Pictures – Week 17
Monday, June 28th, 2010Here are some fun pictures of mud volcano dipping and our adventures in San Gil. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/102902177234791651515/Week17Columbia_1#
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We Are Adventurers!
Monday, June 28th, 2010After a beautiful drive along the coast, we arrive to Santa Marta, a colonial town with a nice bay. We find a charming hotel with a pool, internet and lounge. We explore the town by foot, wandering through large plazas, tranquil parks, the promenade along the water and narrow streets. The town has a nice mix of tourists and locals, but without the chaos of Cartagena. The only downside is the heat – about 90 degrees and humid. Thus, we venture inland in seek of mountains and cool air.
After two days of driving, we arrive to San Gil, a charming, mountain village with Rio Fonce running through. The town streets are steep and cobblestone, and filled with old buildings. As we stroll through the streets, we notice piles of small, round black things for sale. They are fried giant ants – a specialty here. No one dares to try them except for Quinn, who ends up spitting it out and rinsing his mouth with water. I find coffee wine, which is much more palatable. We are happy to be in cooler weather – 80s during the day and 60s at night – no more AC!
San Gil is known by Columbians as an adventure destination. Fortunately for us, adventure sports are inexpensive here and we can afford to indulge. Paul, Connor and Quinn go whitewater rafting ($12 per person) on our first day. Paul is strategically placed in the front of the raft and gets hit with each wave. Later in the day while searching for tour operators, we are fortunate to meet Henderson, a friendly young man who speaks fluent English. He offers to translate and accompany us to the adventure sites.
On our second day, Connor, Quinn and I go caving ($15 each), while Paul stays in town and watches a World Cup match. We climb through caves with murcielagos (bats), wade through underground streams, army crawl through narrow tunnels and even jump into a deep underground river and swim out of the cave. The worst part is going through a section of the cave in total darkness – some kind of team building exercise. I keep asking, “Estamos terminados?”, because I do not like being blind in a cave with bats…
On our third day, all of us go horseback riding ($15 each) – an one hour ride through the quaint town of Curiti and surrounding hills, then a couple hours relaxing at a river, and finally an hour back to the ranch. The river has shallow rapids and we go flying down on rented inner tubes. Quinn and Henderson are the bravest and start at the very top of the rapids, bumping into rocks along the way. Henderson and the kids also enjoy jumping off of a high rock ledge into the cool water.
At the end of our adventures, Henderson graciously surprises Quinn with presents – a Columbian t-shirt and giant ant key ring – so that we will always remember San Gil. And we definitely will!
Volcano Dipping
Thursday, June 24th, 2010On our way to Santa Marta, a coastal town on the Caribbean, we stop a Volcan de Lodo El Totumo for a mud bath. We take a detour off of the coastal highway and arrive ... [Continue reading this entry]
Pictures – Week 16
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Here are pictures from our last week in Panama City and Cartagena, Columbia:
http://picasaweb.google.com/102902177234791651515/Week16PanamaAndColumbia#
Cheers!
The Minivan Arrived!
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
We got the minivan! This whole process has been a pain in the ass, but we now feel oddly triumphant, as well as relieved. I will not go on another tirade, but in case you ever decide to ... [Continue reading this entry]
Adios Panama, Bienvenidos Columbia!
Friday, June 18th, 2010We are now in Cartagena, Columbia, waiting for our car to arrive. We spent our last week in Panama doing typical American things: going to the shopping malls, movies, gym, swimming pool, Blockbusters, Hard Rock ... [Continue reading this entry]
Pictures – Week 15
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Here are some pictures from Panama City and Port Manzanillo, where we loaded the minivan onto a shipping container:
http://picasaweb.google.com/102902177234791651515/Week15Panama#
The port was very interesting. Fingers crossed that the minivan gets to Columbia...
Shipping the Minivan
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Shipping the minivan to Columbia is a long, complicated and frustrating process. To give you a sense of what this entails, I am providing the detailed step by step process.
Prep: Research shipping agencies, make initial contact ... [Continue reading this entry]
What Americans Should Appreciate
Sunday, June 6th, 2010After three months of travelling in third world countries, I surprise myself about the material items and cultural aspects that I DON’T miss from the States. I thought that I would have missed my luxurious ... [Continue reading this entry]
Pictures – Week 14
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Here are a bunch of pictures of Panama City and Panama Canal. Warning - we are awed by the Panama Canal and take lots of pictures, so you will see many pictures of the canal and ships, as well as ... [Continue reading this entry]
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