Manizales, Colombia

5-29-09

After crepes and a bottle of wine we kicked off our first night in Manizales at a club- where we shared a little table with our little bottle of potent anis flavored Aguardiente. We smiled as friendly Colombians came over to chat with us and offer timbal lessons, which none of us completly succeeded in tapping with just enough emotion. Then we gaped at the dancers, as even the chubby men swayed just perfectly to the music. I think dancing is something you are born with in this country.

The highlight for us was when the police stormed the place, shut down the music and made the men gather in the middle of the dance floor to be searched. Elodie and I could not stop laughing (maybe it was the aguardiente) and had to bite our lips because we could see by the looks the police were giving us, this was not a laughing matter. It was just too stereotypial Colombia to be taken seriously. When the police felt they had installed enough fear, they stormed out and the party resumed within seconds, as if nothing had happened. Alrighty then.

The next day we took off in taxi, bus and another bus to Guayabal where we wanted to tour a coffee hacienda. It turned out to be a fantastic tour- well organized and we learned about Colombian methods of growing. It is a beautiful hacienda and well worth the entire trip to Manizales. http://www.haciendaguayabal.com/

After the tour, they served us an elegant lunch in the main house and we chatted about Presidente Uribe and the FARC with a Colombiano in our group.

In the past 7 years Colombia has just opened up to tourism. It is because of Uribes strict security measures that tourists can even be in the country. Colombianos themselves were not safe traveling before then. It is apparent in Manizales, a wonderful place to visit, that they are just getting set up for tourism. Taxi drivers do not even know where the only 2 hostels in the city are located.

Our last day was spent in combat playing paintball in the local park. That night we taxied it up to a thermal bath and enjoyed our last night with Elodie and Paul.

The next day it was back to Bogota to check out the Botero museum and then off to Villa de Leyba, making our way north to the carribean coast.

Bogota, Colombia

5-27-09

We arrived at dusk, with dimming views of the cordillera oriental that borders the immense city of Bogota.

Our friends who we traveled with in Uyuni, Bolivia were also in Bogota (pure universal coincidence), we met up and decided to leave the next night with them to the cafetera region. But that still left one full day to explore Bogota.

The four of us wandered around la Candelaria and historic Bogota, passing through the immense Plaza Bolivar, the catedral and around the Presidential Palace. We were stoped various times by military police who had a look in our bags. There were parts of the sidewalk you could not walk on. As we passed the gates where cars shuttle through, we witnessed a car being inspected. They had mirrors to look under the car and 2 dogs circled the car- I was too intimidated to take a picture, it was unreal to me. It was suffucating to be around so many military police with arms tightly around cold machine guns.

After lunch at the famous fast food restauraunt, El Corral (yes, better than McDonalds), we took the Teleferico up to Monserrate and breathed in amazing views of Bogota.

It was fun to be with friends again- after seeing strangers day after day. That night we climbed into our first Colombian bus and headed off on our 8 hour journey to Manizales.

What have we been up to the past month?

Apologies, fell off the grid for a month. We made our way from northern Peru, back down to the south and up to Colombia, all in a span of 2 weeks.

After our 4 days in the jungle, we returned to the city of Iquitos for a few days where we relaxed, ate some good food and made new friends. We returned to the jungle a few days later to stay with a shaman at a healing center. It was here we drank a medicinal plant called Ayahuasca:

Ayahuasca is considered by many of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon to be the Mother of All Medicines. The medicine reaches deep into the body’s systems and cleanses and energizes. It often provides a powerful kinesthetic and visionary journey and opens the mind and body to information pertinent to your life awareness. Most come away with a life altering experience.

It was a life altering experience and a deeply personal one. Please let Greg or I know if you want to know more, we are happy to share our personal adventure. Picture with the shamans at the Refugio del Altiplano

Arriving back in Iquitos after another 3 days in the jungle, we flew to Tarapoto, northern Peru. (The only way out of Iquitos is on a plane or a boat). In Tarapoto we learned that Gregs grandmother was very ill and was in the hospital. We decided to cancel our final leg of Peru, which would have us far away from secure internet and phone connections. We left the next day for Lima.

Over the next couple days, staying in close contact with Lille, we found that Gregs Mamy was improving and sent back home. Also during this time, I found out that my grandmother was also in the hospital. By the end of the week, to our great relief, both our grandmothers were back at home and recovering.

We are grateful.

Since we were by an international airport and wanted to stay out of rural Peru - we pushed up our arrival to Colombia. Next stop, Bogota.

