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Acatenango

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The Acatenango hike involves a 6ish hour uphill hike up Acatenango Volcano where you pitch a tent and watch the neighbouring Fuego Volcano erupt. The next morning you watch the sunrise from the crater edge. We first heard about this hike from the owner of our Airbnb in Playa Maderas, Nicargua. She said it was the hardest thing she’s ever done but so worth it. After looking up countless reviews and talking to people along the way, that sentiment was pretty much universal. Our fitness isn’t the best but the promise of an erupting volcano was too much to pass up. Plus, we decided to hire porters for our bags…

The night before our hike we met with our group. We decided to go with O.X Expeditions as they had fantastic reviews and their price was pretty mid range. You can do this alone but it really isn’t recommended as the weather can turn crazy and you need to be very prepared. Also, they have had instances of people being robbed on the walk. Weird.

Anyway, we met with our group and it turned out there were 18 of us! We were a bit gutted about this as it meant we would prob be moving slower, but oh well. While we were getting briefed, the volcano erupted behind us and got everyone pretty excited.

The next morning we met at the office around 6am, had brekky and were at the start of the walk by 9. (An hour behind schedule). In the end about half the people used porters. The guides use the first 20 minutes as a test and after that a few more people elected for a porter. We ended up splitting into a fast group and a slower group which was great and meant no one was pressured to push themselves too much.

I had read a lot of reviews and all stressed how insanely difficult this hike was. Anyone who knows me knows I often let my pride get in the way of commonsense, but this time I decided I wanted to enjoy the hike and not just struggle, sweat, and swear my way through it. In hindsight it wasn’t that difficult and we probably could have done it with our packs, (Scott did on the way down), but I don’t regret my decision as it made the hike enjoyable from start to finish.

On our way up we met a few people coming down who told us, and I quote ‘It was shit, didn’t see anything’, and ‘You’re going to die.’ Hey, thanks guys. But after 5 hours of uphill going through three terrains; farmland, cloud forest, and pine/alpine forest, we finally made it to Base Camp. Our guides set up our tents and Scott and I paired up with a nice Canadian couple for the night ahead. We had really shitty weather all day and couldn’t see a thing in any direction, despite the fact the views were supposed to be amazing. We spent the next few hours huddling from the rain and freezing cold wind, trying (and failing) to convince ourselves it was about the journey not just the view. Then, around 5pm, when I was in the foetal position in our tent inside two sleeping bags wearing a beanie, gloves and 6 layers of clothes (no exaggeration) I heard people screaming (literally) FUEGO!!

I scrambled out of the tent and there she was. So freaking close it was crazy to think what was just behind those clouds only a few minutes earlier. From that moment it just got clearer and clearer and slowly Guatemala began to show itself. We could see three volcanoes, two of which were spewing lava. The lights of Antigua and Guatemala City sparkled in the distance as the sunset threw an insane pastel palette across the sky. We spent the night around our campfire enjoying a pasta dinner and red wine, watching lava soar into the sky and roll down the side of Fuego. So surreal.

That nights sleep wasn’t great as it was absolutely freezing and the altitude (about 4000m) made everyone restless. The girl in our tent actually got quite bad altitude sickness and vomited a few times which wasn’t great. It didn’t really matter though as we were ‘woken’ by the guides at 3.30am to begin our final ascent to the very top of the crater. It was probably the hardest part of the journey as most of the ground was scree…and it was 3.30am, but when we got to the top – holy moly. The view was insane with Fuego to our right still erupting against the growing sunrise over Guatemala. A truly unforgettable experience. I could have stayed forever if my fingers weren’t completely numb – the windchill up there was apparently below 0.

We ventured back down to a breakfast of banana bread with nutella and coffee around the fire, all of us repeatedly saying how unbelievable the last 24 hours had been. We packed up the tents, did our last nature -wees, and began the descent.

I always find down harder than up (my 28 year-old knees aren’t what they used to be), but it was all over in about 2 hours and we were greeted at our van by a chillybin full of beers which we all cheersed to a once in a lifetime experience.

If you are ever in Antigua, you have to do this. If you aren’t feeling fit, get a porter, it doesn’t matter just get up there. Obviously if you book a while out you can’t guarantee the weather, and like those people who were coming down as we were going up experienced, sometimes it is a complete fail. So if you can leave yourself some options, then do. Spending a night on the side of one volcano while watching another one erupt, with the twinkling lights of Guatemala below you and the occasional thunder-like boom of an eruption is kind of priceless. It is such a unique experience and I highly recommend letting O.X be the ones to take you. They were professional, friendly, and fun. Take lots of warm stuff.

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Little Corn Island

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This was a spot recommended to us by Scott’s cousin, Rob. Thanks Rob. Little Corn is an island off the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and it was exactly what we wanted. We flew in a VERY small plane from Managua to Big Corn Island and then caught a Panga (small boat thingy) to Little Corn Island or Islita as the locals call it. It was wee bit of a wait to get that Panga as they only go twice a day but we got there. (unfortunately this is more than can be said for a boatload of tourists in January; their boat capsized and 13 people died. Since then, the Coast guard is much more strict, on when the Pangas can actually travel, weather-wise.) Anyway, we got there.

We stayed in the South end of the island that night at a place called The Lobster Inn which is touted as being the best value for money on the island – 20USD for a private double, sea-facing room with its own bathroom. Pretty good. The thing is, when it’s low season, like it is now, you can get great deals everywhere. The Lobster Inn was just what we needed though, and that night we had a few rums on the beach and a delicious Yellow-tail fish dinner.

