#TBT Adventures of Colombia
I was told that I had to go to Las Lajas Sanctuary if I wanted to be cured, so here I am waiting to be cured, I don’t really know what I have to be cured of or saved from (probably a hangover?) but at least I got to see this amazing basilica church built inside of a canyon. This church was built in 1953 and is known for the stunning architecture. I find it so unique as it’s a Neo-Gothical building in the middle of the forest, I never thought I was going to find this in the middle of Colombia. Chatting with some locals, they told me all the legends about this sanctuary that I am 99% convinced that the reason my hangover didn’t appear this morning is not just for all the water that I drank.
I am glad that I had the chance to go out and see some real salsa dancing, spending the night in Cali was a great idea, this is an incredible city. Lots of colour and culture to observe, and everyone seemed like they were in a really good mood. One thing that stuck out was that all the women I see here look like different versions of Kim Kardashian! The nightlife is great, now I get why people said that this city is “The Heaven’s Branch Office” and the World Capital of Salsa. I definitely have to learn how to dance salsa, my first Thursday night back in Edmonton will be at On the Rocks! I hope my salsa tutorials go better than my mambo tutorials.
Now that I mention rocks, I should tell you a bit about my adventure in Suesca, it turns out that a girl that I met last night is going rock climbing and she was kind enough to invite me to come with her friends. Of course, these rocks are not as big as the Rocky Mountains, but this one was big enough for me and my out of shape hockey body. We spend the afternoon scaling and hiking the formation which exhausted me! All this travel, food and indulging in beverages are starting to affect my athletic performance. As soon as I get to Edmonton I need to put some serious attention towards getting back in shape! I should get a bike and get back into biking.
I found a miniature version of Drumheller! it’s called el Desierto de la Tatacoa. Nobody told me that “La Tatacoa” was a snake, and that I was going to be camping in a desert of snakes. I was scared at first but then I realize that even though that is the name of this place, this isn’t really a desert and it isn’t full of Tatacoa snakes. This tropical sand forest is full of stunning landscapes, during the day the sand looks like it’s on fire and at night you can go to the observatory. During the day, there is not a lot to do, I went for a walk and made some friends, Sofia and Carlos. They are also camping for the night, but this wasn’t their first time in the desert so they showed me around. They took me to this secret pool, it was just like a mirage, I was so hot! No one told me that it was going to be 50° C and that I should have brought more food. Although I was burnt and starving, because there are no lights around so at night I got to see the stars and the moon, and it was absolutely incredible. The astronomer was really friendly and helped me to take some photos but I am dreaming of having a cheese burger and fries.
Here am I doing paragliding, this was a great experience, I didn’t even think of asking if somebody had died in an accident in one of this fabric wings things, well I guess it just wasn’t my time.
Someone told me that there was snow in Colombia, and I wanted to see if it was true. Countries around the equator don’t get to shovel snow every year. I won’t bore you with geography lessons in my blog, though. The locals, it was a point of discussion to consider whether it was going to snow or not every winter season. Apparently, there was snow this year, it was just really hard to find. My feet and back hurt from that hike, though. But it was totally worth it, you can be the ones to judge.
After hiking and camping I was ready to check out the beaches. Everyone speaks so highly about Cartagena that I decided to start there. It was such an amazing experience to be able to be in a city with two completely different landscapes. The old city is surrounded by a wall that helped them fight for independence from the Spain. The architecture is totally colonial, walking by some of these streets I feel like I should be riding a horse. The food was amazing! There was this rice dish cooked with coconut which was unreal, I wish I could take some of this with me. The fried plantain with salt was also delicious, I didn’t even know that the plantain existed, always thought that it was just a bigger banana. The beaches in Cartagena were not as nice as everyone said they were, the only plus was that the water wasn’t as cold as it is in Tofino. I continued my travels on to a place called Las Islas del Rosario, the sand was pure white, and the water was so clear that I could see the fish swimming. If you ever come here you have to take a boat and get to these islands.
The Cartagena area wasn’t enough so I continue my journey to Santa Marta, which by the way was one of my favorite places so far. I spent most of the time at la Sierra Nevada which is a magical mountain where you can find beaches without a lot of shops around, is like a true paradise.
My last stop was at San Andres, the Colombian island. I rented a Kawasaki Mule for the day to give myself a tour of the island. To my surprise, it only took me one hour. The sea has seven colors here, I wanted to understand why so I booked a scuba diving lesson and found out that the corals are the responsible of coloring the sea. On my last night, I went to a boat restaurant called La Regatta, which was absolutely delicious. I wish I could’ve stayed more time here, just to eat more. I had to wait in line for a while because I didn’t have a reservation. If you ever decide to go to San Andres you can’t leave the island without eating there.
In the morning, I got a ticket to go to Johnny Cay, which was only a 10-min boat ride away. The waves in this island were totally worth it, if you have a surf board. I don’t know why they didn’t have a place to rent surf boards! They rented tents, chairs, everything else but… ! I would have loved to try it.
In this country everything is so convenient, you can buy beers everywhere, at a gas station or if you’re stuck in traffic a vendor will walk around the cars offering cookies, cigarettes, cheese, drinks, candies, etc. You can even pay a few coins to someone in the street to make a call from their cellphone, or buy just one piece of bubble gum. I guess it’s just like a drive through. Thank you Colombia I am sure I will be back.