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Viva Colombia
I first set foot in Bogota in Colombia and never gave the city a chance. And wasn't really the city's fault, but my first day there was my last day with Anne after 4 months together.
It was a grey and rainy day and we walked around doing Anne's last souvenir shopping, treating ourselves with pedicure, cocktails before 5pm and ended up dancing alone in a café to our favourite South American travel songs. It sounds like a good day and it was, but it had this bittersweet taste to it.
Sleeping less than 3 hours, I got up to see her drive off in a taxi to the airport, not understanding she was going home to little Denmark for real.
Some friendships are not made for travelling and unfortunately it's a risk, because you can't always know beforehand. I loved travelling with her! And without her to reintroduce me to the idea and courage to go, I wouldn't be in South America. I loved her before this travel, but love her even more now, like a level deeper! I couldn't have wished for a better travel partner to kickoff my travel and I had 4 amazing months with her by my side.
Day no.2 in Bogota was even more grey and depressing, and a bit of (emotional?) hangover didn't help. Soon enough, I was about to learn that traveling alone, you're never alone! Same night two girls, who I met in Ecuador, arrived to Bogota and we went for dinner. And so started my 3 weeks in Colombia, I was never lonely and never really alone, unless I choose to be.
My time in Colombia only got better day for day! I started a little low on energy, disappointed that Colombia wasn't as cheap as expected and having difficulty understanding the dialect.. But over time the country, its nature, its culture and its people grew on me and made my travel there amazing. And just to say it out loud, Colombia is not dangerous for travelers.
First city after Bogota was Medellin, where I stayed with Family Jones in an apartment with outdoor swimming pool and a great view over the Poblado area. Medellin is a very nice, clean and well functioning city and often related to the cocain industry and Pablo Escobar. And it was very interesting to go on the Real City Free Walking Tour, where our guide gave us a very honest version of the history of Colombia and Medellin, explaining why people of Medellin, the Paisas, are so special because they have been through a lot together. Through all bad they stuck together and for example are so happy for their metro trains that it's impossible to find graffiti on them or the stations.
From Medellin we went on a day trip to Guatapé which might be the most colourful little town I've seen. All houses having its own pattern or story painted on the facade in all colours you can think of. People normally comes here to hike 700 steps up to the top of a big rock, where there is a great view over a landscape of lakes. My knees are not fond of that many steps, so I let Family Jones and our new Colombian friend Sammir do the hiking and I enjoyed their pictures afterwards.
With excitement I went to the Caribbean coast of Colombia in Cartagena. I was almost knocked out by the heat and humidity that met me as I exited the cold air conditioned bus at arrival, and it never stopped. Cartagena was charming with colonial style buildings, old city wall, a harbour, a lot of nice graffiti in the streets and rooftop parties. The heat made me escape to a little, beautiful island. The island was very remote and without wifi and electricity most of the day. The hostel was rediscovered 8 months before where it was covered in jungle so the only way in was with a manchette, the manual way.
Here I chilled on the little beach area surrounded of mangrove forest, went snorkelling in a sunken little aircraft and among colourful fish, went swimming with glowing plankton at night, playing ping pong and table soccer with people I met.. I got offered to stay and be teaching yoga for visitors, but I think I might run crazy on such a small island.
In Santa Marta I got reunited with Kimberley again again and together with her friends Becky and Gary with went to Tyrona National Park. After a warm hike through green jungle, up and down of rocks, palm tree forest and over white beaches we reached Cabo San Juan where we camped in small tents for a night, spending the day at the beautiful beach and enjoyed a remarkable sunset. Aa result of ridiculous warm tent, I got up to watch the sunrise at this little paradise and some hours later starting the hike out again.
We moved to a small town called El Rodadero south of Santa Marta that most of all looks like a mini Miami with fancy buildings and palm tree avenue at the beach front. Here Kimberley and I took our Advance Diving Certificate together, which includes shipwreck-, navigation-, multilevel-, 30 meter deep- and night dive and all really really good dives, with beautiful underwater nature, a great diving company and dive instructor!
Faith wanted that I met Family Jones once again in Rodadero and I got to say a final goodbye, before they were to return to Montana in the States after a whole year abroad.
As many times before I said goodbye or "see you again" to Kimberley before I went south to my last stop in Colombia.
As my latest blog post explained, I wasn't let into Colombia without a ticket out again, so the bus ticket I desperately had bought, I had decided to use. Therefore I went to Cali in southern Colombia and got hosted by Sammir, that I met in Medellin. He made my days in Cali a very special experience with an inside perspective and close to local culture as I stayed with his family. We went sightseeing in town, seeing his nephew playing football, motorbike riding through green fields, Sunday morning hiking to Los tres cruses (the three crosses) as tradition tells to, he taught me salsa as well as Danish hips can manage and we went testing it with his friends at night. I felt happy and lucky to get that opportunity and feel the warmth of the Colombia people.
I started Colombia on a low and ended on a high! Especially thanks to all the great people I've met. And I'm returning to Colombia again, and will look forward to spending more time there. From Cali I got on a bus prepared for a long journey of 27 hours which should turn out to be terrible 38 hours with so many obstacles.
But when I exit the bus at my final destination: back in Montanita, Ecuador, I could tell right away that it was worth all of it.
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