Carretero Hotel Manizales

... we had just walked into a cloud of tear gas. Can you say ouch?? We turned around and walked back. Now, we are trying to be macho men and not let it bother us but it hurts. :)) I tried to wash it out of my eyes but I guess I had it on my hand it just seemed to get worse. I do not ever think I have had my eyebrows burning like that except when I really burned my eyebrows. Eventually the effects wore off and by the late evening the kids had gone home ...

... views… absolutely amazing. Later that evening, after the security locked the gates, we met with the manager of the parks and Juan Carlos the security guard. He was the nicest guy ever, giving us a tour of the facilities which included a Canopy (Zip) Line, Huge Slide, Waterfall Repelling, Rock Wall, Concert Hall, Library, and Restaurant with WI-FI. We knew we were safe when Juan Carlos (branding his revolver) brought out a huge Rottweiler that he ...

... though slightly disinterested. She did point out a bird or two that we might have missed, but mostly she just led us along the trail. We still didn't find any toucans, though a few parrots flew by (no good views or pictures). The spectacled bear was impressive. There used to be two, but one died, and the one left seems a bit sad and lonely. It was still cool to see. There were also a ...

... myself onto the next day's tour up the mountain! Unfortunately, I quickly realised, this meant missing history when Mr Federer won his 14th Slam title. I was a little gutted but hopefully I'll see him win his 15th title at Wimbledon in a couple of weeks instead.

The tour began at some ungodly hour of the morning and already was something unlike what I was expecting. Instead of some battered old jeep a large coach turned up, filled with mostly Colombian people, and not the gringos I ...

... pics to remember Santa Rosa (not that we really wanted to, unless you're going to take the time to go to the thermal pools, it's really not worth coming here) and get the bus to Manizales.
So we've spent most of today looking round Manizales, after finding me somewhere to sleep for the night. It seems like a nice enough place, we took a tour up to the top of the cathedral and our guide took ...

After eating some street Perros Caliente (literally hot dogs) from a street vendor our friend Tanya got really sick. We decided to skip the jeep, bus, boat trip and head straight south to Medellin, the City of Eternal Springs. The trip to Medellin was our first of many overnight buses. We´ve found a great bus company, Brasilia Expresso, that has clean modern buses with seats that recline to almost laying down. The strange part is that ...

It's been a while since I last wrote...I am now back in Medellin after two weeks of travelling, and have been busy working on the documentary I am making on life in the barrios of city. My first two months living in Medellin raced by far too quickly - having met so many interesting people and groups, I got my hands into several projects involving youth and students. Most weekends I would help out Tatiana with her indigenous kids' cultural centre...A group of 12 children ...

... rule is that anything called 'The _____ (insert single word)' is always ****ing cool. After my visit ot 'The Stone' my confidence in this rule has grown no end. And ever since my visit to 'The Stone', I have been unable to stop saying 'The Stone'. Unfortunate, isn't it? Rising out of the water a couple of hours from Medellin, The Stone is the highlight of an extraodinarily beautiful man-made reservoir. According to a ...

... the next morning were absolutely breathtaking. Large canyons covered in sub tropical scrubs and palm, fields of coffee and countless hamlets. Would be great if we can go back there. We finally arrived in Medellin, the 1990s murder capital of the world, tired and weary. Again we had been suggested a hostel so a quick $4 taxi to The Palm Tree saw us sorted. Medellin was not much more than a stop over so not much to tell. We went for the customary ...

Getting behind on this already. Had another night in Cartagena, and very lazy day with a scrabble marathon, then an overnight bus to Medellin with Danny from the hostel. Arrived 14 hours later, met Ryley from Vancouver at the bus station, and we all went in search of our chosen hostel. Got terrible metro directions and ended up on the other side of the city, so got a cab who also got lost as our hostel ...