FOLLOW ELA & ROBIN: June 2011

Wow columbia is so cool. I think I could talk for hours about everything that I am experiencing here, but will try to keep it short so ….

First I wanted to highlight that the name of my blog changed. It is only 10 days from now that Ela will join me (finally!!!!!!) and from that moment onwards we will be updating the blog together. And since I can not wait until she is here and I already want to pre-enjoy this moment, I thought I could already change the name.

I travelled from Calli to Salento where I stayed for 3 days. Salento is a peaceful village surrounded by mountains with different vegetations. I spend a full day hiking there and passed through the most amazing forests and landscapes. Especially the waxpalms are really impressive. These are the highest palm trees in the world(60mtrs high) and in the middle of open fields they give a surrealistic impression. But as is the case most of the time during my travelling, the company of other travelers really determines how nice a place is. And in salento this was perfect. A nice mix of nationalities, very interesting people and the best hostal since I started (dutch owner J) made this so far one of the highlights of my trip.

I continued to Medellin, a very modern and big city (well know from Pablo Escobar) in the middle of Colombia. It would have been an ideal place to go out and party all night but after my Quito and Calli nights I didn’t feel so much like it. Also I did not want to stay too long in another big city (especially not after the perfect salento experience) so decided that I would just do some sighseeing in Medellin and then move on. With hindsight it was actually an interesting city and gave me again a great insight how the Columbians succeed in making their lives fun. Walking on the streets, hearing the music everywhere, people smiling when you look at them gives me constantly the feeling that people are happy we are visiting their country.

First stop on my way to the Carribean was Santa Fe. A well preserved colonial town 2 hours North of Medellin where we ( started travelling with a German girl at that moment) visited one of the first suspension bridges in the Americas and did what most Columbians do on Sunday in the village…..chilling at the swimming pool. That reminds me also that Columbia is not a very cheap country. The swimmingpool entrance was for example 5 euro….. and it was an Ablon sized pool.

A nightbus took us to the city Turbo. People make joke about the city’s name because they say if you arrive there you would like to use the turbo to get out of it sicne it is so ugly. Ugly (and stinking) it was but it was the place where we would take the boat to paradise; Capurgana and Sapzurro at the Panama border. After 8 hours during the night in an air-conditioned bus (no this was not positive since it felt like -5) n a very bad raod, waiting for 3 hours for the boat in a stinking and 30 degrees harbor and then a 2,5 boat ride in a boat that was very small with many people and that was jumping with 300 horsepowers over the waves, paradise was exactly what I needed. But I got what I wanted. There are not many places left for travelers where you can find beauty and tranquility but this is one. We relaxed one day, the next day did a wonderful hike through the jungle to Panama and the third day was for diving and relaxing.

During the hiking we met like 3 battalions (do you say it like that) of militaries. This might sound frightening but it actually felt very safe. This area has only been cleared from guerillas a few years ago and it is still bordering one of the most dangerous places in South America, the Darien gap. However the presence of so many, very friendly people with big guns give me the feeling that nothing can happen. And this seems to be the case for already many years. We also officially entered Panama, so can add one more country to my list.

The diving was also wonderful. Again I spotted sharks and many many lionfish. The funny story is that they are not native to the Caribbean but one of the hurricanes in the US destroyed many aquariums in Florida and the lionfish escaped into the sea and are now terrorizing the Caribbean. A pity for all the endemic fish that are massively being eaten, but still they are are wonderful to observe during diving.

During my time in Capurcana I met some people that told me about a mud volcano that they were going to visit for an extreme mud bath. I knew that one exists near Catagena, where I am now, But they sayed there would be one where no tourists come, which is much bigger and free of charge. So that became my next destination. And wowieeeeeeee, how cool was that!!! Being weightless in a warm bath of stinky (petroleum was one of the smells) mud, while a Columbia “mama” is giving you a should massage…again a highlight. And the pics are only giving a slight indication of what a nice experience it was!!!

Now in Catagena, going to enjoy the most beautiful colonial city of South America. Already some pics are included. Will update you later on how it was. Don’t promise that it will be before Costa Rica….. and in Costa Rica……. Anyway, you will hear from US!!!!!!

Initially I planned to fly back from Galapagos to Quito in order to continue the next day to Columbia. Finally I stayed slightly longer in Quito. I just went for one drink in a bar owned by a Belgium guy but that turned out to be more than one drink (you know me) and since I met so many people (Dutch, Belgium and Equadorin) there, I decided to enjoy a few days more. WOW the nightlife in Quito is not bad!!!!!!!! But even that becoms a bit boring as well so I managed to get myself in a bus and 24 hours later I arrived in Cali in Columbia. The first part was by myself but at the border I met 3 korean women (mother with two daughters) with who I killed time, waiting for the nightbus to Cali. I thought Spanish was difficult but at that moment i realized that my Korean is also not that good anymore...and with their limited English you can imagine that this were some interesting hours....While killing time, we visited an amzing church tagainst a rock above a canyon. That by itself might not be that impressive but if I tell you that Maria actually appaered there 150 yrs ago I guess you become much more interested in this story :-). Not to bore you too much with these kind of stories I just post some other photos from my travel so far in Columbia. In short: an amazing country (and I feel really safe). More text with the photos will come. Right now I am in Medellin!