Colombian Coffee Shakes

Cabo San Juan del Guia in Tayrona National Park

         Life is all about Perception ~  the way you think about or understand someone or something. Unfortunately, life's perceptions about people and places rarely uncover the truth. Colombia is a place that many people perceive to be unsafe, as it played the backdrop for one of the world's most notorious gangsters, Pablo Escobar. 

         Fortunately, for Jess and I, we had two good friends visit Colombia last year. The stories they told were quite the opposite from the U.S.'s general perception of Colombia. We too found a beautiful country rich in diverse landscapes and filled with locals eager to show you all that their country had to offer. Yes, you could still see a country seeking stability and economic identity. However, the people do not lack in flavor and personal identity. 

         We flew from Quito, Ecuador to the capital of Colombia, Bogota. When we arrived to the airport they explained you need to have proof of an exit flight/bus. Although we heard rumors of this policy, I was unable to find any hard evidence that backed this up. Again, this is a country who are adjusting to an increase in tourism, which has only been happening the last 8 years or so (based on what locals told us). After some discussing, I decided to book our flight home for April 8th, much to the disappointment of my co-pilot. There's no good time to end a trip like this, but I felt three months traveling was more than most experience. 

     After three low key days sightseeing in Bogota and a final supper with our friends from U.K., we headed to Salento in Columbia's Coffee Region. When I moved to San Francisco back in 2009, I wasn't a coffee drinker. As someone who typically had too much energy I didn't see the need/allure. However, after a year in San Francisco, I instantly transformed into a coffee snob. Although not well educated in coffee, I'm always looking for the best of the best. Salento delivers just that and finally provided me the educating that I needed to move up levels in coffee snobbery. 

        Jess isn't a coffee drinker, but was also impressed by the rolling green hills of the region and welcoming town/people. It's quite the experience to see where some of the world's best coffee that fuels America comes from. Meeting the humble people who

If Juan Valdez was real, this would be him.

run these farms is even more of an honor. As Americans, we often take for granted the things we have and don't consider the work that's done to supply our over consuming. From clothing to electronics to coffee, it all goes back to these simple people just looking to provide for their families. Moving forward, it'll be important for Americans to ask themselves, "where does this come from?" and "do I really NEED this?".

      With the help of a bus full of locals who directed us to a bus stop not clearly marked on the side of a highway, we moved onto Medellin. Once the world’s my dangerous city thanks to Pablo’s Medellin Cartel, Medellin was voted Most Innovative City by Urban Land Institute in 2013. The Metro system here is a big reason for the honor and we were able to take it to a National Park within the city limits. Pretty impressive considering where this city was just 20 years ago.

      With time ticking away, we made our way to Santa Marta, along the coast. We figured, ending our trip on the beach was the best use of our time. Colombia’s interior is impressive with plenty of options, but the both of us were born to lay on the beach, so that’s the direction we headed. Throughout our trip we had heard Taganga mentioned several times as a cool beach town to stop off at before heading to Tayrona National Park. My initial thought to this town on the coast was, “I could definitely see this place in a modern day pirate movie”.

       Once we arrived to our hostel, we found that was somewhat the case. Like most coastal towns, Taganga has attracted not only backpackers, but drifters in desperate times. He advised not hiking a certain trail that takes you to a beach right outside of town unless with a group. The beach in town looked polluted, so we opted to hike the trail during the day while a handful of people were on the trail. We found the trail covered in trash like I’ve never seen. It was extremely disappointing that we had rushed to the coast only to find a beach that while somewhat remote, was covered in garbage.

       Once again, Galapagos had set the bar too high for us and we were still experiencing the Galapagos Hangover. Thankfully, we weren’t harmed and only spent a short period of time at this beach that resembled a lake in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Looking back, it's places like Taganga that make you appreciate others. From there we booked a bus to Tayrona National Park where we planned to spend one night. It looked like a short hike to a beach and I was just excited to get out of Taganga.

