Medellin
Luckily Yon has an apartment in Medellin as well so he invited us to the city for the weekend. It was about time to get moving, but yet another hard place to leave. El Penol will always be a special place for us! The morning we decided to leave we had a big breakfast, swam and did some minor repairs on the old girl before setting off. Then after a few fruit stops we arrived in the sprawling city of Medellin. One of the cleanest and most modern cities we’ve visited thus far. It’s in a deep valley so they’ve solved the transportation problem by building an above ground metro that leads to a metrocable which is essentially a Gondola that they use as public transportation. Great idea!! When we got to the apartment we had some take out Chinese food and then went to meet a friend that Pete had met in Colombia 13 years ago. Her family welcomed us in and fed us a wonderful traditional Colombian meal finished off with some Mazamorra, a milk drink filled with corn and served with a panela square for dessert. After dinner we bid our adieus and went to meet Yon downtown for some salsa dancing. He took us to this amazing little underground club where they were pumping great salsa tunes and there were some amazing dancers. The ceiling wasn’t built for tall people, but it was a great night out!! The next day Yon took us on the tour of the city. We started off with a hike up behind his apartment building for a great view of the city and then we jumped on the Metro. For $0.75 you can ride the rails all day so we took advantage of this for a skyline tour of the city. The metrocable that we rode went up to the athlete’s village, but went over top of the poorest sections of town. It was odd having a bird’s eye view of places you wouldn’t necessarily want to walk through. Then we returned to town to see the statues outside of the Botero museum, a police procession to signify the end of needless deaths in Colombia and have a quick bite before heading to our first giant supermarket in a long time. We were awed by the selection of foods and even managed to find some couscous. Luckily we were picked up by a friend of Yon’s and went back to his apartment for a big fish fry up. Yon’s mom taught us how to eat every part of the fish including the eyeball! We ended up spending over a week with Yon and his mom and by the end we felt more like family then travellers. Thank you so much for taking us in!!!
Salento
After Medellin we made our way down to Salento, in the Zona Cafetera. On our way we got lost in Pereira and couldn’t find our way out of the city. We finally found our way out on a back road and were now racing the sun as it was setting quickly. We agreed to take the first accommodation that we would find to avoid driving around in the dark. We pulled up to the first campground and were surprised by how nice it was. It was next to a river and had many private sites, hot water and outdoor kitchens. After Jorge, the eccentric owner and his co worker properly welcomed us they gave us the full tour of the campground. We were blown away by all of the theme tents and cabanas, the museum, spa and snake pit. The next morning we were invited by a Colombian family to join them for a hike up to a secret waterfall. After 45 minutes of beautiful hiking through farm fields and old rail tunnels we arrived at the falls. The water was Canada cold, a nice way to recharge from the heat and humidity. One night at Monteroca (the campground) turned into four. One day we made a day trip into Salento to check out the artisan shops and go for dinner but for the rest of the time we relaxed at Monteroca all by ourselves.
Popoyan, Impiales
In the heaviest downpour that we’ve experienced so far we headed to Popoyan, a colonial city on the way to the Ecuadorian border. When we got there we found a parkade close to downtown that would let us sleep there for the night, it was perfect only $3.25 and it had a toilet. That evening we got caught in another rainstorm but luckily we had just purchased umbrellas only minutes before. They kept our hair dry but our feet were soaked from the roads that now resembled rivers. The next morning we got up early and took off for Pasto. When we got there neither of us had any desire to stay so we kept driving and chanced upon an old timers restaurant where he told us we should park in his alleyway for the night. Lucky!
We had high expectations for Colombia and it managed to exceed every single one. We’ll be back!!
