Ships Ahoy

My time ran out in South America and her lovely sister to the north was calling, but what does one do when a land crossing between Colombia and Panama is virtually impossible and catching a flight is so 20th century? Well, the answer is to reach back a few centuries and use the transport medium that Columbus had used to cross the Atlantic…wind and sail.

It turns out that there are actually quite a few sailboats ferrying backpackers between the two countries and the trip has become a highlight for many a vagabond. The catch is that it costs US$400 and one has to research the boats carefully because some are un-seaworthy and others are captained by drunks or coke addicts or just plain mean people.

So, I made my way to Cartagena and started researching boats. After meeting a few captains and seeing the boats I came across Bob and his catamaran, Viva. Bob is an American who’s been cruising the azul waters of the Caribbean for ten years. After putting in for repairs in Cartagena and running up some debt he decided to run the backpacker gauntlet for a stint to make some money. We were his fist customers.

We (being a group of six lads whom I knew from my trek to the Cuidad Perdida) decided to go with Bob because he seemed like a decent sort…actually he’s a fun loving guy with a great sense of humor, and his boat is a spacious and beautiful one. Plus the price was right and it came with our own chef, Arnold, a wiry Colombian who never stops smiling.

We stocked up on supplies (read beer and rum) and set sail. After a thirty-five hour crossing of the open sea, during which a massive pod of dolphins swam with the boat for an hour and showed us all kinds of acrobatics, we reached the San Blas, set anchor and jumped in the crystal clear water. The thing that makes the trip a memorable one is, basically, the three days that one spends in the idyllic San Blas archipelago. Think Robinson Crusoe meets Pirates of the Caribbean. More or less, the San Blas is a series of 350 small islands mostly covered in sand and palm trees and surrounded by reefs. It even comes with its own indigenous people, the Kunas, who are one of the most organized and autonomous native groups in Central America.

We're not alcoholics......I swear


So we sucked it up and spent three days swimming, snorkeling, fishing, having bonfires on deserted beaches, pickling our livers and playing cards. Overall it was a great trip with a great captain, a great boat, wonderful food (even the lobsters that we bought from the Kuna’s which turned out to be glorified shrimp – never trust a guy whose named Celery) and splendid weather.

Now Panama….who knows what will happen next…

Finding What Was Lost...Kinda

Sweating in your sleep, waking up at dawn, walking all day in tropical heat, loosing a pint of blood per hour to the mosquitoes and sand flies, fighting through foot deep mud, avoiding the torrential downpours every afternoon, fighting strong currents as you ford a chest-deep river, passing heavily armed dudes there to ‘protect’ you from dangerous guerillas and narco-traffickers…why would anyone do these things? The answer is of course to put a bit of Indiana Jones style adventure in your mundane life. Ok, my life isn’t so mundane at the moment, but I am a big fan of types of adventure that form some sort of resemblance to self-flagellation.

I am, in the above paragraph, of course referring to the five day trek to the Cuidad Perdida (Lost City). The most famous archaeological ruins of the Tayrona people is located deep in the Sierra Nevadas de Santa Marta, a rugged tropical mountain range that falls into the Caribbean sea and hosts the two largest peaks in Colombia (5775 meters). Overall, the trek isn’t all that difficult, but one does have to conduct a fierce battle with the heat and mosquitoes and one is forced to confront the fact that not so long ago this region of the Sierra Nevadas was home to FARC as well as resembling a huge garden of either coca plants or marijuana, depending on the decade in question.


Of course the city isn’t ‘lost’ anymore…our group rediscovered it. Actually, it was found by grave robbers (there were many gold artifacts in burials) in the 70’s and is now controlled by the government but still hard as hell to get to unless you have a helicopter.

After getting my adventure and archaeological fix I’ve realized that it is time to high tail it out of Colombia…reckon I’ve overstayed my welcome. Also, I find myself traveling alone once again, comfort in solitude. So, since the border region between Panama and Colombia is one of the most dangerous places on Earth (Darien Gap: dense tropical mountains, no roads, very dangerous snakes/frogs, lots of Malaria, Guerillas with a bad attitude…etc) and a land crossing is virtually impossible I will instead go back to Cartagena and catch a sail boat to Panama via the idyllic San Blas Islands.

Now the question is only to find the right boat…i.e. find a captain that is not gonna blow the food budget on coke or booze and a boat that is hopefully seaworthy.

