Week 24: Taganga, San Gil, Chicamocha Canyon

Monday June 13

This morning, we decided to take advantage of a lazy day – so obviously, we decided to go walking across the mountains in Taganga in search of new beaches. We went for a while watching fisherman, looking for a good beach for snorkeling, and seeking something relaxing. We hung out on an abandoned property, grabbed some snacks, and read a book overlooking the ocean for a while before we headed back to a potential beach.
We emerged onto a beach that had a nice restaurant and we shared some freshly caught fish. We decided to stay there and hang out. Luke went swimming and I was reading all afternoon before we decided to head back before dark. We caught the sunset on the way back and then got ready to leave that night. We reserved that hostel for the day since our bus was that night at 9:00pm in Santa Marta.

Tuesday June 14
We took the night bus to San Gil, a town of around 100k people located in the lower elevation mountains about 6 hours west of Bogota.  It was beautiful there with perfect climate and tons of adventure sports. We found a hostel with a nice hammock area in the back yard.  It rained all afternoon so we sat in the hammocks and read. It was perfect.

Wednesday June 15

We went to the local nature park in the morning.  It was well maintained and beautiful. Then we took a bus to Barichara, a beautiful colonial town only an hour or two away.  After visiting the church, we walked out of town and found a stone trail built in the 1800’s by a german engineer.  We walked for a few hours to a smaller town called Guane.  It was also very old, and we were told camping was allowed on the soccer field on the edge of town.  We built a great campsite, and then bought a few things for dinner.  We mixed cheese, ham, and green apple, all diced, and hollowed out the loaf of bread with a stick. Then we stuffed the bread and cooked it over the fire.  It was delicious. After some beer and s’mores we went to sleep in our hammocks.

Thursday June 16

The next morning we woke up and enjoyed breakfast in our campsite.  We hiked onward to Villanueva, a slightly larger and more modern town.  The morning hike was steep and hot, but we made it to town, relaxed, and ate lunch. We bought more supplies and then pressed onward.  The next town was far away so we were looking for a campsite. Unfortunately, the road/path we walked on was lined with barbed wire fences protecting the farm.  We saw few good options and almost settled for bad campsites when we finally found an amazing spot. On the ridge of a mountain there were a few trees, a firepit, no fences, and spectacular views from both sides.  We loved this spot and enjoyed the sunset on both sides of the mountain.  We made a nice dinner of little smokies, onions, peppers, and cheese, both skewered and cooked in aluminum foil.  It was delicious again and we were soon asleep. It rained in the night but we quickly covered our hammocks with tarps/ponchos and stayed mostly dry.

Friday June 17

Last tortuous day of canyon hiking. We woke up to an amazing sunrise, ate as much of our remaining food as we could, dried our equipment in the sun, and then began walking.  It was easy for the first hour until we reached the edge of the canyon.  It was a great view, but we knew we were in trouble. We hiked three thousand feet down into the canyon until we reached the small ghost town of Jordan next to the river.  We were very hot, thirsty, and exhausted by the time we reached the town. We met some reporters who interviewed us and took thousands of pictures.  We may be famous in Colombia by now.  we ate a very simple lunch for about $1.50 per person at the only restaurant in town.  Then we rested and rehydrated before starting back up the steep canyon wall.  The path was cobblestoned for much of the way, but it was still the most miserable afternoon of my life.  It was hot, and we were exhausted.  We stopped every hundred yards or ten minutes for a break.  There is no transportation out of Jordan, so our only way out was to hike to the town on top of the cliffs.  After what felt like eternity, we reached the top and were happy to rest.  We took a series of busses back to San Gil, and immediately fell asleep in the busses.  It was however, one of the best hikes of my life.  We followed some instructions from wikipedia and only lost the trail a few times.  The views of old colonial towns, as well as mountains, valleys, and canyons, made for an awesome adventure.

Saturday June 18

Today, we decided to look around for some pricing for all the activities that there are in San Gil after going to breakfast. We looked around for a while before we found a great deal of $30,000 (10 USD) to raft down the river that afternoon!  It was my first time white water rafting and it really was a good time though a little scary! We went back to the hostel to get ready for our trip and then we were off! There were only about two or three level rapids, but that was a great introduction to me! After that we watched a few of the funny videos and pictures and headed back to the hostel.

Sunday June 19

This morning we had signed up to go paragliding and so we met up at the agency at 9:00. It took us about 40 minutes to get there, but once we got to Chicamocha Canyon it was a beautiful as I remember it from the camping before.

They gave us a quick walk-through on what we were supposed to do and then we waited! My guide was pretty amazing. He took me as high as he could and then did tricks for me. Luke saw the biggest smile on my face because I was just sooo excited and full of adrenaline! The ride home was nice but it made me realize how much I was going to miss Colombia. We spoke to our driver about eating a traditional meal before we left the area and he actually invited us to go with him and his family to this little restaurant that was packed. We had the traditional goat dish and it was sooo delicious! We were stuffed and sleepy by the time we got back to the hostel.

Week 23: Taganga, Ciudad Perdida

Sunday June 5

We woke up and left with just enough time to grab some breakfast and coffee before heading to our first scuba diving lesson. We learned all about the equipment and what was important about the tempered glass on the goggles, the oxygen tank, etc.

We took a very bumpy boat ride with our teacher from France towards a bay specifically used by the company. We hung out there for a little, then we went on a small dive. He taught us how to empty our goggles of water while underwater and how to clear out our regulators.

We got to see all kinds of wonderful things! The most amazing to me were the 2 squid, the eels, and an incredible amount of coral. It’s so different under the ocean than in fish tanks.

