Bus Ride, Taganga, and Another Bus Ride

After spending one more night in Cartagena we took an early morning bus to Taganga, a coastal city 4 hours east. The bus ride was not bad, a short 4 hrs. We arrived in Taganga and guess what, yes, we found a place with once again NO air conditioning, hahah! 2 fans though! It was an apartment right off the beach, not bad. That night we went on a short little hike and found a great lookout, the view of Taganga and all the fishing boats, the mountains in the background, and the ocean was spectacular! Dinner time, called for some whole made pasta sauce, great bread, and a nice cold beer. We ate dinner right off our porch, played cards and went on an evening stroll, it was a relaxed night, as I was feeling a bit under the weather :)

Waking up to the sound of fishermen and waves rolling into shore was not bad. After eating a wonderful breakfast, french toast, we hiked east to find numbers of beaches, each one unique. Taganga has a beach, however it is very polluted, (trash in the ocean and what not, lesson for un DON'T LITTER, or even PICK UP SOME TRASH AND GIT RID OF IT!) so we made our way to the 'nicer' beaches. The hike was rocky, hot, and dusty, after hiking for 1hr in the heat we finally arrived to the end of the path, yet no evident beach. We hiked down the cliff a bit more and found a steep path to some boulders that lined the shore. Carefully, we hiked down and found the most romantic private spot on some huge boulders. The afternoon was spent, just the two of us, the ocean, and some fish and snails. Our spot was perfect, it was on the side of a cliff, so when we got hot, we dove right into the ocean. When we had enough of our private spot, there was really no where to stretch out, and no sand, we hiked along the coast, barefoot, to the next beach. There we found loads of people snorkeling, not to mention a ice cream man selling ice cream, he was pushing his cart in the ocean, not on the sand, only in Colombia, and joined in the party.

I saw the most amazing fish in my life! A sword fish two feet long, bright blue, and about one inch wide, many angle fish, some eels, and numerous sea enchants.

That evening, we caught a night bus to Bogota, where Ezequiel's flight to Argentina would be departing from. The bus ride was a long 18hrs, good thing I got to spend it with Eze. As we got on the bus, we couldn't sit down, there was someone in our seats, and we were not about to give up these seats, #1 and #2, loads of leg room, and great view of the TV. The guy, was a JERK, we asked him to move, " we have the tickets for those seats, what does your ticket say?" I don't have one yet, he said, the driver has yet to give me one, Obviously he got the hook-up from the driver, and the driver said they could have the seats. After about 10 of bickering, the military, who was checking every passenger as they entered, interfered, and put the bus driver and customers in their place and granted up the seat, rightfully so. Well, the entire bus ride this Colombian punk did not stop whiling. He kept on saying "green-go-home", referring to us and Gringos. Well, Ezequiel recently told me, yesterday, that when we stopped for breakfast, he noticed that there was gum in his hair, NO WAY! that punk!!!! So, Eze, the smart one he is, emptied a bottle of water onto his seat, hahaha nice thinking! I never noticed any of this that day, but looking back, what great revenge!

We eventually arrived in Bogota, and Eze took off to Argentina. One to visit home, but primarily to renew his student visa, hoping to finish school in December. All went well for him, and he is now back in FL, coaching tennis and about to start up his last semester at St. Thomas University. What a magical week with the boyfriend in Colombia!

Enjoying the sunset on Playa Blanca

Our Home for the night

Cartagena, Colombia

What was supposed to be the 4 hour bus ride to Cartagane, from Taganga seemed to take forever, and it did, 6.5 hours. We stopped numerous times along the highway to pick up as many passengers as possible, (This is a very common practice in S. America, bus drivers pack the buses with people, hence more money for them. It makes for quite an uncomfortable ride).

I finally arrived in Cartagena, an old colonial port town on the Northern coast oc Colombia. The town was steaming hot, no air conditioned rooms were available, only rooms with fans. I ended up checking into a hostel, Holiday. In my dorm room there 7 beds, and not one of them had a top sheet, only the bottom fitted sheet, why,because the heat was SO intolerable! I could hardly sleep that night, one for the stuffy heat, and two because Ezequiel, my boyfriend of 2 years, was arriving the next day for a one week visit. It had been 4 months since we had last seen each other, quite some time.

The next day I woke up with a huge smile on my face. I ran some errands, wax job, groceries, and moving to a new hostel with Windows and a good fan. I went to pick up Ezequiel, I was driven the the airport on the back of a Motorcycle, fun!, and could hardly wait to get my arms around him and give him a big kiss!

Well, like most flights now a days are late, his was too! 2.5hrs! It was the longest in my life! At the airport I got to know all the families who were awaiting loved ones as well. Some families had gone for 2/3 years without seeing their relatives.
needless to say, as Ezequiel finally walked though the exit gates we both had mile long smiles!

