Casa Castel Cartagena

... Yuck!!!


The Ugly:
If you´re reading this because you´re considering the journey yourself: find a different boat. The boat itself was quite nice, but the captian.. wow. Not a person you want to spend 5 hours with, let alone 5 days. He yells, he swears (at passengers) and even tried to steal our passports! Post a comment and I`ll email details if needed.

At any rate, we`ve made it to Colombia!

... br>
Only 20’s. Damn, what to do. Easiest way out. Pay a 20 and chalk it up. We finally find a souvenir shop and buy our stuff. Walk back outside and there are these two Caribbean ladies with the fruit on their heads. We all pose (I know this is going to cost me...but I’m prepared as I have change now). After my picture she has her hand out...I pay...we all leave...happy.



Back on the bus ...

... aren´t really my thing, but this one offers a lot of things to do, safety, and lots of amenities such as tourist maps and information. We did a lot of cobblestone pounding, checking out history and anthropology museums, witha definite focus on Bolivar.

Then comes the adventure, the most dangerous and daring part of our trip as of yet. On my friend Jorge´s advice, we put ourselves on a boat to Playa Blanca, on Isla Baru ...

... to declare independence from the Spanish in 1810.

It´s also hot............... very hot. After the mid range temperatures we´d had in Ecuador and Galapagos, the fierce sun and humidity announced to us that we had definitely arrived in the tropics and our first taste of the Caribbean on this trip..................and we loved it! Also with the hot and humid weather came an abundance of delicious tropical fruit, which means only 1 thing ...

... an eel and a huge barracuda. We then went on the snorkelling trip with the group which had arrived from Cartagena, which was ok, but nothing special. We did see some cool jellies, and a pair of very nice french angelfish, but not much else.

Upon return to Cartagena, we walked around a bit, watched the sun set, and are now pretty much ready to crash. Tomorrow we head to Santa Marta and the park Tayrona.

... portions (if it has not been destroyed by something or another). The streets are quite narrow and on both side are houses of various colors, many with wooden balconies, some with bouganvilla plants twisting and sprawling up their walls. It is a fairy tale sight. Mesmerizing. Add to this numerous beautiful parks and squares, a handful of impressive churches, and the sea, and you've got yourself a wandering wonderland.

I thoroughly enjoyed my wanderings, minus ...

... no Easter egg hunts! However we did attend an Easter church service in Spanish, its was quite beautiful even though we could not always understand what was going on (heh heh). Also at this time of year there is an African food festival where there is traditional cooking of African desserts, ahhh sugary delights. We have eaten some really good food here in Cartagena, including fresh fruit juices ...

I´m really glad we took the trip up to the colonial city of Cartagena instead of spending the last few days in Bogota. We did have to trade the soccer game between Colombia and Bolivia and a bull fight for our trip up to the Caribbean though. Aside from being a known tourist destination, Cartagena is a perfect place to spend a few days in the sun and on the beaches. Today we spent our second day walking around the old city and ...

... spots are harder to find than travel friendly Peru, we leave the warmth of the good tarmac and into the clouds that shroud the volcano en route to Riobamba. By the time we reach the summit somewhere close to 4000 metres, the bikes are coughing and spluttering and we are equally miserable, wearing the emptied contents of the heavy leaden sky. Another hard grind up the side of a mountain which has us both yearning for flat lands and beaches...Colombia you are so close I can almost ...

... owner and some colombian chicks we met out one night. But to everyone else in the hostel, or anyone new that arrived, our room was known as the ¨crazy room¨. We were pretty proud of that! One of the mates of the hostel owner owned a bar so they took us there where we met these chicks. They attempted to teach Karrina to dance. This was quite amusing for everyone else. It was an awesome couple of days with some awesome people! We left Cartagena with Matt (a ...