After that dive, we headed back to the beach, had an amazing lunch of meat and potatoes and rice, relaxed, then had another lesson under the water.

This time, we saw these ocean worms in a field and they would slowly crawl down their holes as we arrived closer. I have only seen those on the National Geographic channel!

After another amazing and varied dive, we headed back to Taganga to relax, shower, and rest! We hung out at our hostel some more and wandered around the city, had another round of the delicious baguette sandwiches and then went to bed.

Monday June 6

We stayed closer to Taganga on our 2nd day of scuba diving. We also had a new teacher! On that second morning, we learned about running out of oxygen and how to share our oxygen levels. I have to admit it was kind of scary to run out of oxygen underneath the water. Fortunately, having Luke and the teacher there really helped. This time around we saw a bunch of different eels. They are as creepy in nature as they seem in the aquarium!

The second time around, we saw a massive lobster – like 4 foot long. All I could think about was how delicious it would be with loads of butter! We also saw a variety of corals and fish. All in all it seemed like a very productive day!

Tuesday June 7

It was our last day scuba diving and I think we were ready to go and also to finish our testing! Turns out, that scuba diving 2 times a day can be pretty exhausting.
This last day we had our same teacher, learned how to go to the surface if all else fails, and we went hunting for lion fish since they are an invasive species that cause a lot of harm.

Luke helped our guide catch a HUGE one. He has amazing eyes to spot animals. Anyway, we ended up spotting loads of lion fish waiting around to eat little baby fishes. The second time we went diving we saw an entire cove of lion fish (like 7 or 8 of them!) They said that they would come back to get that bunch.

After coming back, we had a break for a shower and a snack. We ended up staying at the beach and eating at a local restaurant which had some great seafood. I had a bomb shrimp and calamari rice dish while Luke tried a local fish. Both were delicious!

Then we were taught about the physics part of the diving and how to tell when someone is in medical danger from the nitrogen in our bodies. The test was challenging, but we had a little bit of help and we finally passed our test! Luke only missed one question, but I missed 2.

After that, it was around dinner time. We had asked Calipso Dive Center how to sign up for the Ciudad Perdida trek, and it turns out that they could sign us up!

We swam on the beach, watched the sunset, and went back to our hostel. We had to prepare our bags for our trek the next day, and after we went to bed since I was starting to get sick.

Wednesday June 8
We got up early in the morning, left some bags and clothes at our hostel, and grabbed some breakfast before heading to the office to wait on the taxi to Santa Marta.

Turns out, our new travel companions were also in the taxi and so we spent the morning ride getting to know them! Their names we Dan and Claire and they were pretty funny.
When we arrived to Santa Marta, I hit up the pharmacy for as much allergy medicine and cough drops I could get my hands on.
After a while, we finally loaded up on our 4×4 to start our 5 day trek!
The next few days, we hiked through mountains, forest, rivers, and mud. We spent a lot of time walking up and down, sliding up and down on mud, getting rained on and falling asleep by 7 or 8. We would get up around 6 and then have a nice breakfast, hike, lunch break, hike, rest.
It was extremely challenging, but they did have nice shelters. I had to leave my sleeping bag behind because it was unnecessary and I didn’t want to carry the weight the whole time.
Finally, on the 3rd day, we finally hiked up to Ciudad Perdida.

(Check out my post on Ciudad Perdida if you want more information and details.)

Friday June 10

This morning we saw Ciudad Perdida. Our guide gave us an entire afternoon of history, cultural, and mythological lectures – I loved it!
The entire trek was way more than I expected in both beauty and size. Since we had 5 days instead of the general 4 days, we had a pretty easy going (compared to the first 2 days) hike back.

Saturday June 11

We spent another beautiful day hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains returning from the lost city.

Sunday June 12

Continued hiking back and visited a waterfall before lunch then ride back. Night hang out in taganga.

Upon returning to Taganga, we couldn’t get in to the hostel since the owners weren’t there, so we spent a lot of time resting and waiting until we finally stalked one of the staff members down.

After getting ready, we met up with Dan and Claire for dinner and a few beers before we went back to bed to rest. It was a really great time!

*written by Sarahi

Week 22:Barranquilla, Santa Marta, Tayrona National Park

June 29: After spencer left we stayed in barranquilla and relaxed for a day.  We mainly hung out in the hotel and watched netflix.

30 After our stay in Barranquilla, we headed to Santa Marta and booked a room in someone’s house. Unfortunately, the owner was not there when we arrived. Fortunately, Colombians are extremely nice and the next door neighbors helped us get into contact with him and we spent a good time talking with them and hanging out.

After getting into the hotel we wandered around the city for a while again. We went to the beach and planned our trip to Tayrona park. We spent the night packing our bags and then went to bed.

July 1: After breakfast, we took a bus to Tayrona park. We met another person who was going to stay there a few days and we ended up having lunch together. The park requires you to watch a safety video and it was, I believe, $42,000 pesos ($14) for each person to get in. After finally entering the park, we skipped the first campsite and headed straight to the second. The boulders and the beach and the mountains gave us a spectacular view. The walk wasn’t very hard since they created neat walkways that made it easier. This is where we discovered what I consider the “black, evil gnats”. They stay near fresh water and their bites hurt worse than mosquitos and they itch like crazy! Fortunately, they don’t stray too far from water.

After wandering a little bit more, we finally found our campsite and set up our hammocks in a shelter built for them. Our campsite was better than I expected! (I did expect some shelter and maybe one bathroom, but that’s it.) They had a kitchen, a little convenient store, showers, bathrooms, a tv, and electricity in some areas for a little bit of the day. The mosquitos weren’t bad at all!

