Ryan and I spent our last 2 days in Santa Marta taking in the sun and doing virtually nothing other than relaxing. I continued to work on my tan, taking breaks to drink smoothies, eat seafood, and learn a bit of Spanish. Prior to leaving Santa Marta, I wanted to make sure that I took in the whole of the city; sights, sounds and smells. [Read more…] about The Last of Santa Marta & the First of Cartagena
Colombia
Nature and stuff…
I’ve been thinking over the last few days how to perfectly describe the ride up to Carpe Diem, our eco lodge in the Sierra Navada. First of all, the driver showed up early, which is completely un-Colombian. I’m almost never early, so we were scrambling to get everything together while they were waiting. We were hurried into the busy streets of Santa Marta, threw our bags in the back of a jeep, and ushered into the back seat, alongside a lovely Dutch woman. Within a mere minute of being outside, I was drenched, and found my legs sticking to the seat of the jeep. [Read more…] about Nature and stuff…
Sunning in Santa Marta
The last few days have been spent lying in the sun, and discovering the best eateries in Santa Marta. On Tuesday nightt, two Norwegians from our hostel took us to a sandwich and smoothie shop called Lulo. The food was fresh and delicioius, and we went back for more on Wednesday as well. Nothing beats a fresh mango, papaya and pineapple smoothie and a mango salad with avocado on a hot day! Aside from a late lunch at Lulo on Wednesday, Ryan and I spent much of the day relaxing in the sun by our hostel pool. We also attempted to take another Spanish lesson, although that went horribly sideways. We had agreed to meet him at “cafe del parque”. We spent a good half an hour searching until we found Cafe del Parque, when the instructor had been waiting for us at Juan Valdez Cafe, the cafe near the park. It was all very confusing, to say the least. After missing our Spanish lesson, we set out to find children’s books in Spanish to help us with our reading and understanding. Everything here takes much longer than at home, so we burned a good chunk of time scouring the town. The hunt was successful though, and we spent the evening making dinner and attempting to read and understand at a 5 year old level. [Read more…] about Sunning in Santa Marta
From Bogota to Santa Marta
Yesterday was our last morning in Bogota, and we spent it enjoying fresh fruit from a street cart, delicious coffee from a cafe, and Chipotle style Mexican food. We also made a stop at the Botero Museum to see all of the works of the famous Colombian artist, Botero. He specializes in all things fat, from a statue of a giant, fat hand, to a statue of a fat man on a fat horse. He also has numerous paintings of fat women, men, children and animals. It was all very interesting, to say the least. [Read more…] about From Bogota to Santa Marta
A Taste of Bogota
Since Friday afternoon, Ryan and I have been very busy! We went down to the main road (Carerra 7) to see the Friday evening festival, and we came upon a massive protest. There is an upcoming mayoral election in Bogota, and there has been some controversy; the people of Bogota are very passionate about it. We watched the protest, which took place in the form of parade marching down Carerra 7 and into Plaza Bolivar, from the confines of a coffee shop off the street. It went on for at least 45 minutes, and at that point, we made our way down the street to enjoy some corn on the cob, fried plantains, and empanadas. [Read more…] about A Taste of Bogota
We’re in Bogota!
After a two hour delay in Toronto, a 6 hour flight, and nearly 6,500 km of total travel, Ryan and I made it to Bogota. We were fairly nervous getting into Bogota, and spent the last half hour of our flight practicing what to say in Spanish to the customs officers. Fortunately, everything went off without a hitch; our hostel picked us up and the only real challenge we had was finding a meal. [Read more…] about We’re in Bogota!