       Luckily, Tayrona didn’t disappoint and after a two hour hike through the jungle, we made it to a remote beach called Cabo San Juan. After months of dragging around my tent, I was excited to set it up again and for the first time since Patagonia. We brought snacks, but were happy

Coconut Hunter

to find the restaurant served reasonably priced food and drinks. This is why I rushed to the coast and I was happy to experience my first real Caribbean beach.

        A night of humid camping later and we hiked back out to meet our bus back to Taganga. Luckily we again stayed at Hotel Casa D’mere, which was the one highlight of that shit hole of a town. The unsung heroes of this trip have been the hostel staff that have helped us along the way. They have answered thousands of our questions and often filled in the gaps we had in our plans. The guy who worked at HCD was one of the more patient we’ve come across and made us feel comfortable in a town that you otherwise wouldn’t.

Historical Cartagena

       Our final stop would be Cartagena before heading home to Connecticut. Our friends and fellow travelers had spoke highly of this historical port. We would also meet back up with Billy who has had his own adventure over the last few weeks. The bus dropped us off outside the city walls. Growing up you read about ancient cities with city walls to protect the towns/cities, but I never realized they still existed here in the Americas. This place has a lot to offer with history and architecture that reminds me a bit of New Orleans.

Playa Blanca at Night

Although on the coast, Cartagena doesn't really have desirable beaches, so we made our way to Playa Blanca by bus, ferry and motorcycle taxi. We brought our tent, but quickly found a spot that had bungalows for only $15,000 pesos(about $7.50USD). The water, like Cabo San Juan was a crystal clear blue, but the beaches weren't as remote and lacked in tranquility. Luckily we had a good crew and the beers were cold. Goes to show that it's not where you are, but the company you're with. After two days on the beach we packed onto a ferry (that reminded me I was in a 3rd world country) and slowly made our way back to Cartagena.

I planned this trip this time of year for two reasons 1.) to visit Patagonia in January 2.) to avoid the Winter back in the States. Mission Accomplished on those two fronts and if there were a way to do that every Winter, I'll definitely look to make that happen in the future. We've been to five countries and have seen the many varying landscapes of South America, but not all. The last three months have been a non-stop adventure, and it'll be good to go home and reflect on our journey with family and friends.

Thanks again for all the support and suggestions over the last 3 months from our family and friends. A special thanks to my co-pilot for putting up with my military style of marching through countries like we were on a mission from god. We've learned a lot and have definitely been humbled along the way. Hopefully our trip will inspire others to let go for a few months and go see the world we live in. It's 2014 and there's no better time to go experience the cultures that exist in/out of your home than TODAY.

Night shot from Playa Blanca

Charles Island - Ecuador

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” 
― Charles Darwin

             I'll admit that I rewrote my previous post on Peru, three times. I had so many thoughts, that it was difficult to put it into one blog post. Galapagos post is simple. Go there. I haven't traveled as much as some of my friends, but I'm not sure there's another place in the world quite like it. You're basically island hopping through a zoo/aquarium, with no cages or tanks.

           Jess threw out the idea a few weeks back and I initially shot it down knowing how expensive it is. We ran into another American in Lima and he confirmed what Jess had found through research; A.) It's an amazing place that will only get more expensive/popular. B.) There are cheaper options than just hopping on a cruise, which is mostly what you come across when researching. At this point we're pretty experienced with the tour circuit and I really wasn't looking forward to getting stuck on a boat with a bunch of tourists. People on vacation our a lot different from backpackers like ourselves. However, Jess assured me we could just do day tours, which would give us more flexibility and save us money.

          After spending a few nights in the border town of Mancora, Peru and relaxing on the beach we headed for Guayaquil, Ecuador. While at the border crossing we made friends with others crossing the border. One couple being from Sweden and the other, the U.K. We were all heading the same route and it was refreshing to share notes with people who had a similar journey behind them and ahead. The U.K. couple had actually started their journey back in January a day after us and followed an almost identical route.

View from our room at Semilla Verde.