Once we got settled in, we decided to take the 10 minute walk to the beach and oh-my-goodness was it gorgeous! We spent a good time just sitting there and watching the waves since they said that it was unsafe to swim because of the currents. The view was spectacular!

Then, we got up and kept wandering further. We found a fresh water pond right next to the beach which was a nice little scene and as we continued we found yet another beach! We didn’t go down into it, but we decided that the next day we were going to go first thing. We went home, barely making it before dark. We had a good dinner, read a little, and then we went to bed.

Wednesday June 1

The next morning, we got up and had a pretty big breakfast and headed to that beach. It was soooo nice and we met up with our friend with whom we had lunch with the other day and another guy originally from India, but living in the United States.

We talked about all the usual stuff you’re not supposed to talk about with new friends like politics, economics, etc. I honestly haven’t felt so uneducated in a long time and it was wonderful to be surrounded by people who had different opinions, but a good education. It made me want to study even more!!

After hanging out, we decided to go and get our bags and move to the next campsite, hoping that they had space! We heard it was very busy.

We stayed in line for a while, trying to check in, but after we did we discovered an even nicer camping spot.

Since boats take people to this particular spot, it had a nicer restaurant, a bigger area for camping, and a bigger beach. It also had a lot more people! We made some new friends and spent the next few hours setting up, hanging out, eating, chilling on the beach, and playing card games with new friends! We went to bed exhausted after a full, fun day.

Thursday June 2

This was our final day in Tayrona park and we had to walk the few hours back to the entrance. We took our time eating breakfast and spending even more time on the beach hanging out, swimming, and reading.

We then left to head back. We took our time walking back, but also keeping a good pace.

After getting to the entrance, we decided to stay just a little longer to check out Carnaveral Beach. We spent a bit of time there, watching the sea gulls, admiring the super long beach, enjoying the ocean breeze on top of some boulders we climbed. We only saw three people on the massive beach during the hour we were there.

After that, we took the shuttle back to the entrance and headed back to Santa Marta and back to our old room.

We showered and relaxed and that night we forced ourselves to get out of the room again. We went out to watch the NBA game at our old hostel, La Brisa Loca, then went to bed!

Friday June 3

We woke up and had a good morning. Packing up, we planned our next adventure into Taganga to see what scuba diving was all about.

It was a short taxi ride, only $10,000, and we arrived into the bay (maybe a cove?) into Taganga. We checked into our hostel and then headed to the beach.

My first impression wasn’t so spectacular, but it was probably because the first things I smelled were fish and trash and the ocean was more brown than blue. I’m spoiled, I know.

Either way, as we continued, we saw a lot of stores that offered scuba diving lessons, lots of seafood, and a lot of people.

Saturday June 4

This day, we had a leisurely morning. We had a rainy morning and spent it eating and reading at this baguette shop down the street.

After, we went shopping for scuba diving packages. Most of them are essentially the same thing: packages of $640,000-$680,000 with pictures, different special locations, and mostly the same amount of dives, etc. We chose Calipso mainly for the people, the location of our first dive, and because they didn’t talk badly about other companies in the area.

Then, we walked about 20 minutes to the other beach just over a hill. The views were beautiful even though the mountains were brown from lack of rain.

We rented some chairs and swam in the ocean before we headed back to the town. We caught the sunset and then went out to eat at a place called Tacos – they had amazing quesadillas and is located right by the ocean.

After that, we went to bed to rest before the next morning!

Week 21: Santa Marta, Palomino, Guacacha, Minca, Barranquilla 
Day 141:

Spencer, Sarahi, and myself woke up in Santa Marta and after a hearty breakfast and multiple coffees we packed our bags and paid our bill. We walked around Santa Marta briefly and arranged for a direct shuttle to our next hostel in the sleepy beach town of Palomino. We drove down a highway for about an hour, passing beach filled Tayrona National Park on the left, and the Sierra Nevada mountain range on the right. This mountain range is the highest coastal mountain range in the world and provides beautiful views and unique landscapes, namely mountains descending all the way into the ocean. We were driven down the road to our hostel which was less than a five minute walk from the beach. After checking into our hostel and relaxing a little we wandered down to the beach. It’s one of the most memorable and beautiful sights of the trip. Picturesque palm trees line the white sand beach while mountains fade into the clouds in the background. The water was fairly calm and after a short swim the sun began to set in a spectacular fashion. I had to run back for a camera and returned just in time to catch the end of the sunset. That night we relaxed and ate some of the pizza our hostel was famous for. It was delicious. That night we wandered around Palomino for a little while and then ate some more pizza before bed. 

Day 142:

The next morning we slept in and then ate breakfast at our hostel. I took a shared taxi to the next town for the closest atm and then returned to the hostel. After checking out we walked one hundred yards toward the beach to our next hostel, Dreamer Palomino. This is a very nice hostel with a large pool and stunning garden/common areas. It’s also adjacent to the beach and the most popular hostel in the area. After checking in we rented an inner tube and took a twenty minute moto taxi ride for $5 per person. Then we carried our inner tubes through a beautiful jungle trail for thirty minutes until we reached the river. Here we met some new friends and set off floating down the river. There were a few small Rapids but for the most part it was peaceful and beautiful. Eventually the river feeds into the ocean and we rode our tubes out into the waves. After some wave surfing on tubes we walked back down the beach with our tubes and dropped them off near our hostel. As we were walking back we saw the most incredible sunset to the west and an incredible rainbow to the east. It was breathtaking and we sadly didn’t have a camera to capture it. We spent the night relaxing at our hostel pool. Spencer had lost three pairs of flip flops by this point so we went to buy him another. We found some delicious empanadas for fifty cents and ate many. Spencer met a cute girl and we agreed to go rafting again the next morning. 
Day 143:

