Capilla Del Mar Global Hotel Cartagena

... a boat in the morning and jet off to Isla Rosario where we snorkel amongst colorful and amazing fish, and then are taken to Playa Blanca (white beach) and spend the day amongst the sun and sand before retiring for the night at Mama Ruth´s hammock and camping huts where she served up some excellent red snapper over coconut rice. Today the skies were overcast, but no rain. We took a speed boat back to Cartagena that tossed high up in the ...

... with mud, and put thirty people in there. You get a mud massage, and the float, suspended upright in mud but unable to touch the bottom, for a good thirty minutes with all of your new mud-friends. Then everyone heads down to the lake like lagoon creatures, where local women dump water all over you and clean you off. It was an amazing and hilarous experience, but as I said, cannot be described properly until you see the photos.

... shape, and there wasn't a lot to look at, though we did see a big crab and a spotted drum fish.

We went back to the island to do our surface interval, have a snack, and pick up the divers who had done the mini-course. Jen came on the second dive, which though not fantastic was much better. We saw some very cool little shrimps and a few other interesting things. After a quick lunch back at the ...

... warned me that there was a lot of poverty around Cartagena. She was right. The bus terminal is situated far outside the city. The taxi drove through extremely poor neighborhoods, some where houses were little more than shacks. There was also an abundance of trash all around, especially in areas that looked as though they should be parks or waterways. Houses without doors. Kids without shoes in filthy clothes. I have seen poverty here, but it never felt as ever-present ...

... around every corner, and is absolutely delicious. The food in Cartagena was very expensive, and all the same. I don't want your mushy pasta, and bland marinara sauce!
Down the street from our hotel was an Exito, where we bought some wine and spent a rainy night in our hotel drinking East Australian wine. Thanks Exito. We were told of a "party bus" which picks up tourists at their hotels, gives them cheap rum and ...

... it since now I am secure this is not my life. This was the thing I have escaped from. Like a good prisoner, the memory of my old prison fulfills my heart with joy. From the outside, that prison looks very, very pretty. Now I can see what it is: It's just a laugable episode, an unsignificant interval between juicy organic activities. I resolve every aspect of the problem and that should have raised endorphine levels to induce a feeling of satisfaction and relief, just like it does with ...

... to Medellin with Britney via a night bus that cost $47 and took 12 hours. They showed the movie "Crank" of all things which is about a guy using cocaine and killing. Thought it was ironic given I was in cocaine heaven. Spent two nights in Medellin and visited some museums and road the cable cars up to the top of one of the barrios and walked around. We were approached and interviewed by the local news station on what our opinions ...

... The remedy for this sting is pretty simple - just place the stung foot in a bucket of boiling hot salty water and pressure down the leg to squeeze out the toxins that have been injected. If the blood comes out red into the water then everything's OK - if it comes out black then its probably a good time to get on the phone and up your life insurance. The blood comes out red and the pain is localised to the area of the strike, so things seem OK. Even still I am handed the essential oral ...

Colombia is synonymous with long bus rides, and I mean very long bus rides. I started with the trip from Quito, Ecuador to Pasto, Colombia that took about 12 hours. It was about 7 hours of an old ****** buses from Quito to the border, over two hours delays at the border for processing and formalities, then another 2 hour minibus ride to Pasto, (not counting the hour wait at the bus station because all the buses were full). The Lonely Planet clearly ...

... you stripped down in the process cleaning your bathing suits as you stand naked in the now muddy brown lake water... very interesting experience! After the mud volcano, we were taken to a small beach along the way back to have lunch at a beachside restaurant... I chose the fish and was not disappointed... it was delicious... grilled whole and accompanied with carribean style coconut rice, salad, and deep fried plantains... ahhh.. this is the life! Did I mention I love it here?! =)