We arrived in Taganga this afternoon. It was about a four hour bus trip. And by bus I mean a 10 passenger van with 15 passengers in it. The seats were about half as wide as the crappy seats in the back of an airplane with about a third of the legroom. A couple of hours into the trip, some people got off and I was able to move to a spot where I could actually sit with my knees in front of me.
The town itself seems pretty cool so far. It´s just a little fishing village tucked away in a bay on the Caribbean coast. There isn´t much here besides some good seafood restaurants, some hippies, some street dogs (that don´t appear to be doing so good), no ATM´s and a lot of dive shops. That´s why we are here. Tayrona National Park is not too far away and you can get good deals to go dive there and spend a few nights sleeping in hammocks on the beach and just hanging out. We haven´t made definite plans yet, but I think we are going to do a three day two night trip to the park that will include seven dives (one of which is a night dive and one of which is a cave dive). It should be pretty sweet. Unfortunately, I left my underwater housing at home and can´t take any pics on the dives, so you´ll just have to believe us when we write about it afterwards.
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Photo Dramarama
We continue to battle with our photos page on supertrippin, so for now, please just click on this link and this link to see some Colombia photos.
We booked our flight to Miami so we leave on the 16th. It's very sad and final that we're leaving South America. It will be good to go back, but time has really gone by quickly and I don't feel like I've been gone for over 5 months.
So far, we have people to stay with in Miami, Georgia, DC, and New York so we'll be fine with that.
People seem a little worried that we're in Colombia but it has improved greatly over the past few years. Venezuela is the real crap hole so if you're looking to avoid one, I've been told not to visit.
I survived my mud bath in the volcano today. It was pretty disgusting, you can see the photos on one of the links above, but my skin is lovely and soft now.
Anyway, this is just a bunch of random sentences. Look at the photos! There's some mud!
We booked our flight to Miami so we leave on the 16th. It's very sad and final that we're leaving South America. It will be good to go back, but time has really gone by quickly and I don't feel like I've been gone for over 5 months.
So far, we have people to stay with in Miami, Georgia, DC, and New York so we'll be fine with that.
People seem a little worried that we're in Colombia but it has improved greatly over the past few years. Venezuela is the real crap hole so if you're looking to avoid one, I've been told not to visit.
I survived my mud bath in the volcano today. It was pretty disgusting, you can see the photos on one of the links above, but my skin is lovely and soft now.
Anyway, this is just a bunch of random sentences. Look at the photos! There's some mud!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy 4th of July!
I am writing this blog from Cartagena, Colombia where Chris and I are spending the holiday with two Brits. Chris told them they should be excited to celebrate the American holiday where we celebrate being free of their tyranny. They didn’t seem that excited and claimed they would sit on the balcony drinking tea all day long in protest. We are currently planning a mini Boston Tea Party for their bathtub in retaliation. Just kidding.
We are staying in an apartment with Antony and Lisa from Leeds, England. We met them in Ushuaia, Argentina at the beginning of our trip and have managed to meet up in Lake Titicaca, Cusco, and Quito. They are at the end of their year long around the world trip and booked this apartment in Cartagena for two weeks before they fly home. Chris and I are tagging along.
We survived the jungle. Chris promised he would write a blog but he never finished it and now he will be mad that I’m pointing this out on the blog. The jungle was fine. The best part was Pancho the monkey. Pancho is a nine month old Wooly Monkey and her mother was killed by poachers when Pancho was very young. One of the rangers found her and brought her to the lodge where we were staying. So now they have a naughty, but very cute, baby monkey causing all sorts of trouble and amusement. Monkeys are great entertainment, kind of like having a small stupid child that can climb and dangle and hop onto the table and steal your food in about 2 seconds.
We saw a big anaconda, lots of wild monkeys, birds, big scary spiders and bugs, and I managed to walk around with a tick under my arm for about 2 days. When we got back, and I could finally take a hot shower that wasn’t river water, I discovered it and had to pull it off. Yuck. Chris escaped parasite free.
