Otavalo

Saturday 26th February 2011

Anyone for skiing?

We decided to take a 1 night trip out of Quito north 80km to the town of Otavalo. This place is famous for a Saturday market rated as second to none. The trip took 2.5hrs and was a real highlight. The scenery travelling through the Andes was pretty breathtaking. It seemed strange to be hot looking at the snow capped peaks of the local volcanoes.

This is breakfast!

The market was pretty impressive, covering all kinds of textiles and crafts. If we didn't have several weeks to go and already full bags, we certainly would have purchased a few things. James did manage to barter his way to a hat, while Emma splashed out on some hairbands.

Indiana Jones?

There is also the usual produce market and yet again we enjoyed some freshly-made milkshakes (blackberry for Emma, guayabana for James). These have been a particularly enjoyable feature of our trip so far. We may invest in a blender on our return.

The weaving señor.

After lunch we decided to get away from the humdrum of the market and visited the 'Museo de Tejidos El Obraje'. This little museum, run solely by señor Luis A Maldonado at his home, shows the traditional way cloth was weaved by the indigenous people of Otavalo. The Señor gives demonstrations as well as teaching you about some of the history. He also briefly talked about crops and the importance of the grain quinoa, yraditionally only grown only in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Fountain or bath?

One lovely feature of the town was seeing many kids running around enjoying the parks and open spaces. Not sure where the parents were though... Sitting in the park, you get the amazing backdrop of the three volcanoes surrounding the town.

We stayed the night in Otavalo, spending $10 on a very comfortable room. Not sure we'll beat that on price.

Voluntary litter pickers post market.

Sunday 27th February 2011
Midmorning we headed back to our hostel in Quito. With the Galapagos trip looming, we spent some time roughly planning the remainder of our time in Ecuador.

Needing a couple of bits for the trip, we headed to 'Quicentro', a swish shopping mall in the north of the city. We eventually got what we wanted (a book and insect repellent) but also managed to pick up some snorkelling gear for our trip. One item purchased was a hat for Emma. The previous favourite was a casualty on the bus to Medellin and we only hope it's being well worn somewhere.

Tomorrow we head of to the Islands for 8 days. We suspect there won't be Internet access so the next update should be in a week or so.

Quito

Thursday 24th February 2011
When we were planning the trip many months ago this was the first day we had planned. Day 1 in Ecuador had the single aim of booking our trip to the Galapagos Islands. Once booked, we could then start thinking about the rest of our time in Ecuador.

The way to book the trip seems to be to work out what boats and dates are on offer, pick what you want to do and then go round several agencies to see who can give the best price. After exploring a few options we decided on the 'Estrella Del Mar' (Google it if you want to see pictures). Partly based on costs and itinerary and largely based on the dates of travel, we booked up. In picking our agency one consideration was the credit card charge. At worst we were told an additional 10% would be added, in the end we went for an agency that charged 6% only on the boat part*.

Obviously paying a decent amount for the trip, we decided to draw out as much cash as possible to avoid the charge. Between our credit card being blocked, phone calls to the UK and then one of our cash cards also being blocked, the day pretty much disappeared. The good news is we're all booked and head off on Monday for 7 nights.

One advantage of a pretty lazy day was that it gave us a chance to acclimatise. Quito stands at 2850m above sea level and both of us suffered slight dizzy spells and tiredness, although touch wood, no real altitude sickness.

We enjoy visiting the supermarkets in each country, seeing what's available and sometimes buying some random fruit. This time was no different. We purchased some now familiar granadillas and also a pitahaya. It turns out to be a most enjoyable fruit, best described as a cross between a kiwi and a melon. We'll definitely be having more.

* It seems pretty standard in Ecuador to charge around 5% if you pay by card.


Friday 25th February 2011
Today's plans were to visit the old city and get a real sense of what Quito is like. We took the trole (electric bus) into town, being squeezed like sardines in a tin on the way. No complaints though as the trip was only 25 cents.

City of Culture 2011.

Quito is the Americas' city of culture for 2011 and you sense a lot of work has taken place to make the centre of the old city as attractive as possible.

