Isla Media Naranja Beach Resort Islas de Rosario

... came prepared with my sweatshirt. I was still cold though. I suppose I should learn a thing or two from the colombianos and wear a hat, full sweater or two, and bring a blanket aboard any bus journey. I did manage to sleep most of the night. Luckily there were very few of us on the bus and I had a row all to myself.

So, as the bus pulled into the Cartagena station, I rubbed my sleepy eyes, grabbed my pack, and hopped in a taxi. The mother from the family I had ...

... 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 ...

... of Cartegena is a really nice place and has a city wall around the old town, erected to keep out the pirates back in the day, which we walked along and watched an amazing sun set... After a few days relaxing in Cartegena, Claire and US friend experienced the infamous mud volcano which is just near. It was a very bizarre and random experience with loads of people packed into the mud bath getting massaged by locals, and after being washed down.

... up line. The girls (or women, they claimed to be 29 and 30 years old but looked older) were a pair of rich Bogotanas with aftermarket accecories. They thought we didnt speak spanish so they started saying really suggestive things. It was really hard to pretend not to unterstand. After maybe an hour of chatting and swimming we arranged a date for the night. That night (after a thorough pregame) Jan (dutchman), Andres y Daniela (our friends from Bogota (they both spčak English)), and I ...

... and rich plants and flowers draping over balcony's with dark skinned locals some even wearing traditional outfits which seem to be colouful fabrics and patterns! Wow are we in Africa or Colombia?

Cartagena is not so big and certainly walkable, and to be honest it is the nicest way to see the city or you could opt to take the many horse and carriages they offer, very romantic. Everything inside the city is quite expensive, accommodation, (there are ...

... who offered to let us hold the sleepy-looking beast. For such a lazy animal, the sloth gives a pretty good hug! After that it was back to the bus and on to a mediocre and overpriced bar in the old town. There was a period of ferocious dancing, but the night petered out soon after that. From what seemed like a very unpromising beginning, we succeeded in salvaging a very fun night. The next couple of days were spent dodging the ...

... there would be no room for Myself and Hicham. After an hour of arguing, they finally put all 5 of us in a sister hotel a few minutes away. But not before I caught the chain's GM telling a pathetic web of lies about how the problem was caused. Though our new hotel, the celebrity suites was pretty cool, I was left with an awful taste in my mouth and had a tough time enjoying the huge room. Imagine my frustration later when I found that they were double charging us for our ...

... and FC Barcelona knock off football shirts we are taken through to the Ecuadorian side of the fence, and while Pierpaolo is attending to the dull formalities inside I bide time munching on a tasty skewer of marinated chicken from a street stall. The one benefit of having a lesser command of the local lingo. Well at least I think he told me it was chicken...


Once off on our merry way, Ecuador is somewhat of a surprise. Expecting some kind of cute yet crumbling economy, we find ...

Nach ein paar Stunden Busfahrt waren meine Augen dann wieder trocken nach diesem traurigen Abschied... Nein nein, so schlimm wars also nicht, aber klein Cristina muss halt manchmal schon ein bisschen weinen wenns traurig wird, doch das wird ja nun niemanden ueberraschen...;) Jedenfalls bin ich dann in Cartagena angekommen, und habe mal fuer eine halbe Ewigkeit kein Hostal gefunden. Naja, etwas uebertieben, doch es kam mir wie eine Ewigkeit vor, denn nun habe ich ja noch einen halben ...

... playing the music were sooo good and kept everyone`s energy up! Once everyone found out we were from Canada, we had a group of people swarm us when we got off the bus at the half way point, to talk to us. They were shocked to hear we were from Canada because "we donīt look Canadian" ... haha At midnight, Roxy and I watched a lovely 15 min display of fireworks around the port area. There were people and families out in large numbers, dancing in the street and doing ...