The next morning we walked the 25 minutes to the North end of the Island to Ensuenos. Ensuenos is a group of little shacks on the beach, built from whatever has been washed up on shore. The result is a quirky, artistic, simple, ramshackle place that we loved. My favourite part was the bathroom; created out of rock, crushed coloured glass, thick old rope and washed-up wine bottles, it was so beautiful. Also, there is no feeling like showering in fresh water completely naked in the middle of nowhere on an island in the middle of the sea, with exotic birds and God knows what else waking up around you. Once again we had a small room for $20USD and spent the day sunbathing, reading, swimming, and drinking rum and cokes on what felt like our own private beach – literally two other people walked past us the whole time. On the North side of the island there are no stores, no roads, no nothing, so dinner is quite expensive. We balked a wee bit at the $18USD dinner at Ensuenos (it was, after all, pretty much the price of our room) but when we walked into the main shack and found a private candle-lit dinner for two, we couldn’t argue. There is no menu, they just ask if you can’t eat anything and then cook you what seafood they caught that day. We had an amazing three-course meal of seafood pasta, the biggest fish steak I’ve ever seen with crispy potatoes and fresh salad, and a caramel pie thing for dessert. All eaten by candlelight with the growing tropical winds outside howling around us. Dinner was at 6.30pm and because Ensuneos has no electricity in the shacks, we were in bed by 8pm. I had probably the worst night’s sleep I have had the whole time – partly due to the heat of the room, partly due to the maybe-too-many-rums, but once the sun came up I got up, walked the 5m to the crystal clear Caribbean water and had an amazing solo dawn swim. Instantly, all the fidgeting, frustration, and sweating of the night before evaporated. Scott woke, we had an unexpectedly epic private 3-course breakfast of fresh fruit salad, freshly baked bread with homemade jam, an omelette, delicious coffee and freshly squeezed juice and spent the morning chilling on the beach before walking 500 metres down the beach to Derek’s Place, an accommodation I had found on my wanderings the day earlier, and fell in love with. Ensuenos was awesome but I got a little paranoid about creepy crawlies…

Derek’s Place

We got to our beautiful beachfront shack thingy at Derek’s, negotiated a low season price, and spent the day chilling on our little deck and swimming in the sun. These rooms are so amazing. Made of strong beautiful wood, coloured wine bottles, exotic textiles, and everything exactly where you need it. Derek’s also has their own little – and I mean little – Dive shop, so we organised to go for a night dive with them (this took the price of our room down another $15USD). It was just me, Scott, the dive master, and Derek as the stand-in ‘captain’. We went out around 5.30pm and sat out in the water watching the sunset before jumping in. The dive was awesome. I am still not overly keen on night dives, but the sensation of being suspended in mid-air with nothing but your fellow diver’s flashlights guiding the way, is something pretty special. Also, the warm water definitely helped! By torchlight we saw a turtle swimming around – so epic. I slowly swam towards it and stroked its shell. With everything around us in darkness it felt like just me and him (or her) there and it was an amazing moment. We also saw quite a few fish including a massive pufferfish, but then, the highlight; we knelt on the sandy floor, pushed our torches to our stomachs to eliminate the light, and within seconds all around us was illuminated by bio luminescent plankton. It was insane. Imagine; surrounded by black, all you can hear is your own breath going in, and out, and all you can see is little strings of glowing pearls. But they are alive. They separate when you wave a hand through them, and then re-group. It was so amazing. Literally in a full circle around us, these tiny firefly’s of the sea, underwater stars, were glowing, creating what felt to me like the original and best ever art installation. After 45 minutes we surfaced in pitch black, rough seas, and the best Milky Way I have seen in a long time. I couldn’t help but compare these constellations to the very ones we’d just seen 12 metres deep. We hopped back on the boat and came back to shore. Night dives still make me nervous, but in that moment I felt so freaking alive. And I’m pretty sure that’s what living should feel like. We showered in yet another beautiful outdoor shower (read: bucket of water) and had a delicious dinner of seafood curry with coconut rice, wood fired bread, and iced tea. We retreated to our amazing room we still couldn’t quite believe was ours and had an amazing sleep, with the voracious tropical rain intermittently beating down on our thatched roof. So good.

We woke at 7am the next day (a serious sleep in for us) had actually the best breakfast I have had this whole trip of homemade granola, honey ‘from out the back’, natural yoghurt and fruit, and walked down the beach to find our own little private bit. After hours of our own beach, swimming pretty much naked and reading, we were hungry. Doing absolutely nothing does that to you. We walked down the beach and got fish tacos, beers, and coconut potato croquettes, and once again went swimming. The rest of the day was spent reading, drawing, writing, drinking rums, and marvelling at how lucky we were.

However, the next day when we tried to go back to Big Corn for our flight, we found out there were no boats going due to the weather. This was quite the spanner as we had a flight that afternoon and a bus to Guatemala first thing the next morning. We spent the day wondering what to do and exploring every possible option. One of the fisherman came up to us offering a ride in his boat which was literally a dinghy with a motor, which, though we reeeaaalllyyyy wanted to get back, we also rreeeaaallllyyy wanted to survive the journey. We politely declined the offer and went back to a different accommodation called Elsa’s Place and spent the night listening to an insane storm that pounded our little beachfront shack to the point where we got little splatters of rain on us…while in bed. The next day we headed back to the port and waited with about 40 other tourists who had been stuck from the previous day. The weather was still too rough to get a panga so we all got on a fishing boat and had an extremely rocky journey back to Big Corn. We then literally raced in taxis to the airport to try and get on the next flight out. Luckily, instead of their usual 12-seater, they sent their big 40-seater and we all got on 🙂 All in all, we were only a day behind schedule and luckily the transfers for both the plane and bus were mellow. If you are going to Little Corn though, maybe be on the safe side and go back to Big Corn a day earlier.

Ometepe and Masaya Volcano

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Ometepe

From Playa Maderas we went back into San Juan Del Sur and caught a bus, a taxi, and a ferry to Ometepe Island. Ometepe Island is made up of two volcanoes and is located in Lake Nicaragua. We stayed here for two nights at a great place called El Bosque which was run by a Brit called Ben who had been living on Ometepe for 15 years. The guesthouse was built by Ben and few locals and it has three double rooms with a beautiful big shared kitchen/lounge/bar area. Once again, we were the only ones there so we had the place to ourselves for $25USD a night. We spent the one full day we had riding round the island on bikes, visiting seriously beautiful natural springs, and eating. Ben also owns a restaurant called Cafe Campestre which is so delicious. Most of the ingredients are sourced from his farm and him and his team bake fresh bread daily. Because the accommodation and the cafe have the same owners, you can order dinner from there – yay.