Calle Ronda.

The prettiest street in the old city is Calle Ronda which has had an extensive facelift to bring back its old charm. This is a street where many of Quito's poets, writers and musicians lived and conversed. One popular meeting point was the Bat House Bar, a secret underground bar below a grocery shop.

Great value.

For lunch we went vegetarian, having possibly the cheapest three course meal (with drink), coming in at $1.80!

An afternoon visit to the well designed 'Museo de la Ciudad' took us through the history of Quito from prehispanic times.

In the evening we ventured a couple of blocks to try the local nightlife. Here that often involves paying for karaoke and we witnessed a few murdered songs, along with some pretty reasonable renditions of what we can only assume are Latin classics. Another feature of nightlife here is large beers. The standard 330ml bottles don't exist at night, replaced by larger reasonably priced bottles.

Green spaces.

Observations:
Police: As with Colombia there's a heavy presence both day and night. One difference here though is the number of sirens you hear. Not sure if that's good or bad...

Colombia - the last word

Guess the flag.

We've said it before but Colombia is a place we would like to come back to. It has spectacular scenery, a fascinating history full of inspiring characters and tales and wonderfully helpful people. We have particularly enjoyed the madness of the buses, the vibrancy of Cartagena and the relaxed feel of Medellin but to be honest, we've thoroughly enjoyed every place we have visited. Along the way we have met other travellers who share our opinion: Colombia is a fantastic place to explore.

Our only regrets are the places we didn't get time to see, largely the south of the country. Cali and the coffee region both deserved a visit but will have to be saved until another time.

Last but not least, a sign we saw in Cartagena. Having helpfully written it in English, they were obviously referring to us!

In transit

Wednesday 23rd February 2011

Medellin airport: After an 80 minute bus ride, high into the hills along windy roads we reached the airport. This was not before seeing several more carriageways in various states of disrepair, most having slid down the hill.

We found immigration here very similar to India. Lots of largely needless checking of passports and all bags both scanned and searched. All passengers are frisked by a woman. Not something that would ever happen in the UK. There's also a beautiful brown labrador, roaming free trying to sniff out drugs. We particularly enjoyed seeing it standing in the middle of a suitcase surrounded by several officers.

Our flights within South America are all on LAN airways and we have to say our first experience was a very pleasant one. It was on time and our exit through Quito airport was one of the quickest ever, taking only 20 minutes. 

Our first impression of Ecuador (albeit from a taxi at 9pm) is that it seems there's more American influence than in Colombia. Within minutes we´d spotted all the major fast food chains and the dollar being the national currency also adds to the impression. 

Having safely settled into our hostel (Posada del Maple - great recommendation Clare), we grabbed an early night and looked forward to exploring Quito.

Medellín - Part 2

Monday 21st February 2011

Dizzy heights.

Having spent a pleasant couple of days in and around the city, we decided to take a trip out of the city to El Penol. About 1.5hrs bus away from Medellín, the main attraction here is a pretty stunning rock and surrounding reservoir. The rock is said to be the 2nd biggest natural rock in the world, although we're not 100% sure if that's true or what the other contenders are. Answers in the comments please. Luckily for us there is a natural crack in the rock and this has enabled the locals to turn it into a tourist attraction, building a 649 step staircase into the crack. A spectacular feat. We made it to the top in 15 minutes and spent time taking in the views. On our return to ground level, it's fair to say our legs were jelly-like.

60km of reservoir.

Next we made our way 3km to Guatape, a quaint little town famous for its socalos, the colourful painted images on the outside of all the town's buildings. With the sun shining and hanging baskets looking very bright, it almost looked to good to be real.

Socalos.

Pretty street, more socalos.

Our return bus journey was most entertaining. We had the pleasure of a couple of Colombian teenagers at the back of the bus. They spent the majority of the 1.5hr trip pretending to drive the bus, including all relevant sound effects. They even got money out to pay the toll! Slightly nutty.

Tuesday 22nd February 2011

A space to sleep in.

