Colombia

Colombia

Exhausted and a bit sad about leaving Bolivia, we landed in Bogota, Colombia. Our first day was met with rain which is quite common for Bogota but still not all that welcome! Bogota is quite a modern city and very very different from Bolivia! It was built in a valley in the highlands making it green and beautiful with a gentle climate.

We filled in our first day at the gold museum, which contains hundreds and hundreds of artifacts worn by the indigenous peoples of Columbia. And yes we were those nerdy kids walking around the museum with headphones on! We went out that night with people from the hostel to what is allegedly the best club in Columbia. Not that this club wasn't cool but expectations may have been unreasonably high! The club is a steak house early so there are tables everywhere along with kitch objects hung from every crevice of the ceiling which was quite entertaining. There are a few small dancefloors inside but I thinks when it's full and not raining (as it was when we were there) then the street behind is the place to be. Regardless of whether or not it is the best club in Columbia it was a very funny and great night out. 

Next day the weather had cleared a bit so we headed up to the cable car in Bogota to the city's famous lookout and church perched on the mountains overlooking the city. Luckily for us Sundays are discounted so we joined tribes of locals at the top taking in the beautiful view of the city. Rounded out the day with a home cooked meal, watching chopper at our Aussie hostel and watching the mighty Dallas mavericks go down to the Miami heat (we jumped on the basketball bandwagon in la Paz and had a very healthy rivalry going with one of our English mates from the hostel).

Next day was a public holiday so we took advantage of the lack of traffic out on the streets and did a bike tour of the city. Our guide Mike was an expat living in Bogota and gave us a great insights into the city and it's history. One ironic story he shared was in a park in the city that had been one of the largest slums where prostitution, drugs, arms and gang/guerilla groups were prevalent. The government bulldozed the area and made a park complete with a statue made from melted down weapons and topped with doves. Sadly however, people who lived in the slums still live nearby and have stolen all the doves to sell for drugs and the metal has quite possibly gone back into weapons.

Bogota and the whole of Columbia is known by people who haven't visited as an extremely dangerous country due to it's recent history. However in the time we spent there all we saw was a reasonably wealthy and safe country, excited to have tourists and asking us to tell everyone at home that Columbia is a safe place now.

Speaking of history we spent our last day in Bogota visiting the police museum before we caught the night bus to Medellin. The police museum was nothing short of hilarious. It's free and run by newly graduated cops who live having the opportunity of showing foreign girls around all day, even wanting photos with us before we left. The museum has old artifacts used in policing and a short description of the police work in holding back and attempting to eliminate FARC and other guerilla group however the main draw card for tourists is the 'crime doesn't pay room'. The room is dedicated to the police's chase, capture and death of Columbia's best known criminal and drug lord Pablo Escobar. They have an odd collection of things confiscated from Pablo's house after his death and to our surprise the jacket he was shot in and a roof tile with his blood on it! That hilariously odd museum visit over we headed to columbia's second biggest city, Medellin. 

After a freezing overnight bus ride and our bus breaking down about 5km away from the bus station we arrived at a hostel, not the one we'd asked for but not a bad one anyway! We got settled and headed out to check out the city. Medellin I'd another big city set in a valley however it' much warmer than Bogota. It's beautiful climate and rich soil make it beautifully green and luscious. The down town is quite cosmopolitan and has shaken off it's dangerous past to become a bright, cultured modern city. The local government has spent lots of money on parks infrastructure giving the city plenty to see and do.   

So we headed down town to visit the 'cultural palace' a stunning and quite odd black and white castle and an art museum nearly. The museum houses both inside and outside a large collection of works by Botero a famous columbian artist who grew up in Medellin. His works are easily recognisable as he has a love of all things volumptuious and curvy.

Next day was spent on the super touristy but incredibly interesting Pablo Escobar tour. Pablo lead an interesting and short life as the richest man in the world, drug lord, politician and evangelist(?) most of which all at the same time. He died in his early 40s, the police claim they shot him but others think he ended his own life instead of going to prison. Our tour took us to one of his homes, his grave, where he was shot and finally to meet his brother Roberto who was the family accountant. Roberto is partly blind and deaf due to receiving a letter bomb while serving time... This was a crazy tour, I'm still nit sure Roberto should be profiting from his brothers actions after his death but I also don't regret and won't forget doing the tour.

Spent our last day in Medellin paragliding over the city which was amazing! It is as close to flying with the birds as you can get, so quiet and calm unless of course you're after something a bit more adventureous. I hate to admit it but the spinning made me a bit motion sick so it was mostly gliding for me, a spectaular way to end our time in a very cool columbian city!

