La Piedra Wow – the view from the top of La Piedra de Peñol, just outside of Guatapé – is just wow. Just as is claimed on the sign on the way up to the ‘rock’, this is probably one of the most beautiful views that I’ve ever seen. . We went to Guatapé to climb La Piedra and to visit the town on a day out from where we were staying in nearby Medellín. We’d heard good things about the area, but…
James and I with some of our English students In Medellín, we spent a few weeks volunteering with the Angeles de Medellín, teaching English, playing with the local children and distributing much needed clothes, food and household goods. The charity operates up in one of the mountains in Medellín in the small barrio of Regalo de Dios (which, perhaps ironically, translates as gift from God). Up here, life is quite different from the city. The people have very little and very…
This sign, which translates as “Don’t take viagra, drink goat’s milk”, was on a wall in the small town of Guane, just outside of San Gil in Colombia. There were several shops in the town, selling goat’s milk, but this one shop in particular had chosen a unique way to extol the properties of their product. They didn’t appear to have any peer reviewed research to back up their claims, but who are we to question a painted wooden sign on a…
The pretty town of Barichara is just a 40 minute bus ride outside of San Gil. We jumped on a bus from the local bus station on thecorner of Carrera 11 and Calle 15 near the market in San Gil – they run every 30 minutes or so. In Barichara, the bus goes right into the main plaza – it’ll be pretty obvious once you’re there. The plaza is flanked by an impressive red-brown stone church. The whole town is…
San Gil in the Santander region is about 6 or 7 hours north of Bogotá. It’s Colombia’s centre for outdoor sports, from caving to bungee jumping, down hill mountain biking to white water rafting. Rapids! We opted for a day on the river, as I had never been white water rafting before. Despite my lack of experience, I was persuaded that the class 5 rapids on the Rio Suarez were doable (and more fun that the tamer option on offer). …
About 30 miles outside of Cartagena lies the Volcan de Totumbo, where you can bathe in a mud pool inside the crater of a small volcano, while getting yourself a massage. We were intrigued. On arrival at the volcano, we were a little surprised at what it looked like. We’d expected it to be much larger and to look more like a volcano, rather thana dirt mound! After getting changed, we walked up the steps up the side of the…
I may have been able to seek out more vegetarian options in Argentina, if James hadn’t been on an ongoing mission to find the best steak in the world. Luckily, because of the Italian influence on Argentinian cuisine, pretty much every restaurant in Argentina (including the steak houses) do serve meat-free pasta dishes. However, generally these options are either pasta with a nice (but not especially inspiring) tomato sauce or pasta with a good (but again not particularly varied) cheese…
Sunset in Tayrona The Tayrona National Park is beautiful mix of dense jungle and pristine white beaches, bordering the clear waters of the Caribbean sea in north east Colombia. Unfortunately for us (and the trees), there had been very little rainfall in the months leading up to our visit, meaning that the park wasn’t quite as verdant as it usually is. Yet, it was still more than stunning, and a great place to relax, sunbathe and soak in the sea. Blue seas of the…
In parts of Colombia – we particularly noticed them in Cartagena and in Barichara near San Gil – some of the door knockers in the central part of town are really quite elaborate. On a walking tour with Kristy from Cartagena Connections, we learnt that (originally at least) the shape of the knocker could tell you something about the house’s occupants. For example, lizards – which are particularly frequent – are symbols of the aristocracy, as the animal is associated with…
The famous clock tower entrance into the old town We visited the beautiful colonial city of Cartagena de Indias twice during our time in Colombia. The main reason for our second visit was to catch a sailboat out of South America to Panama on our way home, but we were also pleased to get more time in the town. On both visits, we enjoyed wandering the colourful streets, eating and drinking, ‘walling’and shopping. Here are some of our highlights.The Spanish…