For our last full day in Colombia we decided to explore more of the city. In the morning we hopped on a bus and headed to the 'Parque de los Pies Descalzos' (barefoot park). On the way and elderly gentleman on the bus offered to help us find our way (although James was of course in control), another example of the friendliness of the people here.  Getting back to the park, it's a good example of urban regeneration in the city. Surrounded by concrete buildings and roads, it's a tranquil place to escape the heat or, as one couple were doing at 11:30am, have a beer.

In the afternoon James dragged Emma onto the 2nd cable car. Not really knowing where it went, we were pleasantly surprised when it continued over the top of the huge hill and ended up deep in the middle of a forest. Again you have to do these if you are ever in the city.

Not much heat on Emma.

Our next place on the day's itinerary was the 'Parque Explora', a huge science museum with lots of interactive games and puzzles. This was most definitely a James choice although Emma was surprised to enjoy it too. Little did we know that we'd be experiencing a hurricane and an earthquake during the day. The earthquake simulator was pitched at 6.4 on the Richter scale. Spookily this is close to the same number as experienced in New Zealand on the same day. We struggled to stand up and we really got a sense of how frightening an earthquake of this scale could be.  Our thoughts go to those people in Christchurch.  The most interesting part of the afternoon was the confirmation that Emma's hands really are like blocks of ice, proven by the heat sensing cameras. There was some warmth found elsewhere so it's not all bad news.

We're sad to be leaving Colombia and feel there's much more we could have seen. Maybe we need another trip...

Next it's onto Ecuador and Quito, arriving on Wendesday night. The journey continues.

Observation:
The only metrotrain stop not to have disabled facilities is 'Hospital'. What's that all about?

Eh?

Medellin - Part 1

Thursday 17th February 2011
Before we crack on to tell you about the delights of Colombia's second biggest city, there are a few loose ends to tie up from our last hours in Cartagena. We decided once more to treat ourselves to dinner at 'El Santisimo'. The food was as delicious as ever and seeing as it was our last night, we headed to Cafe Havana which was highly recommended in our guide book.

Nice bar.

This turned out to be an excellent bar packed with locals who were happy to prop up the bar or strut their salsa moves on the tiny strip of dance floor. The most enjoyable part of the evening was listening to the live Cuban band. They were truly excellent and they kept us out until 2am. The only slight improvement we would suggest would be more cow bell. We left the Colombians (who were presumably working the next day) to continue the party.

Friday 18th February 2011

More sunsets.

With a night bus to Medellin looming, we had a few leisurely hours left. After an amazing sunset, watched from the city walls with pelicans flying overhead, we headed for the bus.

The basics of our latest bus trip were to be a 13hr ride through the night, travelling around 600km. The state of the roads is the main reason that the trip takes so long. In the UK a similar trip would take around 7hrs! We really should appreciate our roads more.

The drama on the bus this time was an annoying group of travellers who thought they could get away with smoking in the toilets. The really stupid thing was to try it 3 times. We wished the bus drivers had dumped them on the highway, but being kinder than us they let them continue after each incident. With lots of locals and kids on the bus, these were the people who give tourists a bad name.

Saturday 19th February 2011
Medellin stands at 1500m above sea level and has a population of around 2.5m people (100 years ago it was only 100,000). Our first impressions were of a modern city, with an infrastructure to match its proportions. We're told that partly through drug money 20 years ago and then a desire to clean up its image and safety, Medellin is in many eyes the most progressive city in Colombia and has made an incredible turnaround. In our eyes, having seen several places in this country, we would definitely agree with this. After just 36 hours here, we would say that we could imagine living the most comfortably here out of all our Colombian destinations.

We're staying in an area called 'El Poblado', also known as 'La Zona Rosa'. It's a clean and affluent district with many restaurants and a lively nightlife. Considering this, we're absolutely amazed at our hostel. 'Geo Hostel' is the the best place we've stayed if you take into account cost, facilities and comfort. At around 1/3 of the cost of Cartagena, we can only hope that we find similar places on the rest of the trip.

Comfortable room.

We did manage to squeeze a little culture into our day, visiting 'El Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe', to see some art by Carlos Martinez and learn a little more about Uribe himself.