Click on a picture to enlarge
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Colombia Part II
Suesca
Off we went on another caravan journey with Max with the destination of Suesca, a climbing spot that we had heard was the best in Colombia. The owner of the hostel where we were staying gave us backroad directions to get there and it felt as though we were in rural Colombia seeing life in the mountains. It was gorgeous! When we finally got to Suesca we stopped for some amazing pizza and then looked around for somewhere to stay. We finally found the only hostel, El Vivac, in town and they said we could camp in their yard. Typical with a climbing community the owners were really hospitable and had lots of information for us so we parked and packed up to go for a climb. After following the train tracks for awhile we arrived at the wall. The most notable feature was a giant statue of the Virgin Mary watching from one of the overhanging roofs. We chose a climb to the right and played around for the next few hours. So good to be back on the rock again. The next morning we met Katty (the first Colombian woman to scale Everest) and Francesco who offered to show us around the rock. We spent another awesome day climbing and then met Carolina, an Argentinean at the end of the day who offered to take us around to find a free place to camp. Perfect! The next day we gave our surf board that we’d been lugging around since Mexico to the family who owned the hostel and moved over to Juan Carlos’s place....paradise!! We camped on his lot with a full frontal view of the rock, had access to running water and a bathroom. What more could we ask for!! Then we went for a climb up to a zone with more sport climbing and thoroughly pumped ourselves out. Good day!
Bogota
It was now the weekend so Max, Carolina and the two of us decided to hit up Bogota, the country’s capital. We’d heard that the drivers there were the worst in the world so we opted for a bus ride into town and wandered around the craziness for awhile. Then we stumbled upon the Candeleria district and were enchanted. We’d planned to meet up with a friend of Max’s, Wilman, a local from Bogota that Max had met in Mexico so he came and picked us up in his little sports car and proceeded to give us a whirlwind tour of all the highlights in Bogota. We’d spend about 5 minutes in each location and then be whisked off to another hot spot. It was madness, but a great way to see Bogota. The city is huge and has absolutely everything you could ever want including a super cool student scene with back alleys and street performers. Then we started drinking beers in front of a few different supermercados, meeting other locals and chatting the night away. The next day we started with an incredible typical breakfast of Tamales and hot chocolate and then went to a juice stand to sample some more of the fruits that Colombia has to offer. Everyday we discover a new fruit!! Then we went to the famous gold museum to see some ancient artefacts. We were especially interested in the finds from La Ciudad Perdida. Then we went for an awesome lunch of the usual...an absolutely amazing soup, meat, chorizo, plantains, rice, avocado, and this time a surprise blood sausage intestine thing that wasn’t too bad. Then stuffed to the brim we wandered around the huge park before heading back to the apartment to lame out and watch a movie. It’s a treat to chill out on a couch what can I say, hehehe. The next morning we needed some time to ourselves to we took the bus into the Candeleria district to do some wandering around and loved every minute of it. Carolina was having troubles getting an extension on her visa so we opted to take the bus back to Suesca early to avoid rush hour. Big thanks to Wilman and his daughter for showing us Bogota. It was so nice having local guides for such a big city and to feel so welcome into someone’s house.
Back to Suesca
We ended up spending another three nights in Suesca and had a hard time leaving when we did. Juan Carlos was so hospitable and his property was amazing!! Probably the best view in all of Suesca and super close to the sport climbing. He’s also a well known climbing shoe repairer so Karen took advantage of this to finally get an edge on her shoes, woohoo!! Three more days of climbing and we were spent. It reminded us a lot of climbing in Wyoming as we were the only ones there and it was so peaceful. We spent one more day lounging and exploring the town and then finally pushed on to El Penol.
Rio Claro and El Penol
It’s a two day drive to El Penol so we started off early, but decided we should check out the salt cathedral in Zipaquira on the way. The first church collapsed due to rain so another giant salt mine was used to construct an underground cathedral. It was huge, with cool lighting and music. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but it was definitely an interesting tour testing our knowledge of Spanish. An hour and a half later we were back on the road to El Penol. The roads here are insanely mountainous and curvy so it took us over 5 hours to go just over 100km before we stopped at a hillside refugio to camp for the night. The next day we made it to our original destination of Rio Claro and decided to stop for a few hours to cool off and enjoy the “agua dulce” (sweet water ie fresh water). It ended up being an amazing park with a jungle trail and cool caves. We even saw a huge fluorescent green snake. We finally pulled ourselves away from the refreshing water and drove the rest of the way to El Penol. We had made friends in Suesca with Yon the only climber in the region and he’d said that it would be okay to camp in his yard. He lives on the site of old El Penol which was