Parque Tayrona, and Villa de Leyva - Columbia

Parque Tayrona is a national park at the north point of Columbia, encompassing ocean and land. After scuba diving in one small area, we set off to spend a couple of nights in the national park which is accessed via 2 local buses and a near 2 hour hike to the campsite after paying the park fees. Dealing with intense humidity and an outraegous amount of Deet to protect from mosquitoes and midgie bites, plus the added bonus of carrying kilos of water and supplies, we were hoping this would be worthy adenture. It proceeded to surpass our expectations.

The jungle trails were home to scores of big blue crabs on the route in, and we saw a huge yellowish green snake scramble across the forest floor in front of us. Reaching the coast, palm trees towered all around and the deep bays were accompanied with massive boulders making the scene beautifully picturesque. It really was like stepping on the set off a film clip, something like Castaway with Tom Hanks maybe but with more class.

The days were spent tanning and drinking rum with our lovely Irish amiga Jules who we´ve travelled with for the last few weeks. We slept in hammocks in an open cabana perched on the top of a hill, looking straight out to the ocean and feeling the wind blow us to sleep. The seas were quite rough on the second night and it was a little cold but damp with so much humidity. Probably not the kind of bed you would want for more than a couple of nights, but a cool experience.

Trudging back to civilasation, Jeb and i needed to make our way south as our trip is nearing an end and we apparently have flights to catch. Reality check?!! But no stress yet, we hit the highway in another overnight bus (or 3 actually), and eventually made it to the sweepìng countryside and colonial town of Villa De Leyva. We stayed in a great guesthouse with backyards and fireplaces and more hammocks, and enjoyed the peacfulness. Yesterday we took bikes out for the day and explored the region including the El Fossil which is a reasonably complete fossil of a 120 million year old marine reptile called the Kronosaurus. Next we visited the Muisa Observatory (El Infiernito) which dates from the early centuries and is series of phallic looking structures (actually to be clear, they were simply big stone penises, no confusion there). There are 30 or so of them, spread out around the park about 9m apart, and were used by the indigeous people to tell the seasons. Cruising along on our bikes, we passed a cool Terracotta house, but with a huge storm beginning to drop down on us, we hightailed it back to town only to get caught in the downpour. We got soaked to the bone, but thankfully managed to dry off by the fireplace all night. A remarkable feat itself seeing the wood was soaked, but that has never stopped Jeb before. With many beers for a new friend in the hostels birthday and a late start this morning, we unfortunately didnt get to fully explore the architecture and cobbletsone quaintness that this place has to offer. 4 hours on the bus today and a broken down taxi, puts us in Bogota right now, the capital of Columbia and our last destination in this country before a flight to Chile in 4 days time.

Cuenca and Banos - Ecuador

Cuenca is the 3rd largest city in Ecuador, and whilst we have preferred to spend time in smaller towns, this really was a nice city to visit. But at our cracking pace, we only had one day and night so we set out exploring the cobblestone streets and white buildings of this charming tidy city. We walked along the river and had a great Middle Eastern meal (how very un-Sth American!), before taking another night bus to the town of Banos. With a bus change at 4am in the morning, and arriving about 6am, we were a little spaced out and went to sleep before tackling this town of adventure.


Banos is at the foot of an active volcano and a waterfall that is visible throughout the whole town. The word Banos means baths (some people may remember this from our toilet sign at home!) and at the base of the waterfall there are thermal baths. Unintentionally arriving on a weekend and also Mothers Day, the town was really busy and we subsequently avoided the very crowded baths. Instead, we rented bikes and set of for a full day of biking (67km) on the spectacular road to Puyo that leads into the gateway of the upper Amazon Basin. Accompanied by endless buses and Chevrolet trucks filled with extended families enjoying the Sunday ride, we passed by many waterfalls, cable cars and through pitch black tunnels on this highway ride. Which i must say, is not all downhill as claimed...for the record, there are alot of flat parts and uphill too! Add to this, the hardest seats you have ever sat on...ouch! But the sore bum was very worth it as we passed through local communities selling the freshest of fruits and sugarcane, and outdoors resturants selling bbq corn on the cob with cheese (a common food here) whilst watching the Amazon river tributaries meet and bulge at the Rio Negro (Black River). And dont forget folks, its the tropics and to complete the day, we got absolutely drenched in an Amazonian downpour with only 5km left to our destination! Cerveza (beer) well deserved, we boarded the next bus back to Banos with our bikes underneath, and slept well that night.