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Masaya Volcano

After Ometepe we headed to Granada on a ferry and two chicken buses. We weren’t overly fussed on Granada. The Lonely Planet really talks it up but I think maybe because we have seen much more beautiful colonial style towns already, and because it felt quite dangerous, it was kinda average. However, our visit there did involve one of the highlights of our whole trip; Masaya Volcano. For USD$22 each we were taken up this newly opened volcano. I knew we were going to see lava but I don’t think it quite registered until I saw the orange-tinged clouds of smoke on the way up. When we approached the edge of the crater and looked down, I was left truly speechless. For the next 15 minutes (that’s all you get until the next group comes) I was entranced by a massive crater filled with waves of roaring, fiery, crashing lava. The way it would explode up made it look like glow-in-the-dark paint as it held its colour against the dark rock. It was so surreal. I thought of Aladdin, and fairy tales, and even documentaries, where you nod along with the image of lava, accepting that it’s a thing, not thinking too much about it, but not realising how amazing it is. All the time, underneath us, this stuff is beautifully and powerfully surging away. Much like getting lost in an insanely clear starry night and wanting to know everything there is to possibly to know about Space, I felt in that moment that I wanted to learn everything there is to know about the Earth, right down to the core. We were told when the Spanish first came to Granada and saw the volcano they thought it was molten gold as this area was known for it. When that opinion was dispelled and a priest came to visit, they thought it was the gate to hell. Looking down at this frighteningly powerful, completely unforgiving thing, I could believe it. That priest erected a massive cross at the rim of the crater and this, with the deep red, spiralling clouds of smoke behind it created an unforgettably dramatic scene. As you can tell, I loved it. Didn’t want to leave. Actually yelled out ‘No!’when our driver said time to go. It made me want to travel the world looking for lava. Next stop Hawaii, I guess.

*No photo would ever do it justice, but here’s one anyway.

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San Juan del Sur

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From La Fortuna we took a five hour bus to the Nicaraguan border. This was the worst bus we have had so far – literally just an old school bus with rock hard seats and extremely minimal leg room (even for me). The border was rather confusing. Women were yelling at us to go pay some departure tax but no one was in any sort of official clothing so you are constantly in doubt if you’re being scammed. We weren’t however, and after a very frustrating process we were walking across a bridge to Nicaragua. We jumped on a bus and finally got to San Juan Del Sur. SJDS as the locals call it, is a very touristy beach side town that has become a sort of must-do for travellers in Nicaragua. I wasn’t a massive fan though; the beach isn’t that great and like I said, there are just heaps of tourists there.

We had a yummy lunch at a place called Barrio Cafe and emailed our hostel to come and pick us up. We had chosen Porta Do Sol, which was a hostel about 5 minutes drive from the centre of SJDS and they provide free shuttles at anytime. The price of the private double rooms rivalled the dorms in SJDS, it was quiet, and it was a little closer to other beaches we wanted to explore. The service at Porta Do Sol was fantastic. They only just opened and were clearly eager to please, giving us an immediate upgrade. Which wasn’t so surprising…seeing as we were the only ones there. The main weird thing was that everyday we were there all the staff had their families there; kids playing in the pool, parents drinking on the poolside tables. It made us feel like we were the ones who shouldn’t be there and was really unprofessional, I thought. After talking to some people from other hostels this appeared to be something a lot of hostel operators did. hmmm. Though maybe when there are more than just two people, it doesn’t matter quite so much.

On the day we arrived, the lovely woman in charge excitedly told us about a ‘Fire and Ice’ party they were having at the hostel the next day. The tacky name alone was enough to get those warning bells going. (Sorry, but come on.) Plus, judging by the staff and the fact that the rest of the place was completely dead, we anticipated a very awkward affair – and we weren’t wrong. We came back from the beach to find music literally louder than most concerts I have been to blaring out towards a completely empty pool. There were massive chilly bins of Smirnoff, TWO TVs showing Smirnoff advertising (so weird), a slip and slide which was a piece of tarpaulin on the TILES around the pool, about seven staff…and no people. Not one. This is 3 hours after the advertised kick-off time. Scott and I pretty much ran to our room and didn’t know what the hell to do. We decided to go out and have one drink. We had a beer and a Gin and Soda (I said vodka soda but they must have just been too busy to hear me…) and watched in awkward sadness as the lovely boss looked at her failed party so dejectedly it made me want to hug her. And then, the unexpected happened. A truck turned up and out came about 10 Aussies and a drunken Kiwi. After them followed another truck with another 8 people. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Scott and I had a few more drinks. I felt very 28, as my main concern was all the glass by the pool and that someone was 100% going to die on that slip and slide – (we later learnt one of the guys chipped his tooth off). We then escaped into town. Fair to say the weirdest party yet.

I’m not entirely sure if I would recommend Porta Do Sol to someone looking to meet people or party. They’ve got all the ingredients but still haven’t sorted out how to get it right yet. But, if you want a really well priced, (mostly) chill place with a really good pool – it’s a goodie.

We stayed here for three nights and our days in SJDS consisted of spending a day at Hermosa Beach (not that amazing but nice to be away from the crowds), strolling the little shops in SJDS, and chilling at our hostel. We also took part in Sunday Funday. It takes place…on a Sunday… and you pay USD$30 to get entry and drinks specials at three of the best hostels in town. Quite expensive for what it was. Luckily Scott and I met a lovely South African couple right at the beginning so we had some friends. The day was exactly what you imagine, lot of tourists dancing, drinking, pashing in pools. We met a guy from Torbay and one who went to Westlake which was funny. And the day ended at the Naked Tiger Hostel which had a BBQ going and beautiful views of the sunsetting over SJDS. People were telling us how massive our day/night was going to be, but we peaked around 6pm and were in bed with some tacos by 9pm, and bright-eyed and bushy tailed the next day. Go us.

