Blogs from Santander, Colombia, South America

(Day 56 on the road) It’s been roughly a month since I arrived in Colombia, so now seems like a good time for a first recap. And to say it upfront, it has been a pretty good month indeed! After a two-hour flight (and a 3 ½ hour wait at the completely understaffed Colombian immigration), Medellin with its 2,5 million inhabitants was my first port of call. And despite of what image the city has as the former base of the infamous Pablo Escobar and its drug cartel, these days I found it to be an inspiring and forward-looking city. Gone are the days when Time Magazine called it “The Most Dangerous City in the World”, complete with its gang wars and the highest murder rate in the world. Nowadays, the whole city seemed to brim ... read more

So after striking out in the so called "adventure" capital of Colombia due to no "adventure" activities being offered I decided to take a bus to Barichara about 15 miles up in the mountains. Barichara is an old Spanish colonial town founded in 1705. The town I'm sure has not changed much in the 300+ years since it was founded. The streets are old cobblestone, the buildings whitewashed, and old Spanish tiles adorn the rooftops. A perfect place to just relax for a couple of days and soak it all in. The landscape surrounding the town consisted of lush green, steep mountains and the mighty Rio Suarez in the valley below. These complimented the town absolutely perfectly. It was like I had stepped back into time. After I arrived in town I checked into Tinto Hostel ... read more

Geo: 7.11331, -73.1205Cartagena to Minca 21 December - 8 January 2016The flight from Bogota to Cartagena was very short and much more comfortable than a long bus ride. We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas in Cartagena, founded in 1533 by a Spaniard. It soon became a rich town as it was the main Spanish port on the Caribbean where all the gold stolen from indigenuous communities in South America was stored before being transported back to Spain. Because of this it was a prime target for buccaneers and it was sacked three times in the 16 Century alone. Sir Frances Drake was persuaded not to raise it to the ground again in 1586 by being given a payment of 10 Million Pesos. After this the Spaniards set about protecting the town by surrounding it with fortified walls.Walking ... read more

My dear friends, this is a short letter to a twitter publication that went viral. Mis queridos amigos, aprovecho este espacio para hacer pasar esta corta misiva a propósito de una publicación en twitter que corrió como pólvora en el internet. We couldn´t help but notice a publication which again encourages the use of stereotypes. A move that I do not understand since you did it just after your country had won the match against Spain, shouldn´t you be happy and rejoiced by the triumph instead of favoring the existence of stereotypes? I mean, we did not play against you on the worldcup, so why us? No pudimos evitar notar su publicación que favorece los repetidos estereotipos que siempre hemos tenido. Algo que no entiendo es, el por qué hacerlo, si ustedes acababan de ganar el ... read more

Well, not many goings-on around here for the moment, just revising and editing my novel. But in the meantime, I had the chance to visit a quiet destination; located in Santander, at only 231 km from Bucaramanga -around 4h20 mins by bus-, Velez, whose name dates from the Spanish conquest, is a village renowned for its delicious sweets, made ​​with guava pulp and wrapped in banana leaves, as well as its National Festival of Guabina, a typical Colombian dance. Historically, it has to be named as it was one of the first territories in the world, and first in Latin America, which granted the right to vote to women in 1853, putting an end to their fight for full citizenship, according to Wikipedia. Bueno, no han pasado muchas cosas, por el momento, aparte de escribir, editar ... read more