Estelar Santamar Hotel & Centro De Convenciones Santa Marta

... before sundown. So we just stowed everything away securely, the computers and hand held, and mobile GPS all went into the oven in case we got struck by lighting. But luckily that didn't happen. ☺ From then on it was smooth sailing. We had autopilot on the entire way. I learned about the navigational electronics and how to go to the bathroom in 8 ft. swells, which by the way is not an easy task, even making sandwiches for lunch today took ...

... my pack for 2 hours so I paid a horse to take it the whole way. I was all ready to leave and I thought that what if someone showed up that I wanted to hang out with?? No chance. I said my good byes and headed down the trail. I did not make it 100 yards and whom do I see. Josephine. My Swedish friend that I had met in Bogotá. I had already set the horse on ahead so I had to go. I walked back to the beach and introduced her to my friends and set off on my 2 hour (less because of ...

We went to volcan del totumo yesterday, which is a sort of a mud volcano. Viscuous grey mud bubbles up from the ground, forming a large mound. For a few dollars you can go bath in this, which is an interesting experience. It is so dense that you float at about chest level, and swimming is difficult. After we'd wallowed around in the mud for a while, we went down to the lagoon nearby and ...

... just young men with huge guns placed there by the government to keep the paramilitary groups away. In 2003 some tourists were kidnapped and held hostage for 3 months. They weren´t harmed but it sent the willies up the tour agencies. Some say that the paramilitaries are being paid off, some say the army presence is enough to keep them away. Either way, the threat of kidnapping is ever present and added an extra element of ´interest´ to the walk ...

... a treehouse. We talked to the Colombian military, which were stationed there to prevent theft and crime. We played cards with them, and took pictures holding their guns. They were very friendly. <br> The hike was the highlight of our entire South American trip, but after six days, I was ready to go back. The bug bites were getting to me, and since my shampoo exploded on the plane, I hadn't washed my hair in well over a week.<br>

... road, and the farm is another forty minute walk from the town. We arrived in Pradera in mid afternoon just as Cicily was riding up into town on her horse with her four month old baby Arco. We were also greeted by many locals who were genuinely interested in talking to us gringos. It is likely that this was the largest concentration of gringos Pradera has ever seen. Some older Colombians were already half-drunk (or fully drunk perhaps) and proceeded to play us some ...

... the management to some Peruvian guy called Jano. At least Jano was an employee, however: he himself did not appear for the first 3 days I was there, having left François's livelihood in the capable hands of some Spanish hippies. Bizarrely, the hippies were in fact extremely capable managers and, being hippies, seemed not to object to the blatant exploitation to which they were being subjected as, as well as running the ...

... traditional dress so its a fun place to people-watch for a couple of hours. In the afternoon I caught a ride on a 'chiva' which is an open-sided bus/truck hybrid with bench seats. The top of the chiva was piled high with market produce and we bumped our way along some small roads to a junction where I caught a regular bus towards the village of San Andres. About an hour short of the village there had been a landslide and the road had partly collapsed so we all had to leave the bus ...

... All'inizio pioggia e visita al bosco delle statue. Poi sereno e un' oretta sul sentiero ciottolato che porta agli spiazzi erbosi dove erano state scavate le tombe.Tante statue e tante facce. Una fonte con pietre scolpite, altre facce. Poi ritorno a casa e pasta al ragu', divisa con pacho, guida dall'esperienza pluriennale, custodita da mille memorie scritte in un libro che si porta appresso e con un viaggio-sogno in compagnie di giovani ...

... took us five hours or so to get here from Popayán, crossing the mountain on a bumpy bus ride. The whole road more or less packed with soldiers. We are staying at friendly Casa de Nelly just outside San Agustin. Here we meet Helena, the kind Slovenian backpacker, as well as Ranja from Sweden. Her parents are from Palestine, but she grew up in Sweden. She is only 24, but extremely clever. Working in Colombia for five years as an University teacher in Software ...