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The next morning we took a short ride to Playa Maderas, a really cool beach about 25 minutes north of SJDS. We were booked into a relatively new place called Seven Arrows. There weren’t a lot of reviews but the ones they had were good so we gave it a go. After an extremely sweaty uphill walk, we reached the accommodation and promptly had our breaths taken away. The view from Seven Arrows is insane; completely unobstructed and absolutely stunning. The house itself is awesome with massive open spaces, styly spacious rooms, comfy beds, hammocks everywhere…and the view!!! The location is also great as it allows for a lot of wind to cool the whole place down. Once again we had the whole place to ourselves. The beach was a short (but creepy crawly) walk through the jungle, and I spent the day-and-a-half we had here drinking freshly squeezed pineapple juice and reading while watching Scott catch some waves. #greenroom. We spent the late afternoons back at Seven Arrows napping, drinking beers, reading, and generally just marvelling at the view. On our first night we had tacos and a burger down at the beach and on the second night we ventured to Hotel Hulakai for their $1 Taco Tuesday night.Seven Arrows was amazing, albeit a little pricey. If you come, make sure you get lots of supplies from the supermarkets in SJDS first because they don’t do lunch or dinner and any restaurant is a walk away. But yes, definitely recommended.

 

La Fortuna

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From Medellin we took two flights and a bus to La Fortuna – a little touristy town in Costa Rica. We had never really planned to spend long in CR as I was lucky enough to go a few years ago for my cousin’s wedding and it is also very expensive. We were staying at the Arenal Backpacker Resort which was a really cool hostel with a great pool and good dorm rooms. The first afternoon we got there we just chilled and swam, had a good veggie dinner in town, and booked our tour for the next day.

The 10 hour tour started at 10am the next day and we started with a two hour hike up a volcano. The hike was really beautiful taking us through lush green jungle and up to a stunning crater which was filled with teal water where we had one of the most memorable and surreal swims ever. The clouds rolled through constantly so one minute it was eerie and spooky, and the next clear and sunny. That crater lake swim was a highlight for sure. We had our packed lunch there and headed back up out of the crater and down another two hours to our next swim spot which was at an awesome waterfall. Scott did his thing and ventured behind it while I was happy just to swim. From there it was another 30 minutes to a random little museum thing that was frankly very unnecessary and then to a little frog pond where we got to see those classic red-eyed green-bodied tree frogs. To finish the tour we went to the ‘hot springs’. In my mind I was going to maybe rent a towel from these hot springs, but when we turned up it became quickly evident it wasn’t an actual establishment. We were instructed to only wear our togs so about 15 of us were walking along the road in what was now pitch black, in our togs. We followed the path off the road and under a bridge to where we found literally 50 other tourists sitting under a bridge in piping hot water surrounded by candles. It was bizarre and very cool. Our guides then came round and rubbed Costa Rican volcanic mud on our faces which i’m told sells for USD$80 for a very small pottle. They followed this with a ‘cocktail’, which was literally just vodka and Lift in plastic cups. Though the end of the tour dragged on a weeee bit, it was an awesome day and the crater swim especially made it all worth it. I finished the day exhausted, with smooth skin (no joke it actually worked), and very satisfied that we had spent our one full day in Costa Rica very well.

That night we had a quick dinner and fell asleep easily, up early the next day for our travel day to Nicaragua.

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North Colombia

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Santa Marta

From Medellin we took an early morning flight to Cartagena and caught an 4.5 hour mini bus to Santa Marta. Things were really starting to heat up, literally. We were now on the Caribbean coast and temperatures are generally around 35C and don’t get much lower than 28C at night. Sweaty. We stayed at a really cool hostel called Villana Hostel which had a courtyard in the middle with a pool in it that was shaded by palm trees, and a bar. We spent our day just walking around the town, drinking the lemon slushies from the street vendors, drinking beers in our hostel pool, and then eating really good fried chicken from a place called Caribbean Wings.
Santa Marta is a beachside town that didn’t overly impress me to be honest. To be fair we didn’t go to Playa Blanca which is the beach nearby, and we weren’t there for the Saturday rooftop party that apparently is cool. But you kind of have to stay there to do day trips, and it isn’t a bad spot for that.

Tayrona

The next morning we were off at Sparrow’s fart to get to Tayrona National Park early. The park is an extremely photogenic stretch of land about 45 minutes bus ride from Santa Marta that is home to some really cool beaches. You can stay the night in a couple of the beaches, but we were told spaces are limited so you have to get there super early. By 8.30am we had started the two-hour hike from the entrance to Cabo San Juan, the most popular beach. The walk was really beautiful and really sweaty. It took us along the coast and through the jungle, past indigenous families who still live there exactly as they did hundreds of years ago. It was very surreal to come across a 5-ish-year-old girl (may have been a boy), in a hessian sack, cutting open coconuts with a machete.

We were at Cabo San Juan by about 10am, very excited to get the prime hammock spots on top of the hill only to find out that check in didn’t open until 1.30. By then, as you can imagine, everyone was there, and we missed out on the best spots. But it didn’t end up being an issue as we actually slept really well in the hammocks down by the water 🙂 We spent the day there just chilling, swimming, reading, eating from the little restaurant, and drinking a beer as we watched the sunset. As there is no music allowed, no power, and not a lot of cover, we were in bed at about 8pm. But not before we were treated to a stunning thunder and lightening show that lit up the sky like it was day time (see the blurry purple photo below). So cool. The next morning we woke up with the sun (not hard when you’re in a hammock outside), and Scott and I walked to the water’s edge to watch the sunrise with a few other early risers. It was already so warm so we decided to go for a swim and wondered why no one else was joining us. Turns out it was 5.30am, perhaps a little early for other people. We were on our way back out of the park by 6.30am and this time got to see monkeys on our walk! On the whole we both felt the hype of Tayrona was more than the actual experience; there were so many tourists there and it might even look a little better in the photos. But it was a really cool thing to do and the sunrise swim was a stand out highlight for both of us.

