Waterfalls and Bus Rides

While the last thing that I wanted to do after our 16 hour bus ride was get in any sort of moving vehicle we didn't have much time left so we sucked it up and took a microbus to Barichara.  Barichara is a small coloniel town about 45 minutes away from San Gil.  Our original plan was to explore Barichara, have a nice dinner and then take a taxi back to San Gil.  However, the town is very small and most of the sites were closed as was the place we intended to eat dinner so we decided to hop back in to a microbus and return to San Gil. 

In San Gil we dined at El Mana along with all the other tourists in town carrying a lonely planet.  After a spectacular four course dinner for about $5 each, we went in search of a place to book a trip for the following day.  Since both Lisa and I have been white water rafting a number of times, we decided to try our hands at rappelling down a waterfall. 

We arrived at the Juan Curi Cascades and we disappointed to realize that what goes down must first go up.  After signing our lives away and learning that we could not bring cameras (and therefore I have no photo-evidence of our trip) we headed out for what was supposed to be a 30 minute hike to the rappelling site.  30 minutes was a bit optimistic considering the people in our group and it actually took about twice that long. At the top, we were given brief instructions about how to rappel down during which one woman was very distraught to learn that if she let go of the rope she would indeed fall.  And then we waited, and waited, and waited until it was finally our turn to harness up and rappel down.  The power of the water falling from the falls made it nearly impossible to look up and soaked me to the bone with cold water.  In no time I was back on the ground and rushing off to catch a microbus back to town in hopes of being able to shower before check-out.  We were quite a bit late but no one was around so we quickly showered, changed and headed back to the bus station.

The next bus was supposed to be a four hour ride to Tunja with no meal stops.  Except that we stopped almost immediately after boarding the bus for about 30 minutes so the driver and others could eat and then were stuck in stop and go traffic all the way to Tunja.  What made it worse was that we were in the last row of the bus ensuring that we felt every bump and turn all with the accompaniment of the toilet.  This was by far our worst bus ride so far.  Once we got to Tunja we managed to catch the very last car to Ville de Leyva - another well-maintained colonial town. 

We spent the morning exploring the artisan's shops in Ville de Leyva and wandering aimlessly along the streets.  There were a number of Clint Eastwood ala The Good, the Bad and the Ugly look-alikes wandering the streets and ponchos were by far the biggest sellers in the town.  It was difficult but Lisa and I both resisted purchasing one.  By 11:00 we seen just about everything there was to see so we decided to catch the 1:00 bus back to Bogota. 

The bus seemed to take forever but we finally made it back to Bogota and tomorrow we head back to the states and once again I will have to work my way back in the black in terms of vacation time before I can head out on a new adventure. 

P.S. I'll be adding pictures as soon as I get home.

Forget Bucuramanga... Let's go to Valle de Cocora

On the evening that we arrived in Santa Marta the gentleman at the bus ticket counter assured us that the road to Bucuramanga would be open on Monday.  So rather than wake up early as originally planned and head to the airport to try and book a flight, we decided to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely morning.  In the morning on our way to breakfast we learned that the road, in fact, was still closed but could open later.  He would know by 2:00.  After grabbing a bite to eat we decided we better come up with an alternate plan so we headed to a travel agency to see if they could help.  The earliest that they could get us to Bucuramanga would be 4:00 PM the next day, flying via Bogota.  We did learn that there was a flight the same day to Armenia in the coffee region but they were not confident we could get to the airport in time.  After we assured them we could, she booked the ticket and we ran back to the apartment to finish packing.  Fortunately, I had already done some in the morning or I never would have been able to get my bag to close so quickly.  We found a taxi driver to take us and off we went on a new adventure. 

We had a long layover in Bogota and thought the airport was going to get hit with lightening during a rather striking (pun intended) thunder storm.  We boarded the plane a little late and the plane drove so much on the runways that I thought we had taken off but didn't notice.  However, I looked out the window and discovered that we were still on the ground.  Just when I thought we were going to drive the plane to Armenia, it finally took off.  We arrived in Armenia without a place to stay so we went in search of a phone only to discover that there is not a single working phone in the airport and no phone vendors selling minutes so we couldn't even try to call any hotels for a place to stay.  We approached the information booth but she didn't have a phone or any suggestions of places in Salento.  Finally a taxi driver approached us and helped us out by calling a few places on our behalf and found us a room and for himself a hefty fare since Salento is 45 minutes from the airport. 

