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Colombia
  • Sean Plamondon
  • Kristin Kasaboski
Mar – Apr 2018

Colombia

Retro-actively entering the details of the Colombian trip from March/April 2018 so its captured before I forget the details Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 28, 2018
  • 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. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia
    Bolivar plaza
    Road to MonseratTraditional Colombian stew/soupTypical street in Bogota's old townLead up to easter weekendAlmost at top of Monsereat

    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.... -SP    Read more

  • 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. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia
    Making new friends
    Iguanas almost outnumber touristsBrian, Kristin and FelipeHayes Caye natural aquariumJohnny Caye beaches and San Andres in background

    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. -SP    Read more

  • 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. - KK    Read more

  • Colombia

    Providencia - Day 2

    April 2, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Happy Easter! After fuelling ourselves with a Colombian staple called arepa, (a type of food made of ground maize dough, served with cheese, cuajada etc.), we were all set to start our day.

    On our walk to Manzanillo Bay, it was very easy to see that the infrastructure is not well-maintained here. For instance, we’d be walking on the sidewalk, when out of nowhere it would come to an abrupt end and continue on the other side of the street, so we kept zigzagging back and forth. We also saw several unfinished buildings on our short 40 mins. walk to the beach. Of course the extreme heat and historical lack of investment play a role here. It’s not easy to get to, which on the one hand is why large-scale tourism has never taken root, but at the same time it’s also what allows Providencia to retain its astounding beauty and state of preservation.

    In addition to the copious amounts of bright blue lizards that we saw on our walk to the beach, there were also tons of hens and chicks clucking along the roadside. I should also mention that Sean was a bit like Snow White, if there was a stray dog around it was sure to be following him. One even cozied up to us and found shade under our loungers on the beach.

    We were completely off the grid. We claimed our beach space and enjoyed the better part of the afternoon soaking up the sun. The sand here was as soft as icing sugar (if you didn’t already know I like to bake, then I’m sure my sugary sweet reference was a dead give away). Sean also taught me how to play chess, which reminds me that we’ll have to play again soon so I can solidly the rules/kick his butt!

    As there wasn’t much night life here, we too adopted the slow-pace lifestyle of this rural paradise. We had a seafood dinner at a restaurant down the road from where we were staying (which we walked to there and back in complete darkness), and then we spent the rest of our night in playing rummy 500. - KK    Read more

  • Colombia

    Providencia - Day 3

    April 3, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Can you think of a better way to spend a holiday than going on a 4 hour hike?! Our mission of the day was to climb to the top of the Peak, the highest point of the island, and enjoy the summit. With a mere 2 hours up, and a little less than 2 hours back down, our tour guide Orleus pointed out lots of interesting plant life along the way i.e. clove leaves, mango trees, cotton trees etc. The view from the top was unforgettable, definitely worth the effort.

    Although Providencia felt distinctly more Carribean than Colombian, we would both agree that it was one of the highlights of our trip to Colombia. We met a bunch of other backpackers at Roland’s Roots Bar on our last night. The reggae/dancehall beats were booming out of the beachside speakers, and before we knew it, it was time to fly back to San Andres and continue on with the next leg of our trip. This was definitely a unique, once in a lifetime experience. -KK    Read more

  • Colombia

    Travel day (to Santa Marta)

    April 4, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    After a late night hanging out with other backpackers at Roland's rustic, yet stunning beach bar, we got up at 5:45am to get a taxi to the ferry port. Ferry left around 7am and got us back to San Andres island at 11am. Had 4 hours to kill before the flight back to mainland Colombia so grabbed some lounging chairs at nearby beach bar and enjoyed some cold ones. Pretty sweet way to kill a few hours before flying. The beach bar was literally a 10 minute walk from the airport.

    Unfortunately we had to fly all the way back to Bogota and switch planes to Santa Marta which meant we'd be flying past our destination on the way to Bogota. Booo.

