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A couple of months in the life of Alexia
So seem to have been a little slack updating everyone with my travel adventures, so here is a quick overview of the ups, downs, ins and outs of the past few months - and what a couple of months it has been!
Last thing I mentioned was our iminent arrival in Colombia. With a little intrepidation we jumped on a plane headed for that blight on the parental-travel-worry-radar only to fall head over heals for the whole country. So far it is my favourite country in all of South America... and possibly in all my travels so far. There is such a huge variety of things to do depening on where you touch down. So, from the begining... we started our adventures in Bogota. Thanks to a friend from Colombia I was put in touch with Cesar - the most amazing tour guide any gringo could ask for. He picked us up from the airport introduced us to the sites and sounds of Bogota, and ferried us across that massive city for the 11 days we stayed there. We´d heard Colombian Spanish was a lot easier to understand so decided to hole up there for a little while take some Spanish lessons and explore the city - 8 million people live there so it´s huge and let it be said 11 days hardly scratches the surface.
Given it was the rainy season we probably shouldn´t have been surprised that it poured every single day. By the end we were really looking forward to a little sunshine.
Medellin
Unfortunatly Medellin wasnt exactly the right destination for sunshine, but what we did get was our first South American Soccer Sensation. The cities 2 biggest rival teams were batteling it out so I rustled up a crew of footy fans willing to join me and (hopefully) willing to shield me from any projectiles or general shinanagans we may encounter. Warned not to take sides we carefully selected a neutral wardrobe and prepared to enter the warzone. First up the taxi dropped us off just at the Medellin team were being driven in. The supporters went wild and nearly crowd surfed that bus right into the stadium. Think this was the point the war crys started and they literally didn´t stop till the match was over. As we prepared to enter the stadium ourselves we passed a number of security measures, including bullet proof tankers, the riot squad, and robocop! You should have seen their get-up - full body armour including a very impressive and stretegically moulded cod piece. We finally made it in and took our seats, and judging by the crowds enthusisam awaited the most intense football game ever... unfortunately it seems soccer in Colombia is more about the crowds enthusiasm rather that the game as the game itself could only be described as flacid. But, this was all redeamed by the half time entertainment - a dog show! Guess they all put their heads together to come up with something to calm the crowds and their solutioin - puppies! The dogs even jumped through flaming hoops - very cool.
Next stop - Taganga on the Caribbean coast.
And here we hit our sunshine quota. It was HOT. Really really muggy but such a cool chilled out little town. Decided to be productive with our time and nestled in to get our scuba diver open water certificate. Possibly the best decision we´ve ever made. Were a little wary to start with when first up we had to sign a form waiving liability for the company from both passive and ACTIVE negligenece. Now can someone please explain active negligence to me??? So if they accidently on purpose cut my air thats ok? The other thing which was a little offputting was our instructors penchant to light up a cigarette while attached to his oxegen tank. But apparently he does it all the time so thats ok.... But actually the whole diving experience was totally amazing. Ive hardly even done much snorkling so the whole expereince was new and totally blew me away (luckily not literally). They have a huge array of corral, fish and critters so spent the whole time just oggling my surroundings and singing songs from The Little Mermaid.
Next stop: The Lost City
A five day hike of some of the hardest, sweatiest walking Ive done in my life and loved every minute of it. Between the humidity and the solid uphill climbs it prooved to be more than just a stroll in the park but we didnt have to carry tents or food so that was a nice respite. And there were some really beautiful swimming holes along to way which we could jump into fully clothed for a bit of refreshement.
The trek has to be done with a tour company and we were lucky to have a group of some of the coolest people we´ve met on the trip so far. Even though the hike was tough we never really felt we had a right to complain when one of the Brits, was doing the whole hike in 2 right shoes! Apparently when he bought the shoes the salesmen did the old switcheroony on him and gave him 2 right shoes. And rather than just buy another pair he has instead stuck it out and worn them across South America for the past few months!
After 3 days of slogging through totally lushious rainforests and jungles that looked like we could be on the ´Lost´ island, we made it to the Lost City. Was definatly worth the effort as it was truly spectacular. Nestled into the plateau at the top of a mountain set within the basin of even bigger mountains, the ruins were like our own mini Machu Pichu but we only had to share it with 20 other tourists. Oh and the military soldiers there to protect us from being kidnapped... but that hasnt happend in years...
After the Lost City we headed to Cartegena for some more sunshine. Stunning old colonial city. Only downside was the multitude of men making kissing noises at you as you walk pass. Possible the most unattractive sound ever. Just outside the city is a mud volcano. You can climb into it and have the ultimate mud bath. Its apparently over 800m deep but you dont sink and its like swimming in a bath of chocolate mousse.
Then from there back to Bogota where Kaya left me. Shes headed back to Oz for 5 weeks to help out her mum recover from an operation. But she´ll be back to finish the trip with me. But in the meantime I´m now in Bolivia and about to head out into the jungle for 4 weeks to take Jaguars and Pumas for walks, and look after monkeys and birds. They dont have any electricity there so will be incommunicado while Im there. I leave at 8am tomorrow morning and will update you all when I get back to civilisation.
So this is incredibly long but has gotten me up to date with some of the adventures so far. Hope you made it right to the end. If you did here is a big kiss from me! xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
- comments
Amy I don't know how you're going to top this trip! Sounds fantastic...
Loll What an AMAZING adventure!
Hilary Great round-up. Well done. So jealous. Sorry to pinch Kaya. She'll be back. Love H.