San Gil

The next stop on the tour was San Gil, Adventure Capital of Colombia. Here you can go paragliding, caving, canyoning, bungee jumping, white water rafting etc. 

We took an over night bus to San Gil, which meant we got to wake up to this amazing view:

The first adventure we undertook was Canyoning in Pescadarito. This involved scaling rocks, practicing our diving (I'll admit the boys were a bit better at it than me) and snacking on Milo biscuits.

Alex found a natural water slide

Turns out Colombians love Milo, it's everywhere in all different forms. 

James showing us how to swan dive

I don't so much dive as I run off cliffs

Luc loving a bit of climbing action

The next big adventure was whitewater rafting down the Rio Suarez. A quote from the Lonely Planet: "Thrilling Rio Suarez is a world-class run that even experienced rafters say still scares them".  After reading that I was like "Hell no, I'm not doing that" and then I forgot and decided to do it anyway. It was crazy fun and I'm really glad we did it. After the whole raft flipping on a Class 5 rapid causing everyone to ping-pong between rocks and me falling out by myself on another rapid and having the water rip my helmet off the damage was as follows: multiple bruises, one cut, one lost earring and one lost thong. I'd say that's a pretty good damage report. 

The Delfin Solo team before we knew what we were getting into

This time we managed to get some better footage of the action!

After the guys left us for Medellin we hung around San Gil for two more days to relax. What we thought would be a nice walk up to the mirador (lookout) but it turned out to be dash from dangerous dogs after we took the wrong route up and ended up in somebodies backyard. I think it made us appreciate the view even more. 

San Gil

The Fence Alex had to jump over to get away from the dog. Remember how tall he is!

After the Mirador we thought we deserved a smoothie. San Gil has an awesome fresh food market where you can get delicious smoothies. And of course any normal smoothie bar would have a stash of aphrodisiacs, right?

Our last day we visited the near by village Barichara, supposedly one of the nicest villages in Colombia. We didn't get to spend much time here but we managed to have an awesome lunch (think skewered crumbed prawns for an entree) for $6 AUD and enjoyed walking around the streets.

Typical Barichara Street

From Barichara we did the popular 5km walk to the near by village of Guane. There isn't really anything to do in Guane beside visit the fossil museum, play soccer with the local kids and enjoy the slow pace. 

The Church, Guane

San Gil is in the Santander Department which is famous for eating ants. Sadly we didn't ever find any of these ants for sale. The closest we got was pretending an ant was eating Alex.

San Gil is also super hilly. It's crazy, I've never seen a town like it. This was the street leading up to our hostel that we had to walk every day. It's steeper than it looks, trust me.

Taganga and PNN Tayrona

We couldn't decide where we should go after Cartagena, even now that we had our Bible (The Lonely Planet). In the end we went with the easiest option - follow our new friends from the boat to Taganga and Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona. Done. 

We didn't know much about either but they turned out to be beautiful. Taganga is a small town set on a horseshoe bay. The colours there are amazing, all deep blues and oranges. Taganga made it feel like I was finally really in Colombia. 

We had an afternoon in Taganga before heading over to check out PNN Tayrona.There's a little bit of trekking and a whole of lazing on beaches here. We stayed for one night in the park where there's not a whole lot to do after dark. Pro Tip: bring cards and friends. On our second day we beach crawled all the way back to entrance, quite a relaxing two day and some prime reading time.

The water is so cold and the sun so hot

Found a few of these guys hanging out

Where we spent the night, all the hammocks were full

Thanks to Alex's efforts we got to snack on some fresh coconut. Throwing them against a rock really does work!

After PNN Tayrona we spent a couple of more nights in Taganga were we danced to Bailando (a Latin American Staple) at possibly the world's windiest club.

Cartagena

Cartagena is mostly known for it's old town, a neighbourhood of preserved colonial buildings surrounded by a wall and cannons. The top thing to do here is pretty much just stroll around old town, admire the buildings and maybe buy a fruit salad or pastry off the street. 

Our first day in Cartagena we spent literally doing nothing. Being on a boat for 8 days really seems to take it out of you. Our second day was spent wandering around Old Town and trying to find a South America guide book. After 3 different bookstores we finally found one. The reward was McDonalds. It's a guilty pleasure of mine to see how McDonalds changes between countries. Look at all those sauces!

After Maccas we checked out the fort, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. The audio guide was a bit heavy on specific fort design details but it was still interesting to wander around and imagine the French and the Brits attacking. The fort offers a bonus view of the city. 