By 8.30am we were on the bus back to Santa Marta to get our big packs we had stored at the hostel and catch the bus back out to Palomino.

Palomino

Palomino is another hour past Tayrona, and if we had known you can leave your big packs at the entrance to Tayrona, we would have done that to save the trip back into Santa Marta. So do that if you are going to do your trip in this order 🙂

Palomino is a very small town in the middle of not much that has found itself turned into a little hippy/beachbum/backpacker hangout. The ‘main road’ doesn’t really have anything on it, but the road that goes off the main road down to the beach is lined with cool hostels, rustic restaurants, markets, and bars. It reminded me very much of the Costa Rican beach towns, and I have a feeling we will be seeing much more like it in the coming month. We were staying a little bit up the main road in a place called Color Hostel because it was cheap for a double room with air con, and because it was quiet. The hostel had bikes so we rode those to the beach and spent the rest of our first day sitting at the beach having a very cold beer, before getting a surprisingly good woodfired pizza from Primaluna hostel, and heading home. The next day we planned to go tubing. It’s pretty much the main/only thing to actually ‘do’ in Palomino, and every morning you will find that street lined with big rubber tubes from different vendors. We just rocked up to some guys said ‘tubing’, paid the equivalent of $10NZD each, and before we knew it we were each on the back of a motorbike clinging onto our tube, speeding through the Colombian jungle. After about 15 minutes on the bikes we hopped off and had to walk up a hill for 15 minutes, and down for 10 before reach the river. I have NEVER been so sweaty in my life. Wowza. The tubing was awesome. The current is just stong enough to carry you down and there are a few super mellow little rapids which make it fun. We took 6 beers and drunk them on the way down, keeping them cool by floating them in our tubes with us. It took about 2 hours and takes you through stunning jungle and past local families playing in the water. You end up out at the beach, walk 10 minutes, and you’re back where you started. Easy Peasy. Definitely do it. Managed to only take one photo though…

That afternoon we went to the main hostel in Palomino – The Dreamer Hostel – pretended we were staying there, bought a drink from their bar and drunk it in the pool. The rest of the day was spent chilling in our room with the air con. I ended up getting a bikini made for me by one of the stalls. I picked the style and the fabric and it was ready in 5 hours! We had an early dinner at an epic place called Colomvivo, which looked to be made from recycled materials. The food was so delicious; a super fresh ceviche and a quinoa salad thing with heaps of yum vegies that was soooooo good. We are looking forward to a little less fried food and a lot more fresh food in Central America.

The next morning we woke without a plan. We had wanted to visited Costeno – a really cool looking surf camp hostel – but hadn’t heard back from them / ran outta cash with no ATM in sight. We also wanted to stay at a place called Casa Loma in Minca which we had heard was amazing but hadn’t heard back from them either. So we ended up going back to Santa Marta and during a really really good brunch at a place called Lulo (with THE BEST super refreshing strawberry and mint lemonade slushies), we got confirmation from Minca that they had room for us, so off we went!

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Minca

Minca is an easy 45 minute Jeep ride from Santa Marta up into the jungle. Once we got there it was a not-so-easy 15 minute walk with our packs on up a very steep track to Casa Loma. But boy oh boy was it worth it. This place is so magical. It is run by a Brit and a German and was exactly what we wanted. We were greeted at the hostel puffing and sweating by two glasses of water and the applause of the other guests who understood our pain. They have a number of different accommodation types but we had booked their version of a ‘Presidential Suite’. The Mirador room was on top of the main hangout area and had its own private deck overlooking the stunning lush valley right down to the sea at Santa Marta, for $40NZD. The rest of that day was spent reading and napping, and soaking in the chilled out and homely atmosphere. In standard us fashion, around 5.30pm we bought a bottle of red wine from the hostel and drunk it while watching the sunset from our deck. It was about then that we decided we wanted another night here. They didn’t have the same room available so we booked a little cabana a little further up the hill called Casa Luna and walked down to the town to get something to eat and to join the locals in watching Colombia beat Peru to make the Semi-final of Copa America.

The next day we woke with the dawn and had a delicious breakfast at our hostel before walking one hour to a waterfall in the middle of the jungle. We spent an hour or so there swimming and in Scott’s case frolicking, in the water. On our way back we walked around the town for a bit and had a wee treat at a local cafe before heading back to Casa Loma for the best vegetarian burger I have ever had, amazing fresh veggie pasta, and an afternoon of reading in the hammock with the welcome breeze cooling us down. Oh also we got some brownie.

After a few house cocktails and another great meal for dinner we went to discover Casa Luna, our new home for the night. It was a lot more basic the the Mirador but equally as beautiful. It is the furthest accomm away from the main area so is completely silent. The comfy double bed was beautifully made up and though there weren’t exactly doors, there was a thatched roof, waterproof cover and mosquito net. I didn’t know how well I’d sleep but i closed my eyes and opened them again with the sun rising and the jungle birds waking up around us, so there you go.

It probably doesn’t have to be said, but definitely go to Casa Loma, and be prepared to want to spend an extra night or two.

Cartagena

After the 4.5 hour mini bus ride back to Cartagena from Santa Marta we checked into the AirBnB we had booked inside the beautiful walled city of Cartagena. This is one of the most insanely beautiful towns I have ever been to. Every inch of it is beautifully coloured and dripping in flowers and ivy. The cute little town squares are surrounded by bars and restaurants with tables out on the cobblestoned roads and markets where locals sell everything from street food to sun hats to watercolour art (one of which we bought). Our Air BnB was less of an AirBnB and more of a hotel – no complaints here! The big wooden door opened onto a beautiful little courtyard where both mornings we enjoyed a yummy breakfast included in our room. We also got a room upgrade which saw us being put in the best room in the place (remembering there are only 4 rooms), but it was by the far the biggest and most fancy room we have had the whole time. Scott could starfish on the bed and his feet and hands wouldn’t be anywhere near the corners. That day I wasn’t feeling too good – we think from some bad water, so Scott went out for dinner and to find the NBA, which he did, while I watched Parks and Rec reruns in bed.