         We spent two more nights in Guayaquil before taking off on the 13th. We landed in Baltra at an airport that was originally set up by the U.S. back during World War II. Since then, it has been the main airport for visiting tourists. Rather than stay in the popular Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island we chose to stay up in the highlands on a coffee plantation owned by a Brit called Semilla Verde. Although it was out of our normal $30/night per person budget, I wanted to stay somewhere nice for a few nights to wake up to peace and quiet. SV didn't disappoint. Every morning we woke up to birds chirping and ocean views. The breakfast was amazing and our friends we met from the U.K. joined us for two nights.

         Our first day we scoured the town of Puerto Ayora for tours. Jess had brought up scuba diving several times during our trip, but I really never gave it too much thought. Galapagos offers world class diving, and we decided to go with one of the more reputable diving companies in Scuba Iguana. It was my first time scuba diving and Jess' third, but it had been a few years for her. I know it can be a bit dangerous, but I didn't want to give it too much thought and psych myself out, like I did with skydiving a few years back.

        When our dive rolled around Saturday morning I was excited to get in the crystal clear water near North Seymour. I kept trying to block out the chatter of sharks and just focused on my gear being ready to go. Jess seemed calm as well until we hit the water. Thankfully we had a personal scuba guide who helped us every step of the way. That couldn't prevent me from nearly hyper ventilating and Jess accidentally filling up her mask with water within the first 10 minutes, which felt like an hour.

        Once I finally was able to slow my breathing we began to descend into crystal clear ocean waters with fish straight out of Finding Nemo. After a few minutes we reached the floor and let nature put on a show for about 20 minutes. I was still struggling to breath a bit, but didn't want to waste any time at the surface. At this point we were about 30-40 feet below surface and we began seeing White Tip Reef Sharks. Like most Americans who grew up on the coast, I've always been fascinated/terrified of sharks. Shark Week in my house as a kid was like the World Series, Super Bowl and NBA Championship all rolled into one.

       Seeing the first shark didn't even feel real because I was still struggling to breath. I was also trying to keep an eye on Jess and our guide. There was so much going on at once. Every direction you turned there was something new to see. We were experiencing the way things were meant to be. It was liberating. When the 12 foot Manta Ray cruised by us about 20 feet away, I felt a euphoria over my body. A few minutes later a group of hammerheads swam by as well. You could tell they saw us, but didn't care to bother with us.

        If our trip ended after that first dive, I would have been completely content. Our second dive we traveled about 30 minute to another dive spot called Daphne. We were able to see a cave filled with resting White Tip Sharks and playfully circled by a Sea Lion. We had survived our dives, but our Galapagos Adventure wasn't over yet.

       On Monday we headed over to Isabella Island by a 2 hour boat ride. I wasn't feeling so hot after swallowing some water during my initial dive. By the time we got to the island I was pretty wiped out from the 90-100 degree heat and rough boat transfer. We were also greeted with the fact that the island didn't have ATMs or a bank. Our funds were low, but we enjoyed two nights on this quiet island and did a snorkeling tour off the coast with our friends Ben and Robyn.

      Spending a week in a place so rich in wildlife is something I'll never forget. Jess is definitely the bigger animal lover out of the both of us, but this is a place for everyone. You can't help, but be impressed with how these islands have managed to stay so clean and operate so smoothly with locals, wildlife and tourists. We have obviously seen a lot over two months, but this has definitely been the highlight of our trip....so far.

      We then flew to Quito with zero plans and decided to do a tour around Cotopaxi National Park for two days. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on our side and we weren't able to fully view Cotopaxi Volcano.
We realized that day how fortunate we've been over the past two months in terms of weather. We also realized how diverse Ecuador is. One day we're diving with sharks and sea lions, a few days later we're climbing snow capped volcanoes....not a bad place to visit.
     
      Tomorrow we'll head to Bogota for the last stop of our adventure. We'll then head to the Coffee Triangle and work our way up to Medellin. From there we'll head to the coastal towns of Cartagena and Santa Marta, stopping at some beach towns along the way. Recommendations are always welcomed.

       Thanks for keeping in touch and we'll keep you posted on our Colombia Adventures!