flooded to make a reservoir. You can still see the Steeple of the original church sticking out of the water. We arrived just after lunch so we went into Guatape to use the internet and do some shopping and then returned and let ourselves in. It turned out that Yon was in the city, but his mom and dogs were there and they welcomed us in with open arms. LOVE COLOMBIANS!!! We spent the night getting to know the dogs and Socorro and then went to sleep with the view of El Penol in the van window. Ever since we entered Colombia Pete has had the idea of climbing El Penol and it was about to become a reality, hehe. We woke up early and took off with grey skies to the base. Welcome to the Squamish chief of Colombia. A huge granite slab with a few routes put up by Yon. We selected a few that looked doable and started climbing. On the second route the rain started, but Pete continued on while Karen got soaked at the bottom. Then it was Karen’s turn. Written by Karen: When I got near the top of this awesome climb Pete told me there was a surprise in one of the cracks. Since the climbs are really only done by Yon and a few weekend warriors there are a lot of spider’s and insects in all of the holds so I thought he’d found some massive spider or something gross so I refused to go any higher. Pete finally convinced me to take a look and there deep in the crack was a shiny object. I still didn’t know what to think of it and thought that it must have been something Pete had found on the climb, but then I pulled it out and it was a ring. Still not realizing what was happening I heard Pete say “will you marry me” I thought he was joking, but then I looked down and there he was on one knee, thankfully still belaying me. I asked if he was serious and he said of course he was serious and that it was our “five year anniversary, five months into the trip and it was Valentine’s Day. What a better time to do it” and so I started laughing and shouted “Of course I will, I’d love to be your wife, now get me down!!” It’s finally done...we’re getting married and we’re both really excited!!! Now we just have to figure out where and when...maybe a welcome home/wedding party this summer. Any ideas? It started to pour so we decided to pack it in and go back to the van. Then we went to town to call the folks, get haircuts and check out the military song and dance show. Afterwards we returned to the house and spent the night chatting with Socorro about Colombia.
The next day we went back up to the rock and spent the whole day slab climbing. When we returned to the van we ate some dinner and Yon arrived. He wanted to kayak out to “his island” for the sunset and a bonfire so we cleaned up and hit the water. Since he was taking the dogs we had to do two trips,I waited while Karen, Yon and the dogs paddled off. When Yon returned for the second trip the dogs swam all theway back to the mainland and followed him home. Then on the way back to the island Mujercita, one of his dogs, followed us back and swam all the way back to the Island, crazy dog. We had a fire and sat around, talked and enjoyed the silence of nature. The following morning Yon took us climbing, we started on an easy climb then moved on to a three pitch traverse that ended at a hammock that was hanging 70 feet off the ground under a giant roof. Even though we were safely backed up we were a little nervous not knowing if this hammock could hold the weight of three people, good thing we are all skinny. We enjoyed the scenery and took some photos before rappelling down. Back at Yon’s place we all went for a refreshing swim in the reservoir and relaxed for the rest of the day. The next day everyone including the dogs piled into the van and drove down to San Rafeal, where we went swimming at a secret swimming hole, ate fresh fruit off the trees and then went for some lunch at a local restaurant. It was a great day with Yon and his mom. They are so warm and welcoming that we felt like we were old friends.
Loving Colombia! Not sure if we are ever going to be able to leave...
Click on a picture to enlarge
Off we went on another caravan journey with Max with the destination of Suesca, a climbing spot that we had heard was the best in Colombia. The owner of the hostel where we were staying gave us backroad directions to get there and it felt as though we were in rural Colombia seeing life in the mountains. It was gorgeous! When we finally got to Suesca we stopped for some amazing pizza and then looked around for somewhere to stay. We finally found the only hostel, El Vivac, in town and they said we could camp in their yard. Typical with a climbing community the owners were really hospitable and had lots of information for us so we parked and packed up to go for a climb. After following the train tracks for awhile we arrived at the wall. The most notable feature was a giant statue of the Virgin Mary watching from one of the overhanging roofs. We chose a climb to the right and played around for the next few hours. So good to be back on the rock again. The next morning we met Katty (the first Colombian woman to scale Everest) and Francesco who offered to show us around the rock. We spent another awesome day climbing and then met Carolina, an Argentinean at the end of the day who offered to take us around to find a free place to camp. Perfect! The next day we gave our surf board that we’d been lugging around since Mexico to the family who owned the hostel and moved over to Juan Carlos’s place....paradise!! We camped on his lot with a full frontal view of the rock, had access to running water and a bathroom. What more could we ask for!! Then we went for a climb up to a zone with more sport climbing and thoroughly pumped ourselves out. Good day!
