Kip and I had an absolutely wonderful time being home with our families and friends. We were able to see more family than we expected while also spending a huge amount of time with our folks! Flying kites, baking cookies, and eating together as a big family were a few of my favorite things. As I write this I wish I could be with them right now! Also helping my best friend Hannah and her husband Jonathan prepare for their country wedding at the end of September was absolutely wonderful. Who can say no to a barn dance!
Although I do not regret leaving for South America, I do wish I could have all of these people with me along the way.
After all of this fun of course came time to buckle down! Thanks to REI and Target, our ability to pack and say goodbye was less stressful. And on October 17th we were in the air beginning a very new experience. We spent the night sleeping on the floor of the Orlando airport (not the most comfortable of locations) and made our way to Cartagena on the following morning of the 18th. Cartagena is known as a romantic holiday destination for Colombians. It was quite beautiful in ´The Old City´ section as it has beautiful yellow and orange colonial buildings and a view of the sea. Kip and I spent many evenings walking through this neighborhood, visiting a few museums, and eating local food (rice, beans, plantains, and meat). Oh, I won´t even get into how wonderful the fruit juice is! Cartagena was beautiful but a strange location to begin our trip as tourism is huge and a majority of the people we interacted with were selling things or explaining an area of tourism.
After letting our romantic side come out for awhile, we moved on to Santa Marta (4 hours North East). Kip and I didn´t spend a great deal of time in this town as it wasn´t anything to write home about, BUT it was the starting point for La Ciudad Perdida. Kip and I decided there are very few `Lost City´s out there in the world any more, so decided to take the 6 day trek into the jungle to see this ancient site. It was an extremely grueling journey as we hiked an average of 4-5 hours everyday through ravines, strong rivers, and debris from mudslides. But thankfully we survived and enjoyed the site and journey!! We were also lucky enough to have great interaction with an indigenous family for a few days. Alicia and her family were often around our camp to share supplies and understand the life of foreignors. She even sewed up by broken bag, how nice!
After plenty of hours of recouperating in Santa Marta (including medicine, food, and sleep) we moved onto Aracata (to visit the birth place of Jorge Garcia Marquez) and Mompos (sleepy river town for The Day of the Dead). Kip and I were quite relieved to find that the average small town in Colombia was quite comfortable with lots of friendly faces, music, and food. Both towns were lovely and wonderful experiences.
Onward! Bucaramanga for Elections, City Life, and Relaxing! We spent a solid week living in the Hotel Floridablanca reading, walking, and eating at our favorite Colombia restaurant El Viejo Chiflas! mmmm...
Currently we are in Malaga staying with the family of our friends Sergio and Cara. Malaga is a small town 6 hours away from Bucaramanga hidden in the valley between gorgeous green mountains. It has been really great to stay in a home, walk around small town, and have a gorgeous view of mountains. Kip and I have enjoyed staying with Alba and Pilar (our hosts) and practicing our spanish with them. oh, and we made our own Scrabble board! Yea! It´s been a treat!! And in a few days, we plan to continue on as we have been here for one month and still have quite a bit to see in Colombia.
