Colombia

When people think Colombia, most of them think drugs, FARC, guns and fighting groups of armed men. Although partly true, Colombia is not a country to forget and skipped while in South-America. The last couple of years great advancements have been achieved in suppressing drug traffic, fighting guerrilla groups and creating a safe environment for the Colombian people. Colombia is heavily traveled by backpackers and especially the Caribbean is packed with rich Western people coming to enjoy beautiful cities, country side and white beaches with palm trees.

Bogotá is the best city in the northern part of South-America. My personal top 3 would be: Rio de Janiero, Buenos Aires and Bogotá (not specifically in that order). Bogotá is a cold expensive city with great sightseeing, magnificent views, many neighborhoods (both rich and poor) and great night life. A new brilliant bus system, acting as a tram, takes you everywhere within minutes. No trace of being in a destroyed chaotic country as people often see it, but instead in a modern metropolis, we went from modern supermarket to shopping mall to fancy restaurant to classy neighborhood to expensive bars and clubs. After watching the new Batman in a state of the art cinema, with a big bag of popcorn in front of me, of course. Bogotá could be a city in any western country around the world, if you could scrap off its beggers and impoverished barrios.

Next on the trip lay, according to many traveler books, one of the top 10 beaches in the world: Tayrona National Park. An hour speedboat ride away, we landed on the most white beach that I have seen in my life, guarded over by palm trees and crabs diving sideways into their holes into the big grained white silvery sand. Only pictures can describe the beautiness flourished by these beaches. Sleeping less than a rock throw away from the Caribbean sea in a hammock for 2 nights, eating chips and fish on the beach and swimming was a utopia. The water was warm, as warm as heated shower water, and clear with visibility reaching over 20 feet. Snorkeling with borrowed goggles I saw rainbow colored fish swimming less than one meter away.

Cartagena was the next stop. An old city enveloped by a centuries old wall build by the Spaniards to defend against pirate attacks, it has a historic center outmatching any other city on this great continent. The best thing to do here is wander around and just let the city impress you. Which it easily does. Churches, a 8 km enforced long stone wall with canons standing ready as if the pirate could come back any day, old theater buildings, high rising clocks and lovely plazas all as picturesque as if it was the first thing you saw of Cartagena. The horses and their carriage ride trough the city with couples fallen in love, galloping over cobblestones layed in the streets.

A boat trip away are coral reefs. We were guided by dolphins swimming in front of the stern of the ship. Just over 2 meter deep in the water, snorkeling equipment meet the requirements to embrace a beautiful world never witnessed by me. More fish than I have ever seen before, totally undisturbed by human interference they swim everywhere. In all the colors you see them on tv or in aquariums, here they where in nature swimming and eating along yellowish coral reefs. Blue, green, gray, purple rainbow colored fish swim right next to you legs, sometimes scratching you with their fins. I might do this trip again, because it might be a while before I have this change again.

What other surprises might Colombia have for me?

ben jij nu al in het paradijs?????????

Great pictures!

we have our hammock it self.now the good weather!

goed nog naar je zin zo te horen.. mooi..
al plannen voor een terugkeer? en van waar?
ik vlieg weer terug naar nederland 26 september, sao paulo..

Terug, terug? Wil jij niet zo'n vieze woorden gebruiken!

Ciao Paulo!
... :P