Bogota
It was now the weekend so Max, Carolina and the two of us decided to hit up Bogota, the country’s capital. We’d heard that the drivers there were the worst in the world so we opted for a bus ride into town and wandered around the craziness for awhile. Then we stumbled upon the Candeleria district and were enchanted. We’d planned to meet up with a friend of Max’s, Wilman, a local from Bogota that Max had met in Mexico so he came and picked us up in his little sports car and proceeded to give us a whirlwind tour of all the highlights in Bogota. We’d spend about 5 minutes in each location and then be whisked off to another hot spot. It was madness, but a great way to see Bogota. The city is huge and has absolutely everything you could ever want including a super cool student scene with back alleys and street performers. Then we started drinking beers in front of a few different supermercados, meeting other locals and chatting the night away. The next day we started with an incredible typical breakfast of Tamales and hot chocolate and then went to a juice stand to sample some more of the fruits that Colombia has to offer. Everyday we discover a new fruit!! Then we went to the famous gold museum to see some ancient artefacts. We were especially interested in the finds from La Ciudad Perdida. Then we went for an awesome lunch of the usual...an absolutely amazing soup, meat, chorizo, plantains, rice, avocado, and this time a surprise blood sausage intestine thing that wasn’t too bad. Then stuffed to the brim we wandered around the huge park before heading back to the apartment to lame out and watch a movie. It’s a treat to chill out on a couch what can I say, hehehe. The next morning we needed some time to ourselves to we took the bus into the Candeleria district to do some wandering around and loved every minute of it. Carolina was having troubles getting an extension on her visa so we opted to take the bus back to Suesca early to avoid rush hour. Big thanks to Wilman and his daughter for showing us Bogota. It was so nice having local guides for such a big city and to feel so welcome into someone’s house.
Back to Suesca
We ended up spending another three nights in Suesca and had a hard time leaving when we did. Juan Carlos was so hospitable and his property was amazing!! Probably the best view in all of Suesca and super close to the sport climbing. He’s also a well known climbing shoe repairer so Karen took advantage of this to finally get an edge on her shoes, woohoo!! Three more days of climbing and we were spent. It reminded us a lot of climbing in Wyoming as we were the only ones there and it was so peaceful. We spent one more day lounging and exploring the town and then finally pushed on to El Penol.
Rio Claro and El Penol
It’s a two day drive to El Penol so we started off early, but decided we should check out the salt cathedral in Zipaquira on the way. The first church collapsed due to rain so another giant salt mine was used to construct an underground cathedral. It was huge, with cool lighting and music. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but it was definitely an interesting tour testing our knowledge of Spanish. An hour and a half later we were back on the road to El Penol. The roads here are insanely mountainous and curvy so it took us over 5 hours to go just over 100km before we stopped at a hillside refugio to camp for the night. The next day we made it to our original destination of Rio Claro and decided to stop for a few hours to cool off and enjoy the “agua dulce” (sweet water ie fresh water). It ended up being an amazing park with a jungle trail and cool caves. We even saw a huge fluorescent green snake. We finally pulled ourselves away from the refreshing water and drove the rest of the way to El Penol. We had made friends in Suesca with Yon the only climber in the region and he’d said that it would be okay to camp in his yard. He lives on the site of old El Penol which was flooded to make a reservoir. You can still see the Steeple of the original church sticking out of the water. We arrived just after lunch so we went into Guatape to use the internet and do some shopping and then returned and let ourselves in. It turned out that Yon was in the city, but his mom and dogs were there and they welcomed us in with open arms. LOVE COLOMBIANS!!! We spent the night getting to know the dogs and Socorro and then went to sleep with the view of El Penol in the van window. Ever since we entered Colombia Pete has had the idea of climbing El Penol and it was about to become a reality, hehe. We woke up early and took off with grey skies to the base. Welcome to the Squamish chief of Colombia. A huge granite slab with a few routes put up by Yon. We selected a few that looked doable and started climbing. On the second route the rain started, but Pete continued on while Karen got soaked at the bottom. Then it was Karen’s turn. Written by Karen: When I got near the top of this awesome climb Pete told me there was a surprise in one of the cracks. Since the climbs are really only done by Yon and a few weekend warriors there are a lot of spider’s and insects in all of the holds so I thought he’d found some massive spider or something gross so I refused to go any higher. Pete finally convinced me to take a look and there deep in the crack was a shiny object. I still didn’t know what to think of it and thought that it must have been something Pete had found on the climb, but then I pulled it out and it was a ring. Still not realizing what was happening I heard Pete say “will you marry me” I thought he was joking, but then I looked down and there he was on one knee, thankfully still belaying me. I asked if he was serious and he said of course he was serious and that it was our “five year anniversary, five months into the trip and it was Valentine’s Day. What a better time to do it” and so I started laughing and shouted “Of course I will, I’d love to be your wife, now get me down!!” It’s finally done...we’re getting married and we’re both really excited!!! Now we just have to figure out where and when...maybe a welcome home/wedding party this summer. Any ideas? It started to pour so we decided to pack it in and go back to the van. Then we went to town to call the folks, get haircuts and check out the military song and dance show. Afterwards we returned to the house and spent the night chatting with Socorro about Colombia.
