Casa del Curato Cartagena

... reden hiervan is dat de zee, die duizenden mijlen vrijwel ongehinderd zijn gang heeft kunnen gaan, nu vast wal gaat ontmoeten. Waar de zeebodem oploopt, ontstaan hoge golven. Eén tactiek is om buiten de 1000-meter lijn te blijven, in het diepe water dus. Een andere mogelijkheid is om dichtbij de kust te blijven. Je hebt dan minder harde wind en de golven zijn inmiddels iets tot bedaren gekomen.

We zijn van plan om rechtstreeks van ...

... starting (either from sweat or rain) and in this humidity it won´t dry up until I get back :o(

Cartagena is quite warm too (33C today) but not so humid as that jungle stop was and there´s also a pleasant sea breeze. Other than exploring the Inquisition Museum, my main objective here was just to walk around random streets in the old town. Cartagena is very touristic but the big majority are from Colombia or other South American countries ...

... in de baai en waren niet blij met hun captains. Er was geen eten aan boord en de sfeer was niet altijd even gezellig. Wij zagen hun captains iedere dag bij Umberto langskomen om bier te drinken.....soms al om 8.30 uur ´s morgens. Wij hadden gelukkig een betere captain.....en we hadden de eerste avond al lekker gegeten aan boord!!

De volgende ochtend werden we gewekt mett vers gebakken brood, pindakaas, jam, kaas, melk en verse koffie ...

... and hopeless situation we just laid there giggling and hoping he would go away soon. I wanted to take a picture, but didnt know whether that angers bulls, and I certainly didnt want him to charge me while I was trapped in the hammock. So we just laide there helplessly until he finished our bananas, bread, cucumbers and onion, peed on the sand (close to but not ON our shoes, thank god) and walked away.

other than that, the trip ...

... we´d met walked us home). Sanjima and Leon got all of 3 hours sleep before heading off to the airport...........at least they´d sleep well on the plane.

Apart from our wanderings around the Old Town, we organized to go to the Volcan de Totumo. Nine years ago a small mud volcano had erupted, and formed a conical mud mound 28 metres high, which is still filled with warm, thick, bubbling mud, the consistency of thick cream. A bizarre experience ...

... which came next.
Then headed of into the city to get some daylight photos of the city and bike insurance which turned out to be relatively easy, another 3 photocopies and $40 and come back at half two, job sorted, not even a signature.
A snack on the street and a bit of internet time and back to pick up the insurance certificate.
It is still really hot and sticky the ...

... gaan (vlakbij Santa Martha) en daar een aantal activiteiten te gaan doen (oa een duikcursus en de trek naar de Cuidad Perdida, een verloren stad ergens in de jungle).

Het eindpunt komt nu met rappe schreden dichterbij. Best een dubbel gevoel; 2 maanden geleden was ik op zich redelijk klaar om naar huis te gaan, nu het echter zo dichtbij komt heb ik ineens het gevoel alsof ik tijd tekort kom. Maarja, eens moet ...

... y ron y bailamos hasta que llego la hora de irnos en la lancha para Baru. Los organizadores nos recogieron y nos llevaron hasta el muelle con el amanecer mas hermoso. Mis papas viajaron con nosotros para asegurarse que estuvieramos bien pero nos dieron mucho espacio para rumbear tranquilos.

... in a strong win for Colombia, we made a quick exit and beat the crowds to a horde of waiting yellow taxis. Back at the celebrity suites, the impending 5:30AM pickup dictated an early night and lots of pre packing. In the morning, we checked out of the farce hotel chain forever and hit the road for our flight home. Looking back on the trip, I will say that Colombia is somewhere that I am glad that I visited. The cities we got to know were unique and confident in their ways ...

... will assume you are interesting and important.


Tuesday March 10th


START: 14722km

FROM: Machala (ECU)

TO: Banos (ECU)

FINISH: 15144 km


Despite its importance in the world of bananas, Ecuador could have actually been the country invented by Apple.


Take a country with an impressive array of geographic landforms, such as the United States. As far as countries go, it's pretty much got the lot - dramatic coastline, verdant ...