Arriving in Colombia

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Kyle and I arrived in Bogota at 5:00 am on Saturday morning hungry, exhausted and excited. We met up with Allison, our former roommate from Portland, at the hostel. We shared arepas and freshly squeezed orange juice before visiting the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum). The next day we went on a graffiti walking tour around the city and took a cable car to a beautiful mountaintop that looked over all of Bogota.

On Monday, we took an eight hour bus ride to San Gil. The mountain views were breath-taking, yet a little scary when we looked down. Al, Kyle and I arrived in San Gil late that night and booked a hostel room. The next day we walked around the quaint town, booked an expensive paragliding tour and visited Pozo Azul, a gorgeous river with waterfalls that lead to a natural occurring pool. Today, the three of us jumped off a mountain in the Chicamocha Canyon with only a parachute (and a guide) on our backs. The 90 minutes of paragliding through this mountainous canyon were exhilarating yet tranquil. Al and her guide had to land unexpectedly by the river and were forced to hike 30 minutes through tall grass and over rocks until they arrived at a cable car that brought them to a road where the bus could pick them up. Thankfully, Kyle and I did not have the same experience. I did, however, forget to reapply sunscreen and my upper thighs and arms are bright red. My sunburn will make the uncomfortable, 10 hour, overnight bus ride to Cucuta even harder to endure. From there we plan to cross the Colombia-Venezuela border and bus or fly to the Caracas area to meet up with my sister by Saturday.

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