The next day we went back up to the rock and spent the whole day slab climbing. When we returned to the van we ate some dinner and Yon arrived. He wanted to kayak out to “his island” for the sunset and a bonfire so we cleaned up and hit the water. Since he was taking the dogs we had to do two trips,I waited while Karen, Yon and the dogs paddled off. When Yon returned for the second trip the dogs swam all theway back to the mainland and followed him home. Then on the way back to the island Mujercita, one of his dogs, followed us back and swam all the way back to the Island, crazy dog. We had a fire and sat around, talked and enjoyed the silence of nature. The following morning Yon took us climbing, we started on an easy climb then moved on to a three pitch traverse that ended at a hammock that was hanging 70 feet off the ground under a giant roof. Even though we were safely backed up we were a little nervous not knowing if this hammock could hold the weight of three people, good thing we are all skinny. We enjoyed the scenery and took some photos before rappelling down. Back at Yon’s place we all went for a refreshing swim in the reservoir and relaxed for the rest of the day. The next day everyone including the dogs piled into the van and drove down to San Rafeal, where we went swimming at a secret swimming hole, ate fresh fruit off the trees and then went for some lunch at a local restaurant. It was a great day with Yon and his mom. They are so warm and welcoming that we felt like we were old friends.
Loving Colombia! Not sure if we are ever going to be able to leave...
Click on a picture to enlarge
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Colombia Part I
Cartagena
After an hour and a half in the air we caught our first sight of Cartagena. It was a mix of everything, high-rise apartments, hotels, yacht clubs, ports, suburbia and the magical old city surrounded by its fortress walls. We grabbed a taxi to Calle Media Luna, where many of the hostels and cheap hotels are located. Here we strolled around with our backpacks on checking out our different options, a strange feeling becaus it was the first time we were travelling without our van since the start of our trip. We settled for a room with two beds for the three of us, at Hotel Familiar. We soon learned that Federico, the Aussies and the Germans, Axel and Katrina were all staying there as well. We walked the streets of Cartagena stopping for celebratory beers at a great little pub then adventuring through the gates of the old city taking in the beautiful colonial buildings, plazas and courtyards. In the evening we met up with the whole gang who were awaiting the arrival of their vehicles, and enjoyed the night by hanging out in a small plaza drinking Aguilas and eating street food. The routine for the next few days didn’t vary much, Cartagena was really hot and zapping our energy until the night time when everyone seemed to come to life. On Tuesday we went to the port to get our baby back, and after a very long and tiring day we drove Patience out of the Port, into downtown Cartagena and then parked her in a lot across the street from our hotel. The whole experience was so exhausting that we spent another two nights in Cartagena before we finally escaped.
Taganga
Our first driving experience here was a little intense, it was hot and loud, busses and trucks were flying by with only inches to spare, and there were motorcycles everywhere, zigzagging in and out of traffic with no fear what so ever. We figured out quickly that the gas pedal and the horn were our best weapons to escape the rush hour traffic. If you drove like that in Canada you wouldn’t have a licence for long .After a long hot day on the road we were finally entering Santa Marta, but on our way into the center we spotted the Germans big rig, hard to miss in these parts. They were parked at supermarket so we stopped in to say hi. They told us that they were camping for free in Taganga so we followed them back. They led us down some dirt side streets, through some slums and to a parking lot down by the beach just as the sun was setting. It wasn’t somewhere we would have felt safe by ourselves, but they’d already stayed there a night and said it was fine so we unwound with a couple of well deserved cold beers and then went to bed. The next day we booked a trip to the “Lost City”, a six day adventure into the jungle and said goodbye to Karina and Oliver.
La Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City)
Day One
We spent another hot night in the parking lot and then got up early for our 8:30am start to the trip. Of course South American time is the same as Central American time so we didn’t actually leave town until about 9:30, but we all piled into an awesome converted land cruiser with bench seats and no doors and were off. We drove for an hour on pavement and an hour off road until we reached the town of Machete where we ate lunch while the guides sorted out gear and food. The first day may have been the hardest due to the heat and the long and steady ascent up to the first camp, but thanks to the refreshing swimming hole and the many fruit breaks along the way we didn’t dehydrate. We arrived at a beautiful camp where we enjoyed the views and showers, followed by a huge dinner after which everyone passed out in their own swinging hammock.
Day Two
Day two of the trek started with breakfast followed by a visit to a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole. We were waiting for three other Aussies to join our group but after lunch we gave up waiting and headed for the second camp. The hike to camp two was full of great views and passed by a couple of indigenous villages. When we arrived we had just enough light left to jump off the 15ft rock into the refreshing river. What a way to end a day of trekking! The wait for dinner was almost too long but when we saw the huge plates of food being served we forgot about the delay and stuffed ourselves with beans, rice, meat and Plantains.
Day Three
Day three started with a ton of river crossings, a brief swim and lunch break and then a steep ascent and 1600 stair climb to La Ciudad Perdida. These stairs and the city itself were built between the 11th and 14th centuries by the Tayrona Indians before they were chased to higher ground by the Spaniards. The stairs originally went all the way from the beach dwellings up to the Lost City and around the thousands of terraces up in the hills. Finally the moment we’d all been waiting for, the arrival at the Ciudad Perdida....amazing!! Here, nestled in the jungle, were hundreds of circular terraced platforms with stone trails and stairs leading all around the city and surrounding villages. We only saw a few of the terraces on our way in, but our accommodations were only five minutes away from the main terrace and we were going to do more exploring the next day. Once again it was a bit of a wait for dinner so we took advantage of the time to sneak off and do a bit of exploring on our own. It was magical to be alone in the ancient city! We were also really lucky as we were one of the last tour groups that are going to be able to sleep at the city as they are moving the accommodations down to the river. Good timing!
Day Four
The next morning we were stuffed with empanadas and then taken back into the city for a tour. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, just as we were starting the tour a big giant military helicopter flew in and landed right on the main terrace. Apparently once a month the high up government officials are allowed to bring a bunch of guests up to La Ciudad Perdida. A bit strange, but I guess that’s what power does for you. After that spectacle we were led away from the main terraces and around to see a few other terraces and some recreated dwellings before going to the pool of youth for a quick dip to take off a few years. The city was so much bigger than either of us could have ever imagined and we only saw a corner of what is actually out there. It makes it even more amazing that it wasn’t “discovered” until 1975! It was a wonderful morning in La Ciudad Perdida and our guides and thankfully translator gave us an awesome insight into the city. A few hours later and we were back at accommodation two for another swim, a jump off of a 20ft rock and an awesome dinner.
Day Five
Since we’d decided to do the trek in 6 days we had a great sleep in while the rest of the group got up early and headed off. Then we got up, had some breakfast and went back to the river for a swim. It was an easy hike made even easier by a mule carrying our packs back to the final camp. We got there nice and early so we were able to hang out in the hammocks reading our books and napping until a giant group arrived on their first day of the trek all excited and full of energy. Quite a difference. We got up, chatted a bit had some dinner and celebratory fruit wine and then settled in for our last sleep in the jungle.
Day Six
Another fairly leisurely morning and then the long dusty descent back to the jeep. We got super lucky and had 5 and a half beautiful sunny days in the place that always rains until the last 5 minutes of the trek when it started pouring. We ran for cover in our lunch shelter and watched the rain bucket down for the next hour while enjoying lunch and a nice cold bottle of beer. We felt sorry for all those trekkers that were starting at that time. Stuff never dries up there and the trail would be pure mud, yikes! When the rain finally stopped we jumped in the jeep and headed back to Taganga. What an awesome experience!! We were exhausted and dirty when we got back to town so luckily the owners of the hostel where our friends from the trek ,Vanessa and Will, were staying let us use the shower to clean up. Then we went to dinner at an awesome sandwich place and used the internet to let everyone know we weren’t kidnapped before retiring to the van in a new parking place right by the soccer field.