We had a bit of a late start the next morning and by the time we reached the girl’s hostel she was not waiting and had moved hostels. We couldn’t find her and had to leave without her. The rafting was just as beautiful in the morning. We returned for our bags and walked to the end of the road. We quickly hopped on a bus and rode a few miles to our next stop. Here we took moto taxis down a dirt road to Costeno beach surf camp. This hostel was just one large building with bunks on the top floor and hammocks underneath. There was a beautiful private beach stretching from our hostel for miles with groves of palm trees behind the beach. We relaxed that afternoon and had a yummy dinner. That night it was hot and there were some bugs. The hostel did not let in the coastal breeze and someone stole spencers bunk bed. We spent part of the night sleeping on the beach. Spencer was a little frustrated by the hostel and despite a lot of potential it was one of the low points of our time on the coast. 
Day 144:

The next morning we had a good hostel breakfast. Spencer and I decided to surf while Sarahi read on the beach. We rented surf boards and carried them for twenty minutes through beautiful and deserted palm tree groves. I even rode my surf board part of the way along the coast. Eventually we reached the beach where the Guacacha river meets the Caribbean. The sand wall was broken and the river freely flowed into the ocean. I swam from the river into the ocean but struggled to make it back to shore. We heard this was the best surf spot so we decided to try it out. Soon I found myself very far from shore and had to fight to break free from the current. I didn’t catch many good waves and soon realized Spencer was floating out further than I had. I motioned for him to follow me but it was too late. He was quickly swept out to sea by the river current. I headed for shore, barely crossed the river without being swept back out to sea, and found a commotion on the beach regarding Spencer floating out to sea. A few old fishermen ran down the beach to their boats and pushed them down into the sea. I ran down the beach in time to help push the boat out and soon Spencer was rescued. I tipped the fishermen 50,000 pesos ($17) for saving the life of my best friend. We stopped to savor life and enjoy a green coconut, then headed back to our hostel. We had a nice lunch as it started to pour rain. We waited out the rain for awhile and then took a moto taxi ride to the highway and soon caught a bus back towards Santa Marta. We stopped on the outskirts of town and took a taxi to Minca, a small town on a mountainside overlooking Santa Marta and the coast. The taxi snaked up and around several steep hills before stopping in Minca. We hiked fifteen minutes steeply up hundreds of stairs. We reached our hostel, Casa Loma and had a beautiful view awaiting. Sarahi and I had a private room called the treehouse because it was built against a tree about fifteen feet off the ground, and hammocks were hung underneath. It was a wonderful cozy room with screens for walls and an awesome view of the bay. Spencer had an awesome room as well though it was a dorm and on the other side of the property. We didn’t see Spencer after arriving because when we arrived in Minca we ran into a girl Spencer had met a few days before. He searched town until he found her that night and signed up for an expedition the next day. It started raining hard that night and we worried Spencer had slipped down the stairs and was injured and lost in the dark. Luckily he returned and told us of his adventures. The hostel had vegetarian food and we had three fantastic meals there. It was great to read and relax in a perfect climate. There were no biting bugs, only black flying ant like bugs that showed up in clouds. All in all we loved our stay and were happy to have an escape from the heat and a private room. 

Day 145:

The next morning we ate breakfast and relaxed. Spencer showed up around lunch time. After eating we walked back down the stairs and took a moto taxi up the mountain to our next hostel, another hour up dirt roads. When we arrived at casa elemento we found an incredible mountain top view of Santa Marta and Taganga. On the edge of the mountain there was a great vista, a deck, and a gigantic hammock as well as a slightly smaller swing. The property also had a pool, zip line course, good food, and great local draft beer. We enjoyed the swing, perfect weather, and the view for hours as the clouds rolled in and the sun set. We ate a nice dinner of chicken skewers then watched the thunder golden state warriors game. I think we were all exhausted and asleep early. 


Day 146:

The next day we woke up and were very sad Spencer’s last day of vacation was over. Sarahi and I watched the sunrise from the swing and then went back to bed. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and then played some rumikub. We lazed around in the perfect weather and explored the ropes course. We ate lunch and then in the early afternoon took moto taxis back to Minca. From there we went to the bus station in Santa Marta. We hopped on a bus and rode the two hours back to Barranquilla as the sun set. We went back to our last place, hotel tin tan. After showering we set out late to enjoy our last night together. We ate some bad fried food in a casino in the mall because the food court was closed. We attempted to enter a club but i was wearing flip flops. We returned to the hotel to change but instead walked to a local club. It turned out to be a strip club so we wandered on. Eventually we returned to our hotel and went to bed late. 
Day 147:

The next morning I gave spencer a map of bogota and my recommendations, as he had a twelve hour layover there. We put him in a taxi, said goodbye, and went back to bed. We walked to a grocery store and made sandwiches. We decided to stay in our hotel one more night. We enjoyed the rooftop view of Barranquilla and ordered Chinese for dinner. We went to bed early again. It was a great action packed week with Spencer and we were really sad to see it end but happy to relax a little afterwards. 

