I've just put a pretty adventurous week behind me, and have loved it all. I swam under waterfalls, soared high above the coffee plantations in Colombia, hiked miles through the jungle and had my first experience with hammock camping. Most importantly, I've made it to the Caribbean and swam in it's gorgeous blue waters.
I had my first jungle trek on my first full day in San Gil. Some new friends and I took a crazy bus ride about 30 minutes out of town and hiked through the forest to find our swimming hole under a 240 meter waterfall. I'm a sucker for waterfalls, and I've seen some great ones, but this was spectacular. After scurrying over rocks and climbing ropes and ladders, we had only made it halfway up the falls, but found a deep pool that we were all eager to jump in. The water was freezing, but when else were we going to have the opportunity to swim under some Colombian falls? So we all jumped in, had a great lunch and en joyed the perfect rainbow that soared over our heads on the walk out. It was a day made of perfection.
I had allowed myself just one paid adventure activity in San Gil, and for some crazy reason, I decided that paragliding was my thing. Anyone out there knows how afraid of flying I am, so what I was thinking jumping off a cliff is beyond me! It was, by far, the most terrifying experience I have ever had....and I will never do it again...but I'm glad I can say I did it just once. Me and two other guys from the hostel all took a van out to the top of a mountain (a small one, but bigger than a hill) out in the middle of farmland. The view was stunning from where we stood, so the parachute wasn't really necessary, but I volunteered to go first anyway.
This kid (he couldn't have been more than 21) took me up in the air and whipped me around for about thirty minutes! The view was awesome, but the fact that I thought I was going to die at any second overshadowed a lot of it. I was shaking the entire time but managed to get some decent photos. The winds were really rough that day, so we had to make three attempts at landing, and when we got to solid ground I silently told myself that I would stay where humans belong for good. It was not all bad though...there were a couple of moments that I did relax and enjoyed flying high above Colombia. It is a view that most people will never have, so I am thankful that I was able to do it (and yes, this was on Thanksgiving as well).
So after my final flight without an airplane, I ended up going to dinner with a bunch of people that I had met earlier. It turns out that a bunch of them were taking the overnight bus to Santa Marta the next day. I had planned on staying in San Gil longer, but one thing I've learned is that when you meet cool people traveling, and you're all heading the same way, it's best to just be flexible and follow along. Thirteen hour bus rides are always better with company. So I booked my bus to the Caribbean the next day.
The bus ride was FREEZING! I had heard rumor of refrigerated buses in Colombia, but didn't believe it until I stepped on the bus to Santa Marta. Seriously, people were wearing hats and gloves! It's is crazy hot here, but there is no need for air conditioning that strong. Thank goodness I'd 'come prepared...and they allowed us to get off and thaw out around 2:30 in the morning. Other than that, the ride was smooth and I was able to sleep...when I wasn't shivering.
We arrived in Santa Marta and I learned the true definition of humidity. I have always loved hot, sticky weather, but this is intense. There was a nice sea breeze coming into the hostel (only four blocks from the beach) but I still ended up splurging on a room with A/C...which for me is off the hook, but I'm glad I did it.
The plan from Santa Marta was the Parque Nacional Tayrona to use my beloved travel hammock. I joined in on a fiesta in the hostel the first night and woke my crew early the next day to take off for the park. After much difficulty, we were able to find the bus that got us to the park entrance in about an hour. I had spoken to people about this earlier and was prepared for the 10km hike through the jungle to get to the campsite, but I wasn't quite ready for the water that the forest can hold. Within ten minutes, we were drenched. The hike wasn't hard, the first 4km was on paved road, and not that hot either, just really, really humid...I guess that's the jungle. It was gorgeously green though, and I got to see monkeys! I've been dying to see some since I turned around at the Bolivian border and within the first hour at Tayrona they were playing above my head! So cute and so agile, I wanted to take one home with me.
We hiked into the beach at Cabo and found our home for the next four days and three nights. I got to break out not only my travel hammock, but also my mosquito net that hasn't been opened since I purchased it for Panama last year. (And might I add, it was well needed...the bugs out there were crazy and immune to repellant!) We had a great group of us camping out there. The people always really make trips like these, and although it's not the same as my friends from home, I felt like I'd known them for ages. There were about six of us, sometimes more, that played cards and swam; we took a hike yesterday out to some ruins in the forest and explored the areas around the campsite. (I saw a snake and didn't freak out! So proud of myself for that one.) The weather held out for us and the sea was the perfect relief from the heat. Four of us ended up hiking out together this morning and all came back to the hostel in Santa Marta together.
Two girls I met in Peru have actually ended up at my hostel this evening, so life just through me another loop of fun. They are heading to Panama by boat next week, so I have some decisions to make very soon as to how I'm going to head north. One of the girls I've been with since San Gil is still here and I think we have the same travel plans for the next week, so it seems I won't be traveling alone again anytime soon.
We just got back from the grocery store, which proved to be the most stressful thing I've done in the past few weeks. Seriously, just people everywhere and impossible to find anything....I've stocked up now and am glad that I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I've got some research to do this evening as I think I'm going to leave Santa Marta tomorrow. I need to know where to go and how to get there, but the options just seem endless. The South America portion of my trip is more than halfway over. It's time to fit everything in before braving the USA for the holidays.
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