The road to Villa de Leyva
The next morning we got up early and headed South. Still in the lowlands we sweated our way through the day until we finally decided to stop for the night and lucked upon this awesome place to camp for the night right by a river and all to ourselves. Another day of driving and we finally made it to San Gil where we were directed to another campspot 7 km away, again right on a river and almost to ourselves. We’re loving that Colombians know what camping is!! The next day we drove into Villa de Leyva expected to find a nice place to camp by the lake only to find out that there was no lake, but instead there was an incredible little colonial town with the original cobble stone streets and huge central plaza. We were directed to the Colombian Highlands Hostel where we could camp with our car and were shocked to run into the Germans Karina and Oliver and Max all at the same hostel! Small world! We set up camp for the next three nights, explored the city streets, caught up with everyone, did some laundry finally, went for a hike, chatted with the amazing owner of the hostel and chilled out.
After an hour and a half in the air we caught our first sight of Cartagena. It was a mix of everything, high-rise apartments, hotels, yacht clubs, ports, suburbia and the magical old city surrounded by its fortress walls. We grabbed a taxi to Calle Media Luna, where many of the hostels and cheap hotels are located. Here we strolled around with our backpacks on checking out our different options, a strange feeling becaus it was the first time we were travelling without our van since the start of our trip. We settled for a room with two beds for the three of us, at Hotel Familiar. We soon learned that Federico, the Aussies and the Germans, Axel and Katrina were all staying there as well. We walked the streets of Cartagena stopping for celebratory beers at a great little pub then adventuring through the gates of the old city taking in the beautiful colonial buildings, plazas and courtyards. In the evening we met up with the whole gang who were awaiting the arrival of their vehicles, and enjoyed the night by hanging out in a small plaza drinking Aguilas and eating street food. The routine for the next few days didn’t vary much, Cartagena was really hot and zapping our energy until the night time when everyone seemed to come to life. On Tuesday we went to the port to get our baby back, and after a very long and tiring day we drove Patience out of the Port, into downtown Cartagena and then parked her in a lot across the street from our hotel. The whole experience was so exhausting that we spent another two nights in Cartagena before we finally escaped.
Taganga
Our first driving experience here was a little intense, it was hot and loud, busses and trucks were flying by with only inches to spare, and there were motorcycles everywhere, zigzagging in and out of traffic with no fear what so ever. We figured out quickly that the gas pedal and the horn were our best weapons to escape the rush hour traffic. If you drove like that in Canada you wouldn’t have a licence for long .After a long hot day on the road we were finally entering Santa Marta, but on our way into the center we spotted the Germans big rig, hard to miss in these parts. They were parked at supermarket so we stopped in to say hi. They told us that they were camping for free in Taganga so we followed them back. They led us down some dirt side streets, through some slums and to a parking lot down by the beach just as the sun was setting. It wasn’t somewhere we would have felt safe by ourselves, but they’d already stayed there a night and said it was fine so we unwound with a couple of well deserved cold beers and then went to bed. The next day we booked a trip to the “Lost City”, a six day adventure into the jungle and said goodbye to Karina and Oliver.
La Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City)
Day One
We spent another hot night in the parking lot and then got up early for our 8:30am start to the trip. Of course South American time is the same as Central American time so we didn’t actually leave town until about 9:30, but we all piled into an awesome converted land cruiser with bench seats and no doors and were off. We drove for an hour on pavement and an hour off road until we reached the town of Machete where we ate lunch while the guides sorted out gear and food. The first day may have been the hardest due to the heat and the long and steady ascent up to the first camp, but thanks to the refreshing swimming hole and the many fruit breaks along the way we didn’t dehydrate. We arrived at a beautiful camp where we enjoyed the views and showers, followed by a huge dinner after which everyone passed out in their own swinging hammock.