Our room was quaint and very quiet so we were pretty happy.  Unfortunately, as soon as we paid the bill a party started right outside our window (or should I say shutters because there was no glass) and seemed to go on most of the night.  I was too tired to really care but definitely did not feel particularly rested in the morning.  When we awoke, it was pouring rain and while Lisa had an umbrella, I did not, nor did I have a coat of any kind (I accidentally donated my fleece in Santa Marta). Fortunately we found a little store selling heavy-duty plastic ponchos and made our way via jeep to the Valle de Cocoro.  Fortunately the rain stopped for a bit when we arrived. Also on our bus were four kids from Armenia heading out for a 5 day hike that helped us navigate the muddy (yes, more mud!) trail all the way to the cloud forest.  They were all very friendly and were former scouts (hopefully they will earn a badge for assisting us).  For Valle de Cocoro itself was really amazing.  Lush green fields with wax palm trees and lingering clouds - really magical.  We stepped in to the cloud forest briefly but was really muddy and we wanted to get back to town.

After returning to Salento for a bite to eat and then went in search of a Finca (coffee plantation) tour.  According to the trustly lonely planet, there are three fincas in town but on the Plantation House offered tours in English so we headed there.  When we arrived we were informed that they only conducted tours in English on Lunes, Miercoles y Viernes (Monday, Wednesday and Fridays) but we could take one in spanish anytime until 4:00.  Since we were planning to take the bus out that night we decided to go for the spanish tour and Lisa could translate for me.  When the saw our shoes they offered to let us use rubber boots they kept on the premisis and we gladdy accepted.  The boots were great in keeping mud from oozing between our toes but lacked in traction and I constantly was afraid I was going to fall.

We had to walk from the Plantation House about 10 minutes through the mud to Finca del Edwardo (second Finca on the left and straight on til morning).  After a cup of what we think was Edwardo's home grown coffee our guide, Andres, walked us through the steps of growing and processing coffee (picking, peeling, soaking in water to remove sweetness and removing floaters, drying, picking out brown and mishapen beans) the beans are sent to a local roaster for the roasting process (peeling the second skin, roasting, packaging).  In addition to growing coffee, the finca also grows pineapples, bananas, blackberries, oranges, bamboo, and other stuff I've forgotten already.  Apparently all the different sizes of the plants keep the soil in good condition.

After our tour was complete we returned to the heart of Salento and browsed in a few stores before returning to our hotel to change clothes and pick up our bags.  We did find that the ponchos we purchased earlier in the day proved extremely valuable walking from the hotel to the bus stop as the rain started up again and didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon.  We took a bus to the Armernia bus station and bought a ticket to Bogota.  I was dreading the 7 hour bus ride but within moments of sitting down I was asleep and barely woke up until we arrived in Bogota.  It was such an easy ride that I thought we should go ahead and book another 7-8 hour bus ride to San Gil.  This ride was not as easy.  We hit a lot of traffic and while I slept a lot of the way, my allergies kept me sneezing and sniffling all the way to San Gil.

Internet is a little slow... will add photos soon.

Slip Sliding Away



Volcano de Lodo



For New Years Eve we decided to pamper ourselves and go the Volcano de Lodo (Volcano of Mud) for a mud bath. For some reason we expected the volcano to be a volcano. Instead it was a very large hill made of mud. You climb up a set of stairs and find a large pool of mud about the size of a large hot tub. One by one you enter the mud, lay on your back and then are pushed head first to a massage station where you receive a rub down. After a few minutes you are flipped onto you stomach and for the rest of the massage. When they are finshed you are pushed out of the way towards everyone else that has finished. Since you can't touch the bottom, and can't really swim in the thick muck, you come to a stop when you bump in to someone else. Everyone is so slippery and equally incapable of manuevering on their own so there is a lot of grabbing and bumping in to eachother only to slide right off. After you've enjoyed enought mud wrestling you make your way to the exit where they scape off the excess mud so as to preserve it for the next tour group and then you carefully walk back down the stairs to the small pond for your cleaning. Here a women with a plastic bowl dumps dirty water over your head and cleans most of the mud off. Just when you think she's done, she pulls off your swimsuit top and then bottoms (fortunately the water is so murky no one can see) so they can attempt to scrub the mud out of your swim suit. I will say that the did a pretty good job but it is still a little dingy.



The mud



After our mud bath experience we headed back to Cartagena and relaxed by the pool in our dingy swimsuits hoping that the chlorinated water would help return our suits to their natural colors. While we did look a bit like Pig Pen from the Peanuts gang, surrounded by a cloud of dirt in the water, the suits did not fully recover.



One of the many bands on New Years Eve

To celebrate New Year's we headed back to Old Town Cartagena to celebrate on the streets. It was like a huge tailgate party with table and chairs every where. Some were sponsored by neighboring restaurants serving a late prix fix menu others were brought in by locals along with elaborate home made meals. Others just rented plastic chairs and sat in circles with their friends and family. Lisa and I just wandered around listening to various bands and music, taking in the sights. We finally settled near a fenced off square where a live band was playing to ring in the new year. Midnight came and went without us really realizing since their was no countdown. For the second year in a row, we were tipped off mostly by the popping of corks and kissing of the people around us. We decided to head out shortly after midnight so we could catch an eary bus in the morning.

