Chau y Nos Vemos Pronto!

I was able to leave the hustle and bustle of the city, after hopefully being issued with another tempory visa and headed to baños, a rather touristy town in the middle of the semi jungle, which is the adventure capital of Ecuador; i was in for a treat! I So excited to do white water rafting, an adventure sport which I had dabbled in, was very exhilarating, going through class 3 and 4 rapids, so exciting that our guide decided that I was not enjoying myself enough and through me in off the boat into freezing cold water, which put me back in my place obviously! I then was able to try cannoning down waterfalls, which was so scary at the beginning, but I got so into it and was jumping in the water, and having a wonderful time, I can say there are facebook photos to prove it! I was generally just loving the wonderful landscape and going out with an extended family of people of all ages which were in the hostel. 
An adrenaline junkies heaven, however I had had my adrenaline fix and wanted to be back at one with nature, I went to Latacunga, a rather small town with not a lot, but near to the wonderful crater lake of Quillatoa, which was a marvel, amazing clear water which was turquoise which got brighter and clearer as you went down, however the going up was the hard bit, as I was back in altitude of over 4000m, not fun walking up a crater, but we got back to the town, and me and a friend were bound for the Amazon.

 After having spent over 6 months in south America it was about time that I saw the Amazon, so we booked a tour and headed to Quito, After a horrible 8 hour overnight buss ride which was constantly going downhill so I was forced out of my chair we got to Lago Agrio, a hellhole which no one would step foot in except to go to the wonderful Cuyebeno Nature Reserve, we started our jungle adventure with another 2 hour bus ride then in a Canoe, where it all began, we started seeing monkeys and birds at every corner and being in a beautiful primary rainforest was spectacular! The first activity was swimming in the Laguna at sunset, and seeing pink river dolphins, which was my goal while being in the Amazon, they were nowhere near as beautiful as normal dolphins but were amazing to see these creature in the wild! This was followed by Cayman watching by night time, which was crazy, seeing the red eyes out of the water, these Cayman were seriously almost as big a crocodiles! The jungle had more to be explored, the next day we started with a hike, which involved me falling in mud and swamp many times much to the amusement of everyone else who seamed to manage it without so many falls, we also learnt about all the plants and animals of the jungle, tricks such as how to climb the tallest palm trees to reach the coconuts, and how to make jungle fire out of sap, and which trees keep the mosquitoes away.  This was followed by piranha fishing, however on my part it seamed to be piranha feeding, as the meet was only being eaten and no catching was happening, however others managed to catch these crazy fish with razor sharp teeth, but they were much smaller than I though, the film happened to be misleading, and they don’t eat people as I went swimming in the same river as the piranhas that evening! Other jungle activities were visiting the ingenious community, which was awesome, although slightly touristy, as the Sharman went on a lot about Ayawascha, the spiritual hallucinogenic plant which has turned into a bit of a cult drug in SA,  also we learnt how to make the local yucca bread called Casave, which was a really cool process, as the lady made bread out of grated yucca, of which she grated the water out and cooked it and within about 5 minutes , the yucca root was bread, which was surprisingly good! The next day we did 5am bird watching, which wasn’t really my cup of tea, but when in Rome, with the best birds in the world, staying in my jungle hut was no real option. This was made better by having to row there, as the motor on the canoe suddenly died, however we got back, and did see amazing birds, macaws would be my highlight, as well as many colorful animals and even a sloth! Jungle time was sadly over, however this did give me added respect for the indigenous people in Ecuador who still live in the traditional ways in the communities, this was something that didn’t seam so prevalent in other countries, after returning to Lago Agrio and spending too long there for my liking, I was faced with one of the worst night buses, of which my passport was checked about 5 times, being the only gringo on the bus to the Colombian boarder.  

After a surprisingly easy 6am bourder crossing, although being ripped off by money changing, I made it to Colombia! As the south is known as dangerous, I was advised to get as far into Colombia as possible, and though Popayan was a good first stop. The journey took forever, but the scenery was incredible and the lady next to me seamed to trust me enough to blurt out her life story about her husband cheating on her with her neighbors younger sister, serious outrage, but she needed someone to listen to her, and I was the only one there. Popayan was a nice colonial town, like others seen before, but it was a nice refuge from the bus and was rather pretty, I then decided to see some more indigenous statues and went horse riding for the first time since I was about 5, this horse was seriously going for it and I was trying my hardest to stay on, but like anything I got into it and even started in enjoy galloping around the beautiful countryside of San Augustin, seeing indigenous statues of which no one knows the origin, as the indigenous people of Colombia are much less well known than the Incas who took over almost all South America, even though there are many other less well known cultures who also did amazing things, but the Incas are the ones with all the fame.