I uploaded the remaining photos from the Galapagos and the jungle, but I am having trouble with our photos page on the website. The photos are posted on my public photo page so if you click here and here, you can see them. Or you can just click on the My Public Gallery tab at the top of the page and see all of the pictures.
When we returned to Quito we visited the site of the equator with two other girls from the jungle trip. In the 1700’s the French came and determined the exact spot where the equator was and they built a monument. It turns out they were about 150 meters off and the local people had already found the spot about 900 years earlier. Fast forward to GPS days and they built another museum on that equator spot… although they may be a bit off as well. But we went to both monuments and had fun in the museum and then traveled back to Quito. Click here to see those pictures.
On Tuesday we flew to Colombia. Cartagena is the top tourist destination and so far, we’re not sure why. We need to get into the old city and see some of the beaches farther out of town because the ones close to us are pretty dirty and polluted. Cartagena was the main export point for all of the gold to return to Europe. It was built in the 1500’s and the colonial city is supposed to be very cool. We are also on the Caribbean so we want to get to the better beaches to see the white sand and blue water.
So for now, Chris and I are in Cartagena for one week, maybe two, and then we are off to somewhere else in Colombia or Brazil, depending on flights. We leave at the end of the month so time is running out. Happy 4th!
We are staying in an apartment with Antony and Lisa from Leeds, England. We met them in Ushuaia, Argentina at the beginning of our trip and have managed to meet up in Lake Titicaca, Cusco, and Quito. They are at the end of their year long around the world trip and booked this apartment in Cartagena for two weeks before they fly home. Chris and I are tagging along.
We survived the jungle. Chris promised he would write a blog but he never finished it and now he will be mad that I’m pointing this out on the blog. The jungle was fine. The best part was Pancho the monkey. Pancho is a nine month old Wooly Monkey and her mother was killed by poachers when Pancho was very young. One of the rangers found her and brought her to the lodge where we were staying. So now they have a naughty, but very cute, baby monkey causing all sorts of trouble and amusement. Monkeys are great entertainment, kind of like having a small stupid child that can climb and dangle and hop onto the table and steal your food in about 2 seconds.
We saw a big anaconda, lots of wild monkeys, birds, big scary spiders and bugs, and I managed to walk around with a tick under my arm for about 2 days. When we got back, and I could finally take a hot shower that wasn’t river water, I discovered it and had to pull it off. Yuck. Chris escaped parasite free.
I uploaded the remaining photos from the Galapagos and the jungle, but I am having trouble with our photos page on the website. The photos are posted on my public photo page so if you click here and here, you can see them. Or you can just click on the My Public Gallery tab at the top of the page and see all of the pictures.
When we returned to Quito we visited the site of the equator with two other girls from the jungle trip. In the 1700’s the French came and determined the exact spot where the equator was and they built a monument. It turns out they were about 150 meters off and the local people had already found the spot about 900 years earlier. Fast forward to GPS days and they built another museum on that equator spot… although they may be a bit off as well. But we went to both monuments and had fun in the museum and then traveled back to Quito. Click here to see those pictures.
On Tuesday we flew to Colombia. Cartagena is the top tourist destination and so far, we’re not sure why. We need to get into the old city and see some of the beaches farther out of town because the ones close to us are pretty dirty and polluted. Cartagena was the main export point for all of the gold to return to Europe. It was built in the 1500’s and the colonial city is supposed to be very cool. We are also on the Caribbean so we want to get to the better beaches to see the white sand and blue water.
So for now, Chris and I are in Cartagena for one week, maybe two, and then we are off to somewhere else in Colombia or Brazil, depending on flights. We leave at the end of the month so time is running out. Happy 4th!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
one more thing...
