Circling Colombia

Today, Gabby and I had breakfast at the hotel and flew to the airport. Gabby flew to Los Angeles and I’m flying to Lima.

This morning, we woke up and took a taxi to just outside the walled city.  We reserve a bus ride to Playa Blanca, a white-sand beach about an hour away from the walled city.  We spent about 3-4 hours at the beach getting lunch, getting a drink at a bar, and walking the white sand beach.  The grilled fish plate was enormous and the unsweetened mint mojito was also great.  At 4pm, we boarded a bus back to the walled city.

We walked around in the walled city for an hour, stopping at the cocoa museum and then had a ceviche at La Cevicheria.  We then taxi’d back to the hotel.

This morning, we woke up, had breakfast downstairs in the hotel, and then taxi’d over to the walled city of Cartagena.  We walked around for a few hours, visiting a few places including San Domingo Plaza, San Alberto Cafe, Crepes and Waffles, and  a historical jail-turned market.  Afterwards, we walked about 30 minutes to a historical fortress in Cartagena, where we walked through the tunnels and walked through all the levels of the fortress.  It was enjoyable and we chose a great time of day to visit, when it was mostly shady but the sun still hadn’t set.  From there, we walked to oceanfront edge of the walled city to Cafe Del Mar, a highly-recommended spot to have a drink in Cartagena.  We arrived and were instantly caught up in the lively, laid-back atmosphere of the restaurant.  The DJ was playing lively club music and the huge ocean-view patio was filled with people enjoying the sunset and great drinks.

We then had dinner at La Cevicheria and taxi’d back to the hotel.

This morning, we work up at 5am and started hiking at 6am.  We were in camp 1 by 9:30am and I was feeling extremely exhausted and worn out.  We took a 30 minute break at camp 1 where we had packages cakes, passion fruit juice, and I lied down on a bench for 15 mins.   

I was strong through the climb out of camp 1, but the two-hour monotonous downhill slope after that was very emotionally, mentally, and physically challenging.  After the hike, we said our goodbyes to the crew and got a ride back to the bus station from expotur.  We then took a bus to Cartagena.

Interesting parts of today:

• Taking photos of Santiago with an indigenous family and having the indigenous girl come up to me and say ”dos mil” (cost for taking photo)
• Santiago telling me that he’s planning on painting one of the indigenous sales buildings on the trail with his artwork 
• Persevering on this hike and finishing in a strong manner
• Learning that Daniel lives in Mamey and he plans on guiding hikes for 8 more years
• Hearing Daniel share about the 4 historical deaths on this hike (2 heart attacks, one flash flood near camp 1 and one fall into the river near camp 1

Today we woke up by 5am and by 6am we were on the trail headed to the lost city.  We toured around the city with Daniel and Santiago and we had an hour free to walk around and take photos.  

Afterwards, we walked the trail back to last nights camp and had lunch.  We then hiked a few more hours to where we would be spending the night and relaxed there and swam in the river.  I started experiencing mild knee pain during the last hour or two of today’s hike, but I’ll do my best to finish the hike tomorrow without taking any medication.  Over the last few days, it was reassuring to hear from Santiago and Cory that knees can adapt and become stronger as they are trained on a more regular basis.

Interesting parts of today:

• Climbing the steep trail to the lost city
• Visiting the lost city and experiencing the majesty of the site, learning about the layout of the city, and seeing the maps
• Seeing Santiago draw the lost city from the viewpoint 
• Seeing Santiago’s art portfolio 
• Seeing Santiago teaching the young Native American girl how to color in a coloring book 
• Hearing a speech from Native American spiritual leader 

This morning, we woke up at 5am, had a quick breakfast of eggs and coffee and started hiking.  We witnessed a beautiful sunset and the landscape was much more green and scenic than yesterday.  At around 10am, we stopped in another camp and went swimming for about 30 mins and had lunch.

We then continued on toward the Lost City.  On the way, we stopped for a fruit snack break and passed by an indigenous village and some indigenous homes.  Santiago brought a coloring book for an indigenous kid and the siblings really warmed up to us and were friendly.  I was surprised to see how mature and self-sufficient the indigenous kids were and couldn’t help but think: Are modern-day Americans really more advanced and evolved than the indigenous people? By a lot of measure, I would argue not.  Our religion isn’t more sophisticated than theirs and they arguably reach greater spiritual heights.  They are more self-sufficient, more mature throughout their lives, they are more healthy, they live longer, they take better care of the environment, etc.