But this town is ¨Full Action¨...or so we were told by our hostel/tour operator. And so 9am the next morning we were getting kitted up with wetsuits, harnesses, helmets etc and off we went for a half day of canoning down 5 waterfalls. The base of the waterfall was in a fruit orchid and the setting was serene and dense and hidden. Abseiling down waterfalls and also sliding down some parts like a rough slippery dip was great fun, really enjoyable day. But its FULL ACTION folks, so next up was Swing Jumping...similar to bungee but with a big circular swing motion afterwards. Having bungee jumped once in my life, i did not feel the need to do it again, so Jeb was on his own here. The bridge is a regular bridge with cars that drive along it and no permanent jump set up. Within minutes, there were all the necessary ropes and cords and harnesses and jump platforms. At a height of 80 metres and a flowing river below, Jeb had the look of excitement in his eyes and did not hesitate at the countdown. Pure adrenalin, he loved it.

All actioned out, we left Banos for Quito, the capital of Ecuador which is where we are now. We were originally flying out of Quito to Santiago, Chile and from there, fly back to Sydney. However on our travels, we have met so many people people who have told us how awesome Columbia is and also how safe it is now. So we have adjusted things and are no longer flying out of Quito, and instead Bogota on the 15th June. More on Quito and Ecuador later...im hogging the hostel computer.

La Paz, Bolivia

Well...we hit La Paz on Monday morning and began expolring this big, notorious city. Being a capital, La Paz has a commerical and business feel to it with suits and modern attire, mixed in still with the tradiotional skirts and hats of the women {albiet with more ruffles, lace and finer textures}. At an altitude of 3660m, it quite warm during the day and cold at night. The city is nestled between mountains and the centre sits snug in the middle so theres hills to walk to get anywhere.

The witches market is a fascinating strip where you can purchase anything from llama fetuses, herbs, potions, tiger skins...plus your regular Sth American offerings of woven goods and food and drinks. There is no excuse for having un-shined shoes here in La Paz with shoe shine boys on every corner. They wear woollen balaclavas and are quite an intimidating vision at first, but the reason for this is firstly due to the toxicity of the polish, and secondly because it is considered a lowly job and the balaclavas help with anonymity and allow them to be more forward (¨really no, we do not need our dirty suede hiking boots polished thanks!¨)

Our timing was particular good for arriving in La Paz, as Bolivia was playing Argentina in the World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. So we scored some tickets and went along. Due to the altitude and a supposed disadvantage to the visiting team, games are not often played here. But Argentina and Maradona thought they would give it a go anyway. Sold out stadium, awesome seats for 25 aussie dollars and wait for it...Bolivia won 6-1 !! Unheard of, and a historic moment for this country (espceially against one of the best teams in the world) and such an exicting game to be at.

A funny thing about the game was that you can buy tickets to it at a chicken shop in the middle of the city!! Chicken is big over here, and only in Bolivia can you buy tix to the world cup qualifier at the local chicken shop!! We have had several funny restuarant experiences including a stella visit to a Morroccan restuarnt but it doesnt translate in words.

We have not yet made it inside San Pedro jail {aka Marching Powder book for those who have read it}, however we have watched the prisoners being escorted in from the plaza in front. There are police guards around the place, but there are police with riot gear everywhere in Bolivia so this does little to signify that it´s a prison (we apparently missed a riot of some sort by 5 minutes the day of the futbol). The strange thing is that San Pedro is in the very centre of the city, as opposed to the outskirts like you would expect.

As well as a very visible police presence, Bolivia is filled with political messages painted on walls and highways. Messages of new consitutions and pro-Evo (the president) colour the country. Evo is well liked here, and partly for his yes-stance on coca. The chewin of coca in Bolivia is huge and deeply rooted in their traditions for everything. It dates back 2500 BC to pre Inca times (knowledge we acquired in the Coca Musuem). Despite being used in medicine (nowadays synathectic novacaine is used) and of course Coca Cola, coca leaves help the body to take in more oxygen and are therefore a key factor in the lives pf people who live at high altitude.

At the moment, we are in Corioco which is a beautiful town, again surrounded by mountains, but here it is lush and hot and humid. Condors circle the area, flying gracefully on the thermals. We have enjoyed the pool and the sushine today after a very adventuous day yesterday where we rode bikes down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road (or ´Death Road´ if you prefer the short version). Its 64 km, mostly downhill with cliff drop offs 600+ metres. At times the road is really narrow {although, we were expecting it to be worse}. These days, there are little vehicles on this road so not as dangerous as previously where many people have died every year (crosses regularly mark the road). It was fantastic and a real adrenalin thrill to be gunning it down gravel roads through rainforest and waterfalls and sketchy trails. Lots of fun.