Tue 14 May
Free morning to walk around this quaint and somewhat beautiful town. At least this morning shops and restaurants were open whereas yesterday by 5pm all shutters were down. Luckily we found a good Italian restaurant last night and enjoyed a delicious pasta.
We managed to return to our hostel around 12.30pm, minutes before a downpour - this is the wet season. Timing was excellent as we were scheduled to leave by 1.30 pm, by which time the sky had cleared.
We drive 140km to our next destination, Cali, the largest city in the southwest province. Cali is known as a fairly rough and tough city and the wrought iron security grilles on each house and shop front are a clear indication that this is a true assessment. Traffic upon arrival was crazy - luckily a local fellow on a motorbike took a liking to us and guided us to our hostel. It is also the salsa capital of Colombia with a thriving nightlife so naturally we all decided on a night out!
All dressed up and nowhere to go .....
Lonely Planet book suggested a particular salsa bar which happens to be open from 10pm on a Tuesday night so we put on our party clothes (wrapped up for the past three months), booked two taxis (for six people) at 10.30pm and headed to that part of town - only to find it closed!! Well, this is Colombia where time means very little... it may open at 11, or not until tomorrow night, but we weren't about to wait and find out! We'll get the hostel staff to phone around for us for a bar that's open tomorrow night - and dress up all over again!
Ironically, the street with all the bars is called Avenida Sexta (!) which translates to Sixth Avenue. ha ha.
Wed 15 May
Rainy start to the day but all clear after breakfast. The four of us walk into the centre of town and particularly to the historical part. While in the main square a member of the Tourist Police approaches us, speaking good English, and offers us a city map and information about attractions to see. This is so typical of the extraordinary friendliness of the Colombians, mentioned earlier.
We then continued to the Cali Zoo which is considered the best in South America, and it was very impressive. Stayed there around 3 hours and had lunch. A visit to the gold museum capped off the day and we wandered back to the hostel.
After a brief rest we walked in the other direction to a massive supermarket and enjoyed an Asian dinner in the food court there. Walked home in the warm evening rain (with umbrella and raincoats)!
Chatted with an Aussie fellow who has been staying at the hostel since Christmas recovering from surgery following a motorbike accident - the perils of adventure travelling.
Thu 16 May
We start the day by group shopping for three days worth of food and then travel 270km to Manizales where we'll stay for three nights on a coffee plantation, Hacienda Venecia. We pass through the usual lush vegetation with tall bamboo clusters swaying in the gentle breeze and endure slight drizzle along the way but temperatures are still warm and humid.
The hacienda is way down in a valley and the track to it off the highway is rough and narrow. We upgrade to a room in the homestead (instead of camping) and relax by the swimming pool until more drizzle forces us inside. We cook steak, potatoes and salad for dinner and sit around chatting until bedtime.
Fri 17 May
Warm and drizzly today after raining most of the night.
Today we visit a charity which supports a kindergarten for under-privileged children and also visit the kinder and sing along with the kids. Dragoman, the company we are touring with, supports this charity through a levy on our tour cost (which we don't mind in the least).
After that visit and a big lunch of a typical Colombian meal, we spend the afternoon with our guide touring the city of Manizales. The city doesn't have much to offer the tourist (it has 11 universities) but it was intriguing to see the passion and pride our guide injected into his description of various landmarks! Towards the end of the day we ventured to a lookout point set in lovely gardens but couldn't see the anticipated sunset due to thick cloud and mist. We did however see an amazingly huge bronze monument to the early colonials featuring early settlers on horse-drawn carts, buffalo and many other significant items representing their struggles in establishing the city of Manizales.
Back to the hacienda by 7pm to cook dinner, write up this diary, have a shower and hit the sack.
Sat 18 May
This morning we enjoy a tour of the coffee plantation owned by the same family over four generations. The afternoon is spent lazing by the pool and relaxing.
We speak with Sheridan.