Hammock room after check-out

On the morning of the first we headed to the bus station in hopes of catching a bus to Santa Marta further North along the Carribean coast. This turned out to be a bit of a problem. The only buses head in that direction were going to Barranquilla and from their we could take another bus to Santa Marta. All in all it took about 5 hours. We were planning to leave all but one day pack in the lockers at the bus station and head into the rain forest at Tayrona but since it was New Years day the lockers were closed so we decided to go in with all of our bags. This proved to be even more difficult once we got to the park. The area that we had hoped to stay was a two hour hike from the entrance. We tightened the straps on our packs and started down the path. Before we had gotten very far, the wet path turned into slippery muck, ankle deep in parts. After what seemed like two hours of rough going we arrived at Arrecife which was only supposed to be 45 minutes from the entrance and it was starting to get dark. Rather than continue on, we decided that this was a good a place as any to stay for the night so we walked up to a surprisingly nice looking reception desk to inquire about a hammock for the night. Our hearts sunk when she told us that they were all booked for the night. She did indicate that there were a few more places in Arrecife so we headed back to the muddy path and continued on to "The Paradise" . Fortunately, they had room for us and escorted us to what looked like a green house but rather than lined with plasic, it was lined with mosquito netting. Inside, there were three hammocks hanging all at one end and the inn keeper hung ours directly next to them leaving the majority of the space free (in the off chance of selling more spots). There were two Brits that checked in at the same time as us and got the two hammocks on the other side of us.

Our muddy feet after hike to Cabo San Juan de Guia

After our muddy hike we were in desparate need of a good shower and a good meal. We started with the shower but were disappointed to find them lacking in both privacy (four concrete stalls with no curtains) and lights. Oh, and ceilings. As soon as we were ready to jump in it started pouring rain. I suppose I should look at the bright side since the rain increased both the temparature of the water as well as the water pressure. But it also drenched the clothes I was wearing.



Once were completed our showers, we discovered that the inn's (it isn't an inn but I'm not sure how to describe it) restuarant was closed for the night but that we could return to the neighboring inn that turned us away and use their restaurant. Now, freshly clean, we headed back up the muddy path to the other inn and discovered a very nice restaurant as well as a large table of people that we met on New Years in Cartagena. They had left after us in the morning and arrived in Tayrona much before us by chartering a bus direct from Cartagena (it helps that they had two Colombians in their group). The dinner was spectacular, although I'm sure that even straw would taste good after the day we had.

Upon returning to our inn and hammocks we realized just how close together they really were. Both Lisa and I accidently bumped in to our neighbors climbing in and then throughout the night the guy next to me elbowed me several times.

Lisa on her horse, me on my mule ready to get the hell out of dodge

After a cold, damp and uncomfortable nights sleep in the hammock we decided that we were definitely going to stay only one night. But after hiking all the way here with our packs, in the mud we decided to enjoy it for a bit. We met up with the international group that we met in Cartagena (three Canadians, one Mexican, one South Korean and two Colombians) and hiked to Cabo San Juan de Guia (the beach where we originally planned to stay). It was a yet another muddy hike but at the end we were rewarded with a stunning, swimmable beach (the beach in Arrecife is too dangerous for swimming). We relaxed for a bit out of the water and for a bit in the water before heading back to Arrecife to pack up. Rather than hiking back up the trail in what was sure to be even more mud due to the previous night's rain, we chose instead to rent horses to take our packs and us back up to the top. About eight years ago I swore I would never get on a horse again and perhaps that is why they gave me a mule instead. While I hated every minute of the climb out of the park on the mule, it was far better than the hike in and much faster, only about 30 minutes. Once we reached the entrance our new friends found a truck that would take us and all of our gear into Santa Marta proper for only $10,000 COP each. While the truck was designed for four passengers, we somehow managed to squeeze nine of us in (two in the front seat, four in the back and three in the bed of the truck). Our driver also had to bribe a policeman $10,000 COP when we were stopped at a check point (it would have been more but he didn't see the three in the bed of the truck hidden by our bags).

 

The full truck to Santa Marta

Once in Santa Marta, the two Colombians, Luisa and Carolina, went straight to work finding us an apartment for the night. It was much cheaper than a hotel, but it also did not include those things that you expect from a hotel... toilet paper, blankets, towels, soap, etc. Lisa and I decided to buy some towels in town since I only brought my travel towel which has only been used following muddy events leaving it a little too dirty to use after another shower. After a shower, we all headed out to explore the Santa Marta nightlife. It was amazing how many people were out and about on a Sunday night. The streets were packed with music blasting from the backs of cars and nearby clubs. After making the rounds we headed in to a club for a little dancing before heading back to our apartment where you could clearly hear that the party was continuing without us until the wee hours of the night. Fortunately, I had earplugs to dull the noise and fell asleep without much effort.