That night we spent the night roaming the romantic streets of Cartagena. Stopping to see the old wall that surrounded the town, ancient fortresses, and old churches, we couldn't stop looking at each other!

The next day we made our way to the 'tourist dock' and got on a boat that headed for Playa Blanca. We made the journey to the desolate island with a couple from Australia, the same one I did the Lost City trek with. The boat ride was great, a pack of dolphins followed our boat for some time. We arrived to the island, had a typical lunch, fish , coconut rice, salad, and fried plantains, and looked for somewhere to spend the night, we had the choice of hammocks or a tent, this island was evtrymely desolate.

We spent the day lounging on the beach, getting a massages on the shore with coconut oil, and walking along the beach to watch the sunset. We shared a 'box' of wine with the Australians and then ended up spending the night in a small red tent. It was hard to sleep, all of a sudden we heard weird noises. There were huge crabs crawling onto our tent, weird! The next morning we woke up after a rough night of sleep to find crab tracks all around our tent. More lounging around the island, and then It was time to catch the boat back to Cartagena.

We cooked spaghetti at the hostel, took a well deserved shower, there was no running water on the island, and went out for a night on the town. A Cuban bar across thre street seemed appealing, and it was, we spent the night dancing to salsa, ballenata, and cumbia music. Ezequiel says I still need to work on shaking my hips, typical northern American!

Taganga and the Lost City

Taganga, Colombia

At the moment, I am trying not to itch the loads of mosquito bites (EZE, say it, BITEEES) all over my body! Arriving to Taganga was well, interesting. The bus I was on, to total a whopping 16 hours, broke down, and the entire bus had to wait for 45 min. and transfer to another bus. Well, that bus like the previous one was FREEEEZING! Everyone was cuddling with a blanket or something, all I had was a scarf, (it was 90F and I figured they wouldn’t put the air conditioning up so high, but they did!) I arrived in Taganga, a small coastal town, got off the bus and immediately started to sweat! HOT and HUMID! I checked in to an amazing hostel, met loads of fun people, Germans, aussies, English, and such people. We spent the day on the beach trying to cool off. While at the back town I arranged what I would be doing for the next 6 days, a trek to a lost city in the jungles of Colombia.

The 6 day trek to the Lost City (La Ciudad Perdida)

The hike entailed 6 days of roughing it… sleeping in hammocks, eating loads of rice and beans, being bitten by hoards of mosquitoes, gnats, and other crazy jungle bugs, hiking between 4-7hrs a day, through mud, rivers, uphill climbs, slippery downhill slopes and what not.

Miguel, a local guide, led our fabulous group: a couple from Australia, AL the Israeli, Steve, the English man, and Micah from Holland.

A 3 hrs ride into the jungle, lunch in a small town at the edge of the jungle and then the beginning of the trek. About 10 min. into the trek we ran into a group who was just finishing there trek, they were wet, muddy, smelly, filled with bug bites and torn apart, one girl’s shoes were basically falling apart. FUN! The first day the heat got to us, sunny, hot, and humid, we were all walking balls of sweat! Thank goodness for the river, we were halfway into the days hike, and our guide Miguel asked us if we wanted to swim in the river, Heck yeah! It was deep enough to do cannon balls and what not. Getting out of the river I almost stepped on a BIG spider, yuck! 4 hrs later, we arrived at out camp. It a shelter situated along a river. There was a make-shift stove with wood for fuel, room to hang at least 15 hammocks, a table and a bathroom, well just the bowl and wood around to create some privacy. We had a snack, watermelon, and then went to a nearby waterfall and jumped in for a refreshing end to day one. Dinner, rice, beans, meat, and salad, a game of cards and time for bed, I carefully got into my hammock, pulled the mosquito net over me, and hoped that I would be able to fall asleep (it was my first time sleeping in a hammock).

The rest of the 6 days was similar, hiking long hours in the heat, crossing rivers, swimming in the river, being eaten alive and what not. One highlight was when we arrived at the homes of indigenous people from the area. They all had long hair, spoke hardly any Spanish, wore long white cloth, and survived off the land. Other bizarre sights, the army ants carrying leafs to their castle, fresh pineapple, bananas, watermelon, and other fruit unique to the area, getting my feet wet every chance I could to cool myself down, waking up in the middle of the night having, itching attacks, the jungle noises at night, and of course the endless hours of card games with the group!

The third day however, was spectacular. We arrived to the ´Lost City´. At the entrance there were about 6 soldiers with big guns, kind of scary. As I hiked up the 2,000 stairs leading to the lost city, I spoke with one of the soldiers and he informed me that they were mostly there to protect the tourists from the FARC, good news. After my entire body was about to give up, these stairs were killers, I arrived at the top. There were terraces of rocks that were once home to many indigenous. We spent the night in the Lost City, without a care in the world, it was so peaceful there. The next two days we made our way back to civilization. All in all we were very lucky, we missed the hard rainfall every day, and no one got hurt badly. It is weird, sitting in front of a computer after spending the past 6 days in the jungle filled with animal noises and no worries.

