Back to the Caribbean!

As I write this next installment of my blog I am sitting in an internet cafe in Santa Marta on the Columbian Caribbean coast. I have now come full circle and to be honest I am exceptionally happy to be back on the Caribbean coast where I started this expedition. Peru and Bolivia were amazing, but it is nice to be back to the kind of weather that I had expected of South America before my arrival; hot and sunny. Unfortunately due to the altitude both Peru and Bolivia were fairly cold.


Columbia is a beautiful place and although I have only been here a couple of days, I already know that i'm going to like it a lot. I arrived by plane in Cartagena (decided taking a bus may not be the best of ideas due to the tensions and tanks on the Ecuador-Columbia border) which is beautiful old colonial fortress town on the Caribbean coast, which I look forward to spending more time in before I leave Columbia. Howevr I swiftly moved onto Santa Marta which is something of a Columbian resort town. I was slightly concerned that it would be dirty and tacky, like my last experience of a South American Caribbean 'resort' in Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela. Santa Marta however could not be further removed from that sty. The town itself is reserved, laid back and has some wonderful colonial architecture as well as most improtantly a clean beach which I look forward to heading to later.


I had to come to Santa Marta as it is the base for expeditions to Ciudad Perdida, the lost city of the Tayrona's. Tomorrow I begin a 6 day trek to the city before returning to Santa Marta for a spot of relaxation before heading back to Cartagena and then on to Panama.

However I have not spent all my time since my last post in Columbia. Following a flight from Cuzco to Lima I sat on a number of buses foraround 60 hours on my way to Tena in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I arrived in Tena, a pretty town sitting on two rivers, rather jaded, yet endeavoured to book a few days in an Amazon lodge including a number of excursions. This was definitely a worthwhile venture as a trip was leaving the next day with space for me, and most the companies would not normaly take solo travellers.


Upon my arrival at the lodge, I was surprised at how nice it was for the fairly cheap price. The photo above was the view from my room which had a hammock out front which I spent a fair bit of time in. I then proceeded over the course of the next few days to visit indigenous communitities, hike through the forest with a local guide tasting it's various foods, I climed waterfalls and rafted down the river with dense forest on either side. The experience was amazing, but largely due to fatigue and partly due to the ever-present mosquitoes I was happy to head onto the capital Quito where I had a day of rest. I headed out briefly to have a look at the colonial city centre, which was certainly worth a look, but I enjoyed my rest day and was then ready to continue onto Cartegena the next day.


Well everybody I must be off, i'm heading down the beach for the afternoon before my hike begins tomorrow.


Adios
Phil