The next day was our only full day in Cartagena. There isn’t really a lot to do here, in fact the biggest attraction is to just walk around the city and admire. So that’s what we did. We spent the day perusing the markets, buying some little art prints and repeatedly saying how stunning the place was. The photos don’t really do it justice. Another reason you probably don’t want too much time here is because it is very expensive. There are some seriously fancy hotels here, and fancy guests to go in them, so it was a bit of a shock to the backpacker budget. But, for our last night we wanted to toast the end of our South America leg, so we didn’t hold back too much. We had a cocktail each and a little cheese platter at an epic spot called El Baron – go here. Fantastic cocktails and cool jazz music. Then we walked passed live street music, buzzing restaurants and upscale boutiques to El Burlador de Sevilla where we had a yummy dinner of seafood paella, stuffed chicken, and bottle of red accompanied by some traditional live South American music. On the way home we shared a gelato from Gelateria Tramonti. It’s rated number 1 out of 539 places to eat in Cartagena on TripAdvisor, and it’s an ice cream place, that never happens. It was delicious.

Slightly tipsy and very happy, we strolled back to our room still not quite believing how pretty this city was, and still not quite believing how lucky we were to have had such an amazing two and half months in South America.

Salento

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During our time in Medellin we caught a 6 hour bus to Salento (the place we were originally trying to get to from Popoyan). Salento is a coffee district in the middle of nowhere. The streets of the little town are lined with brightly coloured stores and houses making it feel like a toy village. For our first two nights, we stayed at La Serrana which is beautiful accommodation set on a ridge overlooking the surrounding valleys. There are a number of different accommodation options but we chose one of the three canvas tents – very cool. While in Salento, we took a tour of a coffee plantation and did a 6 hour walk through the stunning Cocora Valley. The walk began with us picking up a yum packed lunch from a restaurant called Brunch, and taking a jeep 30 minutes out of town. Throughout the walk we went through a number of different terrains including beautiful farmland, hills covered in palm tress, picturesque rivers, and lush jungle. It was a stunning walk we highly recommend.

We also ate some great food; juicy burgers and the biggest brownie you’ve ever seen at Brunch, and some delicious curry at La Eliana. So good. In the evening we bought a bottle of red wine from the local market and drunk it on our deck at La Serrran overlooking the sun setting on the valley, not baaaaad. For our last night we moved to a place called La Eliana which is run by the sweetest man called Jesus ( no relation)…( i don’t think…). La Eliana is a really awesome hostel, super cute and clean accomm, but it also has a fantastic curry restaurant. We have been missing curries, and in particular, spice, so this was a much welcome surprise.

On our last night in Salento we went to a ‘bar’ called Las Amigos to play a traditional game called Tejo. I include the inverted commas on bar because it was just a massive dirt floor with some lanes separated by wood and a fridge with beers in it in the corner. Tejo is pretty much Pentanque cowboy-style; instead of boules you throw clay discs and instead of a cochonnet you are aiming at little triangle of gunpowder which explode when/if you hit them. Yay Colombia.

Medellin Food

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D’Luigi

D’Luigi was a pizza place in Guatape, so not exactly Medellin, but close enough and worth a recommendation. Pretty sure the restaurant was their living room, beautifully lit just with candles and tables created out of an eclectic mix of table cloths, cushion, and chairs. It’s owned by a lovely couple – the woman is the waitress, the man makes the pizza. There are about seven pizzas to choose from and we went with the standard Margarita. Holy. Moly. Just like pizza should be. Insane homemade tomato paste, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil. The base though, oh the base! so light and chewy with those little charcoal bits on the crust. Actually probably one of the best pizzas I have had in my life.

Olivia Pizza

We went to Olivia Pizza when we stayed in Laureles. The menu itself is actually really beautifully done and it lets you pretty much make whatever meals you want from a list of ingredients for pizzas, pastas, and salads. We shared a pizza with proscuitto, rocket, mozzarella and tomato paste and an insane salad with a crapload of fresh vegies including avocado, cherry tomatoes, and nuts. So delicious and fresh. Scott also got a Michelada which he said was bloody good. The restaurant is also really pretty, with living walls and festoon lights as its decor.

Herbario

Herbario was our dinner for our first night in Medellin. We got a mushroom and goat cheese entree and a vegatarian risotto with lots of parmesan, to share. So good again. And pretty well-priced for what looked like a super expensive restaurant. Also when you order a spirit and a mixer, they just bring the mixer to the table and you pour it, so you can choose the strength of the drink.