On another subarctic night bus we headed to Santa Marta and from there to the tiny tourist town of taganaga for some long awaited beach time on the carribbean sea. Sadly though it was not to be just yet as we slept the afternoon away after the horrible bus ride and then set out to organize our lost city trek for later in the week. When we found a tour company thy were headed out the next day only so the beach had to wait. We had planned on getting ready for our trek and taking it easy but it was saterday night and to boys from bogota convinced us a few beers would be ok. A few beers turned into a few cocktails which turned into a whole bottle of aguadiente (the columbian national spirit which has to be shot until the bottle's empty!) which turned into a late night and a bad hangover for the start of our trek!

After we had met our group members we drove out to a small village for lunch before beginning our trek. I attempted to gracefully exit our jeep however it was not to be. As I jumped out of the truck I felt a belt loop on my shorts catch on something and next thing a knew a was hanging by my arse from the car, grazing my shin on the way down. After unhooking myself ad watching a few people giggle I sat down, a little embarrassed. Then to make matters worse a kid from the village came over with a group of her friends and pointed at me as if to say 'it was that one' and they all tree themselves around laughing! So embarrassing! After a short flat walk we stopped for a swim and I was thinking touselfnhow lucky I was that the first days walk was quite easy and it didn't matter that I was still quite hungover.... I was wrong. After our nice swim was the hardest and longest climb of the whole 5 days. It was torturous! Anyway we made it up eventually and made it to our first camp set in the hills and sleeping in hammocks.

After another full days walk we made it to the base camp of the lost city and after trying some home made spirit with a snake in the bottom of the bottle we headed to bed. Next day we hearded up from the river to the city itself. While the city us my no means the most spectacular ruins in Sth and central America they are in a beautiful location. Steep hills covered in rainforest poring out to circular disks where the indigenous peoples had their huts. The military provides entertainment while we were there as they patrol the area to stop guerilla groups from reclaiming the area. They have very little to do and are always excited for company, particularly female.... had a good but challenging 2 days walk back them we were ready to celebrate!

We spent the next week in tanganga partying with people from our trek, then friends from La Paz and finally waiting to meet up with the lovely meals, Harriet and Sarah one more time before they all departed the continent. While their wasn't much travelling going on my was a great holiday! Highlights include indulging in another bottle of aguadiente with a columbian family we met on the beach, chatting with the man who carried cats around on a tray. Finding a cafe with real coffee, sourdough and amazing brownie! And drinking passionfruit mojotos at happy hour!

So we finally escaped taganga for Cartagena to explore the city and find a boat to take us to panama! Meals came back with us to Cartagena as she had missed out on going on the mid volcano tour. We joined her and had a hilarious time at yet another super tourist activity. We drive out to where the volcano is and then were herded from the bus in only our swimmers up a wooden staircase to the top of the volcano where the mud bath is. from here we were told to jump in and lie down. The mud is so think that you float on the surface and can be easily pushed across the top to the massagers. After an odd mud massage you're then pushed across to the side as the pool fills with more and more people being jammed in like cattle! You have to laugh as it's hard to keep balance and with so many people it's easy to get a foot in your bum or your foot in someone else's! After the mud is done you're then ushered to the river to clean off and where women are waiting to wash you. Meals and I dodged them but kiz agreed to a wash and before she knew it her top and bottoms had been taken off and she was huddling nearly nude under the water! Although i do have to admit that she was cleaner than both meals and I after.

After a little investigation we booked a boat for our San blas island sailing trip from Cartagena to Panama. So after a sad goodbye with meals we headed down to the dock to board. Our sail boat slept 11 plus our captain Frederico but it was cramped! Luckily for us our group were all great people! Although kiz and I did have one or 2 survivor conversations discussing who we'd vote off if necessary! Our first mate was frederico's adorable dog Raina who I instantly fell in live with along with everyone else on the trip.

First night was an interesting way to meet people as we hit a large storm and half our group ended up feeding the fish from the back of the boat! Luckily it was only rough that one night and the strong winds meant to made a lot of ground.

Our head start got us to the islands early on the second day in time for a swim. San blas is a postcard worthy tropical paradise, beautiful clear water, snorkeling, white sand beaches and palm trees. The islands are a  national park and also a reserve/native title for the indigenous people of the area who moved there after being tormented by the Spanish and afterwards by the African slaves brought over by the Spanish. The live scattered across tiny islands making a living from fishing and selling hand made embroidery to tourists. Unfortunately they do not have a proper waste management system so there is lots of rubbish surrounding most islands or washed away however it doesn't detract too much from the otherwise stunning atmosphere of the place.

We spent the next 2 days visiting 2 other islands, swimming, snorkeling, diving off the boat, making a bonfire, singing campfire songs and making fun of Stephan (e.g. What do a German and a scorpion have in common? They're both not funny!). It was a fantastic few days especially due to Cynthia, Flor, Mike, Lena, Martin the funny Norwegian girls and of course Stephan! So our fun in the sun done for now we caught a ride to Panama city to meet up with the wonderful Lisa!