2 days until Eze comes, super jazzed! A shout out to Maria and Maggie R, happy BIRTHDAY!!!!

COLOMBIA

Bogotá, Colombia

Arriving to Colombia was interesting. I took two buses, stood for 2hrs on one of them, took a taxi to the airport in Ecuador, flew to Panama City, Panama, found out my flight was overbooked, (even though my flight was CONFIRMED, I had to wait for 4 hrs until the next flight) and FINALLY arrived in Bogota. Diana, a friend of mine (she and her cousin, Jaime, worked at Coon Rapids HS, where I did my Student teaching last fall). I spent a week with them in Bogota. They showed me all around the huge and amazing city which is full of life; the central plaza, the night life, and all of the amazing parks. Diana, Jaime, Diana´s cousin Diego, and her brother, Juan introduced me to Aguila, the national beer, aguardiente, the national liquor, which tastes like black liquorish, yuck, and chichi, a fermented beer(needless to say, Bogotá was loaded with party!). I met both Diana and Jaime´s family, they were all so welcoming.

After spending a week with them, I realized what an amazing country Colombia is. Besides the problem with guerilleras, and the anti-government organization, FARC (who are responsible for the kidnappings) it is a country filled with friendliness. From Bogota I traveled to San Gil, a small town also filled with amicable people. I visited a waterfall, and played around in it all day long. I along with a new friend hiked up to the top, stood under the raging falls, and then hiked to the bottom and did numerous cannon balls into the pool carved out by the water at the bottom. The next day, along with some more new friends, Chris from the U.S, and two Aussies, we took a mini bus to a nearby colonial city, and hiked from there to another city, which was even smaller. The hike was not bad, but the heat was definitely getting to me, it was 100 and humid. After getting back to town, I enjoyed some of the ´street food´ . Corn on the cob roasted over hot coals, fresh squeezed lemonade, and some whole made ice cream. From that adventure, I went on my next, caving. In a nearby town there is a cave that extends for 20K, and then some, the entire cave has not been explored. A group of 5 travelers and a guide geared up putting on helmets, and head-lamps. We entered the cave, trudging through water, and ducking under the stalagetites and stalagmites. In one part of the cave, where it was so narrow, we had to swim under a passage for about 2min, it was scary! It was quite impressive and an out of this world experience!

At the moment I am in the Northern coast of Columbia soaking up the sun! Tomorrow I am off for a 6 day hike to the ´Lost City´ and then on the 14 Ezequiel is coming to visit.

Montañita, Ecuador

Moñtanita is a very small beach town that is home to surfers and partiers alike, good thing we were there on a weekend! The two hour bus ride from Puerto Lopez was not bad, too bad we were about 3hrs late in arriving to Moñtanita. Shane, one of my super good friends from Winona who is traveling south america, and I were susposed to meet up at 2pm. Noa and I arrived at 4:30, oops! Good thing because Shane and his crew (Chris, Ryan and his girlfriend) were going to leave at 5pm! Noa and I began to walk down the main road, and all of a sudden I heard, ´SCHOLZZZZZZZZZZZY´It was shane! It was awesome to see him, we kind of have this wierd long distance friendship and only see each other about 3 times a year.

That weekend consisted of pure celebration! Friday night, and lots to do in Montañita. We checked into our hostel, with hammocks on the porch and made our way to the volleyball courts. Of course we got all sandy, and went in for a dip. The ocean was nice, the waves were the perfect size to play in. From there, we took advantage of the great party that Moñtanita had to offer. Along one of the few roads in Moñtanita there is a row of little cabinas that serve whatever you may want, specializing in mohitos and other fruity driniks. We spent most of the night there, just chillin, and then went to shake our booties! It was a great night, which ended at 5am.

Saturday, and I swear I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I woke up sick as a dog, cold wise, runny nose, cough, headach, and aching eyes. I went to look for my glasses and they were no where to be found! Great I though, one more of my possessions lose in South America. I then went to pack my purse for the day, and realized that I hardly had any cash, hmmmm, I dug a little further and NO WAY, all of my cash in my big wallet was gone, along with my student ID cards, and my cell phone! GREAT! I was so mad! What had happened is that during the whale watching excursion on Puerto Lopez I stored my bags in the storage area, we had to check out by 11. Well, someone found a little treasure when they went into the storage area and stole all my cash! So mad!

Well, I got over the situation, thanks to Ezequiel´s cheering me up. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach and a nother night filled with fun. I made the best of my time in Montañita with Shane, Chris, and Noa because as Sunday came, were were all off in different directions. It was time for me to say ´adios´to some amazing friends. It was especially sad saying goodbye to Noa, we had spent about 3 weeks travelling together, and I will never forget our crazy times, especialy with the peanutbutter!

Next stop, Guayaquil to catch a flight to Colombia