Travel

Medellin, Colombia

Gallery May 3, 2014 Dave 3 Comments

A serene walk in the woods of Arvi Park. There's a small and excellent market at the top, outside the tram stop. — A serene walk in the woods of Arvi Park. There’s a small and excellent market at the top, outside the tram station.

The unique style of Botero.

The square in El Centro has more Botero statues than you can fit in a photo.

An amazing city to look out over as it stretches far in the distance and up the sides of the valley.

Botero statue of a woman laying on her side.

The hills are steep, but people still cram the hillside with homes.

Unique chequered brick work. Anyone know what this building is?

Stand off. Neither one was backing down either.

The tram ride is quite affordable. The first big section is included in your metro ticket.

That's the library at the top. Kind of felt like we were peering into people's lives as we could see in their windows and back porches from the tram above. — That’s the library at the top. Kind of felt like we were peering into people’s lives as we could see in their windows and back porches from the tram above.

As the 2nd largest city in Colombia, Medellin is big and busy. We found it to be extremely clean, organized, and safe.

Originally, we had planned to party all weekend. On the Friday night we went to Lleras which was busy and fun. That was it for that weekend though as we discovered the election on Sunday meant no alcohol sales until Monday morning. We ended up going to an interesting live music and visual arts show in a small theatre on Saturday night.

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nabuur.com – Innovation to connect those who can help with communities that have asked for help.

Gallery April 18, 2014 Dave Leave a comment

Click on over to nabuur.com to learn about it first hand. A great idea worth spreading! I’m registered!

Travel

Cartagena, Colombia: Beach and Kite Surfing

Gallery April 11, 2014 Dave Leave a comment

Las playas! Magnifico.

The old wall is quite wide in spots. They have cafes setup on top with amazing views. In the evenings, its a popular place to have some cervezas.

Vince Vaughn is recruiting for Dodgeball Deux

This door is a big deal. Know who else is a big deal?

Street in the walled city. Very typical.

This kite surfing school had several packages available.

Amigos on an evening city tour. You can buy tickets from Pedro, the Denzel Washington look (and act) alike in the city square.

Here’s a page with lots of info on Kite Surfing in Colombia, including Cartagena.

Travel

Ciudad Perdida, Colombia – The Lost City

Gallery April 9, 2014 Dave 2 Comments

Ciudad Perdida was one of the highlights of our trip and I highly recommend it to people who enjoy a good 4 to 5 day hike. We had great weather with no rain, which meant hot afternoons. In the mornings, we were up around 5am to be on the trail by 6am. This was to avoid the heat and catch the sun rise. Although hiking in the heat was hard work, the waterfall swimming pools at the end of every day (except the last) were a magnificent reward. Amazing water and then catch some rays in the sun.

The camps were very basic as were the meals. Two of the three nights, we slept in hammocks. Much better than the ground, but very difficult to get a consistent sleep; an experience nonetheless.

There are many amazing views along the way as you climb up and down mountain ridges and across streams in the valleys. Occasionally you’ll meet some indigenous folks along the path who still live their lives off the land in the mountains.

Ciudad Perdida itself is amazing, set in a stunning mountain landscape with a waterfall flowing not far away. The photos can not do justice to this amazing ancient city. It’s very spread out, so you cannot capture the scope of it in a picture.

There are several tour companies that supposedly all charge the same, 600,000 COP. That covers everything; transport, park entrance, food, and a place to sleep. There are 4, 5, & 6 day options, but it’s very reasonable to do it in 4 days. You don’t need to book in advance really from what we could tell. Day before is what we did.

Sorry about the order of the images, way too time consuming to sort in WordPress.

In the small town of Machete where you start and end your trek, is a pool hall, bar, and butcher shop all in one. We played some Tejo there on our way back, but passed on the meat.

Tucking into bed the night before Ciudad Perdida.

The morning before hiking to Ciudad Perdida, we ate breakfast in the dark - early. — The morning before hiking to Ciudad Perdida, we ate breakfast in the dark – early.

