hola todos! I hope everyone is doing well and that the sun is beginning to make itself more known for those of you in the north part of the world. I am currently sitting in the study of the nicest family in Bogota...thanks very much to Alex Neuman for putting me in touch with his CISV friend Juanma who is very generously, along with his family, letting me sleep on the couch for a few days. It is really nice to be with a family and to not worry about all the hassles that come with a hostel. but shall we rewind a little...
I arrived in colombia in Pasto. I had heard that the highway between Pasto and a town called mocoa was the most spectacular highway in all of south america so needless to say i was keen to give it a go. However...this particular area is a bit of a hotspot in terms of guerilla activity and i had promised my mother and myself that i would not be cavalier about my travels in this oh so stigmatised country. I asked around in pasto though and of the five people, three said i would be totally fine and the other two didn´t know so i went for it. and was it EVER the best highway...i think so. sometimes so narrow i couldn´t see the edge out the window of the bus and always rough and bumpy, i never wanted it to end. but it did end, seven hours later in a small town called mocoa right on the edge of the same jungle i thought i had gotten myself out of.
once again though, i found myself breaking my own travelling rules and walking with all of my stuff at five in the morning to the bus station to travel to san augustin. it all turns out ok but i really hate it when i find myself in situations where i would be the only one to blame if something went wrong.
san augustin is known for its collection of pre colombian statues that are scattered over about five sites in a rather large region. i arrived in the small town and threw my bag down on a bed in the cutest little bamboo cabin ever with the absolute best view of the lush, never ending colombian mountains and immediately arranged for a horse tour of the more accesible ruins. pacho, my guide, arrived with the horses and the two of us set off, first at a very manageable walk and then at a not so manageable gallop. as some of you can probably fathom, i am not a very graceful horseback rider. i have not awaken to my calling as a cowgirl.
the real event of the day though was not the viewing of thousand year old ruins but rather that i lost my camera...my new camera. pleasant moment it was not, however after two hours of searching, all on horseback, i dove off the horse onto the ground where i had spotted the little blue piece of metal that had caused me so much grief. by the end of the tour i had been on the horse for nearly five hours and was feeling a ¨little¨ sore. i think i had blisters on my butt.
from san augustin i went to popayan and from there to cali. the city claims to be the salsa capital of the world but all the bars close at three so i am pretty sure there are other places in the world salsa-ing when cali decides to call it a night. nonetheless, i had a really good time there with some fun people at the hostel.
i did a day trip to a little town called san cipriano which is not accesible by road but instead was built along the little serviced railway track. the inhabitants cleverly concocted alternative means of transport in the form of small wooden platforms on runners that were previously man powered but now are hooked up to motorcycles which power the small pieces of plywood with at least ten people on them at breakneck speeds. definitely a situation where you have to look around, note that no one else seems to be worried, and let go of the thought that death is not just possible but probable. san cipriano itself is a ¨major¨tourist destination for local colombians as it boasts a beautiful river complete with waterfalls and rapids. a very enjoyable day.
from cali i headed to manizales, a city right in the middle of the coffee region of colombia. i was amazed to see just how much space the country´s second largest export takes up...hills upon hills of short stubby green plants. i can´t imagine how much space its first export occupies.
however, the main reason i went to manizales was so i could venture into el parque de los nevados which boasts three very high volcanoes complete with glaciers. at 5100 metres, i have officially set my new personal altitude record. i was actually surprised at just how hard it was to get there...my heart would not stop racing and ten steps felt like a ten km run. and we didn´t even climb that far...the road takes you to 4500m so ALL that is left is 600m which may not seem like a lot but two hours later seems like quite the accomplishment. we got to the start of the glacier, had a snowball fight, and called it a day. the thermal pools on the way down should be a requirement for every post hike drive home.
and that brings me to here, bogota in the middle of holy week. the churches are like latin american football matches and it took me three tries to get the right metro bus into the centre of town today despite very detailed directions from juanma. and so it goes.
so, as usual, i hope everyone is peachy and thanks for the emails from those of you who send them. pretty soon i hit the beach and, as they say, it´s all downhill from there. a long, gentle, sloping, six week downhill.
mucho amor
mer
way high up at 5100m
go colombia, i wish i could breath a full lungful of air.
one of the most common sights around these parts
a new zealand guy who did the hike with me along with a few soldiers who were a little too keen to let him and anyone else who wanted to pose with their gear.
at 5100 metres.
the rio magdalena...the longest river in colombia
san augustin
me in the san augustin ruins. juvenile, i think not.
market in ecuador
a view of the pasto mocoa highway
me and the horse who caused me so much pain. post camera saga, hence me looking happy. note the rainbow. it´s a sign.
