Colombia - Bogota and to the coast

19 January 2010

It's been really hectic so far. Kerstin and I spent a couple of days in Bogota which is a really nice city. There's a cable car and funicular railway that run up the side of a mountain so you get views out over the city, plus there's a big gold museum and quite a few pubs, clubs and restaurants to keep you occupied! The weird thing is that all the xmas decorations are still up including the christmas tree on the central square - G&G should invite the country to their 12th night party next year and explain the rules!!

Then it was off to a v small colonial town called Villa de Levya which is all olde-worldy with a massive central plaza and lots of low stone buildings with balconies and stuff. We stayed at a gorgeous wee hostel in the hills with hammocks everwhere. But no rest for the wicked - off cycling up ridiculously steep hills in crazy heat to see a dinosaur skeleton and ancient stone archaelogical site. It was pretty hot and dry with olive trees and goats and really did just look like Mallorca. You can see why the spanish would have felt at home!

Then off again to another small town further north called San Gil. This was more of a "real" town in the sense that it wasn't so beautiful, but the hostel (about 7 quid a night) had a rooftop pool and a balcony over the main square, so not exactly slumming it! San Gil is all about white water rafting and parasaling and stuff. However, the last rainy season didn't happen so there didn't seem to be much point.... We went up to a waterfall with an amazing pool at the bottom for a wee swim and off to another couple of wee towns in the hills another day.

On again on the night bus to the Carribean coast. Buses here are air conditioned to freezing point so you need a jumper and trousers even just for short journeys then when you get off you're stepping into temperatures in the high 30s - it's all v strange! Ended up in a tiny town called Taganga which is all about hippies and drugs and hanging out on the beach. Local police are as corrupt as hell and set up some aussies for coke possession when we were there - they had to pay a massive "fine" to get released. Luckily the police station is beside the cashpoint.....

However, it was also all about diving, so I did a couple of refresher dives, and Kerstin did her PADI course which was good. Met a couple of great Aussies who I'm now travelling with (Kerstin only has a week left so has raced on down south now whereas I've got more time to kick about). There's a national park just next door called Tayrona which has the most beautiful beaches. Whereas Taganga is all dry and scrubby, Tayrona has rainforest running right down to gorgeous beaches with massive granite boulders everywhere.

And then onto the more exciting stuff. We left the gringo trail completely and went into the Guijara peninsula. Kerstin and I and the 2 aussies caught a bus to a town called Riohacha then organised a taxi for another hour to another small town near Venezuela called Uribia, and from there we managed to get a ride in the back of a supply truck for another 2 1/2 hours out to a place called Cabo de la Vela. It was absolutely amazing. We were right out in the desert with cacti everywhere, and endless horizons as it was so flat. It took us all day to get there so the next morning we walked out across the desert for an hour to a brilliant wee beach where you could swim. It was unbelievably hot. No running water with the family we were staying with, though there were beds and bucket flush loos so it was fine. We managed to hire a driver and 4x4 for a drive the following day to a place called Punta Gallinas which is the northernmost point on the continent. We stayed overnight with a really sweet native Wayuu family who managed to get us fresh fish (and rice and fried plantain) for tea. We slept outside in hammocks which was really cool (literally!). Then the next day we were driven out to this amazing sand dune which is near vertical and runs straight into the bluest sea! I don't know if our photos will capture just how amazing it really was!

Everywhere you go in Colombia there are police, customs and military roadblocks. Mainly they're looking for draft dodgers and ensuring that the rebels are kept at bay. There's little corruption (apart from in Taganga!) and therefore little for us to be worried about and they're quite a welcome site. All over the Guijara peninsula there are also roadblocks. However, these are ropes strung across the road and are manned by Wayuu children who demand sweeties before you can pass! It's the funniest thing!

We're now back in Santa Marta on the coast in a great hostel in a colonial house with a pool in the middle. Never has a shower felt so good when you've not washed in 4 days and you're covered in sand and your hair is full of salt! Free beer every time you check in. Which is now three times as we've used this place as a bit of a base to leave our stuff for the expiditions to Tayrona and Guijara.

We're probably heading south tomorrow for a few days, just killing time really before we hopefully go to carneval in Baranquilla. Baranquilla is home to Shakira and the second biggest/best carneval in South America according to all the locals! After that I'll probably head west to Cartagena and then south to Medellin where I'm going to try to organise language school. The people here are really lovely so it's def a country worth hanging around in for a little while longer.

Food has been ok. Mostly rice and fish, or eggs and sweet bread (EVERTHING here has tons of sugar!) but lots of fresh juices which are fab. I know enough spanish to ensure that I'm not ordering meat or chicken which is good! The local booze is Aguardiente (fire water) which is Anise flavoured which puts a lot of people off. The beer is ok but a bit wimpy, like Corona but with less flavour!!