Since we've been denied the ability to post pictures for weeks, I thought I'd put up a link to some pictures from my friend Liz. It was super excellent that Liz took the time to fly to Cusco and spend some time with us, it is yet another reason she is, and always will be, my hetero-life mate. So enjoy some Lizzie pics here!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Back in BA
Chris and I are back in Buenos Aires. We took an hour long ferry from Colonia in Uruguay and arrived yesterday. The pictures from Colonia are up on the website here. We’re staying in the neighborhood of Palermo which is the trendier part of town with lots of cafes, restaurants, shops, bars, etc. It’s nice and much cleaner and quieter than the other parts of Buenos Aires we stayed at in February. BA is the land of dog poop all over the sidewalks, so we’ve been watching out for that, as well as crazy drivers. So far, neither one has gotten us.
We’re staying in Casa Esmerelda hostel with a shared room. After living it up in actual hotels with TVs and private bathrooms, we need to save some money and stay in the shared rooms/bathroom places. We’ve got one Australian guy in our room that’s been riding motorcycles around the world for four and a half years. On this leg, he rode down the coast from Oregon. He’s ridden through Africa and Europe, and makes my travels seem lame by comparison.
Today was a national holiday (kind of like a Labor Day) so it was pretty dead. Last night we went out with a couple from Colorado that we met in the hostel and Chris and I put away 4 (!!!) bottles of wine so it was good that things were quiet today as we didn’t feel like doing much anyway. The couple had been traveling through South America since June and their Spanish was awesome, which made me jealous. They had lived in BA previously on this trip and took us to a really good vegetarian restaurant and I had some broccoli ravioli in a cream sauce that was glorious. When you can find fresh veggies in a restaurant in South America, it’s time to celebrate. The Colorado people had lots of good things to say about Colombia, which is great. We haven’t heard anything good about Venezuela so we’ll probably skip that and spend more time in Colombia.
Tomorrow is our last full day in BA so we should probably venture out and actually do something… although I’m not sure what that will be. Maybe I’ll finally make it to the Evita Museum, and Chris wants to check out a big book fair to look for books to learn Spanish. Our friend Seth from Paraguay is in town with his parents so hopefully we can meet up for dinner or something.
Saturday morning we fly to Lima, Peru. We have a hostel booked and someone from the hostel is picking us up at the airport, which is helpful. We’ll probably stay in Lima for only a few days and then go north, up the coast. We want to surf and lay around on a beach. There are also some ruins that apparently rival Macchu Picchu but I think it involves a lot of jungle and nature to get there, so I don’t know how excited I am for that.
And I guess that’s it. Things are fine; I’m just a little boring right now.
We’re staying in Casa Esmerelda hostel with a shared room. After living it up in actual hotels with TVs and private bathrooms, we need to save some money and stay in the shared rooms/bathroom places. We’ve got one Australian guy in our room that’s been riding motorcycles around the world for four and a half years. On this leg, he rode down the coast from Oregon. He’s ridden through Africa and Europe, and makes my travels seem lame by comparison.
Today was a national holiday (kind of like a Labor Day) so it was pretty dead. Last night we went out with a couple from Colorado that we met in the hostel and Chris and I put away 4 (!!!) bottles of wine so it was good that things were quiet today as we didn’t feel like doing much anyway. The couple had been traveling through South America since June and their Spanish was awesome, which made me jealous. They had lived in BA previously on this trip and took us to a really good vegetarian restaurant and I had some broccoli ravioli in a cream sauce that was glorious. When you can find fresh veggies in a restaurant in South America, it’s time to celebrate. The Colorado people had lots of good things to say about Colombia, which is great. We haven’t heard anything good about Venezuela so we’ll probably skip that and spend more time in Colombia.
Tomorrow is our last full day in BA so we should probably venture out and actually do something… although I’m not sure what that will be. Maybe I’ll finally make it to the Evita Museum, and Chris wants to check out a big book fair to look for books to learn Spanish. Our friend Seth from Paraguay is in town with his parents so hopefully we can meet up for dinner or something.