El Cielo

El Cielo was where we went to for my belated birthday dinner and was the second fanciest experience we have had, after Tegui. It is a restaurant all about experimental dining that involves all the senses and our night consisted not of courses but of 13 ‘moments’. There is no other way to describe these than just by telling you what they were. The first moment came in the form of two small white cirlcles on a plate. The waiter poured hot water infused with mint over them and they expanded into hand towels. Yep. The second moment was four numbered morsels on a plate and we had to guess what each were. They were a combination of avocado, caramelized cherry tomatos, caramel potato and chocolate. For the third moment, we each had a big silver bowl placed infront of us and were told to hold our hands out over it. The waiter then gave us a ball of coconut milk surrounded by a white chocolate shell and we were told to break it and rub it all over our hands. We then had warm water poured all over to clean and moisturise. Welcome to El Cielo!
The next few ‘moments’ included a delicious soup paired with burnt butter and homemade bread, white fish that literally melted in your mouth, an insane chicken dish with the most amazing carrots done three ways, and a succulent piece of beef that came to the table cooking on a charcoal log. There was also a prawn dish that came cooking in its own mini salt oven, wrapped in a plantain leaf, and an amazing pork rib with some foam of some description (classic).
It was then time to move into the sweet, and we did this with a salty/sweet transition which included salty strawberries that actually worked. Moment 10 was a yummy panacotta. For the eleventh moment we had Colombian coffee, but not just any coffee, coffee the El Cielo way. The waiter placed two small coffee bushes and a bowl of liquid nitrogen that smelled of coffee on our table. As we watched and smelt the coffee gas pour over the table, he placed the filter in the middle and we watched him make our coffee. Crazy. After that was finished he said, ‘When I come to the table with your next course, you need to put it in your mouth immediately but only touch the plastic wrapping, not the actual thing. Keep moving it around in your mouth or it will burn you.’ Ummmm ok. He came back to the table with a box steaming from coldness, lifted the lid and we each pulled out a little lolly wrapped in crunchy plastic, popped it in our mouth and swirled it around for about 5 seconds before it completely disappeared. It was sherbet-y and freezing and when it disappeared, it literally felt like I hadn’t eaten anything before it – probably the craziest moment for me. For our very last course we were given two rose petals with a lotion in between them. We were told to rub them between our hands, and were left with clear palates and rose-smelling hands.The perfect finale to a weird, beautiful, and tasty night.

It was an awesome experience, and what was even better was that each moment included an ingredient or cooking style native to Colombia. Very cool.

Medellin

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Yayyyyy Medellin. (Pronounced: meh-de-jean) We arrived at our accommodation – Saman House – which was right in the centre of Poblado. Poblado is probably the most touristy place in Medellin, but for good reason. There are heaps of awesome restaurants, bars and cafes, and it’s safe to walk around at night. Because we arrived at 1.30am however, we saved our exploring till the next day.

We woke and excitedly went looking to start ticking off all the cafe and restaurant suggestions we had saved from trawling through Medellin travel blogs. First stop was Pergamino, apparently Medellin’s best coffee. The road Pergamino is on looks a lot like the streets of Double Bay in Sydney – very pretty. The coffee was good and so was the sneaky almond and chocolate croissant.

From there we took the metro to Parque Explorer, which is an aquarium/musuem/interactive TePapa-y type thing. My personal highlight was hearing the little Colombian babies yell out ‘Dory! Dory!’ when they saw her fish in the tank. Also we got to make comics of ourselves. After that we walked through the Jardin Botanical (that’s botanical garden – this is an educational blog also btw), had lunch and took the metro back to the hostel to chill before heading out for the night.

Medellin at night is something you should try to experience. All throughout the city they have these little kiosk things that sell alcohol and chips. And they all have TVs. As we were walking to dinner, we saw the Medellin football team were playing another Colombian team and everyone was crowding around these kiosks watching. We decided to stop, buy a beer and watch we game with them (which was a knock out game decided by a penalty shoot out). The taxis and scooters watch as they stop at the lights and everyone is yelling at the tv just hitting back beers and margarita slushies on the side of the road. Good times. We left to have a really yum veggie dinner at Herbario, and got another beer from the kiosk for our walk back.

Out where all the clubs and bars are there are the same guys from during the day walking around selling gum, lollies and cigarettes, except when nightfalls, another product appears on the menu. I’m sure you can guess what it is. Personally, I knew this stuff would be around, it is Medellin for Pablo’s sake. But honestly I was blown away with how open it was. We literally had a guy shake a bag in our face. We went to a hostel called the Lucky Buddha where we met some cool people and ventured on to do some salsa at one of the many bars. I say we, I found a really cool group of people to salsa with and Scott looked on with a drink in hand. Though I will say he got up with me at the end and was pretty good!

Guatape

The next day we were up early, bright-eyed and bushy tailed…lol, to catch a 2 hour bus to Guatape. Guatape is the town where all the wealthier Medellin folk go for their weekends or holidays. There are bars, restaurants and market stalls lining the streets and it all focuses around mansions on little islands in the lake. We stayed at Lake View Hostel and that night didn’t do anything except have the best pizza we’ve had all trip from a place called D’Luigi – if you got to Guatape, go. The next morning we walked up El Penom which is basically a massive rock with epic panoramic views of Guatape, and then did a tour of Pablo Escobar’s holiday house. It’s now a shell of a building thanks to the Cali Cartel (rival drug cartel) who came in and blew it up. There are holes all though the walls, ceilings and floors as a result of locals coming in after the explosion and looking for money that might have been hidden,which makes sense seeing as Pablo never used a bank. At his peak he was making $60 million US a day, and they spent $2500 USD a week on rubber bands to hold all their cash together. As you can see from the pictures below, the place is ruined now, but I imagine it would have been beautiful. Just like me, Pablo loved Bouganvillea, and all the walls we covered in it – that’s about where our similarities end though. We also learnt that their jeeps were kept running at all times to ensure a speedy getaway, and that his brother still lives across the lake. Something tells me a lot of families with houses in Guatape would have few stories to tell.

After our brief tour, we donned suits, picked up some guns, and played paintball throughout the ruins of Pablo’s horse stables and guesthouse. It was awesome. We played capture the flag and a “kill Pablo” scenario where I was Pablo. It ended with only me and Scott left against 3 of the “opposing Cartel”, but they ran outta time.Shame. It was quite a surreal experience playing paintball in his lake estate. Which by the way included a soccer field where he would get the Medellin team to come play private games (he also owned them). Pablo’s original ground keeper lives there in his restored house  – they are the ones who run the tour.

After that we headed back to the town, got on the bus and went back to Medellin.

Back to Medellin

This time we were staying in an Air BnB in a different area called Laureles, which was a nice, peaceful change from a hostel. We headed out that night for a really good dinner at a place called Olivia Pizza – would recommend.