As we were heading to bed, we once again saw our troublesome tourists from the bus. This time they were arguing and didn't look like they were enjoying themselves too much. On the bright side, they were sitting on the street so could smoke to their hearts' content.

Sunday 20th February 2011

Botero minus hawkers.

Medellin is the home of Fernando Botero (see Bogota entries for info) and so it's little surprise that his work and name is everywhere here. In Plaza Botero there are 23 bronze sculptures donated by the artist to the city. These are magnificent and remarkably void of graffiti and bird droppings. Sadly they are surrounded by hawkers looking for a quick buck so its difficult to take time to admire them, let alone a photo. Luckily next door is the 'Museo de Antioquia', which amongst other art, houses probably the biggest Botero collection anywhere. We spent a tranquil couple of hours contemplating the art and we were delighted to see many more sculptures in a more peaceful environment. We were quite suprised at how quiet the museum was and it was a pleasure to have plenty of time and space to look at the pieces.

Very green.

After our standard lunch (fish, salad, rice, plantain, hot sauce), we headed to the botanical gardens. It seemed like more of a park than a traditional botanical garden, although this was partly down to it being free and a Sunday. It was great to see lots of families and couples enjoying the green spaces. There were lots of musicians as well, some were certainly better practised than others. One highlight was, at last, seeing a monkey. A proud moment for us. Easier to spot was the now customary iguanas catching yet more rays.

No nerves here.

With the sun fading, we headed 150m above the city. The metro here (the only one in Colombia) not only includes trains but also three cable cars. For the price of a normal ticket you get taken up to the hillier parts of the city and along the way get some breathtaking views. If you don't like heights and your name's Emma, this may not be the trip for you. As we neared the top we got a real sense of how this system has made new areas accessible, but also of the contrasts in standards of living. Many homes at the top are made of wood, with corrugated iron roofs and on slits. They look precarious to say the least.

Cables, cars and houses.

Making use of our facilities we finished the night by eating a homemade salad, with pineapple and granadilla for dessert. One thing we miss is the ability to knock together a simple/healthy supper ourselves. Having not had use of a kitchen since Bogota, it was nice to have the run of a kitchen and a quiet night in.

Nice simple salad.

For further study:
Carlos Martinez
Rafael Uribe Uribe

Cartagena

Monday 14th February 2011

We set off after breakfast for Cartagena, on what turned out to be a 4.5 hour bus ride. Travel tip, make sure your headphones are in your day sack for any long journey. Sadly for us this bus driver had replaced the normal upbeat tunes with dreary rubbish. It felt like the longest journey yet, but it was worth it to get to Cartagena.

Lovely colours.

What a beautiful place. With  the combination of the heat, the colours, the music and the buildings, it's easy to see why this place is a world heritage site.

On arrival it immediately felt like the temperature had been turned up another notch, hovering around the early 30s. After reading some pretty shocking reviews, and finding the good places booked, we decided to treat ourselves and stay in a nicer hotel. We have not been disappointed.

Nice hotel.

Before dark, we had just enough time to get our bearings and take a walk along the old city walls. We imagined Sir Francis Drake blowing through them. We are in disagreement as to whether he's a national hero or a pirate. Between the wall and the sea now stands a ringroad. We can only imagine that land was reclaimed to allow this to be built. It does at least keep some traffic out if the old town, good since it's generally gridlocked, especially when it's raining. We experienced some rain on our way in and the taxi driver said that it hadn't rained since early December. On top of this, the Trans Caribe is currently being built (same as the Trans Milenio in Bogota and the Metrobus in Mexico City) which has also impacted on the traffic.

Tuesday 15th February 2011

The fort.

The main plan for the day was to visit the Castillo San Filipe de Barajas, a 17th century fort that was built to protect the city. This was an interesting array of battlements and tunnels. The tunnels were originally living quarters and offices. The soldiers were obviously short as James was 3-4 inches too tall to stand up straight.

Yum!

In the evening we took another recommendation from our scouts and headed to 'El Santisimo' for dinner. We had amazing food accompanied by as much beer, wine and whisky as we could drink. It was exceptional value that you'd struggle to find in the UK.

