La Costa

Sep. 2 - 11

La Costa is the northern coast of Colombia, where the Caribbean ocean kisses the land and its always hot.  Its a very beautiful area with beautiful beaches.  Also the most northern point of land in South America which I wanted to stand on is there.  This would complete my traverse lengthwise of this big continent.

The city of Cartagena was a place I visited to walk its colonial streets in the old town section.  It is very romantic with horse drawn carriages.  Alas, I'm by myself and so I have no one special to share the place with.  However I tried to capture some of the ambiance to share with all of you.

Parque Tayrona has the most beautiful beaches and water I have seen here in Colombia.  Its one of the top vacation places that Colombians visit.

Argentina amigas

Punta Gallinas is the most northern point in the country and is surrounded by desert and sea.  Interestingly it has sand dunes and flamingos and of course beautiful sunsets.

Wild native posing ;)

I slept in colorful hammocks

northern most point of land - Punta Gallinas

Flamingos

Medellin

Aug. 28 - Sep. 2; Sep. 11 - 14

Medellin is a very nice city with friendly people, really nice weather, and good transportation.  A surprise awaited me there as a friend I made on a volunteer project 4 years ago lives there.  Daniela is one of those mischievous people that is full of life.  She has not changed at all since Guatemala, and it was nice surprise to find out that she works at the Adventist University. (UNAC)  I stayed with Veronica's cousin Jose part of the time I was there.  He's a really great guy that is in the theology program.

Medellin in the day and night

José in Sabbath school

Riding the Metro Cable with José and friends

Guatapé.  Great view from El Peñol (huge rock).  The lakes remind me of Bariloche Argentina.

700 steps to the top

With crazy Daniela ;)

I visited Medellin twice.  I continued onto the coast before returning to hear Veronica in concert and go to a friendship banquet where we all dressed up as 60s-70s.  With my long hair, I can really rock the hippie look. haha!

Sublime (They harmonize well)

I love how passionate a singer Veronica is :)

I be hippie and a cross dresser!  These clothes were Daniela's as I don't have any cool clothes like this. haha!

Salento - The Coffee Region

Aug. 25 - 27

Salento is a small pueblo in the coffee region of Colombia.  I took a bus from Cali to Armenia, and then transferred to a smaller bus that went to Salento.  I hoofed my backpack 2 klicks down the road to Yambolombia Hostel that some of my Canadian friends had recommended.  The hostel is in the country and is setup for you to enjoy being away from the Internet and things that distract you from relaxing.  No Internet made it a little difficult to communicate with Veronica, but I managed finding a place in town that had WIFI.  The owner Gabriele is a really chill guy and I enjoyed staying there. I ended up hiking with some Swiss and a Belgium guy.

Yambolombia

The View from my tent on the hill

The 1st day I saw a Coffee plantation and how the process works from the plant to coffee in your cup.  Since I don't care for coffee it was interesting to have seen a farm and how it works.  I tried to give away my cup of coffee at the end, but no one else wanted more and I definitely didn't want it.  Later we all hiked to a waterfall and had a refreshing swim there.

This bridge has seen better days, but still functions as a means for crossing the river. haha!

2nd day I spent hiking in Valle de Cacora (Wax Palm Trees).  Its very beautiful and interesting to see palm trees in the mountains.  On that hike there were a few suspension bridges I crossed.  The bridge would sway a lot if I walked quickly across it, so I kind of hopped across for maximum swinging action. haha!  I also stopped by the humming bird farm where the women that serve you a drink aren't friendly.  I forgot about the grouchy women as soon as the chickens were hopping on the table and the Possums came to visit.

I can't pass up having my picture taken with my favorite color :)

I was sad to leave Salento, but I'm trying to travel a little quicker so I have time to go back and visit Veronica before leaving the country for good.  I took a night bus to Medellin for my next big city to visit.  Supposedly its one of the better cities in Colombia and lots of people like it there because of the nice weather, good transportation, arts, beautiful women, and whatever else. :)