    With two hours layover, it should have been loads of time, but our flight was a bit delayed and then eventually we figured out we had to switch terminals.. but how? There was no signage and everyone we asked gave us a different answer. Literally 8 different answers. Once we found the bus and switched terminals we didn't expect to have issues finding the gate but once again nothing was marked for us to go upstairs for that particular gate so we ran all over the place looking for clues like we were on the amazing race. Seriously, it was pretty frantic.

    On the second flight, Kristin was sitting next to an incredibly friendly and chatty Colombian guy .. while I caught up on sleep :). On arrival, we had nothing booked and our plan was to get downtown and ask the taxi driver for a safe area to stay, near or in the old town.

    Appropriately for our day, our driver spoke zero English.. but he was incredibly kind hearted and spent a ton of time driving us around to find something and understand what we wanted. I think we walked into the hostel around 10pm? Looong day. 1 boat, 3 taxis, 1 bus and 2 planes later, we were finally there. Btw super cool hostel with cabanas on 4 levels and a pool and bar on top level. Ventured out for a bit of food and some beer to unwind after a somewhat stressful series of transportation switches. Probably doesn't sound like much fun but I swear it's days like this that sometimes puts the bigger smile on your face later on. All part of the adventure. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Minca - Day 1

    April 5, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today we were off to the mountain village of Minca. We followed the lonely planet guide's directions through santa Marta's chaotic, bustling streets to where a bus could take us there. But we never found it and instead hired a van to take us. Only about an hour drive, but all of it winding up twisting mountain roads through dense jungle high above the urban center of Santa Marta.

    The night before we booked a really cool looking tree house hostel, but we didn't realize there was no road to get us to it. Our driver dropped us off at the bottom of a trail going up the mountain. So with backpacks on (this is where you truly realize you packed too much), we tredged up and up and up like mules with supplies.

    After checking in, we found some recommended hiking trails to waterfalls, picked one and headed off. You'd think hiking to a waterfall would be downhill towards water, but you'd be very wrong in Colombia. We were on a dirt road most of the way, but the thick jungle all around and exotic bird calls felt more like the Colombian adventure we were looking for.

    Along the way, a local who owned an organic coffee plantation invited us to join him for a cup. Never had coffee like that before - black and zero bitterness. Amazing.

    The waterfall itself was ok, but perhaps a bit underwhelming. But the trek was a good start to future treks in northern Colombia. We hiked back to Minca, and back up to our treehouse in time for a fantastic sunset. Then back into town for some food and back up the 236 stairs again to bed. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Minca - Day 2

    April 6, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    For our second and last day in Minca, we opted to seek out a tour company to hike to a private waterfall that was *much* bigger. We ended up with our own private tour guide Camillo who took us off road almost immediately and right into the jungle canopy. Hiked through tons of banana trees and avocado trees, eating some along the way, eventually descending down to a river cutting through it all.

    We followed the river and reached the approach to the waterfall which was in a bit of a canyon. From here to get closer you had to swim hard against a fairly strong currently to get to the base of the falls and again really hard to get in behind it. Kristin opted out for that last stretch which was pretty challenging and I barely made it.

    On the way back stopped and had a few beers at a cool cantina literally on some rocks in the middle of the river. If that wasn't enough, we decided to seek out a third waterfall since the day was still relatively young. Hiked uphill what seemed like forever and reached a picturesque tall cascading set of falls. We probably should have enjoyed it's beauty a lot more but we were exhausted, sun was starting to go down and we were a bit waterfalled out I think. Still, incredibly pretty.

