Sean Plamondon

Colombia
Providencia - Day 1
April 1, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
With an early 6am start to the day, we made our way to Toninos Marina in order to catch a catamaran to Providencia.

First, I should explain that getting there is no easy feat: the only two options are a rickety 20-seater plane or a rough three hour catamaran ride that has a reputation for causing passengers to keep their heads in sick bags the entire time. Plane tickets were already sold out, so sadly seasickness was our only option. As we tried to prepare ourselves for a rocky ride, other travellers started to arrive. This is when we met our friend Alejandro. We learned that he is an engineer in Cartagena, so we made plans to see each other again during the latter part of our trip, as our flight to Panama City was leaving from Cartagena.

Upon check-in for the catamaran we were given tablets used to treat motion sickness and nausea, they really weren’t messing around! Luckily, as Sean already mentioned, we stopped at a pharmacy the evening before and purchased some Dramamine of our own, so we were ready to take on the sea! I am extremely happy to report that we were only awake long enough to feel a few whirls in our stomachs. The drowsiness had taken its toll and we slept for nearly the entire trip! Phew, what a relief! (Thank you Dramamine!)

On another positive note, considering that Providencia is such a pain to get to meant that we only had to share this island paradise with other travellers who were daring enough as we were. And if Dubrovnik taught us anything, we definitely prefer to avoid the masses.

We were officially on island time. We adopted the same “carefree” aura as the locals, we shared a delicious seafood platter for dinner, and we began to explore the beaches this wonderfully remote island had to offer. - KKRead more
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Colombia
San Andres - Day 2
March 31, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Booked a full day excursion checking out a few small, nearby islands. Didn't realize there would be zero English and *lots* of instructions. Luckily we were sitting next to colombians Brian and Felipe who sensed our confusion and inserted themselves as translators and chaperones for the rest of the day.

Landed first at Johnny Caye, a small palm tree'd island with incredible beaches and turquoise waters. And a huge colony of iguanas. Had a BBQ lunch here and a couple hours to enjoy the beaches and it's postcard views.

Second stop was at Haynes Caye, a natural aquarium with several reefs teaming with exotic fish. Spent a couple more hours here snorkeling the reefs and enjoying a few beers in between.

Third stop was in middle of open water/ocean but very shallow. Our guide dove in and within minutes had corralled a stingray for us. I jumped in and held it a few times before we sped off to visit some mangroves and then eventually motor back to San Andres.

Finished the day at a seaside restaurant and an early night because our ferry to Providencia was early in the morning. We were told the ride there is in extremely rough waters and everyone throws up during the three hour voyage so we bought some dramamine in hopes it would help. Will be honest, anxiety about the next day's boat ride was fairly high. -SPRead more
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Colombia
San Andres - Day 1
March 30, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
With 30-40mm of rain per day coming towards Bogota and the interior for the next week, we decided to look into other options as that would have been awful. The amazon was seriously considered but the forecast there was bad too.

Decided to fly to the balmy island of San Andres off the coast of Nicaragua. This island along with Providencia, belong to Colombia but also have some amount of autonomy. You can't buy a one way ticket there (well you can but they won't let you board it without return fare - which we fully tested), and there's a tourist visa card to pay to go there too. The islands also have much more of a Jamaican population and culture than Colombian.

This island had beaches and was by far the most developed and populated with tourists but didn't really have any wow factor to it. Spent a couple of hours enjoying the beach and walking around and sorting out the next few days to come via purchasing tickets for transportation and tours. Had an awesome fish dinner by the water and called it an early night as we signed up for an all day excursion the next morning. Plus those damn pigeons kept us up the night prior again, and we were exhausted. -SPRead more
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Colombia
Bogota - Day 2
March 29, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Got up after a terrible sleep because our second story room has pigeons outside our window and also what sounded like nests inside the walls. So noisy! Grrr.

Wandered the cobblestone streets of the old town and found the main plaza Bolivar square which has the national capitol, a huge cathedral and the lievano palace. Found some breakfast nearby and then headed off to hike nearby Mt monserat.

What we didn't realize was this day was a national holiday leading up to Easter and this mountain is a holy site and everyone does a pilgrimage up the mountain on this day. The hike up was steep and the city being at an altitude of 8660 feet made breathing tough during the ascent. The crowds had to be seen to be believed too. It was so busy that we couldn't reach the top as everyone got logjammed and couldn't move a single step for several minutes at a time. After about 30 minutes moving maybe 20 steps, we squeezed out of the herd and headed back down the mountain. Near the bottom of the mountain, a tv crew interviewed me about our experience haha, and same thing happened to me more recently descending down the mountain in Kotor, Montenegro.

Spent the rest of the day and evening strolling the old town. Found an authentic Colombian restaurant for supper where we each had a gigantic soup that neither of us finished but was amazing. And also discovered a great craft beer pub. Original plan was to spend three nights in Bogota and then head into the interior but the forecast was calling for ridiculous amounts of rain so we spent the evening figuring out where to head next.... -SPRead more
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Colombia
Bogota Day 1
March 28, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
After a long day of flights, arrived in Bogota around 8pm. For some reason Canadians arriving in Colombia have to pay a special fee of $100 at customs. I didn't feel so special. And because if this, Canadians also have their own special line for customs, which was ridiculously slow and took well over an hour and a half. Very weird.

Already had a private room in a hostel booked in the old section of Bogota called la candelaria. Location was ideal, price was dirt cheap ($17/night) and it said we would have a private bathroom. What a disappointment - no private bathroom and very sketchy room. Most hostels have a nice common area to relax and meet other travellers but that was lacking too.

So dropped off our backpacks and headed out for some food and beer which landed us at The Bogota Beer Company which was two blocks away. That's not coincidence btw :)

Shortly after sitting down, some Colombians at the table next to us took an interest in us and we spent the rest of the evening trying to understand their broken English while I'd throw in the odd Spanish word to show I was at least making an effort. Was a lot of fun actually and a definite clue to the friendliness we were about to encounter on a regular basis for the next 17 days. -SPRead more
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Colombia
Prelude
March 27, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C
Decided to enter the details from trip to Colombia from last March/April. Details won't be as fresh, but should still be an interesting read.
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Providencia - Day 1

San Andres - Day 2

San Andres - Day 1

Bogota - Day 2

Bogota Day 1

Prelude

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