Wednesday 16th February 2011

Sun worshipping.

Whilst booking our Thursday excursion, we got a tip that in a rather rough park just outside the city walls, there lives some interesting wildlife. We saw loads more iguanas basking in the sunshine and a couple of red squirrels. We were not, however, able to spot the monkeys or sloths.

Not the old part.

Cartagena is made up of several different areas and to contrast the old with the new, we set off for the hour's walk to Bocagrande. Taking in the naval base on the way, we soon decided that we were glad not to be staying here. Whilst the old city has tons of character and identity, this new part could be any costal resort.

Not quick enough to get the cherry on top.

It did allow us time for an ice cream though (only the second of the trip) and in the tropical sun this was a welcome relief. This area is being developed very quickly and one imagines it will look very different in a few years' time.

Cracking pizza.

For dinner we went to pizza in the park. This is a great establishment that uses the walls and benches of the park to seat its customers. It not only serves great pizzas in a lovely atmosphere, it's also a good 30% cheaper than other pizza places. This is handy as everything here is more expensive than we've experienced so far. Given the number of tourists though, this is not a surprise.

After dinner we popped into a little bar for one last beverage. What we got was the low down on what drugs were available to us. We only stayed for the one drink. It's fair to say we've not heard anything drug related until we reached here.

Thursday 17th February 2011

Our island.

Having largely avoided the sun and sea, this was our day to enjoy both. There's a group of 27 islands about 46km from Cartagena called 'Las Islas del Rosario', a national coral park.  After the customary waiting around, we boarded our speedboat and took the hour trip to our island for the day, 'La Isla del Pirata'. We headed out to meet the Caribbean Sea, on the way passing through Bocachica (small mouth) where two forts offered an ingenious first line of defence. The crux of it was a chain that could be lifted between the two blocking the path. The high fort would then take aim of the masts, while the low fort attacked the hull. One fort is also famous for the movie 'Romancing the Stone'.

Clear waters and very sunny.

On arrival at our island we quickly decided to take the snorkelling tour. We had an hour looking round the beautiful coral reefs and seeing loads of tropical fish. This is something we definitely want to do again. Our favourite fish was a small black one with luminous blue spots. Sadly the camera wouldn't have survived any photos.

The speedboat back was a real bone-rattling experience. With the seas choppier, we were constantly flung about and no doubt will have bruises to show for it.

A nice relaxing dip in our hotel pool topped off the afternoon.

What a lovely couple.

Beautiful street.

Beer

We're pretty certain we've tried all the mainstream beers here. With the exception of the Bogota Beer Company, we've not seen beers on tap here. The standard beer is very similar to our Lagers, although it has to be said much nicer than Carling.

Here's some info:
~4% - there's a decent array of the weaker strength beers. Prices can range from 1400 ps (in Taganga) to 3000 ps in a restaurant (45p to £1). Generally all brands are available anywhere, although some seem to be more popular in certain areas. The beers are:

A bit sharp.

Poker

The king of affordable beers.

Aguila



This one's a light one.

 Aguila light
Costena
Pilsen
~5% - always at least 500 ps more expensive there are really only two premium brands on offer.
Colombia Club

A hint of lemon.

Redd's

Redd's is worth a special mention. It seems to have a hint of lemon in it so on a hot summer's day, it can be a very refreshing drink.

Random:

What is this meant to be?

Cola y Pola-this seems to be the local equivalent to Shandy Bass, only 2% volume and made with Coke rather than lemonade. We're really not sure whether we love it or hate it.

Without doubt our staple beer has been Aguila (Eagle). It's very drinkable and generally cheaper than every other drink on the menu. The 'Club' is probably a slightly nicer beer, but being on a budget it's important to save 15p wherever you can.

For those of you who aren't a fan of beer, we can recommend cuba libre ( dark rum and coke) and the amazingly refreshing lemonde made from limes.

Very thirst quenching.