    Finally back in Minca, we sought out camillo, who was now bartending and we met his boss who took a shine to us and we ended up going out for dinner together. This guy was quite the character. He seemed to have a connection with every single person in town, like the mayor, but had everyone in his back pocket too. At the restaurant he chose, I asked what was a good local dish, so this guy asked the waiter to bring out the chef, and then asked him to prepare a special meal off menu just for me. Haha, and he agreed. He insisted on paying for the bill but had no money lol, and somehow he sweet talked our way out of there without paying a single peso. Very weird but amusing evening. Followed by 236 stairs to bed. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Santa Marta - Day 2

    April 7, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C

    We decided Santa Marta seemed like a place worth experiencing on a Saturday night so we descended the mountain back to SM, checked back into the super cool hostel from a few days prior and then took a taxi to Taganga for a day trip.

    Taganga was a nice seaside town with lots of of waterfront establishments, a small beach and nice views of mountains everywhere, but it was missing charm. Stayed for a few hours and headed back to Santa Marta. I think our taxi was about $10 each way.

    My favourite meal of the entire trip was here in the large street food market we stumbled across. I got a quart of beer, a huge soup, a chicken and potatoes dish all for about $5 total. Kristin found a poutine on steroids that was amazing. We didn't even eat half of it but wow was it good. The swarm of cats that surrounded us were in full agreement.

    From there we checked out a bunch of the local nightlife. Drinks at a rooftop lounge, street level cocktails and eventually dancing at another rooftop spot where we met a couple of nice Colombian guys that we spent the rest of the night with. They wanted to cap the night with some drinks on the beach but i was getting a weird vibe and we called it a night. Also because the next day we were heading to the famous Tayrona national park and it was already 3am. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia
    Endless views of endless vacant beachesHowler monkeysOur hut for tayrona stay

    Tayrona - Day 1

    April 8, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    The bus ride to Tayrona National Park was only an hour. Checked into our hotel on the edge of the jungle and made our way to the park gate. Within minutes of entering the park we were startled by the bizarre sounds of howler monkees in nearby trees. They sound like ferocious monsters and not a furry primate.

    Tayrona is a mountainous jungle region that straddles the ocean and has several remote beaches but you have to hike a long ways through the jungle to reach them. With the late start we hiked about 90 mins in, enjoyed some time at a few different beaches and hiked 90 minutes back again before it got dark. And saw tons of monkeys along the way. At one point a family of monkeys were moving in the canopy above us eating something from the tree and dropping the remains on top of us.

    We also passed some indiginous people in the jungle along the way. These people had nothing and were using potato sacks for clothes, and selling homemade juices to hikers.

    Ate supper back at the hotel and had an early night. I unwisely had a drink the night before in santa marta with ice and the effects of that were starting to kick in. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia
    Sloth

    Tayrona - Day 2

    April 9, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 38 °C

    We had an ambitious plan for day 2 to enter a lesser known gate into the park; hike over and through some mountains, through some actual indigenous villages and finish up at the park's feature attraction: Cabo San Juan beach. Which is about as picture-postcard-perfect as it gets.

    However, my Santa Marta ice infused margarita was starting to rear its ugly head. Popped a bunch of counter-montezuma meds and headed back to do same route as yesterday but try to get much further. Far less monkeys this time but did reach idyllic cabo san juan beach and spent the bulk of our day enjoying the white sands against turquoise waters. Didnt feel so great and thoroughly enjoyed a lazy few hours in the sun instead of more intense jungle hiking.

    On the way back, another trekker spotted a sloth in a tree. I walked up to it and i scared it unintentionally. So it very slowly tried to get away. By the time circled the tree taking 25 shots of it, its arm has raised a few inches up haha. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Palomino

    April 10, 2018 in Colombia

    Took a short bus ride up the coast to a town called Palomino. The town itself was nothing special but as we hiked from the townsite to the oceanside, its charm become very apparent very quickly. Miles and miles of pretty sandy beaches in both directions with hardly anyone around. In fact the hour long ride from tayrona to palomino was one massive long beach and almost no one to be seen anywhere.

    Walking along the beach there were a smattering of small rustic hostels and hotels mostly made of wood and thatch. We settled on a nice looking spot with a seaside restaurant and bar and got into our bathing suits immediately. The waves were pretty good, so i rented a boogie board and had fun for a few hours battling waves while kristin took in the rays. Later in the afternoon, it became a surfing party as mostly locals showed off their skills.