C'est le Pérou

Je suis bien content d'avoir visité le Perou. C'est magnifique, les paysages sont très divers, les gens sont sympathiques, la cuisine est très bonne.

Cuzco est une belle ville, même si c'est aussi le ghetto des touristes. Le chemin de l'Inca et le Machu Pichu etait fantastique. Je considérais que la visite du Machu Pichu etait l'un des grands moment du voyage et je n'ai pas été déçu.

On a vu les lignes de Nazca. Ces lignes représentent des formes qui ne peuvent être vu que du ciel. La civilisation pre-Inca qui a dessiné ces lignes, n'avait évidemment pas d'avion, ce n'était donc pas pour leur plaisir, mais pour celui des Dieux.

L'oasis dans le désert près de Ica. On a fait du surf dans le sable. Un mec complètement taré nous a conduit dans son buggy a fond la caisse dans le désert. Excellent!

L'experience de la jungle a Iquitos etait grandiose. On a vu plein de d'animaux, j'ai grimpe le long des lianes, conduit la barque a moteur dans la jungle inondee, nagé au milieu des serpents et autres anacondas, bataillé avec des singes a tete rouge.

On a passe 2 jours avec un Shaman en plein milieu de la jungle. La, on a rencontré l'esprit de la foret, et il nous a raconté plein de choses qu'on ne peut pas répéter.

Je me disais que j'allais péter les plombs a cause des moustiques dans la jungle, en fait, c'est pas ca le probleme, c'est les mouches prehistoriques qui piquent, elles s'en foutent de la creme anti-insecte qui tue.

Iquitos, Peru

5-10-09

Getting off the plane and right into a taxi..........we were bombarded with mototaxis, motorcycles, scooters, open air buses. We seemed to be the only car on the road. And actually, that was our only car ride in Iquitos.

Our taxi driver immediatly funneled us into a jungle lodge sales trap. That was fun. We barely had time to get settled into our room before 3 men arrived downstairs to talk to us about their fabulous jungle lodge, and weren´t we lucky, the boss was there himself. Greg and I rolled our eyes as he offered to take us to his office but our grimaces turned to grins as he offered up his motorcycle as a means to get there.

Greg grabbed the bike (and me) and off we went into a sea of motorcycles and mototaxis, with no helmet and flipflops (sorry Dad!). It was really fun, although the ride lasted about 6 minutes.

After some negotiating we decided to go with this guy to his jugle lodge (not always the best move to pick the first giy who comes along). But the price was good and we would have our own guide.

We ate lunch at an american expats´ restaurant, fried aligator and BBQ ribs (he came from Texas 30 years ago for the oil in the region). After lunch we wandered through the dead streets as it was Sunday and Mothers Day, everything was closed. It didnt matter though, the jungle was already relaxing us.

The next day we were surprised to find 3 Peruvians arrive on time to take us to the lodge. We had to travel by car for 1 hour and then by boat for 1 hour to arrive. We took off with our guide, Mike (or May as they say) and arrived for lunch at the lodge.

After lunch we took off on our first adventure, and everyday we had amazing expereinces! A few of the highlights were:

- Holding a sloth

- Iguana spotting
- Pirahna fishing
- Monkeys on our boats
- Swimming in the amazon with pink dolphins
- Climbing tarzan trees
- Taratulas
- Ant watching
- Putting out hands in a termite nest, they are a natural mosquito repellent

The scenery is wonderful, the cloud breathtaking and the noises enchanting. The smells take you away and gliding over the glassy water offers peace and tranquility. The night sounds lull you to sleep and the rain cools the air. La selva es magica.

The jungle is truly a special place and not as scary as one thinks. There is a reality to it all and nothing like the movies.

Lima

5-6-09

¨What a mess¨, was all we thought entering the city from the south. There was traffic, smog, pressing amounts of noise and brown seemed to be the reoccuring color.

We were arriving from Hucachina, a small desert oasis, where we spent a few blissful days relaxing in the sun, enjoying a rollercoasterish dune buggy ride, sandboarding and hanging out with new friends.

Lima promised find gourmet food- all travelers we have met say Lima is where it is at for food in South America.

After we found a place to drop the backpacks, we took a taxi to find some sushi. It was expensive and disspointing, so we had a sandwich after. =)

Lima is a hige city and the wealthy areas look stragely like Los Angeles, old LA that is. I kept tripping out over how much it was like the US. There was even a Whole Foods type store, which we wandered around in just looking. Since we were covered by a thick gloomy fog, we spent our time eating, sleeping, walking and we watched the new Star Trek in the theatre. It was not our most exotic stop thusfar.

But I did get to eat good sushi! Twice=)

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