Saturday morning we fly to Lima, Peru. We have a hostel booked and someone from the hostel is picking us up at the airport, which is helpful. We’ll probably stay in Lima for only a few days and then go north, up the coast. We want to surf and lay around on a beach. There are also some ruins that apparently rival Macchu Picchu but I think it involves a lot of jungle and nature to get there, so I don’t know how excited I am for that.
And I guess that’s it. Things are fine; I’m just a little boring right now.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Waterfalls and Arms Smugglers
On Monday night (around midnight) Chris and I took a bus into Brazil to the town of Foz do Iguazu. It’s at the border of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina and the site of Iguazu Falls, which, according to our guide book, are the most impressive waterfalls in South America. Our bus was an overnight six hour trip with fully reclining seats. This would have provided for great sleeping, but a giant fat guy in front of me snored the entire time. I wanted to smack him.
To get into Brazil, first you have to cross a bridge at the end of a town in Paraguay called Ciudad del Este. Apparently, this is the spot for all sorts of illegal smuggling into Brazil. Stolen/illegal items pass down through Bolivia into Paraguay and over this bridge (it’s called the Friendship Bridge) into Brazil where they are distributed into Brazil and shipped to the USA. Bootleg DVDs, arms, drugs, electronics, and money make the trek over this bridge everyday with the border cops not paying much attention. Before we went, Seth showed us an article about Ciudad del Este, and it’s a good read, you can find it here.
We got to Ciudad del Este around 6am and because we were on a bus, we had to stop and go through customs (normally they waive you through). And I must say it was an interesting border stop. Chris and I had to run across six lanes of high speed traffic to get over to the office, and then run back. I always feel like I’m in the midst of an advanced level of Frogger whenever I have to cross the street in South America, but this took it to a whole new super advanced level. We only stayed at Iguazu for that one day, and took the bus back at 6pm. On the way back at the border, there was no Frogger challenge (we were on the right side of the street) but the bus decided to pull way up past the border check office. I have never clutched my passport tighter, and Chris and I kind of ran/walk past taxi drivers offering rides, past the main market for smuggling that was shut down for the evening, and past random guys selling random junk/food. It was very interesting.
As for Iguazu Falls they were very impressive and it was cool to see. We saw them through the Brazilian side and the Argentine view is supposedly better, but I still thought it was cool. You only need about an hour or two in the park, and then we decided to go to a Bird Zoo/Sanctuary place across the street. We had heard from an Australian couple that it was a good stop to make, and I’m glad we did. Besides the awful noisy Argentine tour group that was behind us for a good portion of the park (I swear, when traveling, the Argentine motto is “Scream and Throw Food At It Until It Notices You, No Matter How Long This Takes) it was very cool. We saw toucans and monkeys and giant snakes and dive bombing parrots.
There was one aviary (where you and the birds are together in a giant cage) with a ton of Macaws (giant parrots). Before we went in, we saw some of the awful Argentines getting dive bombed, the birds screaming, and one woman screaming with two parrots on her back. There are signs before you enter saying ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ and ‘Remove All Jewelry and Watches’. I don’t think this exhibit is allowed in the USA. Anyway, we went in with the intent of getting some good parrot pictures. We were the only ones in there and the parrots got very quiet and started watching us. Then, one started screaming, and the others followed with beating their wings and screaming in unison. Then, they began to take flight and Chris and I put our heads down and ran out the exit. Not very brave, but those things have talons and giant wing spans and are scary in groups. You can see all pictures
(in case you’re too lazy to scroll down to Brazil on our Photos page).
After that, we had a nice cheap lunch outside the National Park and spent the remainder of the day speaking our bad broken Spanish to a group of people that actually speak Portuguese. Our bus ride back into Paraguay was on a bus without reclining seats and lots of stops and noisy people with noisy cell phones. We arrived in Asuncion before midnight and slept for about 10 hours when we reached Seth’s house. We also have some Paraguay shots, which you can see here.