Taganga

Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th February 2011


Although only mentioned fleetingly in the guidebook, the little fishing village of Taganga, about 15 minutes from Santa Marta, was recommended to us twice on our travels to the north. With two days to spare before heading to Cartagena we set off early to find a hostel.  This was the first time we'd just pitched up at a place and tried to get in. In truth this is slightly out of both our comfort zones, but the first place we tried was free and by 11am we were set for a relaxing couple of days.
 We're not sure that fishing village is the correct label for Taganga. It's full of tourists enjoying the beach, bars and restaurants. It seems to party long into the night here, but they obviously have a little trouble once in a while, otherwise the soldiers who patrolled the town on Saturday night were pointless. They really wouldn't have looked out of place in Kabul and you had to wonder what had happened previously.From Taganga there's a constant stream of boats ferrying people back and forth to the idyllic beaches in the Parque Tayrona. As we'd already done these the proper way, we decided to stay local. We pretty much spent two days on the beach reading our books and swimming in the lovely calm waters. Pelicans can be seen fishing for their lunch around the bay. Whilst not as large as the ones in St. James' Park in London, they were a sight to behold.

Unbelievable sunsets.

Observations:
Dogs - stray dogs have been a feature throughout Colombia. Taganga is no different and we've seen the highest number of sad, emaciated, flee-ridden mutts  in all the places we've been to so far.
Street sellers part 2 - Men with guitars. When you get a good one, they can be amazing and you'll gladly part with a few pesos to thank them for their music. Sadly, with the exception of one man and his mate (who were truly excellent), the ones here were petty awful. They murdered song after song whilst ruining a nice peaceful dinner. Obviously we were not forthcoming with cash resulting in the odd insult and lessons on 'how in Colombia it's customary to applaud artists'. If they had in any way performed art, we'd have been the first to clap our hands.


Note: Something we missed from the last blog. As well as Iguanas, we also saw a red squirrel

Santa Marta

Tuesday 8th February 2011
We had a pretty relaxing day. With a bus at 6:30pm to take us towards Santa Marta overnight, we spent the day in San Gil. 

You can get your five a day here.

Having walked through the market the day before, we returned and stopped for a fruit milkshake, Emma having strawberry and James trying Guayabana, which looks like a massive custard apple and is well worth a try.

Time for a bath.

It was certainly a day for twitching. As we settled on a park bench to read our books we saw various colourful birds (some having baths) and even some humming birds (Emma's favourite).

Wednesday 9th February 2011
After a relatively comfortable, if rather chilly, night bus we arrived in Santa Marta at around 8am. What immediately struck us was the further change in climate. Temperatures here hover around 32 degrees in the shade, with humidity apparently in the 90s.

In Santa Marta we're staying in the lovely Hotel Nueva Granada. Given the extra heat we splashed out a little for air con and a pool. Both are not disappointing.

We heard mixed reviews of Santa Marta on the way here, with many preferring to stay outside the city. As with any tourist destination, it's a but pricier, there are more street sellers and the streets around the market could smell better. But to counter this, there's more life to the city at night. Eating in the evenings is straight forward and it looks like there's a vibrant nightlife. Obviously we're getting on so are safely tucked up by 9pm...

The end of another day.

The main bay in the city looks west. This results in a wonderful sunset each evening. We both enjoy the contrast of the sunset against the busy container port to the right of the bay. This is Colombia's third largest port on the Atlantic side and so there are always 4 or 5 ships in and around the docks. There's a desire to expand the city, although it's easy to spot the obstacles, namely the mountains and sea that surround it.

Thursday 10th February 2011
It was a lively start to the day. We were just about to head for breakfast, when a giant cockroach appeared waving its antennae at us. Luckily the nice chap on reception came along with his broom and 15 minutes later we were back to normal.

At around 9am we headed off to catch the bus to the 'Parque Nacional de Tayrona' for a day of walking. Catching the bus was, as always, an event in itself. Having been pointed from one one bus to the next, we were eventually approached by a conductor who thankfully wanted us on his bus. The adventures continued as on the way we saw a naked woman walking down the central reservation.

