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6 weeks Colombia

May - June 2015
A 45-day adventure by annalovestraveling Read more
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  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 7

    Desierto de la Tatacoa

    May 20, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I went in the afternoon with Carlos' parents and Lizette, the girlfriend of his brother Camilo to this desert, which is about one and a half hours away from Neiva. The landscapes are just amazing and there were lots of cows, goats and even horses walking around free and running across the streets. It is one of the most beautiful places I have seen in this whole year!
    On our way back we stopped by Villavieja, thee place where Neiva was founded initially, to have some empanadas and gaseosa. Besides, I bought some bizcochos de achira, a typical snack of the village Fortalecillas.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 8

    Cali city tour

    May 21, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    And another day of feeding me up: when I arrived in the morning in Cali and in the house of Diana's family and of her husband William, I had some eggs with lots of bread. After only 3 hours, it was already lunchtime and Diana's mum served a enormous portion of sancocho: a huge plate with rice, chicken, yuca and potatoes, accompanied by a soup (same size) with yuca, plantain, potatoes, auyama and arracacha. I couldn't even eat half of it, which was pretty sad because this food is delicious!!!
    Then, William and I headed out to do some sightseeing. Using the motorbike, we already saw most of the city in one day: the center, the cat monument, Cristo del Rey (a monument on a hill with a spectacular view), San Antonio (a romantic little neighborhood) and Loma de la Cruz, where people sell handicraft and today there were lessons of Afro-Colombian dances of an indigenous group from Valle del Cauca.
    During the afternoon I tried more Colombians specialties: aguapanela con queso (water of cane sugar with cheese...how expected really weird), maduro con queso (grilled plantain with cheese) and cholados (fruits and crushed ice with a sweet sauce and condensed milk) - a literally “FULL“ day.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 9

    Lago Calima

    May 22, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today the motorbike took us to Lago Calima, a usually pretty touristic lake 3h from Cali. Unfortunately I didn't see any tropical animals, even though instead of street signs warning of crossing dears, here they warn of monkeys.
    When we arrived though, there was nobody else, neither all the usual attractions like jet-ski, banana-boat, kite-surf and many more. Therefore, we just swam a little in the lake, but didn't last that long either because it got pretty cold. Consequently, we had plenty of time left, so we took another road back, saw the dam and had a desert. Then we went to “kilómetro 18“ on the road which leaves Cali, where the calenses come because it's way colder than in the city and to have some hot chocolate or aguapanela con queso. We first had a little adventure, exploring a track I had read of to Dapa. It Is like an ecological walk between different fincas (=cottages), but on this day we also were the only ones there. On our way back, we had a hot Milo (a really famous hot chocolate) at km 18 - which was also served with a piece of cheese :o
    Back in the city we met some of Williams friends to have cholaos and go to an arepería, where they sell stuffed arepas like subs.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 10

    Lost in Cali

    May 23, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    In the morning I went to a salsa class in the city. It was a lot of fun, but also difficult, since it was a really fast type if salsa and the instructor didn't explain a lot.
    Afterwards, plans changed because of my search for a new SIM card, which made me walk for more than one hour without any results, until I was so annoyed that I stayed in the library using the WiFi there for the next hour. Anyways there wasn't much more to do, since my old SIM refused to make any calls or connect with the mobile internet, so I couldn't even call a cab to get home.
    Later, one of Dianas friends texted me that he and a friend would show me around, picking me up wherever I was, so problem solved.
    After having seen their university, we went to a mall either way, so I could by a new SIM. But still I have to hope that the internet connects soon... For dinner we had empanadas with different salsa - finally something with at least a little but of chili!    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 11

    Pico de paz y amor

    May 24, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Since I had already seen almost everything in the city, today was hiking day. With Robinson, a friend of William, I started at 5 in the morning direction Pance, to hike Pico de paz y amor (= peak of peace and love).
    It is a pretty short hike of only 2 hours, but steep, with a landscape that makes you feel walking through Jurassic Park. When we arrived at the top, we stayed some time, talking to the people who lived in a hut up there and on the way down we stopped by the river for a while.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 12

