrona, ktory je necelu hodinu autobusom od Santa Marty. Na ceste stretavame prveho Slovaka s jeho kamaratom. Pridaju sa ku nam. Alebo my k nim? Do parku sa plati vstupne (39.000 pesos). Kolumbijcania to maju za polovicu. V pralese stretavame skupinku indianskych deti (indigenas). Macetou nam predelia kokosovy orech a my sa osviezime nie zrovna zrelym kokosovym mliekom. Ubytujeme sa v kempe Cabo de San Juan. Postredie a plaze su nadherne, wecka a sprchy uz trochu menej. V pozadi plazi je prales, napadne pripominajuci obrazy Henriho Rousseaua. Nad celym ... read more

Columbia Cuzco and Lima We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on 17 dec, after a bad nights sleep at our hostel in Cuzco. The altitude was still affecting my sleep and I kept waking up gulping air. We had a chocolate quinoa croissant breakfast at a recommended (by the only other South African we met on our whole trip) organic restaurant before hopping on an open top tour bus. The tour was average because we could hardly hear a word the guide was saying. Nevertheless it was nice to look at all the old churches, the ancient inca ruins and the imposing white Christ which towers overs the city and mimicks Rio's Christ redeemed. We found a restaurant that had hubbly for lunch and Skyped Gav before catching a cab to the airport. We bumped ... read more

Flying out of Leticia in the early afternoon, the cold front that had been present for a few days dissipated, and the hot, humid weather returned while we waited at the airport. Even though there is only a couple of flights a day out of Leticia, we still had to be there 2 hours prior, dripping away in the terminal. But this was nothing compared to what greeted us when we landed in Santa Marta at 9pm that night. It was still 30 degrees, with high humidity, and instantly every pore started leaking. Checking into the hostel, we were grateful to find that our room had a brand new air conditioner that chilled both the room, and us quickly. Nevertheless, once back outside again we started sweating buckets. The Santa Marta festival had been on all ... read more

Dear family and friends,.....................(If this is too much to read, then at least have a look at the pics!!) The last time you heard from us we were on the ecuadorian coast. Well we have travelled through two counties and have picked up more friends along the way. Lets get back to the tale. We endend up in Montanita on the coast of ecuardor and spent a lazy week soaking up some sun and playing on the beach. Our good friend Charles had to go back home and it was sad to see the lad leave but as they say 'all good things must come to an end' (Thats your trip im talking about charles!!! ha ha ha). We got out the lonely planet and formulated a basic plan. The plan was, pass the dangerous Columbian ... read more

Santa Marta, Tayrona and Minca From Bogota we took a plane ride up to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, to the city of Santa Marta. As soon as we stepped off the plane we knew something had changed, the weather was hot and sticky, and the atmosphere was laid back (not surprisingly given the heat!). We spent about a week and a half in Santa Marta interspersed with a few nights in both Tayrona National Park (a spot of largely unspoiled jungle next to the sea) and Minca (a small village in the foothills), the highlights of our time in these places is outlined below. Santa Marta: a very relaxing stay in Aluna with our Irish host Patrick; set Mexican lunch at Agave Azul and fresh smoothies at Lulu’s; beach day at Rododero in a ... read more