Interesting things today 

-Running into indigenous kids and special occasion village and realizing that they’re more advanced than us in some ways (longer lifespans, babies and young adults mature at younger age, strong sense of community, etc.

-learning about 4 indigenous tribes with over 150,000 total population in Sierra Nevada 

-swimming in the river where we had our lunch break.  Sitting on the boulders in the river with Santiago and Gabriela 

-seeing Santiago’s elaborate drawings at the tienda

-Santiago bringing a coloring book for the indigenous kids and them interacting with us

Today I woke up at 5:50am and texted Michelle good luck on her test at 8am.  Gabby and I then went to the lobby of the hotel to enjoy a breakfast consisting of omelette, fruits, and coffee.

At 9am, the Expotur driver showed up at the hotel and we packed into the van and were driven to expoturs offices where we finalized the trip paperwork and stored our luggage upstairs.  We then assembled in our groups.  Our group for the next 4 days would consist of the following:

-me and Gabriela 

-couple from England (husband is a retired commercial real estate agent)

-couple from France (husband is a physical therapist)

-couple from Europe who always speak in their native tongue and show PDA

-couple from Pasadena (guy just quit his job as an aircraft engineer and girl is transitioning jobs)

-Daniel (tour guide with over 30 years of experience and over 900 treks under his belt)

-Santiago (translator/artist with over 89 treks under his belt)

Interesting parts of today:

• -Daniel talking about the history of Colombia and Sierra Nevada after dinner (farming avocados and cocoa -> farming marijuana -> farming coco -> tourism)
• -swimming in the pool near our camp and jumping from the rocks into the pool 
• -meeting inspirational people (every single person from our group) who are free-spirited, determined, open minded, happy, etc 
• taking a break at the orange juice stand on the trail and also the watermelon stand
• Ascending the trail and seeing the beautiful views of the Sierra Nevada landscape 
• Witnessing the rural/isolated/intimate lifestyle of the locals and thinking about how they’ve adapted and reconciled having hundreds of foreign tourists pass through their lives/homes on a daily basis 

Today, we spent most of the morning and early afternoon working at our Hotel in Medellin and arranging for laundry.  During the early afternoon, we took a taxi to the airport and then boarded a plane to Santa Marta. We checked into our hotel in Santa Marta and then went our for a vegetarian dinner in a nearby happening area that was packed with restaurants, bars, clubs, and street vendors.  There was a live band playing Bob Marley and Jason Mraz in the restaurant which was really enjoyable.  We then worked a couple more hours at the hotel and then called it a night.

This morning, we visited Park Arvi and hiked for a couple of hours around the park.  The nature was scenic, but definitely didn’t compare to the waterfall outside of Bogota.  I also didn’t like how they tried to make money by charging people for trail guides, instead of just giving us a map and allowing us to hike alone.

After Parque Arvi, we ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant near Universidad.  We then walked around the botanical park for about 30 minutes.  From there, we took a taxi through a terrible part of Medellin that was filled with drunks, addicts, and homeless, to arrive at Botero Plaza.  Botero Plaza also had a shady crowd because it bordered bad areas on all sides.

We then taxi’d back to the hotel and now we’re getting ready to go out for dinner in Poblado.

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This morning, we woke up at 6AM, had breakfast at 6:30AM, and left at 7:30AM for Guatape.  Instead of paying 100,000 pesos to be part of a structured tour, we instead decided to visit on our won.  We took a taxi to the Norte Terminal and then took a bus to Guapate.  Guapate is known for its colorful buildings and intricate carved/molded designs on the fronts of each of the buildings.

We first spent some time walking around town and having an early lunch at Namaste.  Gabby and I split a shakshuka and a vegan crepe, both of which were amazing.  We then took an electric mini-taxi to the gas station at the base of Piedra De Penol.  We walked up to the entrance of the rock and had two coffees while enjoying a nice view of the surrounding landscape. We then proceeded to climb the 700+ steps up to the top of Piedra De Penol.  We took to photos and I enjoyed a chocolate/nut ice cream bar.

After returning to Guatape, we had falafel sandwiches, an empanada, and chocolate mousse from Namaste Cafe, another vegan restaurant in Guatape.  The food was amazing and very filling.  Afterwards, we boarded a bus back to Medillin.

After relaxing in the hotel for a couple hours, we went out for a drink to El Social.

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