The next day was the walking tour. The Real City Medellin walking tour is voted the best walking tour in South America, and when you have a city with history as rich as Medellin, it’s not hard to see why. Our guide was Carmilo and he was fantastic. The information he gave us was great but it was his love for Medellin that made the tour so good. One of the things Scott and I were most interested in was how Medellin has changed so drastically in the last 20 years from being one of the most dangerous cities in the world, to one of the most up-and-coming. Carmilo explained that after Pablo died in the 90s, a lot has changed; the introduction of the metro being the most important. The metro is world-class, and the people see it as a symbol of progress and pride. This is evident in the fact that there is absolutely no rubbish, or graffiti of any kind anywhere on the metro – the people are proud of it and they see it as the beginning of the new Medellin; a way to make getting around the city safe and appealing. The other reason for such a drastic change is the simple fact that the new generation of Medellin people, or Paisa as they are called, want Medellin to be different. They aren’t burdened by the drug history that their parents were, and they truly believe they can be on part of the rest of the world in terms of culture and tourism. And the third reason, Carmilo explained, is the very fact that we were there. Tourists are still very new to Medellin (and they do stare at us), but he said that seeing us makes them happy because we are living proof that the international opinion of Medellin is changing. And the more tourists that come, the safer Medellin will be, and the more ‘clean money’ will be put into their economy to continue to improve it. There are definitely still dangerous parts, and guys still yell out ‘Gum? Lollies? Cocaine?’ at you at about 1 in the afternoon, but it is an awesome city and you can tell it’s only going to get better.

After the tour we went home to nap and then went out for my belated birthday dinner. We started by having a drink at a bar called Envy which is on the rooftop of a hotel called Charlee. It was very beautiful and the gin and tonic was strong – two thumbs up. Also, there was a pool and sushi menu soooo pretty great. We then headed to dinner at a place called El Cielo. El Cielo is all about experimental dining and our night consisted not of courses but of 13 ‘moments’. You can read about El Cielo in the ‘Medellin Food’ post. It was pretty insane.

One of our other nights in Medellin was with some Kiwis and Aussies, one of which I knew from Sydney, Hayden. We got into Medellin at 8pm from Salento and by 8.30 we had two straws in a 3 litre jug of Mojito – yum. We spent the night dancing and drinking, good times.

…Not such ‘good times’ the next morning though when we woke a little rough. But there was no time to feel sorry for ourselves as we had booked to go and watch Medellin play in the football semi final. The game didn’t actually start till 4.30 but the tour started at 1pm when we got picked up and taken to a store on the side of the road where we brought beers and drunk with the locals. Everyone was wearing their team colours and it was an awesome ‘game day’ vibe. We then moved to another store – more beers – and then walked to a little stall where we all brought Medellin football shirts, before heading into the hectic stadium. The entrance was lined with cops on horses and cops with massive guns. Girls go through one side, guys through the other. We were all body searched twice, had excited fans yell ‘gringo!’ at us multiple times, and then found our seats. The fans at the game were the most insane fans I have ever seen. There is no music over the speakers because they make their own with drums, trumpets and singing. (Much better than ‘Tonight’s gonna be a good night’). And the other thing is, they never stop, not once throughout the game are they not singing, chanting, dancing, and cheering. It’s awesome. The game came down to a penalty shoot out which ended up lasting for 21 shots at goal. Everyone around us was crying or literally covering their eyes in fear, and then, Medellin won. It was insane. The noise and celebration that lasted as we walked out of the stadium, down the road, and then in traffic all the way home was more sporting celebration than I’ve ever been witness to. Kiwis could learn a thing or two about how to really celebrate a win #2011rugbyworldcup. The game ended up being one of our highlights of South America, and of the places we have been, Medellin is officially our favourite South American city.

A border crossing, a church, and a roadblock

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While planning this part of the journey we heard over and over again how crossing the border from Ecuador to Colombia is dangerous and to only do it in the day time. I must admit I was expecting something a little more intense, but the crossing itself was really easy, friendly and quick; get a bus to the Ecuador side, walk across a bridge into Colombia, get a stamp and you’re away. Still, I wouldn’t do it at night.

That night we stayed in the Colombian border town of Ipiales. It’s a bit of a nothing place but the nearest nice town – Popoyan – is about an 8 hour bus ride from the border and you do not want to be doing that drive at night. I think the general rule in Colombia is to not do night buses. So we stayed in Ipiales in a pretty rough but clean hotel, and had dinner at about 5pm so we could be back in our room before nightfall (yep, it was that kind of place).

Early the next morning we headed to the Las Lajas, which is a stunning church in a valley about 15 minutes out of town. The story goes that a woman and her young daughter were walking through the valley towards Ipiales and the little girl told her mum she heard a saint calling to her. The woman went back and told the priest and the church was built. It has been through many iterations, and it’s current form is really really beautiful. Underneath there is also a really cool museum. Also, on the walk back up the hill we saw a top three strangest thing  – a full cow hoof turned into a drink bottle.

After that we got on the bus and ventured the 8 hours to Popoyan. This journey was probably where we saw the biggest difference between Colombia and Ecuador. At the beginning and end of every tiny town along the way, there were military guys and police with the biggest guns I’ve ever seen, lining the streets. Quite surreal.

We finally arrived in Popoyan and walked down the main street to find some accommodation. We spent the next full day walking around the quite cute little town with its stone streets and white buildings, eating and chilling. The next day we went to book our bus to Salento – the coffee district – but the woman behind the counter just said ‘no’. Our limited Spanish meant we were very confused. Everyone just said no. We managed to find a girl who motioned out a strike of her hand. Uh oh. Turns out there were roadblocks all over the country as farmers were striking for pay rises. And in this part of the world it seems the way to strike is to get as many people as possible to sit on a road, putting a country that relies heavily on bus transport in to disarray. We asked when it might be better and they just laughed at us.
So back we went to our hotel and checked in again.
This happened the next day too. Popoyan was nice, but not for that long – Salento would have to wait – we changed plans and flew to Medellin.

At the airport there were swarms of army and police officers, again just walking around with shotguns swinging at their hips.
We didn’t feel unsafe but we were glad to get out.