Sun 19 May
Long mountainous drive to picturesque Guatape which is surrounded by a large artificial lake built in the 1960s to provide hydroelectricity to over 50% of Colombia. The town"s rows of cottages are all colourfully decorated with various motiffs along the street, which is highly amusing and no doubt adds to Guatape"s appeal to tourists who flock to the area for water sports.
Another nearby attraction is 'El Penol' which is a giant granite monolith rising 650 feet out of the ground. It's a bit like Uluru but dark grey rock with a zigzag 675 step staircase to the top offering great views of the surrounding countryside. Obviously we climb it and manage to catch a glorious sunset amidst rolling mist!
We're staying three nights at Hostel El Encuento up in the hillside, in a large room with adjoining sitting room and balcony views of the lake - hostels have come a long way!
We speak with Allison (actually mostly with Mali) and have a general catchup with things back home.
Mon 20 May
Thunder and rain overnight but a clear day. We take a four hour walk along country roads encircling the town of Guatape, back to the monolith and across the lake back to the hostel via grocery shopping for dinner - followed by an hour's nap! Another stroll into the township for an ice cream then back to cook (cottage pie). By now there's more thunder and lightening!
Tue 21 May
Actually slept in and enjoyed a lazy day today! Took another walk around this picturesque township, bought a delicious homemade ice cream, and hired a paddle boat for an hour on the lake.
Chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight - it's easy with just six of us, but we still all share cooking duties.
More thunder and lightning overnight - seems to be the weather pattern in this region, a micro-climate caused by the lake surrounded by such high mountains.
At 8.10 pm we phoned Sheridan to wish her a very happy 30th birthday (this was 11.10am Melbourne time, the exact time she was born). Luckily she answered the call and we had a lovely chat.
Wed 22 May
Drove to Medallin, which is Colombia's second largest city. Medallion spent the 1980s and 90s with the international reputation as one of the world's most dangerous cities, thanks to the the largest drug trafficking cartel having its base here. The infamous Pablo Escobar headed the cartel until brutally shot some time ago. The city runs a popular tour of his 'hangouts' including the location of his demise! (We thought of doing the tour but...no). Did you know that at the height of Escobar's drug cartel days, when he was earning 20 billion dollars annually, he 'wrote off' one billion annually due to rat infestation in his storage sheds!
We did enjoy an afternoon walking tour of the city which included trips on the safe and efficient metro train system - the only city in Colombia to have one.
Our new hostel is in a stylish part of town near to a large garden plaza surrounded by many many restaurants. While dining out we experienced a downpour of monsoonal proportions - water was gushing down the streets everywhere. Even though we were only a block from the hostel, we nonetheless jumped into a taxi rather than get drenched!
Thu 23 May
We started today with a yoga class! Jessie, a Canadian boy on our tour, does yoga and seeing there was a yoga studio near our hostel he expressed an interest - so we went along too. Up at 6.30am for the 7 o'clock class, it was actually quite enjoyable. Julie managed most of the twists and turns, Peter did what he could considering his collarbone, neck and back issues!
Back for shower and breakfast, then we walked and trained our way around town - firstly to the botanical gardens, then to the downtown area where one has to steel oneself for the constant hassling of street vendors selling everything from food to phones to lottery tickets, and everything else in between!
While this is a very modem and bustling city there is still a lot of poverty here (indeed in the whole of Colombia). It's quite confronting to see groups of, and individual, homeless people sleeping on the streets and in parks, in broad daylight, with everyone simply walking around them.
Fri 24 May
Today was a 525 km (14 hour) drive day - to the Caribbean coast!!! We could have taken lots of photos of the scenery along the way but it would just be a repeat of the hundreds already taken - you get the picture (!)
It's the rainy season now and it rains a lot in this north-west part of Colombia. The road followed a fairly raging river part of the way and its interesting to see how the local villagers cope with this season. Nobody seems to shelter from the rain like we would - they simply work, walk and talk in it!
Today's road was again very windy through mountains and therefore choked with the usual non-stop procession and noise of trucks, cars and motorbikes. One feels for the villagers whose houses are on these roads - on the one hand they live amongst such beautiful landscape but with the rumble of constant traffic - tranquility out the back, chaos out the front!