Yesterday, Chris and I had our day of beauty and went to the fancy salon down the street from Seth’s house. We both had hour long massages ($7 each, I swear) and haircuts with shampoos and blow dries. When you get your hair shampooed here, it turns into another full on head and scalp and face massage. For everything, including the massages, we paid $50 for both of us. It was so nice and cheap that I’m going back today for a facial and a pedicure.
On Saturday morning we head to Montevideo and need to figure out where we will be staying and what to do and all that stuff. And that’s us!
To get into Brazil, first you have to cross a bridge at the end of a town in Paraguay called Ciudad del Este. Apparently, this is the spot for all sorts of illegal smuggling into Brazil. Stolen/illegal items pass down through Bolivia into Paraguay and over this bridge (it’s called the Friendship Bridge) into Brazil where they are distributed into Brazil and shipped to the USA. Bootleg DVDs, arms, drugs, electronics, and money make the trek over this bridge everyday with the border cops not paying much attention. Before we went, Seth showed us an article about Ciudad del Este, and it’s a good read, you can find it here.
We got to Ciudad del Este around 6am and because we were on a bus, we had to stop and go through customs (normally they waive you through). And I must say it was an interesting border stop. Chris and I had to run across six lanes of high speed traffic to get over to the office, and then run back. I always feel like I’m in the midst of an advanced level of Frogger whenever I have to cross the street in South America, but this took it to a whole new super advanced level. We only stayed at Iguazu for that one day, and took the bus back at 6pm. On the way back at the border, there was no Frogger challenge (we were on the right side of the street) but the bus decided to pull way up past the border check office. I have never clutched my passport tighter, and Chris and I kind of ran/walk past taxi drivers offering rides, past the main market for smuggling that was shut down for the evening, and past random guys selling random junk/food. It was very interesting.
As for Iguazu Falls they were very impressive and it was cool to see. We saw them through the Brazilian side and the Argentine view is supposedly better, but I still thought it was cool. You only need about an hour or two in the park, and then we decided to go to a Bird Zoo/Sanctuary place across the street. We had heard from an Australian couple that it was a good stop to make, and I’m glad we did. Besides the awful noisy Argentine tour group that was behind us for a good portion of the park (I swear, when traveling, the Argentine motto is “Scream and Throw Food At It Until It Notices You, No Matter How Long This Takes) it was very cool. We saw toucans and monkeys and giant snakes and dive bombing parrots.
There was one aviary (where you and the birds are together in a giant cage) with a ton of Macaws (giant parrots). Before we went in, we saw some of the awful Argentines getting dive bombed, the birds screaming, and one woman screaming with two parrots on her back. There are signs before you enter saying ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ and ‘Remove All Jewelry and Watches’. I don’t think this exhibit is allowed in the USA. Anyway, we went in with the intent of getting some good parrot pictures. We were the only ones in there and the parrots got very quiet and started watching us. Then, one started screaming, and the others followed with beating their wings and screaming in unison. Then, they began to take flight and Chris and I put our heads down and ran out the exit. Not very brave, but those things have talons and giant wing spans and are scary in groups. You can see all pictures
 |
| Iguazu |
After that, we had a nice cheap lunch outside the National Park and spent the remainder of the day speaking our bad broken Spanish to a group of people that actually speak Portuguese. Our bus ride back into Paraguay was on a bus without reclining seats and lots of stops and noisy people with noisy cell phones. We arrived in Asuncion before midnight and slept for about 10 hours when we reached Seth’s house. We also have some Paraguay shots, which you can see here.
Yesterday, Chris and I had our day of beauty and went to the fancy salon down the street from Seth’s house. We both had hour long massages ($7 each, I swear) and haircuts with shampoos and blow dries. When you get your hair shampooed here, it turns into another full on head and scalp and face massage. For everything, including the massages, we paid $50 for both of us. It was so nice and cheap that I’m going back today for a facial and a pedicure.
On Saturday morning we head to Montevideo and need to figure out where we will be staying and what to do and all that stuff. And that’s us!
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