Week 20: Barranquilla, Cartagena, Rosario Isles, Santa Marta
Day 134: May 14th

We took our flight in the morning from bogota to Barranquilla. We awaited Spencer’s arrival that night. We landed in a small airport and went outside to find a hot day awaiting us. Spencer had missed his flight the day before so he arrived a little late. We spent the day hanging out at a couple malls after dropping our bags off at the bus station. We returned to pick up our bags at 9 and then headed to the airport awaiting Spencer’s 11 PM arrival. We were happy to meet him at the airport and then returned the bus station to catch a bus to Cartagena. We waited nearly three hours but none of the “hourly” busses arrived. We were exhausted and decided to crash at a nearby hotel before trying again the next morning. 
Day 135: 

We slept in till 9 or 10 and then headed to the bus stop. We grabbed some pastries to go and hopped on a bus to Cartagena. Within a few hours we stopped at the terminal and took a taxi to the northern part of town. We drove through a very industrial Caribbean city before reaching the historic section near the coast. We stayed inside the walled section of the city and after checking into our hostel we walked around town admiring the old buildings. We walked around some of the 15 or so kilometers of walls and watched the sunset. That night we took salsa lessons at the hostel but it was extremely hot outside. We made some new friends and went back out to find some food. We went to bed late.



Day 136:

The next morning we slept in and then ate breakfast in our hostel. After packing our bags we wandered the city a bit longer. That afternoon we took a bus to playa Blanca, a nice tourist filled beach only an hour away. We thought this beach was close to our hostel that night but our hostel was actually on another island. We enjoyed a massage on the beach and were happy to be on a Caribbean beach! We started to stress about making it to our hostel because a local boat driver wanted around $120 to take us. We ended up paying around $50 and had quite an adventure. Three local boys took us and our backpacks on their motorbikes down a road until it turned into a path along the beach. We struggled through the sand and stopped at a farmhouse for gas. Eventually we made it to the small town where we took a rowed boat across a channel to an apparently uninhabited island. The old man who rowed us walked down a trail through mangroves and cow pastures. Eventually we found a few buildings with a private beach. It was charming and the staff was very kind. There were maybe five other guests and five staff and we felt like kings. We ate wonderful fish for dinner and relaxed that night. We played volleyball with some Europeans and played a Colombian board game called Parque with the main hostel worker named Natalia, who was beautiful and fun. Spencer was quite smitten and we would have stayed another day had we not made reservations elsewhere already. At night there we lights scattered throughout the area and it looked like a fairy tale scene. 

Day 137:

We woke up early and took the paddle boards out for an early morning adventure. We saw starfish in the water below and had a good time. We ate breakfast and packed our things. We caught a boat to isla grande, another of the Rosario Islands, a group of at least twenty coral islands in the Caribbean. This boat ride cost only $2 a person, an awesome deal, but the driver did not know where our hostel was. Luckily it wasn’t too big of an island and after an hour of walking we met some locals who led us in the right direction. We had been close to walking to a side of the island with no connecting trail so we were saved. There was no road, only trails for motorbikes and foot traffic. We reached our hostel by 10 in the morning and rented some stand up paddle and snorkel equipment for free. It was windy and choppy so we weren’t able to paddle board very well. The hostel was one of six hostels in an old hotel compound. The hotel was built in the mid 80’s by a rich emerald dealers wife but abandoned for years. It was bought and repaired and features two pools, a bar, restaurant, private beach, and lagoons connecting to the backside of the property. Our host was a young guy from Medellín and we liked him a lot. We went to an awesome restaurant that serves fresh fish. We ate barracuda and enjoyed our view of the beach. We relaxed on the beach during the afternoon and ate at the onsite restaurant for dinner. We met some cool people and enjoyed our awesome location. We were exhausted by the time we went to bed. 
Day 138:

The next morning we borrowed two kayaks and paddled through three mangrove lakes and connecting channels that were just tunnels through thick mangroves. After the third lake we broke into the ocean and paddled back toward the hostel along the beach. It was an awesome experience. We returned for some more delicious fish at the beachside restaurant (and only restaurant on the island) for some awesome fish. That afternoon we relaxed and talked with new friends. That night we hung out around the pool and drank beer with some Coloradoans and some hostel workers. 
Day 139:

The next morning we ate breakfast and leisurely got ready to leave. Spencer was sunburnt so I took a kayak solo to an area with good snorkeling. I saw some cool stuff and then returned to the hostel. We packed up our bags and hopped on a boat with the Coloradoans and a few other guests. We were promised a direct trip but instead made multiple stops at the aquarium and then the beach. After a couple hours we finally finished the choppy ride back to Cartagena. We were hot and sunburnt and had to walk to an ATM and grocery store for much needed water. Then we took a taxi to a hostel and ate at the adjoined taco restaurant. We arranged for a bus to Santa Marta and an hour later we were picked up. We stopped by a beach and walked around while waiting for the bus to fill up. Then we all napped on the three hour bus ride to Santa Marta. We arrived at our hostel by 9 or 10 at night. Our hostel had an awesome bar on the top floor as well as a sports bar on the second floor. It was full of young travelers and had an awesome view. We showered and were ready to enjoy our awesome hostel. There was a DJ on the top floor and we partied until the sun came up. 
Day 140:

We slept in the next day before eating some great food from our hostel. Then we played some risk with a few new friends. I lost miserably but we had fun. It was already late afternoon by the time we finished playing and ate lunch. We made more friends around the hostel and didn’t leave the building all day. It was Saturday night and the party continued. People come from all over town to enjoy the rooftop bar and dancing and we felt special to be sleeping at the same place everyone wants to party. We ran into William from Holland who we met in Manaus and visited in Medellin. It was his birthday and we were happy to see him for a little while. Once again we stayed up talking with newly made friends until the sun came up. 
It was a really fun week full of beaches, beautiful views, and lots of new friends. Spencer helped us to be outgoing and have a fresh excitement for traveling. It was exhausting but we had a great time. 

