Two weeks in Columbia

---

Well I have just returned from 14 days in Columbia. Unfortunately, I have no exciting stories about drug lords or kidnappings but I can say that I had a great time and Columbia is fabulous. So all you people out there wondering if you should do it or not - DO IT!

For a start, the weather is absolutely fabulous! 35 degrees is the daily average temperature (or so it seems anyway). Humidity is about 100% which isnt really great when you wake up in the morning feeling like you just got out of a hot bath. But you take the bad with the good right. The country is beautiful and the people are immensely friendly, easygoing and laid back.

We started our journey in the Carribean city of Cartegena. Cartegena is beautiful. Full of massive churches and monistories, mansions, narrow winding streets and 500 year old forts. Also, it is surronded by the original wall built by the Spanish in the 15th century. This wall was built to protect the masses of treasures stolen from the Indians that was stored there from pirate attacks.

After exploring Cartegena we got on a bus up the coast to the seaside town foof Santa Marta the jumping off point for visiting Parque Nacional Tyrona. The original plan was to spend one night here and then head to Taganga, a small fishing village just 20 mins from Santa Marta. However, on arrival in Santa Marta we were informed by our hostel owner that there was dengue fever in Taganga and we best avoid it! Hmmm there is no vaccination or treatment for the dengue and with all the mosquitos around we decided to play it safe and avoid the village.

The next day, while Mel went off for a few hours diving, I had a chance to explore Santa Marta. It was a cool town I thought. The oldest surviving town in Columbia it was full of markets and a hive of activity with street vendors selling anything and everything. I also ventured to the nearby El Rodadero beach, the more upscale are of town for some swimming and sunbathing.

We stayed one more night in Santa Marta and thats when we experienced the dreaded rain. Ok so (as we discovered) when it rains in Santa Marta the streets flood. And when the streets flood the sewage overflows from the drains. And funnily enough, this phenomonen only occurs on the street with all the backpacker hostels on it! The stench is horrible, and not only that, but it is impossible to cross the street without being ankle deep in it. So there was many an evening spent trying to find a way from one side of the street to the other without getting our feet wet.

The next day we missioned it to Parque Nacional Tayrona. After a thorough search of our stuff at the gate (where a guard pulled out Mels boxer shorts and flung them round in the air for all the others to see) they were satisfied we werent carrying drugs and let us in. Tayrona is set in the jungle covered carribean coast and is just stunning. After a 1.5 hour walk along the coast we arrived at our destination, Cabo San Juan de la Guia, a beautiful beach set amongst coconut palms and cliffs.

We stayed at Cabo for two nights. Now originally we had planned to stay for three. However, as comfortable as hammocks are when you are snoozing, they are not so comfortable when you have to sleep a solid 8 hours in one! It all seemed very romantic thought, we slept in hammocks under a shelter at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Sound good? I will try and post a photo of it. Our three days there were spent swimming and reading and eating. Yeah it was pretty nice. A wee bit quiet though. The only electricity was provided via a generator which was only on 6pm to 11pm. So 11pm was lights out! And when the lights were out it was pitch black! Walking up the side of a cliff to our hammocks was hard!

Oh another cool thing I did in Tayrona was a 2 hour walk uphill to Pueblito. This was a small indigenous village in the middle of national park. The scenary on the way up was amazing. But the coolest thing was the village itself. Now I have been to some indigenous villages in Ecuador and they are always a wee bit of a let down because they have obviously moved with the times and wearing jeans and watching tv. However, this was totally real. When we walked into the village the villagers ran into their houses. A couple of girls were washing some clothes in the river and they dropped them and ran! We did meet one little girl and she was wearing a sack practically. These people are actucally still living traditionally.

So after Tayrona we headed back to Santa Marta. And after hearing more about Taganga from other travellers we thought hey why not just a day trip? So the enxt day we headed to Taganga. On the bus there we met an owner of a hostel in Taganga who told us it was basically a load of crap and that everywhere in the Carribean has dengue fever at the moment - the worst ever in 100 years! Hmmm... i have a lot of itchy bites. Lets hope that I avoided the dengue. Taganga was nice. A quiet little village and a nice beach about a 20 minute walk around a cliff. Good juices too.

So from there we headed back to Cartegena. I was happy to be back. I love that city! So vibrant! We stayed there just one night before heading down the coast to a small coastal town called Tolu. Now Tolu isnt really much of a backpackers destination but we thought why not something off the beaten path. Plus it was a stepping stone to the mud volcano at Arboletes.

Tolu was actually pretty cool. Its not in the guidebooks so receives very few foreign visiters but its a popular holiday destination for Columbians. I think we were the only gringos in town. The town was full of great restaurants on the waterfront and food stalls selling all kinds of stuff. Transport was via horsedrawn carriage or taxi bikes with huge speakers blasting Latino music.

So from Tolu we took a "day trip" to Arboletes. A rather long day trip as it turns out! After a two hour bus ride to Monteria, a one hour wait and then a 1.5 hour bus ride to Arboletes we arrived. Totally worth it though! The mud volcano was amazing. To explain, it is a volcano but instead of lava and ashes, it spews mud. Apparenly caused by the pressure of gases emitted by decaying organic matter underground (sound smart huh!). Anyway, its really crazy. The mud has the consistency of thick cream. And it supports you in every position. Also, it apparently contains minerals acclaimed for their therapeutic properties which has got to be good. After lying around in the mud for a while, we walked down to the beach and washed the mud off. Oh yes I can feel the minerals working wonders right now.

So after our dip in the mud pool it was a mission back to Tolu. Flagging down a local bus on the road in the middle of nowhere blasting local music as load as possible! A bumpy ride too. Mental note dont sit over the back wheel on a dodgy looking bus ever again! Luckily we made it back to Tolu on the last bus.

From Tolu it was off to Mompox a little colonial town bordered on one side by vast swamps and on the other by the Magdalena River. To be honest, the most exciting thing about Mompox was getting there but thats kinda why we went. A bus, a van, a boat and a taxi. Phew. The bus was fine, the boat was ok, the taxi was rather pleasant but the van was kinda scary. 21 people crammed into a tiny van which so would not pass a warrant of fitness. the frame was crumbling down around me. Two hours but we survived. Yay. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and cross your fingers!

Mompox itself was pretty quiet. We saw the sights in an afternoon, met the only other backpackers in town, ate some food and then left the next morning. On a 6am bus. Apparently there is one direct bus to Cartegena so after our exciting expereince of the day before we decided to take the easy route home.

Back in Cartegena for a couple of days to finish off our Columbian experience. Its sad to be leaving but looking forward to the next adventure in Peru.

And if this all hasnt convinced you let me just tell you about the juices. They are amazing! I have made it my goal over the last 14 days to drink at least one juice a day. I didnt do too badly i think. The juices are made fresh on the street. My favourite has to be banana and passionfruit. Man it is sooo good!

---