Blogs from Colombia, South America - page 5

http://www.heygo.com 14th March - La Choca in Pasto, Nariño: The Second Largest Lagoon in Colombia in Nariño department, a place located in Southern Colombia, in between the Andes and the Amazon. In southern Colombia, 250 miles north of the equator, high in the Andes at an altitude of 7,000 feet above sea level is the town of Pasto . Just 12 miles outside of town is Lake Cocha or Laguna de la Cocha. It is one of Colombia’s largest and most beautiful lakes. It is also one of the Andean water reserves and a birthplace of the Amazon river. The lake receives its water from several streams and rivers coming from glaciers located higher up. The water from the lake does not flow to the nearby Pacific Ocean, but travels through the Guamez and Putamayo rivers ... read more

Hello, my dearest travelblog readers, after so long, here I am again on a new unexpected entry, hoping you haven't forgotten me just yet...This one won´t have stories of hotels and planes, it would consist of a very specific account of some away time that I have taken to myself, not voluntary though, as we all know. It was after conversing with my inner self that these lines were written to describe what I have learned during the current pandemic. You might see photos of my abode in Chinácota, a tiny village in Colombia, where I'm feeling as if I were back at high school, taking care of my parents in this hidden paradise. All in all, I feel I am paying a humble homage to nature, by offering some personal images of pets, flowers and ... read more

With my first week in Colombia having been spent on the Caribbean coast, it was only natural for me to want to spend my second week in the mountains... and what better way to shake off the big city cobwebs than by joining a 4-day guided trek through the rainforest-clad lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta – the world's highest coastal mountain range?! But having neglected to take my passport with me to the Expotur office in the centre of Santa Marta when I paid for the trip a couple of days prior, I first had to take a minivan into town on the Monday morning (9thMarch) to take care of this little aside... only to find that the centre of Santa Marta had lost power, so that not only was the office ... read more

Colombia is an enigma. Named after a man who never set foot in the country, it contains a greater wealth of biodiversity than any other country on the planet apart from Brazil, which is seven times larger. With coastlines fronting both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, it also boasts over a thousand kilometres of the Andes mountains (which split into three parallel ranges on the way north into Venezuela) as well as a separate mountain range in the north, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, that rises straight out of the sea to heights of over 5700 metres – making it the highest coastal mountain range on Earth. Add to that an enormous expanse of grasslands, known as Los Llanos, and a significant portion of the Amazon rainforest, and you end up with a natural ... read more

SECOND OF SEVEN COUNTRY TOUR OF SOUTH AMERICA My first (and last) blog ended upon our arrival in Cartagena from 10 days in Mexico City. Cartagena, the old town, is bright, alive and a magical step back in time. Horse drawn carriages on cobblestone streets, colorful colonial buildings with balconies dripping with bougainvillea and Passion flower, smell of Creole spice and coffee lingering in the air...and local women in traditional garb selling fruit from baskets they carry on their heads. Added to this mix are world class restaurants, luxury brand stores, little yellow taxis everywhere...people...lots and lots of people! It’s all a bit overwhelming upon arrival and it didn’t help that several cruise ships had brought hundreds of people ashore the next day. And, of course, with the arrival of cruise ships came the hordes of ... read more