Colombia - you won't want to leave

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So after the fun on the farm it was off to Cali. Cali is Colombia’s salsa capital. So of course we had to have a night at a salsa club! With some friends from our farm experience we hit a salsa club called La Topa Tolondra. On arrival it looked like some shabby warehouse something you would find in Dalston. But as soon as we were in…wow what an atmosphere! The music was brilliant, with people playing instruments and everyone was there to have fun. How salsa works is you wait for a man to ask you to dance to different songs. So each song you have a different dance partner. I can’t salsa whatsoever but we had had 2 lessons prior to this on our trip so I gave it a good go. Basically it’s all about moving the hips, being in time with the beat and having fun. The man practically leads the dance. Pretty sure I trod on way too many feet but it was a great night!! If you are in Cali I definitely recommend this salsa club. As for Cali in general, it really is just a plain town I really liked Penol park area this had an amazing pizza restaurant and some quirky bars.



During Easter weekend in Colombia they have what is called Semana Santa, which is the biggest religious celebration of the year. From what I hear they have parades, people dress up and lots of food and music on offer. In Popayan for this they have to paint all their buildings white. Well they are already white but they have to give them a new slap of paint. We just spent an afternoon in Popayan. During the night at our hostel here, I woke up itching – I found bed bugs!! I’ve never actually seen bed bugs before but these were huge black things and when I killed them they were packed full of blood…my blood !



I feel I have to write about the Colombian people as they really make this country. They are so welcoming and helpful. Colombia has a reputation for being dangerous and full of drugs. In my opinion I feel safer here then places in London. There is security in many main areas, which at first I found scary seeing men with huge machine guns but actually I’m so used to it now. The main buyers and consumers of the drugs are us Europeans not the Colombians, they actually really dislike the past. But yes the people are amazing, I’ve had pineapple just randomly bought for me on a bus, people come out their houses to help us find our place to stay and constant ‘welcome to Colombia’ shouted.



One of our stops was San Agustin. This we were told was a hellish bus journey from Popayan of 5-6 hours on unpaved roads. Our first stop on the bus was to pick up sick bags erm great we thought!! However, we did not find the journey too bad and arrived in just over 4 hours. But many people behind us were puking..nice! So to San Agustin this place is beautiful. The mountain scenery surrounding it is spectacular. This area is home to archaeological statues which belong to people between the 8^th to 1^st century BC. Noone really knows what the statues are for but they are the biggest collection of religious statues in South America and it would seem were used for burial sites or to keep bad spirits away. They are very interesting don’t you think? Some of them are seen to be holding fish or different animals apparently this is because these were the animals around at the time. However some are holding children that look pretty evil…not sure what that resembles then?! The archaeological park is definitely worth a visit. We spent our second day bird watching in the local area. Colombia is home to largest amount of different bird species in the world. I really recommend Finca el Maco, with views of the rolling hills and so peaceful. We stayed in a tipi it was amazing. We had a fire place in the tipi and an outdoor bathroom. For this we paid 7 pound a night each, I think that is pretty amazing personally. The food here is also great – organic yogurt and homemade bread 😉!



Journeys over here take a long time, you definitely need a month to do Colombia ATLEAST! We’ve had some interesting journeys, but one thing I found interesting is how the locals just jump on with their animals. One journey I sat next to some fluffy ball of a dog which had hair bows in – some kind of funky hairdo going on. The next I sat next to a parrot called Roberto who was very friendly and enjoyed some of my cheese roll. They love their animals over here, I don’t think kennels exist. These animals come everywhere with them!



As we made our way up to Bogota (our last stop) we took one more stop in what the Colombians call the desert. This place is called Lake Tatacoa, which infact used to be a lake but due to the dry and humid weather has now dried out. So in return you have a desert. This is called a desert as it reaches 40 deg at times and is pretty barren. Our journey from Neiva to the desert was eventful on the back of jeep, they packed in 7 people. I’m pretty sure this jeep should have had around 4 people in total. On the jeep was a very excitable Colombian man who liked to pretend he was a gringo (American) it was rather entertaining. However this Colombian really didn’t look Colombian so maybe deep down he did have some gringo in him! That night we took a visit to the local observatory as the desert is a great star spotting place. The talks were in Spanish but hey it was still good to go. Next morning we took an early 6:30am tour to see the area, I’m not a tour person I actually really dislike tours and would much rather do things myself. But I gathered the only way Matt would get up in the morning was if we had a tour 😉! First we visited the grey desert and then the red – both are packed full of different rock formations, it’s really interesting to see. I also tried cactus fruit for the first time, which tastes like kiwi really. If you do stay in the desert be prepared to have beetles, moths and other bugs flying at you during the night. I have to add that during our tour Matt being polite decided to make conversation with the guide about the local people however this time he said to the guy ‘las chicas es muy facil’……This meaning the girls are easy!! Erm Matt I think you meant the girls are happy, big language mistake AGAIN…..Let’s face it after 6 months of travelling in Spanish countries, where actually very few people speak English, we still can’t speak Spanish. I wouldn’t even say we were beginner level, my understanding is good but I can’t really speak it. How I ever got a B at GCSE Spanish I don’t know but clearly they did not actually prepare us for the real Spanish speaking. What I will say is if you do want to travel Latin America do learn some Spanish, not in England but a school at the start. Guatemala is very cheap and from what I hear so is Bolivia. You will get so much more out of it with the language! Every traveller speaks Spanish, even the scouse with the strongest accent can speak it – although with a scouse accent it is quite funny to hear.



A lot of people say the cuisine in these countries isn’t great. On a backpacker budget we have actually had some very cheap and nice meals. I’m quite easily pleased with food but what I do like is the food is always freshly cooked and hot. As for the wine well of course it’s all Chilean wine on offer. However, do be careful when ordering wine in Colombia – one experience involved getting served bubbling hot wine. When I asked why my wine was hot? They explained that because the wine was so cold, they stuck my glass in the microwave. Ok least they were honest and I know wine should be warm. But not microwaved.?!



So our last stop….Bogota. Bogota is a place people love or hate. We probably didn’t spend long enough to decide. I can say though it is surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery, it’s basically a capital in a big valley in the mountains. Transport is pretty good here, we were fortunate to arrive on a public holiday weekend so our day of exploring the city was pretty quiet compared what it is on other days (traffic can be hell). One place we visited was the gold museum which is really worth seeing. The historical part of the city is very beautiful too.



Colombia is a great country even if it does rain most days due to its location to the equator. I totally recommend visiting here, I’ve met a lot of people who have travelled south America and say Colombia has been their favourite of them all. So I’m glad I did the best first 😉! It has everything and is really affordable. But it is huge so allow at least a month in my opinion.



Top experiences in Colombia if you are interested in travelling here:



*Camping in Parque Tayrona



*Tubing in the sierra Nevada near Palomino



* Staying in a tipi in San Agustin



*Guatape and climbing el penol



*Swimming in the most beautiful rivers in San Rafael



* The free walking tour in Medellin



* Salsa club night in Cali



*Gold museum in Bogota



*Taking a walk in San Agustin - bird watching



*Visiting the coffee region and in particular Salento

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