Day Two
Day two of the trek started with breakfast followed by a visit to a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole. We were waiting for three other Aussies to join our group but after lunch we gave up waiting and headed for the second camp. The hike to camp two was full of great views and passed by a couple of indigenous villages. When we arrived we had just enough light left to jump off the 15ft rock into the refreshing river. What a way to end a day of trekking! The wait for dinner was almost too long but when we saw the huge plates of food being served we forgot about the delay and stuffed ourselves with beans, rice, meat and Plantains.
Day Three
Day three started with a ton of river crossings, a brief swim and lunch break and then a steep ascent and 1600 stair climb to La Ciudad Perdida. These stairs and the city itself were built between the 11th and 14th centuries by the Tayrona Indians before they were chased to higher ground by the Spaniards. The stairs originally went all the way from the beach dwellings up to the Lost City and around the thousands of terraces up in the hills. Finally the moment we’d all been waiting for, the arrival at the Ciudad Perdida....amazing!! Here, nestled in the jungle, were hundreds of circular terraced platforms with stone trails and stairs leading all around the city and surrounding villages. We only saw a few of the terraces on our way in, but our accommodations were only five minutes away from the main terrace and we were going to do more exploring the next day. Once again it was a bit of a wait for dinner so we took advantage of the time to sneak off and do a bit of exploring on our own. It was magical to be alone in the ancient city! We were also really lucky as we were one of the last tour groups that are going to be able to sleep at the city as they are moving the accommodations down to the river. Good timing!
Day Four
The next morning we were stuffed with empanadas and then taken back into the city for a tour. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, just as we were starting the tour a big giant military helicopter flew in and landed right on the main terrace. Apparently once a month the high up government officials are allowed to bring a bunch of guests up to La Ciudad Perdida. A bit strange, but I guess that’s what power does for you. After that spectacle we were led away from the main terraces and around to see a few other terraces and some recreated dwellings before going to the pool of youth for a quick dip to take off a few years. The city was so much bigger than either of us could have ever imagined and we only saw a corner of what is actually out there. It makes it even more amazing that it wasn’t “discovered” until 1975! It was a wonderful morning in La Ciudad Perdida and our guides and thankfully translator gave us an awesome insight into the city. A few hours later and we were back at accommodation two for another swim, a jump off of a 20ft rock and an awesome dinner.
Day Five
Since we’d decided to do the trek in 6 days we had a great sleep in while the rest of the group got up early and headed off. Then we got up, had some breakfast and went back to the river for a swim. It was an easy hike made even easier by a mule carrying our packs back to the final camp. We got there nice and early so we were able to hang out in the hammocks reading our books and napping until a giant group arrived on their first day of the trek all excited and full of energy. Quite a difference. We got up, chatted a bit had some dinner and celebratory fruit wine and then settled in for our last sleep in the jungle.
Day Six
Another fairly leisurely morning and then the long dusty descent back to the jeep. We got super lucky and had 5 and a half beautiful sunny days in the place that always rains until the last 5 minutes of the trek when it started pouring. We ran for cover in our lunch shelter and watched the rain bucket down for the next hour while enjoying lunch and a nice cold bottle of beer. We felt sorry for all those trekkers that were starting at that time. Stuff never dries up there and the trail would be pure mud, yikes! When the rain finally stopped we jumped in the jeep and headed back to Taganga. What an awesome experience!! We were exhausted and dirty when we got back to town so luckily the owners of the hostel where our friends from the trek ,Vanessa and Will, were staying let us use the shower to clean up. Then we went to dinner at an awesome sandwich place and used the internet to let everyone know we weren’t kidnapped before retiring to the van in a new parking place right by the soccer field.
The road to Villa de Leyva
The next morning we got up early and headed South. Still in the lowlands we sweated our way through the day until we finally decided to stop for the night and lucked upon this awesome place to camp for the night right by a river and all to ourselves. Another day of driving and we finally made it to San Gil where we were directed to another campspot 7 km away, again right on a river and almost to ourselves. We’re loving that Colombians know what camping is!! The next day we drove into Villa de Leyva expected to find a nice place to camp by the lake only to find out that there was no lake, but instead there was an incredible little colonial town with the original cobble stone streets and huge central plaza. We were directed to the Colombian Highlands Hostel where we could camp with our car and were shocked to run into the Germans Karina and Oliver and Max all at the same hostel! Small world! We set up camp for the next three nights, explored the city streets, caught up with everyone, did some laundry finally, went for a hike, chatted with the amazing owner of the hostel and chilled out.
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