Puerta de Barranquilla

... gefahren. So eine coole Location habe ich selten gesehen. Direkt am Wasser waren unter Segeltuch chillige Sitzecken aufgebaut und in der Mitte gab es eine Tanzfläche im Sand. Die Musik war ziemlich abgefahren elektronisch (also eigentlich so garnicht meins), aber die Atmosphäre war einfach so geil, dass man nur gute Laune haben konnte. Wir haben die ganze Nacht barfuss im Sand getanzt, suuuper! Das war mal ein würdiger Abschluss für eine geniale Zeit beim karibischen Karneval in Barranquilla!

... manage to find a party so we spent a little while exploring the roofs of the tower block to find the perfect view of the city. In general, the carnival wasn't as big as I was expecting, with every street packed with people, but there were still lots of great parties out in the street, everyone was glad to see the gringos having a go and we had a wicked time. I left with diarrhea, a slight hangover, dirty feet and a lot of clothes covered in flour: everything you need to feel partied out.

... wave to them and have all your friends there at the same time, it's a lot better! A group of us rented a "mini-palco" (basically a small set of bleachers) for the grand price of 50,000 pesos (about 11 quid) for the 3 days. We started out in style on the Saturday, armed with suncream, a stripy hat (a gift from Pedro) and a little shot glass which you can wear around your neck (so you're always ready for the next drink) which I bought ...

... compenser la pente. C'est un quartier tres artistique, beaucoup de grafitis sur les murs, des boutiques un peu hype... Tres chic et tres attirant. En plus Nelson, le copain chilien de Liberty, nous fait une vraie visite guidee. L'apres midi, nous allons sur la plage a Viña del Mar au nord. Lucie s'essaye au trampoline avec des enfants. Le soir ...

... started getting a little rougher. After more than an hour of wandering the streets we managed to flag down a taxi who obviously charged us a fortune to drive us the final few kilometres to get home. It was a fantastic party and well worth the effort for anyone travelling in South America over New Years. After the great night out we had one more day to chill out and explore in Valparaiso before we got back on the bus to the countries vibrant capital, Santiago.

... went shopping for some gifts for my family and friends. For Vati, I thought it would be fun to go to the market, and buy something from the Natural Medicine kiosks. We found a kiosk with a short, stocky, old lady, wrapped in layers of clothes. This seems odd to me know, remembering the humid heat of the day. Also odd were the two people sitting in an area next to the kiosk, watching us, but not saying anything. The kiosk was right next to a ...

... of "It's the foreign girl!". So up come the paramedics, who take one look at me and start making suggestions about moving me to the hospital, which by that stage I was adamant I was not going to go. In the end we reached the agreement of one bag of saline and if I didn't improve, then I would have to go to the hospital. Luckily after a bag and several shots of anti-vomiting stuff I ...

... to dismantle the horse (or whatever it is called when you take the saddle and other bits off) and then we depart for the drive along the coast road back to Valparaiso and La Nona B&B. A really excellent day out and all for less that the price of an hours riding lesson back home in the U.K. I can just about make it up the stairs to the B&B. Boy am I going to be sore in the morning! As Valparaiso is all hills, we decide not to go out for dinner that evening. We may never make it back!

... to go find a bar with two friends from the program, Mike and Nate. We were walking and not doing anything out of the normal when all of the sudden a cop (paco) flags us over from his car on the side of the road. We were moderately lost at that moment so I said Hello, where is Providencia Ave from here and he just responds with "Where are you from?" I respond back "the united states". next thing he asks us for our passports but none of us were carrying them since it's pretty stupid as ...

... nap and Alicia picks Shrek to watch from an otherwise large selection of violent movies. At 7.30am we get off and give our chosen hostel a call. They tell us they aren't sure if they have rooms yet, and we'll have to wait. This is normal as its early for check out, so we say we'll come up anyway and see. So the hostel send us our free pick up as staying a couple of nights. We arrive and they give us a roll for breakfast which seems nice., but tell us we ...