At Land's End

It’s been a busy week here in Colombia: a new president was sworn in, a war with Venezuela was avoided (for the moment), a car bomb exploded in the capital, a prominent politician was either executed or kidnapped in Medellin, a major airline was struck by lightning and broke into three pieces but managed to save all but one of the 121 passengers, and yours truly arrived at the Caribbean sea after ten months of snaking my way up the South American continent from Ushuaia.

THE CARIBBEAN!

I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to cover a continent from one end to the other, but now I am quite positive that it feels hot; it is a heat that is both sweaty and sticky, like a sugary popsicle melted over the counter-top. I could be sweating from the emotions of finally making it to the Caribbean, but I reckon it is just the damn weather here in Cartagena. There is no respite, twenty four hours a day of sweat….but you, kind reader, will take solace in the knowledge that I am replacing my liquids (although, I am not all that sure that ice cold Club Colombia is very hydrating).

Cartagena lives up to its reputation as a beautiful city. In many ways it is reminiscent of Havana or Santo Domingo because of the similarity in the architecture, especially the massive stone walls and fortresses constructed by the Spanish to ward off those nagging pirates, such as Francis Drake.

A typical street view in Cartagena

Aside from the inferno that they call ‘weather’ here and the architecture, there is also a similarity in the people here with the rest of the Caribbean…that being that the people here more resemble other locales in El Caribe rather than Bogotá or Medellin. MaraLuz assures me that the accents here also resemble other Caribbean Spanish accents rather than other Colombian accents…I’m taking her word on that.

Overall, Cartagena is a city of leisure…if for no other reason than that it is too hot to do anything. It encourages sidewalk cafes and a midday beer or two and boasts a varied, though expensive, cuisine. Moreover, it is said that there are some wicked beautiful islands around here to visit…but I got my eyes set on the Totumo mud volcano. What can beat a refreshing dip in a live volcano bubbling with silky mud…who needs to spend money in a day spa when you have detoxifying mud? Paradise in the form of mud!

Flower Power

Who would have thought that flowers could be so much fun! Upon arriving in Medellin a week ago, armed with the knowledge that we would be placing ourselves at the mercy of a city in the midst of its largest annual festival, I was wary of if a flower festival was worth the agony and hassle of the impossible task of finding accommodation during the weekend.

Turns out that ‘flowers’ are really just a cover and excuse to have a week long party. The city of Medellin really goes out of its way for their showcase festival: nightly free concerts in a variety of venues, amazing expositions of orchids and other flowers, a huge parade where farmers come into the city carrying an obscene quantity of flowers on their back, thousands of people looking for a good time each night and numerous other events.

Here is one poor soul with many kilos of plant reproductive power on his back

Besides me having got robbed once, Maraluz (my Peruvian traveling partner) and I have so far really enjoyed Medellin and the Flower Festival. We passed a great night out in the Zona Rosa were we encountered a group of wealthy dentists (possibly also drug lords) from Bogotá – one of the dentists decided to show off his wealth by buying a $50 bottle of rum, holding it up and tipping it upside down so that everyone could fill their cups. I reckon he went through seven or eight bottles like that while the rest of us drank merrily and danced to the local street Vallañato music. Hell, there was so much free booze going around, half of it ended up either on the ground or being thrown into the air. Such alcohol abuse!

Also of note was our outing to the parade on the last day of the fair. We went with a Kiwi that I had met previously in Cuzco, a guy with a very unusual but strong sense of humor. While in Chile he had hand made a ‘party suit’ out of lycra, or some other skin tight material, and decided that this was a perfect opportunity to sport it. So, while we two ‘square’ persons walked around a very crowded street waiting for the parade, Kiwi Scott entertained the locals in his costume while employing movements reminiscent of Jonny Depp’s character in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas while on a combination of LSD, coke, and a number of other uppers and downers. It was truly a priceless moment just to watch the locals…they didn’t know what to make of Scott: is he on drugs, is he insane, does he want money??? Some people just stared, children were terrified, others wanted photos, but the majority simply smiled with glee at the sight of what appeared to be a truly insane person who enjoys entertaining.

Kiwi Scott in his element

Now that the Flower Festival is over, we have a chance to enjoy the City of Eternal Spring as it resumes a bit of its tranquility. Not sure what exactly the day with bring, perhaps a bit of reading in the sun, a stroll downtown to have a coffee with friends, and certainly a beer or two on a terrace – this kind of stressful life is what is making me go prematurely gray.