Week 16: Manaus, Amazon Rainforest
Day 106: April 17th

We woke up to the sound of jungle birds singing and roosters crowing. After a nice breakfast we packed up our things. I went for a swim/bath in the river and we soon took our things and got back in our boat. The boat is essentially a large canoe, made by hand at the house I might add, with a small motor attached to a 4 foot pole and propeller. We took the boat through the Amazon River tributaries and small lakes until we found a quiet cove. We parked the boat and journeyed into the jungle. We wandered around the jungle a bit and Eduardo showed us cool things. We saw a walking tree that constantly grows new roots that protrude a couple feet from the ground. As the old roots for the tree moves in the direction of the growing new roots. In this way the tree can “walk” around the jungle. We found a babbasoo coconut tree and chopped open the coconuts to find firefly larva inside. These grubs are edible and contain so much protein you only need to eat four per day to survive. We all ate one and I found it disgusting but others didn’t mind the taste. We also found ants that when rubbed over the skin provide natural insect repellant. These ants bite however so I wouldn’t recommend this method. We found a tree around 6 feet wide that had fallen over and made camp next to it. We had no idea the intensity of the project we were beginning. We started by clearing out a 40 square foot area of all small trees and bushes with machetes. Some of the trees have a trunk lined with thorns so we had to use other branches as a broom as we had no gloves. We then proceeded to cut down two thick trees about 50 feet tall. We carried these back to the camp with a bit of difficulty as the jungle is quite thick and hard to maneuver in. Then we cut down six forked trees to use as supports. We used the large trees still in our campsite as supports and places the long beams against them. The forked trees were placed underneath and then we cut many vines out of trees to lash these three pieces together about 6 feet off the ground. Then we cut several more, I think around 16 in total, long trees to build the top of the frame in a more triangular shape. We made some mistakes and cut trees that weren’t quite the right size or shape and had to make adjustments on the fly. After four hours of work we were exhausted, blistered, bleeding, and starving. But the camp was not done yet so we continued until we put up a large tarp as a roof and hung our hammocks underneath. It was nearly dark by this time and we had run out of water. We took the boat to the nearest place to buy water, about 30 minutes away on the river. While on this trip we dropped some nets in the water. We grabbed some snacks and beer and a chicken before we took a quick swim next to the dock. Eduardo wouldn’t let us swim in the river at night because of the caimans and other threats. Finally we returned to our campsite after stopping on the way to collect our net and a few more fish. We started a fire in order to cook the fish, chicken, and some rice for dinner. I was so tired I laid down in my hammock and was instantly asleep. I woke up for dinner and as soon as we ate everyone was in their hammocks. 

Day 107: 

I woke up the next morning and had to go to the bathroom. I accidentally woke up Sarahi and noticed Eduardo was awake in his hammock as I grabbed some toilet paper and headed out of camp. After taking care of business I started walking back toward the camp but somehow missed it through the dense forest. I tried to retrace my steps but soon had the feeling I was completely lost. I heard some noise and assumed it was someone else taking care of business and walking back to camp. So I followed the noise but soon found a family of monkeys jumping noisily through the tree tops. At this point I realized I was really lost but I didn’t give up and headed toward the river. I found it eventually and expected it would help me have an idea of where to go. But after a few more minutes of wandering I decided I was hopelessly turned around. I was worried that everyone in camp was still sleeping but decided to yell helllooooo multiple times anyway. Eduardo replied with some strange animal call that I hoped was the camp and after a long game of Marco Polo in the forest I thankfully found the campsite again. We ate crackers and very grainy coffee for breakfast but we soon heard thunder. The rain approached quickly and we frantically cut down many palm branches to build a roof of sorts over our fire. We scrambled to find firewood as the rain began to pour. We relaxed in our waterproof shelter and collected rain water from the tarp to drink. Eventually the rain stopped and we walked to the river and hopped in our boat. We spent a little time putting up a net and then returned to the floating store to buy water and fishing hooks. We went for a swim and stopped to cut dry firewood from a half submerged tree. You know you’re in the rainforest when wood in the river is drier than in the forest. We returned to the net but only caught a few small fish so a few of us took the firewood back to camp while the others moved the net. We met at camp and ate some leftover rice for a late lunch. Eduardo made us fishing poles out of saplings while we chopped up many babbasoo coconuts and shaved off the edible section. Then we pounded the pieces into a fine powder to use as flour in a cake. It was almost dark when we returned to the water. We used leftover rancid chicken meat as bait and after dropping the baited hooks in the water the key is to splash in the water with the fishing pole. This simulates an animal thrashing around in the water and attracts the piranha. We all caught at least a small piranha except Hannah who caught a sardine. It was dark by now and the mosquitos came out in swarms. We went to check the net and found over 50 fish!! Unfortunately 40 of them were small piranha which we had to painfully take out the net the next day once they were dead. The other fish were mostly mapara, sort of like a catfish with no scales and great filets, but twice as delicious. We returned to camp and prepared the fish as well as some fresh rice. While the fish was cooking we built a table out of three triangle formation trees and split Palm branches. It looked nice and we were extra proud when we had a table full of fresh fish we had caught ourselves. It was without a doubt one of the best meals of my life. As soon as dinner was over everyone was instantly in bed. We heard a jaguar in the distance but soon I drowned it out with my snoring. 

