Hotel Iguaque Campestre Boyaca

... tourist attraction and has never been inhabited. Wilfred told us that everything within, including the stove, is also made of terracotta (or at least that’s what it looks like! My Spanish vocabulary doesn’t encompass the word he used and it escapes me now). On our way back, I commented on the abundance of fruits in colombia and attempted to discern the correct names of these new items. What a comedy of errors I made! In describing a nectarine, likening it to a peach, I ...

... cracks, and had high walls on either side.

Our hike ended on a knife's edge ridge top, with good views in all directions. There was one section that emphasized the knife's edge part, as it was only a couple feet wide, and fell off sheerly to both sides. All in all, it was a fun day. The tour started out a bit slowly, but we all came away with positive things to say.

Tonight we take the night bus to Salento. Should arrive about 7AM.

... many with red tiled roofs. Near the centre were handicraft shops, restaurants, hotels, further out you could find places selling fruit and general supermarkets, again within white washed buildings.

We arrived at our accommodation which was a very attractive villa about a 15 minute walk from the centre. It was more like a hotel, in fact better than many hotels we have stayed at. We had a private bathroom, a double ...

... de layva and previously from Bogota. They are on a whistle stop tour of Colombia, with only 2.5 weeks to do it in. I commented on how brave I thought they were taking on such a task with so little time, but they get very short holidays, so it's either go for a short time or don't go at all.

We exchanged notes on the riding we were about to encounter and talked generally for about half an hour. Two Colombian gentlemen stopped their car to hand out sweets to ...

... desert region, so it was hot and arid (despite the clouds). Our ride did not get off to a good start as we kept riding up a steep hill along the wrong dirt road through a village. Finally, on our third trip back to the gas station just outside of town, we asked for directions and were on our way. After pumping up a steep hill (with some joyriding teens blowing by on their motorbikes), we arrived at the Pozo Azul. A couple of natural mineral pools, they are the ...

... Colombia from about 300AD until the 1500s. The Observatorio was a place they constructed to observe the shadows created by the sun as a way to determine when to plant their crops. It consisted of two parallel rows of rocks lined up equally. This observatory was also used as a ceremonial spot and was used to observe and celebrate equinoxes.

There was also a tomb for nobles there...and there were giant phalluses. Yes, giant stone phalluses. They were ...

... the wind filled the chute, and we were lifted backwards and up. The 15-20 minutes were quite adequate, providing us with a tremendous of the area and the soaring swifts and vulchers below us. My guide eventually took me for a spin after he sensed I was relaxing. You lean back and enjoy the centrifugal force as you rotate around the chute very, very quickly. Pior to landing, he repeated the treatment, but swinging us at a much steeper angle and ...

... was just noon, I decided to stop in at a coffee shop and had a fantastic espresso and the best apple pastry ever, YUM! I also bought some fruit to nibble on over the next couple of days. There are peach orchards in the area so I bought 2 peaches but they are rock hard so I may not get to them for a while. Somehow I just don't think they will compare to what I'm used to from Ela ...

... much nothing at all. I tried to commit some important but infuriatingly iregular Spanish verbs to memory. I wandered into town in the scorching heat. That evening I went on a tour to a hot springs. I was a little bit disappointed by the muddy and slightly frigid pool. I guess I was spoiled by the scalding water in the New Zealand hot springs.Also, nobody else besides Diego spoke English. I exhausted my armoury of ten Spanish phrases, then sat in silence ...

... la Reserva de Iguaque", a whole mountain that you climb up and at the top of it you will find a lagoon where the indigenous used to do lots of religious rituals. Unfortunately the lack of time and good weather didn't allow us to go up, but only to be able to see it from the house, was already stunning. Got settled in and started up our rounds of drinks around the bonfire, and after singing, joking and staring at the full moon and stars for a couple of hours ...