I have also decided to officially submit my status as towards Colombia as ‘unimpeachable and undying love’.

Parents and Administration

Colombia is an enigmatic country; it finds itself on the cusp of newly acquired affluence, a growing middle class, increased security and yet struggles with a violent reputation around the world, a reduced but continuing and ever present guerilla insurgency, and interregional conflicts with neighbors - then there is the drug trade which is like a parasitic tumor on Colombian society. All this, along with amazing natural beauty and diversity and an almost-too-nice populace combines to make Colombia a place unequalled (for better or worse) in South America.

Fortunately, I was able to share a small part of the enigma with my parents. Unfortunately, with the time limits and distances between places of interest we didn’t make it that far a field. Still, after Bogotá we found ourselves in Villa de Leyva – a classic colonial town – and happened to arrive in the middle of a large local week-long festival followed by the 200th anniversary of Colombian independence. Both turned out to be semi-bizarre celebrations. Probably the highlight for me was fossicking in the arid regions around town and scoring a handful of ammonite fossils. We ended our little family reunion with a visit to a massive Catholic cathedral carved out of a gigantic salt mine – bloody thing even included all the Stations of the Cross.

In Villa de Leyva with a Colombian couple we met

So, here I am ensconced in this enigmatic country…and I have to say that I am fully enjoying it at the moment. Still abiding in Bogotá, I have begun a somewhat administrative period of my travels. I’m in the process of half-heartingly applying for English language teaching jobs (I wouldn’t mind staying here to work, but not sure I want to commit to a year…plus I’m inherently lazy) while also (more seriously) putting some applications together for jobs in the States. When all is said and done I guess I’m not crazy about living in Bogotá, so I reckon I’ll find myself on a bus to Medellin sometime this week, hopefully traveling with a Peruvian girl that I met here in Bogotá. Maybe the city of ‘eternal spring’ will show me another side to this enigma.

Colombianismo

After possibly crossing my last border here in South America I now find myself in Colombia…land of guerillas, cocaine, salsa and plastic surgery (also a lot more, I'm just trying to catch your attention. Did it work?). In fact, Cali – where I am right now – is not only the salsa capital of SA (and possibly the world) but also renowned as hosting the populace whom goes under the knife most often…incredibly even more than LA. Unbelievable. Actually, it was believable after walking around the mall today and having to duck and weave to avoid all the fake boobs poking out of the blouses!

I passed through Ecuador relatively quickly, partly from time worries, but also because I just didn’t posses the gumption to go vagabond style. I did however spend a wonderful week in Quito with my exchange brother Andy. After not seeing Andy for 12 or 13 years it was slightly surreal to hang out with him…especially because all my memories of him are from a fourteen year-old’s perspective. Now, as adults, our interactions were slightly different and much more enjoyable. Also great was meeting his lovely new wife, staying with his parents in luxurious comfort (it was a true break from the road), and while waiting to see Andy’s band catching a police chase & capture involving both gunshots and pepper spray…it was a choice night.


So…Colombia, huh. Not far to go now to the Caribbean….one endless road trip from the meeting of the stormy Atlantic and Pacific oceans, north, all the way to the calm Caribbean sea. Still, I have to make one last push to get there and in the mean time there is heaps to see and parents to meet (hopefully they make it this time). So, after a spot of salsa here in Cali it’s off to the Zona Cafeteria to soak in some aromatic java and then to Bogotá to meet the parents and, because the people are so damn nice here in Colombia, possibly look for a job teaching English.

Invalid Accounts

Dear blog. I´m sure you´ve been on the edge of your seat waiting to hear of exciting Ecuadorian exploits....well, the wait will have to continue. I did spend a great four days on a farm in Vilcabamba with some fascinating people who are trying to change the world...but the more recent truth is that I have been basically out of action for the past week with serious back and neck pain culminating in excrutiating migranes. I´m not even sure how it came about in full...all I know is that I am sick and bloody tired of being an invalid. At least there are football matches to pass the time.

So, I´m heading to Quito tomorrow to visit with my ´long lost Ecuadorian brother´ Andrés, who I haven´t seen in twelve years or so...and possibly a visit to the hospital. Yipee and boo hoo.