    Popayán

    May 25, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    I'm now adopting the Colombian habit of “madrugar“ (= getting up really early) every day, since with all the distances between the places I am visiting I would lose way too much time otherwise, as well because it's getting dark really early in Colombia. Therefore, my usual time for waking up has become between 5 and 6am.
    Since in Cali nevertheless I used to stay up until midnight, Popayán was rather a relaxing point. When I arrived around 11am, I first bought some food to cook in the hostel. Only after lunch I explored the little colonial town.
    How everywhere in the country, the traffic is terrible, but still Popayán was relaxing, because it is small enough to walk to all the points of interest. Anyways there is not that much to see, it's rather about the flair of the “ciudad blanca“ (= white city) and the two major museums. I went to one of them, the Museum of Natural History. It was really interesting, because it showed where in the country I would have the chance to see the different animals. Besides, with some of them I didn't even know that they existed in Colombia, e.g. Pumas, leopards and a great variety of snakes and birds.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 13

    Pasto

    May 26, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Even though it is a 6h-ride, I had to go from Popayán to Pasto by day, since it is one of the 3 routes that are not safe at night, so again I had to get up at 5am to make something out of the day.
    When I arrived at the hostel, there was nobody except one other girl (which I thought was working here :D). She let me in and showed me around, but didn't no much about the place either, not even how to get to the city (the hostel is on Chachgüí, around 30 minutes north of Pasto). I decided to try it out and walked to where I thought might be passing buses, and immediately found a colectivo which leaves every 10 minutes for only 4500 pesos (=1.60€).
    In town I walked around a lot, seeing a bunch of churches, the main plaza (Parque Nariño) and Plaza del Carnaval. I also went to Casa Taminango, a Museum about the culture and traditions of the region Nariño.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 14

    Chilling at Chachagüí

    May 27, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Today was incredibly lazy. I was trying to sleep late, but, since I'm used to getting up really now, I couldn't. The whole day was basically chilling out at the hostel with the few other people (Max from Amsterdam and Sarah from California) there, with the exception of going out for breakfast and walking around the area in the afternoon.
    In the evening, Max showed us his work, which consists in finding sustainable companies and writing about them. Learn more at: connectinglasamericas.com (it's pretty interesting!)    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 15

    Lago de La Cocha

    May 28, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    At this lake, around 1h from Chachgüí, we had a real fun day trying canoe and kayak (while some of the hostel guys almost turned there boat around). Our route took us to Isla Corota, an island in that lake with the smallest ecological park in the country.
    In the evening I had a really interesting talk with Max and a girl that is working in the hostel. She explained us a lot about the security and political situations in Latin America, especially about the guerrilla here in Colombia (I will collect more information on this during my trip and post something at the end). Now I have to pack for my flight tomorrow.    Read more

  • annalovestraveling6 weeks Colombia
    Day 15

    Security & Guerilla

    May 28, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    When I decided to go to Mexico and even more when I went to Colombia, everyone told me to take care because of the difficult security situation. What nobody no knows and talks about are the really difficult countries:
    - Venezuela happens to be one of the most insecure places in the world: everyone carries a gun and police is way more corrupt than in most Latin American country. To cite our hostel owner “if you have the choice between a street with police and a one with thefts, better choose the thefts“, since police will try to take you to prison for no reason. Actually, most of the younger people that have the chance, leave Venezuela.
    - Argentina has EXTREME economic regressions like every 10 years. Additionally, people there tend to have a real egoistic attitude, and no-one really knows if this is the reason for the government to close all banks during the last crisis, and to steal the money of each citizen, if it's the other way round.

    Colonia itself also actually has a large history of corruption and drug cartels. Beforehand, this has changed a lot thanks to the second to last president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who fought efficiently against the guerrilla.
    Around 10 years ago, though, the situation was really hard. People couldn't go out on the street after 6pm. They couldn't even travel half an hour to the next town, because guerrilla would stop them on the road and take away good looking cars from them. Farmers would be forced to leave their land, without being able to take anything, because guerrilla sad so (they wanted to plant cocaine in those places). Since not only every type of police, but also military and government were corrupt, people could not only not count on them, but there are a bunch of different interest groups all exploiting them.

    The situation today is way better: you can travel independently and without fear almost everywhere in the country, since guerrilla has moved to some really small parts on the coast and military is now paid enough so they don't need additional incomes. As long as you avoid the very insecure parts and especially as a tourist, you don't have to worry about anything but your travel budget ;)    Read more

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