Colombia

We arrived into Bogota from Havana quite late but were immediately struck by how advanced the country felt versus where we'd just come from. It was very easy to grab a taxi and get to our hostel located in the central artsy, student area of Candlearia. The first night we didn't sleep at all due to a noisy hostel and a bed big enough for 1.5 adults just about, not 1 normal sized person plus a giant as we are! Anyway Yon found out there was a bike tour leaving about 10 minutes after I'd got up so we headed straight out...error! After about 15 minutes on the bike I was doubled over, nearly passing out and nearly being sick- mainly I think this is due to altitude sickness as Bogota is very high above sea level, but probably also because I'd had no water, no food and no sleep! I had to head back to the hostel and lie down- this basically wiped me out for two whole days so technically I still haven't been to Bogota!

Things got better after a 9 hour bus journey east to a small town called San Gil. The place is well known for several adventure sports and activities on offer. The town is a very sweet, very hilly little place with a beautiful central square and cathedral. Our first full day was full of firsts for Yonna....the local indigineous delicacy is fried ants with big bottoms, so obviously Yon had to try them! Next up he very impressively faced his fear of heights head on and went paragliding over a huge canyon near San Gil. He was scared but absolutely loved it and photos look amazing. I wasn't there to witness it as I went on my own seperate way to a ranch about an hour outside San Gil in the hills, for a day of horseriding. My 100% Spanish speaking guide brought my lovely little horse around equipped with a proper western saddle and I hopped on. These small South American horses just loved to gallop and we were soon galloping through the beautiful scenery of fincas with banana, coffee and yuca crops growing. After 1.5 hours we reached a waterfall where I swam before taking the horses back to the ranch. It was a brilliant, if a little scary at times, experience :-)

Next we took an overnight bus to Santa Marta in the North. We had been warned that they like to freeze people with aircon on the buses so wore all the warm clothes we have brought, which aren't many. After a pretty much sleepless night we arrived in the large city and found the second bus we needed to take us up into the lush rainforest hill town of Minca. Once we got off this rickety jeep, pretty exhausted by this point, the locals pointed out the direction of our hostel. We followed their points and came to the bottom of another hill....turns out this was a pretty big one with killer steps all the way up to the top where our hostel was. After a very tough climb with our bags we were rewarded with an incredible view through the thick rainforest and into the valley of Santa Marta and the sea beyond it. The hostel was set out for the sole objective of chilling out, with rocking chairs, hammocks and lots of areas to sit and watch the rainforest scenes. We spent our first night in a treehouse room- all we could hear were the various insect calls, birds and the unusual call of howler monkeys. Before we went to bed that night I opted for a rainforest massage- it was an incredible experience out in the forest and pretty unusual with the chap massaging and performing reiki whilst making vibration noises and speaking to me in a voice that reminded me so much of Puss in Boots in Shrek! I really had to hold in my laughter. Despite this, I got up the next morning to attend his yoga lesson on the forest balcony which was great.

After yoga, we trekked down the hill again and paid a couple of guys on motorbikes to drive us up into the mountain coffee farm, La Victoria. It was set up by the British in the 19th century and is now German owned, staffed entirely by fairly paid Colombian families. We had a private tour around the factory which still uses the original machinery and only water pressure to power every machine and every part of the process. The bean picking is of course done by hand and the lady showed us how the three qualities of bean are established by their weight- the best quality sinking in the water. The beans are then deshelled, cleaned and graded all using water pressure- just amazing! We got a cup of freshly brewed espresso and I have never tasted coffee so good! Our next stop was some natural pools and waterfalls before we found a man on the side of the road cooking up hand made chorizo- delicious. We made it back up to our hostel to spend the night in a cabana- a traditional wood and mud hut in the jungle.

The next day we took the realtively short trip along the coast to Cartagena. Its popularity with toursits meant it was super busy and the prices were double what they are in Bogota, the capital! On our first full day we headed into the old walled town which is beautiful. It's full of brightly painted Spanish colonial churches and buildings, all with balconies and gorgeous flowers flowing over them. On our last day we opted for the tour out to a mud volcano- this was a very surreal experience indeed. First you walk up a rickety wooden staircase that's barely attached to the side of what looks like a giant ant hill. As soon as you get to the top, you look down into the volcano to see people flapping about in a massive mud bath about 4 meters below you. It looked absolutely disgusting and as we were queueing to take the even more rickety looking wooden ladder down, I was seriously considering opting out. But down I went and it felt as disgusting as it looked! The mud is made up of decaying organic matter deep below the surface that is then pushed up like lava in a normal volcano. The mineral rich gloop is of course meant to be brilliant for your skin and some people were lying in it for ages, putting it in their hair and everything. I however got in and waded to the exit ladder (which is pretty hard as the mud is so dense you float) as quickly as possible. You then crawl up and a chap rubs off the excess mud and seems to be enjoying it a little too much. Then you go down the other side of the volcano and walk to the thermal lagoon to wash everything off. It was a cool experience but not one I'd repeat in a hurry!

We decided that we couldn't face the 20 hour bus journey back to Bogota from the north, so opted for a 1.5 hour flight instead. We've just arrived back in the capital to have one night's rest before we fly on to Quito, Ecuador, tomorrow :-)