 After an eventful day horse riding, I was tired enough for another night bus to the Coffee region, and the gringo hotspot called Salento. However there is always a reason gringo flock to the same places, they are always amazing, Salento was no exception, it was so beautiful, and I had the opportunity to camp, back on the ground (where I belong) I was very happy, in an awesome hostel which was bonfires, shared dinners and a lovely surroundings. We did an amazing hike the next day to the Cocora Vally, one of the best , it had it all, jungle, mountains, hills, bridges, and an hummingbird santury, to top it all off! We saw the wax palms, which are Colombia’s national tree, 1000000 times bigger than me! Ad went home to the best dinner of Mediterranean vegetables, humus, pita bred and kebab, one of the best meals I had eaten in South America! Then went to a coffee farm, although I am more of a teas person I was able to appreciate good coffee when I tasted it and man it was good, the man who showed us round, Don Elias was so into his coffee and had being involved in the Coffee industry since he was 6, what a lovely family story, Saltento was amazing!

After 4 days, I had to move, and with my new travel companion, we hit another overnighter to Medalin, the city of plastic surgery and beautiful women (maybe one enhances the other)  however fitst we found this gem of a pace called Guatape, which is surrounded by an artificial lake, and the biggest rock in the world, other than Ayres rock, so tranquillo. We went on an awesome bike ride, mostly downhill, with swimming holes and ice cream, where we enjoyed watching the England Italy match, my patriotism comes out the other side of the world, as I was the only English person in the bar, the loss was nothing to be ashamed about.

As the weekend was fast approaching, we wanted to be in the bustling city of Medallin, with lots of salsa dancing and a far bit of Rum, we danced away 2 nights, and therefore the days were rather slow, I am sad to say I did not see much more of Medallin than the hostel and the surrounding area, although I did find a Mexican flute player, who made me day, I was able to rekindle my lost skills, he was wayyy better than me, but my flute had not been around the world, maybe next time!

The Caribbean was calling, and so we were going to Caratenga, the jewel of the Caribbean cost! We awoke to stifling hot temperatures, attempted walking around the city, but mainly went from air conditioned café, to air conditioned café, we did see a firbit of the city, and the fort, which Francis Drake himself could not conquer, the Spanish knew their defense, and the English could not pass to regain control of the Caribbean! It is one beautiful city, however I was beach bound, it was the Caribbean after all, so with a group in hand, we headed to an island called Playa Blanca, and there we were at 10am on a Tuesday, in the Caribbean sea, which was so crystal and turquoise, it was beautiful! When it got dark, we went exploring, and found a beach further along, where we made a fire, and went swimming with full moon and lightning storms in the distance, it was a special evening! However the sunburn brought us back to reality, and we had to go back to Cartagena, to continue the Caribbean adventure. We found Taganga, a bit of a run down beach town, witch a laid back feel and many people looking for a good time, that we found. Also some overcrouded beaches and lots of coconuts, an the most amazing restaurant, a three course meal of falafel, langoustine pasta and chocolate brownie with ice cream, was one of the highlights of this crazy place!

One f the highlight of the Colombian Caribbean are the beautiful postcard beaches of Parque Nacional Tyrona, these were special, with everything you could ever want from a beach, we slept in hammocks and watched sunsets, went midnight swimming, and jungle hiking to see monkeys, it was a beautiful few days, but like everyone else my paradise time was coming to an end, and had to leave the park after three nights and work out what I was going to do with my remaining week. We found Minca, one of the loveliest paces in my world, it was 20 kilometers from Santa Marta, in the semi tropical mountains, we arrived in a tropical storm, which was eventful, but then found Oscar´s. Oscar was amazing, he opened up his house, and built little huts around the panoramic view where you could see toucans, and monkeys on one side and the Caribbean sea on the other, it was the best possible place to spend my past weekend in SA.  We went swimming in waterfalls, eat homemade vegetarian food, and listened to Argentinean tango music, I could not be happier, however Sunday came all too soon, and therefore my flight the following Wednesday, so I boarded my last ever night bus, and woke up in Bogotá this morning!

Wow that a whirlwind the past months have been, I can think about ever single event and I would have never pictured anything like what happened in the past 7 and a half months, its be mind blowing, but its time for Rosa to go home and for the adventures to end. But only this time…