Day 108: 

The next morning we ate a breakfast of crackers and coffee before packing up our camp. We packed everything back into the boat and headed back to the house from the first night. We met another backpacker from Australia and then took a jungle hike as a group. We walked to the spring where the house collects the water we had been drinking. Then we continued walking until we found a water vine. You can cut out a section and drink the water that drips out. It’s the best water I’ve ever tasted. We reached a pond where we found out we had to swim across. We were all wearing boots and dry clothes so we built a raft out of rotting wood and vines and put our belongings on top. Then we towed the raft while we swam across the pond. We returned to the house for a fantastic lunch and a swim in the lake in front of the house. Then we took the boat back to the road where we rode in a Volkswagen bus until we reached the main stretch of river. Here we took a boat back to Manaus and then a car back to the agency near our hostel. It was a fabulous time and we were sad to see it end. But we were so happy for a shower and clean dry clothes. After getting cleaned up we went out to dinner at a pizza buffet. It was delicious but I felt terrible for a couple days because it was such a shock to my system after eating mostly fish and rice for days. We went out to a bar afterwards but were all so tired we soon returned to the hostel and slept great. 

Day 109:

We were happy for a day to recuperate but liked eachother so much that the whole group changed their plans and stayed together for a couple more days. We took our dirty laundry and walked awhile across the city with Eduardo to his aunts house who agreed to wash our laundry cheaply. Then we stopped by a museum nearby. The group split up at this point and Sarahi and I relaxed at the hostel. We had a late lunch and set up a tour for the next day. That night we went with Eduardo William and Hannah to a beautiful beach on the banks of the rio negro. We swam for a little while and walked around the well developed beach area. We rode the bus back and soon went to bed. 
Day 110:

The next day we had breakfast at our hostel and then headed back to the tour agency. We were taken by two cars to the outskirts of the city to the house of the shaman. He was an older guy who did not speak English and was a little strange but nice. We had booked the tour to try ayahuasca, a Peruvian Indian medicine and ritual. The medicine is made from cooking together a vine and the leaves from another plant. The resulting tea looks like coffee but tastes much worse. The tea is believed to cleanse the drinker and provide clarity or revelations. It is also common to have visions and hallucinations. We spent the day relaxing, napping, and preparing for the tea drinking experience. Around six at night we drank the tea while sitting on a back porch covered by a tin roof. It began to rain and continued all night. After drinking the tea Sarahi was the first to throw up. This is a common part of the experience and is part of the cleansing process. I threw up as well but then laid down and had a good time. My mind was very active and I had some visions when my eyes were closed. I thought about a lot of things from my past and had some very random thoughts. Sarahi did not have much of a positive experience and felt sick most of the time. Iris was also sick much of the time. The rest of us enjoyed it although everyone threw up. Eduardo drank three cups and William had two. No one had life changing revelations but we did feel “cleansed the next day”. We all fell asleep by midnight on hammocks or mats laid on the floor. 

All in all it was one of the best weeks of the whole year. We really enjoyed our friends and had a great time in the jungle. 

Week 15: Amazon River, Manaus
Day 99: April 10th, 2016

I woke up feeling ok and without a fever. We asked the owner to stay another night and decided to go to alter do chão, a beach area in the middle of the Amazon! We took a bus about 45 minutes from the city (after waiting an hour for the bus) and arrived in a beautiful area dubbed the “Caribbean of the Amazon”. There were beautiful sandy beaches and plenty of restaurants serving drinks and fresh fish. We took a boat about 100 yards across to a thin sandy peninsula bordering a lake. There were no mosquitos and we swam in the water assuming there were no piranha. It was really beautiful and nice. After a few more hours of relaxation we headed to the bus stop. We found a very long line but managed to be the last people to squeeze into a very crowded bus. We had to stand most of the way back but were happy to return to our nice apartment rather than waiting an hour for the next bus. It was dark by the time we reached our apartment. We had planned to make some soup but when we went to the store we couldn’t find everything we needed and were tired. We ended up having ramen noodles with eggs inside which was still delicious!
Day 100:

Although we enjoyed Santarem and our apartment we decided to take a boat to Manaus. After another lunch of ramen, the apartment owner helped us and around 2 pm we went to buy tickets to Manaus. He then dropped us off with our things at the museum while we waited for our boat. We walked around the museum twice to kill time and then went to a grocery store. We took a taxi to the boat and luckily found a very helpful taxi driver. We could not find the boat to Manaus that day because it apparently didn’t exist. We had been sold fake tickets but luckily there were a few very kind people who helped us find another boat for the next day without having to spend more. We headed back to the apartment in hopes that it was available and it was. We told the story to the owner and checked back in. I took a long nap and woke up with a fever again. Sarahi took great care of me and we eventually walked to the pharmacy, grocery store, and pizza place. We returned to our apartment with our purchases and watched iron man 2 while eating pizza. I was soon fast asleep again. 
*Day 101:

Our boat left around 11 so we ended up leaving the apartment earlier to set up our hammocks and prepare for our long journey. Luke saw a family with blonde hair and blue eyes and guessed that they weren’t from Brazil. I was a little iffy but it turns out he was right! They were a family of 11 Americans traveling to a few places in South America before settling down in Brasilia to work at the embassy. We spent the next 2 days hanging out with some of the 9 kids.

