Well, it´s been a while! Tonight will be my last night in Columbia and actually in South America, tomorrow I will be sailing to Panamá! So let me tell you about the last month in this beautiful country...
After spending one more day in Popayán I took a bus to Cali. It was incredibly hot there! I arrived on a Thursday night and just wanted to party for the weekend, and that´s exactely what I did!
Luckily, there were a bunch of really nice people in my hostal, because going out in Cali by yourself isn´t a good idea... We spent three nights in a row in different "Salsathekas", drinking and trying to dance with the locals, as the places weren´t touristy at all. In the daytime it was pretty much just chilling, reading and learning some more spanish. I even took two Salsa classes, as well!
On Sunday mornig I wasn´t feeling too well, but I thought I just needed some rest after the wild weekend. By evening though, I started getting a fever, and in the night it actually went up to 40 degrees! I felt like shit and things kept getting worse, so on Tuesday I decided to go to the hospital. "Toncillitis" was the diagnosis and I was treated right away with really strong antibiotics. After another day of relaxing in Cali, I felt strong enough to travel on to Salento, a small town in the "Zona Cafétera" on Thursday. There I spent another three days relaxing, looking at a coffee plantation and taking a short hike through the "Cloud Forest", where you could see the "Waxpalm", the national tree of Columbia. On Sunday I continued on to Bogotá, where I only spent two days. The city isn´t really that pretty, except for the old town, which I looked at in one day. The next day I went north of Bogotá, to look at an underground salt cathedral which was pretty impressive! I also booked my boat trip to Panamá, and since I only had one week left then to get to Cartagena, I decided to skip Villa de Leyva, a colonial town north of Bogotá, but to go straight to St. Marta instead.- My only nightbus-trip in Columbia, 20 hours!!
When I got off the airconditioned bus the next day, I was shocked by the 38 degrees at the Caribbean coast (in Bogotá we had about 18...)! I went straight to Taganga, a small pueblito, very close to St. Marta, where I spent the rest of the day trying to catch my breath in a hammock... The next two days were all lying around at the beach!
On the third night I met André again, who, as it turned out, had been in Taganga the whole time, for an entire month! Of course we had to celebrate our reunion, and so I had to cope with only three hours of sleep, since I wanted to catch the nine o clock boat to Tayrona National Park.
We arrived at the stunning beach after about one and a half hours, which were enough time for me to meet three other girls. Together we rented some hammocks and I spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon sleeping at the beach! Next morning, we hiked to the "Pueblito" together, the remains of an ancient town within the park. It was extremely hot and humid, and when we returned after almost five hours we didn´t want to do much more than to relax at the beach again. After another night in the surprisingly comfortable hammock it was time to leave the park again and to get back to Taganga. I met André and his friends again, and we spent another night partying at the beach with loads of rum, singing and other "typical Columbian things" ;-)
Then, after another ridiculously short night it was time to say goodbye to André, who of course couldn´t be bothered to leave "yet", and to Taganga, and to -finally- head off to Cartagena.
Here I arrived last night and spent the day walking around the beautiful old town for almost eight hours! It´s so pretty here, and I really wish I had more time, but tomorrow at two my boat leaves for Panamá, and first the San Blas Islands!! I´m really gettting excited now, going to meet Ingrid, who is also here, for a "good-bye-South-America-drink" and then going to sleep for the last time on this continent...
It´s been great, and I will definitely be back!!!!
Cross your fingers for me, that everything goes well on the boat, I love you all very much!!
After spending one more day in Popayán I took a bus to Cali. It was incredibly hot there! I arrived on a Thursday night and just wanted to party for the weekend, and that´s exactely what I did!
Luckily, there were a bunch of really nice people in my hostal, because going out in Cali by yourself isn´t a good idea... We spent three nights in a row in different "Salsathekas", drinking and trying to dance with the locals, as the places weren´t touristy at all. In the daytime it was pretty much just chilling, reading and learning some more spanish. I even took two Salsa classes, as well!
On Sunday mornig I wasn´t feeling too well, but I thought I just needed some rest after the wild weekend. By evening though, I started getting a fever, and in the night it actually went up to 40 degrees! I felt like shit and things kept getting worse, so on Tuesday I decided to go to the hospital. "Toncillitis" was the diagnosis and I was treated right away with really strong antibiotics. After another day of relaxing in Cali, I felt strong enough to travel on to Salento, a small town in the "Zona Cafétera" on Thursday. There I spent another three days relaxing, looking at a coffee plantation and taking a short hike through the "Cloud Forest", where you could see the "Waxpalm", the national tree of Columbia. On Sunday I continued on to Bogotá, where I only spent two days. The city isn´t really that pretty, except for the old town, which I looked at in one day. The next day I went north of Bogotá, to look at an underground salt cathedral which was pretty impressive! I also booked my boat trip to Panamá, and since I only had one week left then to get to Cartagena, I decided to skip Villa de Leyva, a colonial town north of Bogotá, but to go straight to St. Marta instead.- My only nightbus-trip in Columbia, 20 hours!!
When I got off the airconditioned bus the next day, I was shocked by the 38 degrees at the Caribbean coast (in Bogotá we had about 18...)! I went straight to Taganga, a small pueblito, very close to St. Marta, where I spent the rest of the day trying to catch my breath in a hammock... The next two days were all lying around at the beach!
On the third night I met André again, who, as it turned out, had been in Taganga the whole time, for an entire month! Of course we had to celebrate our reunion, and so I had to cope with only three hours of sleep, since I wanted to catch the nine o clock boat to Tayrona National Park.
We arrived at the stunning beach after about one and a half hours, which were enough time for me to meet three other girls. Together we rented some hammocks and I spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon sleeping at the beach! Next morning, we hiked to the "Pueblito" together, the remains of an ancient town within the park. It was extremely hot and humid, and when we returned after almost five hours we didn´t want to do much more than to relax at the beach again. After another night in the surprisingly comfortable hammock it was time to leave the park again and to get back to Taganga. I met André and his friends again, and we spent another night partying at the beach with loads of rum, singing and other "typical Columbian things" ;-)
Then, after another ridiculously short night it was time to say goodbye to André, who of course couldn´t be bothered to leave "yet", and to Taganga, and to -finally- head off to Cartagena.
Here I arrived last night and spent the day walking around the beautiful old town for almost eight hours! It´s so pretty here, and I really wish I had more time, but tomorrow at two my boat leaves for Panamá, and first the San Blas Islands!! I´m really gettting excited now, going to meet Ingrid, who is also here, for a "good-bye-South-America-drink" and then going to sleep for the last time on this continent...
It´s been great, and I will definitely be back!!!!
Cross your fingers for me, that everything goes well on the boat, I love you all very much!!