On our last day we decided to check out the mud volcano. It was a different experience. Basically you climb up and then down into this volcano full of luke-warm bubbling mud. There's guys down there who will give you a massage for $3000 COP ($1.50 AUD). Then you just hang out in the mud for a while. You can't touch the bottom but you can stand up and sort of just float there. Sometimes people would lose their balance and limbs would be popping up everywhere! Once you have enough you climb back up out of the volcano (a slightly scary experience climbing a slippery ladder covered in mud). You get your final photo taken by the guy you paid $3000 to hold your camera. Next you try and dawdle a bit, have a beer or something. Try and get the mud to really soak in. Finally you walk into the near-by river where you can pay, you guessed it, $3000 for a lady to wash you. She gets right in your ears and even does your togs, leaving you naked in the river for a moments or two while she scrubs. You got back, dry off, get your clothes and then everyone who you owe money to descends upon you all at once trying to get paid. Hectic. Then it's off onto the bus and back to the hostel where you can take a nap. 

Mud Volcano

Alex is loving his massage

Ghouls emerging from the lagoon

Cartagena, with it's delicious pizza, too greasy pastries and vibrant colours made for a great introduction to South America.

Sailing from Panama to Colombia

So there's this crazy piece of jungle called The Darien's Gap between Panama and Colombia that means to get between the two countries you either have to fly or take a boat. There's a few boat options, speed boats (apparently these are two fast and have been known to cause black eyes), ferries and sail boats. We opted for the sail boat, even though it's the most expensive option we were pretty confident it would be a hell of a lot more interesting than flying. We were not wrong.

Early on the 20th of February we were bundled into a 4wd to start the trip to Porvenir where we would meet our sail boat. This trip includes riding in a crammed 4wd for 2-3 hours, then taking a launcher out to the island. We were informed our boat was running late and we just had to sit tight at the drop off point to meet the rest of the crew before we could go to Porvenir. I think we waited for like 2 hours or more before we realised the rest of the group were there (Literally the only other people in the car park). We all said hello and then suddenly it was time to go.

Next thing we knew we were in the San Blas Islands and the colours were amazing. We were told our boat was still running late so we had lunch at the local hotel (a choice of fried chicken or octopus). After lunch and a nap in the hammock we were told the boat wasn't going to make it so we'd all be spending the night in the hotel, they'd be there at 7am. After being given a complementary dinner of fresh fish and a couple bottles of rum no one was complaining. Call it a good group bonding experience.

The next day we were finally picked up about 9am and the journey was underway! We were sailing...for about an hour.

What we called home for 8 days

We anchor at our first destination and El Capitan is immediately buying fresh fish and lobster for dinner. Feeling excited we all head over to the island to explore. It's pretty much what you expect, white sand, blue water, coco locos (rum poured into a fresh coconut) and bonfires. Life lesson: palm trees do not burn, don't try and start a bonfire with palm trees, you will be disappointed. As a bonus we even got to catch up with friends from Australia as they swam back to their boat from the island. Dinner is delicious and we learn how to get all of the meat from lobsters and fish. The cheeks, go for the cheeks!

Lobster Time

Island Drinks Menu

After some complications we sail onto the next island a day later than planned. This island actually has a shower (meaning pour fresh water onto yourself using a milk carton), a luxury we didn't expect.

We cruise around a few more islands for the next day before making the big jump to Colombia through open seas. By now we are getting the hang of boat life.

Our Bed for the trip - the front of the boat where it moves the most!

Home Sweet Home

Clearly I'm enjoying it

Surprisingly the salty apples weren't that bad

Rum and Cats - the staples of sailing 

I think one of my favourite moments was getting to hang out on one of the more populated islands for an afternoon. The local Kuna people were very welcoming.

Another massive feed of fish and lobster in one of the local's huts. The kids around here just grow up eating lobster, chicken is more expensive for them.

Impromptu game of "soccer" with the kids

Alex using the local facilities. 

The girls were especially friendly and were constantly trying to play.

                                

The two days at sea to get from the San Blas Islands to Colombia were spent lounging around the boat in different positions trying to hide from the sun. We took many sea sickness tablets and I constantly reminded myself I was on a boat. The mantra seemed to work and the trip was vomit free! I have now mastered the skill of making a toasted sandwich while being thrown from side to side. When we got into Colombian waters we celebrated with rum, beer and fried little fish. 

Dolphins swimming along side the boat

mmmmm fish

The Crew (minus me and El Capitan) 

We spend two nights anchored at some Colombian Islands. One of them had a weird half abandoned aquarium with some nurse sharks and a depressed turtle. It was a strange place. Our last day we set sail early in the morning and soon enough we can see Cartagena. There's a mix of feelings: sad the adventure had ended but excited to have a shower. After everyone has settled and washed the salt off their skin the crew get together one last time for amazing pizza and a lot of wine.

First Glimpses of Cartagena 

We have a winner!

Happy Pig with Green Apple takes it by a landslide of 1 vote! 

Thanks to those 6 people who actually voted, you're cool people.