*Day 102:

It was nice to be on a boat again since Luke was still trying to recover and we spent the day reading books, coloring, talking, listening to podcasts, playing cards, and catching bugs. The scenery was still beautiful to us and we saw a few different sides of the Amazon like a few cliffs, farms, and tiny communities of houses on stilts. We ended up going to bed early and slept pretty well because there were no bugs and it was actually kind of chilly so we got to use our sleeping bags to sleep warmly.
*Day 103:

Since this boat wasn’t shipping much cargo the trip went quickly and we arrived around 6 in the morning. We saw the sunrise, packed up, said goodbye to the family, and went on our way to the hostel. We couldn’t check in until 12 but we got to drop our bags off and they let us have breakfast there. After some food in our bellies, we visited a beautiful and well kept park until the museum of the Black River Palace was opened. We spent some time talking and looking at all the plants and the art and the descriptions of the Amazonian state before we wandered a little more around the city. We got some delicious fruit juice and watched the news before heading back towards the hostel. We visited the Teatro de Amazonas which is the oldest opera house in Brazil. The super nice and helpful guy at the desk apparently liked us and gave us discounted student tour tickets (R$10 each) and we waited until 11 for the English tour. The opera house was so beautiful!! I was obviously day dreaming and was imagining myself singing Phantom of the Opera on that beautiful stage. We got to see a rehearsal of a symphony and an opera singer for a few minutes which made me miss my high school band. We got to hear the history of the building which was very colorful and saw many closed parts of it. After that, we were told that we should try an Amazonian dish named Tacaca which is made from a plant that numbs your mouth. We tried it in a nearby restaurant and decided it was a good flavor, but not really for us. After all that, we headed back to the hostel. Pretty much right after we settled in, we met two guys named David from Australia and Willam from Holland. After a little introductory chat, Luke and I headed out to go grocery shopping since I was itching to get back into a kitchen. Weirdly, Brazilians don’t eat tortillas so I couldn’t make chicken enchiladas like I wanted to but ended up getting other groceries instead. When we returned, we hung out on the terrace, drank a few beers, and met a few other people at the hostel. That night after an adequate stuffed chicken and rice meal, we ended up going to a local bar, Caldeira, and hung out until bedtime. We slept in an air conditioned room with 10 beds.

*Day 104:

The next morning, a few of us had breakfast together and started talking about the idea of going on a tour. One of our new friends, Hannah, had already done some research and was looking for a group of people to lower the cost. After a little discussion, a girl came up to ask if we had gone on a tour and Willam invited her to join the table’s discussion; her name was Iris. We figured out we all roughly wanted the same thing and decided to research together. We decided to meet up at 11 to go to an agency, Amazon Backpackers. Turns out, it sounded exactly like what we all wanted to do which was a non-touristy Amazon jungle experience. The agency offered us a 4 day, 3 night jungle experience where we would stay one night with a local family and the other 2 nights in the jungle with food, transportation, and a guide included. The area was only used by this specific agency so it wasn’t overrun by loads of people. The price we ended up paying was R$720 per person after a discussion and group consensus after lunch. There were 5 of us for this trip including myself, Luke, Hannah from England, Iris from France, and Willam from Holland. That night, I ended up making stuffed peppers and rice (which turned out bomb if I may say so myself). We wanted to go see a show at the opera house and since we scheduled our tour for the next morning, our only chance was that night. I told everyone that we were going to see a show and that I saw a band and an opera singer rehearsing for what I thought was that night’s show. Thanks to Willam, we all got student tickets for R$30 and went inside. Boy was I wrong! It turns out the show was this older man, Zezinho Correa, singing old songs from the “King”, Roberto Carlos. At first, we all looked at each other and started laughing in disbelief, but after a while, the crowd started singing with him and we all actually started appreciating the music. It was super romantic and a great show! The group made it even better since we could all look at each other in disbelief of this singer who was apparently a well loved artist in the region. After the show, we all went back to the hostel and hung out before getting ready for the Amazon adventure of a lifetime. 

*Day 105:

We all got up and had breakfast together then went to the agency. Our first stop was the Meeting of the Waters. It was even better than I thought it would be! Our guide, Eduardo, explained why the waters are separated. Turns out the Rio Negro has a higher acidity, is warmer, and it flows faster than the Solimoes. The contrast of the colors was striking. He made us put our hands in the water as we passed it and you could really tell the temperature change as well! After a few more hours of traveling, we get to our host home and have this amazing lunch and swam in the river. There was already another group with two French brothers, a girl from Sweden, and a girl from Germany there so we ended up hanging out with them until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. We left then to go fishing for our dinner. After finding a good fishing spot, Eduardo taught us how to lay out the net to catch fish. One thing I absolutely loved about our group is that there were no lazy people. We all put in effort and really wanted to delve into the experience together. After setting up the net, we spent some time swimming in the river (sounds crazy right?) and we all watched a gorgeous sunset together. It was an unforgettable experience. Later, we checked the nets and ended up catching about 6 or 7 fish and a few piranhas. After taking the fish, Eduardo took us on a night tour of the river. We saw how to look for sleeping fish to spear, how to search for caimans with a headlamp, and how to catch them. He actually ended up getting into the water, caught a small caiman, and explained a few details of it. For example, they don’t have a tongue and their sides are the only parts used for leather. Also, if you catch their eyes glowing at night, you can tell what size a caiman is by the color of the reflection. Orange is a smaller one, red is a huge one. He put a string around the mouth and let us all hold it and take a picture and then he put it to sleep! He told us that he only catches smaller ones and showed us a scar around his wrist from a bigger caiman that bit him. We ended up visiting a small convenient store on the river and ate snacks before heading back to the house. It was a beautiful, starry boat ride back. Luckily dinner was already made because we were starving so we saved the fish for lunch the next day. After another delicious dinner, we all hung out and went to bed in some hammocks on the first floor of a house with no walls, just a roof.