On the bus there we met Joe, an American travelling Colombia for two and a half months. Once inside we also got chatting to Ruban, a nice man from Bogota who was taking a bit of time away from the city and who planned to stay in a hammock in the forest. As it turned out the four of us all trekked together through the forest.

Foreigners pay 35000 pesos (~£12) to enter the park and this was one of the most expensive fees yet. Although being 3 times what the locals pay, it was worth every peso. 

On the way we witnessed some excellent ant trails, loads of huge colourful butterflies and on breaking out of the forest, some of the most stunning coastal views we've experienced. It looked like something out if Lord of the Flies.

A new standard of camping.

Amazing views.

Fancy a dip?

The mist from the mountains, endless palm trees and the coconut strewn beaches all made us feel a million miles from home. We didn't have the chance to do everything and camping here would be much fun, although proper kit and an excellent mosquito net is a must.  If you're ever in this area, this has to be on your to do list.

The bus journey home was again eventful (there's a theme here in case you haven't spotted it).  Firstly the bus was stopped and searched by the police and secondly it turned out it didn't go to the middle of Santa Marta. The slight rip off only cost us about £1 and 25 minutes, but was another example of the extremes of the bus system.

A cheeky Mexican for dinner (recommended by Joe) and we're pretty much done for the day.

Friday 11th February 2011
We day with no plans. Over breakfast after studying our trusty guidebook, we decided to head to Minca. We never got there after another bus incident. To be fair, there wasn't actually a bus involved which was the problem. We were in the right place to catch it but none of the locals would tell us when it was due, many even saying that there was no bus, pointing us to their friend's taxi. Not willing to pay the extreme price of a taxi (£15), we headed back to the centre to reassess.

We went to the gold museum, another freebie and it promised to be an interesting hour to take us up to lunch. On reaching the museum we thought our luck was out, with it being closed for renovations. Luckily it had moved to the library next door so we spend a pleasant hour refreshing our knowledge of gold in Colombia and especially the indigenous groups around this area.

After lunch we headed to the memorial and place where Simon 'the liberator' Bolivar died. On the way our faith in bus drivers was restored. We accidentally gave him a 10000 note. He was honest enough to point this out to us whilst explaining the difference between this and the 1000, namely the extra zero. A chuckle later we were on our way. This bus had no conductor, so James played the part, ferrying money to and from the bus driver. 

Is this a dinosaur?

Maybe a career opportunity in later life. At the house there was lots of interesting info about Bolivar, but the highlight for us was the iguanas in the grounds, especially the ones chasing each other through the trees.

After our now standard sunset, swim and out for supper, we had our first late night of the trip, making it just beyond midnight and almost certainly in bed before most locals had gone out. We had a few cuba libres (rum and coke) in a lovely bar called 'La Puerta' where various latin beats had the dance floor full early on.

We're a little sad to be leaving our comfortable hotel (especially the pool), but with two days ahead of nothing but relaxation and beach, life's not too bad at all.

Observations:
Onions: when buying onions in Colombia, you find they are already peeled. On closer inspection there is generally someone in the corner of the market who's job it is to peel them. One for the the UK we think.
Street Sellers: As with any tourist destination there are loads of people on the streets selling everything from jewellery to rice pudding to ornamental rum bottles (tat in English). On the whole they are not at all pushy, a simple 'No, gracias' sending them on their way. You have to admire how they are trying to make some money offering a potentially useful service.
Carbs: Colombians eat an excess of carbs. It's very typical to get rice and chips, pasta and potatoes, etc. At lunch today in Merkabar (great fish, highly recommended) we witnessed a local man devour the most enormous plate of pasta with chips. He then ordered another plateful of chips just to ensure he got enough carbs for the day. With no room left he turned away a delicious looking salad.

Fact: 
As mentioned in an earlier entry, it's important to continue to look down when walking. James has once more learnt this lesson by falling down a pothole in the middle of a 3 lane road. Good news, he was able to save the groceries and bounce back up before the oncoming buses and taxis did further damage. James felt slightly better a day later having seen a local woman do exactly the same thing.

Useful phrase:
'A la orden'. You hear this when they wish to serve you and also after you pay.