We arrived in Covenas, in the Gulf of Morrosquillo, around 9 pm. Although this is a beach resort it's the low season so all the restaurants were closed by the time we got around to thinking of dinner, so we made do with biscuits we already had in a bag and went to sleep! The hostel/campsite is very basic and run by a crazy obese American fellow, but we manage an upgrade (to a room containing three double beds!).
It's getting very humid now and the landscape has become more tropical. Even the music (played excessively loudly) is becoming more Caribbean.
Sat 25 May
After a reasonably comfortable night's sleep it's on the road again to the fabulous city of Cartegena - our last stop on our epic journey following the Andes Mountain range from south to north (some 9000kms) over 14 weeks.
Founded in 1533, Cartegena became an important Spanish port and a gateway to the north of the continent. It is a heavily fortified city and huge defensive walls surround it's narrow cobbled streets and colonial buildings. Heritage restrictions apply regarding restoration of old buildings throughout the Old Town to ensure its historical architecture is preserved, not only for the growing number of tourists but for the pleasure of the local inhabitants. The waters of the Caribbean surround Cartagena on three sides and it's from here that we take a side trip to Playa Blanca (White Beach) on Isla de Baru where we stay over night.
The trip to the island was an adventure in itself. We took a colourful local ('chiva') bus through town for about an hour, arriving at an industrial-looking ship yard where we had the choice of a dodgy old motor boat or the back of a ute on a barge to get us to the island - we chose the ute which, on arrival, then drove us to the beach section.
Once at the beach we walked along the hot sand, passing a continuous row of restaurants, thatched cabanas and hammocks (the only form of accommodation available) until we reached the one we were looking for (Pacho Lay's). Cabana chosen , we jumped straight into the warm water to 'cool' off (?). The rest of the day and evening was spent in and out of the water plus eating and drinking (local Colombian cocktail called Cocoloco) on the beach - perfect....!
Sun 26 May
Up at 7am for our first swim of the day - water and air temperature both warm already! Breakfast of fresh fruit. We hired a jet ski and skimmed over the water exploring the coastline which was a lot of fun. Sadly we left the island around 2.30 pm for our return to Cartegena - though this time in a high speed motor launch into the central harbour near our hotel, which took only half an hour.
Checked into our room, spent some time sorting out our luggage, then went walking. This truly is a beautiful city.
Mon 27 May
Morning city tour then back to the hotel to rest and cool off - the weather here is hot, humid and tropical. Lunch was at nearby Cafe Lunatic which consisted of tropical fried rice and some of the best mixed fruit juices we've ever had. It's a quirky little place where the bill is handed to you inside a little old-fashioned tin school case - in this case (pun) an old collectable coca-cola one - and of course we put our money inside it to hand back to the waitress! Will go there for brekky tomorrow!
More walking the cobbled streets in the afternoon followed by a farewell dinner for the group (all six of us!).
Checked our flight schedule online with Qantas to find our Cartegena to Bogota flight is missing. Phoned Allison to check with our travel agent and she was able to call me back within ten minutes with assurances that all is in order - the benefits of modern technology! Also spoke with Sheri to confirm she'll pick us up at the airport.
We have been very lucky with the weather the last few days, considering it has apparently been raining a lot lately - particularly with our stay on the beach!
Tue 28 May
Late morning - didn't wake till 9am! Checked emails to find our flight schedule from Bogota to Melbourne has also changed slightly (talk about late notice!), bringing us home Sunday night rather than Sunday morning which actually suits us better - more time in Bogota and more convenient time for Sheri to collect us.
Checked out the Naval Museum which was very interesting considering Cartagena's military history. Then some shopping and back to our hotel for a rest and lunch. It's so hot that you either keep popping into a/c shops for relief or go back to your hotel around midday for a rest before the afternoon shift! Luckily our hotel is very well located.
Final repack tonight ready for our morning flight to Bogota, Colombia's capital.