Sign reads: The first of many, many rocks.

1200 steep rock steps lead to the Lost City.

They built their homes on these rock circles. The bigger the circle, the bigger the family.

You're going to see a lot of rocks. — You’re going to see a lot of rocks.

It's a big rock . . . shaped like a frog. The Tayrona worshipped it. — It’s a big rock . . . shaped like a frog. The Tayrona worshipped it.

Lots of rock walls. Amazing landscapers.

Our guide Carlos sits on the sacred throne.

Tools for grinding grain and corn were made out of, you guessed it, rocks.

The white dots are cattle grazing on the hill side.

Ciudad Perdida stretches out below. It extends beyond that terrace and down both sides of the mountain and up behind where the picture was taken from.

Pictured from one of the higher terraces at Ciudad Perdida.

A settlement of the Tayrona we passed on the hike. The huts are made of mud with thatched roofs.

From a high ridge, you can see the valleys and mountains beyond mountains. Montanas.

Keep your eyes open for huts and locals.

This was the camp for our first night. Hammocks are close enough to cuddle.

This throne is big, though the people were small.

A map of the region is carved on this rock.

This large frog shaped boulder was worshipped by the people who inhabited this ancient city.

Here are a few good articles for more info:
https://adinaontheroad.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/la-ciudad-perdida-trek-the-lost-city-colombia/comment-page-1/

http://tradingvoyageur.com/travel-blog/hiking-to-ciudad-perdida-the-lost-city-of-colombia/

http://grattanmaslin.blogspot.ca/2013/07/ciudad-perdida-lost-city-in-colombia.html

http://sotcblog.com/2013/02/27/first-time-trek-ciudad-perdida/

Travel

Taganga and Santa Marta

Gallery April 4, 2014 Dave Leave a comment

Taganga is a small town on a beautiful bay a 10 minute drive from Santa Marta. Some people we met said it reminded them of Koh Tao in Thailand. We say, “No way!” It’s still a nice change of pace from Santa Marta and you can stay at a hostel on the beach and sit in the sun and drink for no mucho dinero. Our favourite experience in Taganga was Babaganoush! It’s an open air restaurant located on the top floor of a building. It has an amazing view of the bay which is perfect at sunset. The food is beyond amazing! The beef carpaccio was delicious and a generous serving. The Fillet Mignon was perfect and also a good size. It was so damn good, we went back for more a few days later. There are several options on the menu which I’m sure are also delicious. You will thank yourself for finding Babaganoush!

In Santa Marta, we ate at a tasty Mexican restaurante next to La Brisa Loca and drank at Charlie’s Bar (say Hi to Charlie for me) and La Brisa Loca.

Breakfast and Olympic hockey wins for these Canadians!

Watching Olympic hockey at the Dropbear. Found the inscriptions on the wall pretty amusing too.

Met Janine at Dropbear. Turns out she knows a good friend of mine from Salmon Arm. Let's drink to that! — Met Janine at Dropbear. Turns out she knows a good friend of mine from Salmon Arm. Let’s drink to that!

Old boats on the beach make an interesting statement, don't you think? — Old boats on the beach make an interesting statement, don’t you think?

Let's hit the high seas . . . — Let’s hit the high seas . . .

Blue sky and warm sand. (View from my beach chair.)

Taganga at dusk from Babaganoush. Eat there!

Travel

Bahia Concha and a Family Visit

Image April 2, 2014 Dave 1 Comment

On one of our first days in Santa Marta, we decided to dig into the local culture. For a reasonable fee, a local guide agreed to show us a secluded swimming spot near Bahia Concha, the beach itself, and include a typical Colombian lunch with his family in a suburb of Santa Marta. The lunch might have been the most interesting part of the day. There were 11 people, including 6 kids, living in a 600 square foot, 3 room house, with concrete floors. They had electricity and running water, albeit they said it hadn’t been installed for their neighbourhood until 10 years ago. Very welcoming and friendly folks!