    Evening was pretty quiet. Enjoyed some food snd beer by the ocean as the sun went down then walked up snd down the beach checking out a few other establishments before calling it a night.

    I really loved Palomino's laid back surf town feel and felt i could have easily spent several days here learning how to surf and being a beachbum. Hopefully will find my way back here some day. But flight home was fast approaching and cartagena felt pretty far away. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Cartagena - Day 1

    April 11, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    This was a looong day.

    We made our way back to the palomino townsite via (mom, earmuffs) riding the back of two motorcycles, which we were starting to get pretty accustomed to now. And from there we stood on the side of the road until a bus came by. An hour later we were in Santa Marta again at the bus station trying to find passage to Cartagena. At this point we really hadnt dealt with bus stations and all our rides were either hired vehicles or hailing a bus passing by. As soon as we got there we were ushered into a line and into buying a ticket. What we didn't realize was that there are several different bus lines all with different prices, schedules and.. yes, speed. We chose..... poorly.

    We should have arrived in Cartagena in about 4 hours. But we did it about 7 due to our bus company choice. Saved a few pesos and lost a few hours. Arrived at the outskirts of the city and found a taxi to the old town. Our driver picked up a friend along the way which felt a bit concerning at the time but was just giving him a communal lift with us.

    Didnt arrive in old town until around 7 or 8pm. We had some places earmarked but they were all full. Settled for something pricier but felt very safe there. Kristin spotted a tavern advertising craft beer, which drew us in like flies to poo lol. Ended up meeting a Texan guy there who knew of a great restaurant nearby with great local food, so off we went. He was 100% bang on, and probably the best meal of the trip. The one thing colombians do really well is a stew-like soup. Amazing.

    The three of us headed back to the craft beer place, and this time it was far more lively with a big group of guys dominating the noise. I forget how, but we infiltrated this large group and discovered they were all in Cartagena for a brewers convention from Cali, Colombia. Before we knew it, we were best friends, taking over the bar, and pouring our own pints. They lead us to another craft pub that also made their own beer and thats where we finished the night. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Cartagena - Day 2

    April 12, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Last day in Colombia :(

    With a full day in Cartagena, visiting the dominating fortress felt like a must. Have i mentioned how ridiculously hot it is in Cartagena? You are essentially a walking and talking fried egg. Which greatly impacted our enjoyment of the fortress. It was impressive, but all i could think of was not wanting to melt into the pavement.

    From there we visited the renowned covered market that stretched across a ridiculous distance. Had some.. interesting lunch there and then found our way out of the labyrinth and got ourselves to Cartagenas old town, which is really beautiful with all its pristinely kept colonial style buildings. Kristin did some shopping while i enjoyed a few beer in a hectic city square where its impossible to only people watch. The locals want to interact with you, although not always for the right reasons.

    Later on met up with our Colombian friend Alejandro who we met in providencia, for some drinks. Then we made our way back to the pub where we left off with our new cali friends from night before in the hopes they might be there. They were :) This turned into a very late night of many beers, laughs and friendships where we eventually left with several email addresses and invitations to return and stay in their homes someday down the road. Hugs were in great supply.

    And with heavy hearts, we went back to our hotel room to sleep one last time before starting the long journey home. -SP    Read more

  • Colombia

    Panama City

    April 13, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Arrived in Panama City mid afternoon and was a bit too late to make our way to the Panama canal so we wandered around the hotel area to find a restaurant for some food. Found an interesting place and settled in for some food and drinks. Then both of us were exhausted so we wandered back to our hotel room for a nap. Unfortunately we woke up around midnight and our day was done. Clearly some late nights in Cartagena had a lssting impact. Will have to return someday and pick up where we left off.....
    -SP    Read more

    Trip end
    April 17, 2018
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