This was an interesting journey to say the least. We left Jardin at 8am on a very old bus and spent the next 4 hours driving through beautiful scenery but over very bumpy country roads. We stopped briefly for the use of toilets at what seemed like a little farm.

It was a quick turnaround in Riosucio with just enough time to buy tickets for the next bus to Pereira. This second bus was much more comfortable and the roads much smoother but a couple of hours into the journey we got stuck in a massive traffic jam – which seemed to go on forever (about an hour), i think some bridge was down. And with no aircon it was quite hot and sticky. However, the local entertainment kicked in with a couple of buskers jumping on the bus and singing to us.

The transfer at Pereira went smoothly and I chatted with two brothers from Buffalo, NY over a beer. This last bus journey to Salento.took about an hour, so all in all I was travelling for around 11 hours today.

I booked into my hostel and I seem to have a whole 5 bed dorm to myself. I met up with Bob and Peter again and we had some delicious trout for dinner and a nice long chat over some Colombian coffee – mine had some amoretto in it.

Weather was a mixture of sunshine and showers.

Today was an early start so I just grabbed a quick breakfast of cereal at the hostel before setting off.

At the meeting point I met my fellow travellers, from Colombia, Germany, Guatemala and America. We took a jeep ride over dirt roads for around 40 minutes and then hiked to a lovely place in the middle of nowhere that served up some delicious Colombian snacks along with a mixed sugar cane and coffee drink – very sweet.

The weather wasn’t great- the first time it’s rained since I’ve been here, but the views were still pretty amazing.

After snacks we trekked down to the waterfall, it was a bit slippery underfoot but we all made it ok.

The waterfall coming through the cave was amazing – to get a better view I jumped in and swam under the hole in the cave. The water was freezing so I didn’t stay in for long.

After a bit of time to dry off – I’d forgotten to take a towel – we then hiked back, stopping for more snacks on the way.

I had a pretty chilled afternoon in the hammock at the hostel, reading and chatting to some of the other guests.

I made a delicious prawn salad tonight – the pet cat ended up having a prawn too.

Tomorrow is another early start as the journey to Salento is via 3 different buses and will take at least 10 hours.

I left Medellin early this morning to catch the bus to Jardin. It was a minibus (around 12 people) and I got to sit up front with the French lady I met at the bus station, Bridgete, who was also travelling on her own.

The route to Jardin was really scenic but also a little scary as there had been several landslides along the way and at one point literally half the road was gone! Luckily we had a good driver, who was also lovely and shared his oranges with us.

Jardin itself is a beautiful town with a gorgeous ‘minor basillica’.

I decided to walk from the bus station to my hostel – not realising it was mainly an uphill 20 minute walk – which felt longer with both my rucksacks! But the hostel is in such beautiful surroundings it’s worth the walk.

I then decided to trek over to the Jardin Crista del Rey. I took a unique route that took me through some fields where I had to avoid the barbed wire and electric fencing- but eventually I got back on the right path.

I then wandered back into town where I met a guy, Marcus from Germany, in the town square – we chatted for a bit and then decided it was time for a beer.

I then booked my trip to the ‘splendid cave’ tomorrow, before having an earlyish dinner at Cafe Europa. This is an amazing little restaurant where they literally cook everything from scratch after you order it.

I didn’t time it very well though as I had to walk back to the hostel in the dark but it was actually quite tranquil and I saw a lot of fireflies. The hostel has a pet dog and cat so I’m loving it.

And a tiny bat has just flown past me and made itself at home in the roof above the sofa.

We had quite a relaxing morning, I packed my bags with all my nice clean clothes, and then we headed into Medellin in one of the local mini buses. We dropped my bags at Hector’s mum’s house and then took the metro to the start of the cable car in San Javier. We took the cable car up to La Aurora and then back down again. It was so interesting and you could really see the difference between the poorer and richer areas of Medellin, and also how the city is spreading out into the hills. We stopped for a drink outside the modern art museum and in the early evening we wandered through the Ciudad de Rio park and looked at all the street stalls. I tried my first Michelada – lime juice, beer, salt around the top of the glass and fruit (Mango) inside that you eat. It was really nice. The moon was really bright too – the lunar eclipse was earlier in the morning and you couldn’t see it in Medellin as it was already below the horizon when the eclipse happened.

If anyone is ever travelling to Medellin I would highly recommend a day in Guatape – it’s one of the prettiest towns I’ve ever visited. We started the day with an interesting breakfast of cheese, arepa and hot chocolate – you actually dip the cheese into the chocolate!

That set us up nicely for the climb up the rock. They say it’s formed from volcanic rock but another theory is that it’s the remains of a meteorite.

After 675 steps we made it to the top and the views were stunning.

And from the rock we headed into Guatape itself and just wandered around the courful streets and visited the church. There were a couple of places for sale but they weren’t cheap – not far off Surrey prices.

We had some delicious grilled trout in garlic whilst we were there too. In the evening we popped to Hector’s aunt so I could do my washing and then just had a little wander in the evening around the Rionegro area, where Hector lives, and stopped off for a quick beer.

Weather is still lovely – but not quite as hot as in the North, which is actually quite nice as we’re doing a lot of walking around.

Today I flew to Medellin from Santa Marta, luckily a direct flight. Unfortunately I hadn’t printed out my boarding pass so was charged for that at the airport – something to remember for future flights.

Hector picked me up from the airport and I dumped my bags at his gorgeous new flat before we headed off to explore Medellin.

We travelled into the city via the ‘forgotten road which was a really scenic route. I was really impressed with the city and the public transport was fantastic which made it very easy to get around. We saw the cemetary, the Basillica, the old town hall, a couple of other amazing churches, some great parks and visited a number of different areas including Poblado. We had some delicious food (Arepas for lunch in Bueonas Aires and steak for dinner in El Poblado) as well as a couple of beers along the way. We stayed the night in the Laurales area which is one of the nicer areas of town. So far I’m really liking this city – there is so much history and a complete mixture of new and old.

Today Onur and I went to Playa Blanca and just spent the day relaxing on the beach with an occasional dip in the sea – which was at just the right temperature to cool off. We went to Playa Blanca near Rodadero. It was pretty busy being a sunday – mainly Colombian families and just a few tourists.

In my dorm at the hostel I met a young girl, Ledania, who does graffiti in Colombia and all over the world. Her art is amazing. She did one in the hostel as well

So later we’ll go out for a bit of food. We’ve found a lovely little street that is full of a variety of different restaurants (Carrera 3) and then tomorrow I’m off to Medellin – where unfortunately it’s not quite as warm as here.

So we were supposed to leave the hostel at 7am as the hostel had arranged for a bus to come and pick us up and take us to the park. But being on Colombian time I was thinking around 730. But the bus had a puncture and in the end we didn’t end up leaving until around 830am – the bonus was that we managed to have the inclusive breakfast before we left. The taxi to the park took around an hour and even though we’d reserved our tickets online there was still a bit of a queue to get in. But once we were in the first thing we heard were howler monkeys. I’d heard these before in Costa Rica but had never seen one – but this time I actually saw a couple of them. The walk through the park was amazing- everything was so green and the beaches were gorgeous.

It took us about 2 hours to get to Cabo san Juan beach where I was going to be spending the night. First thing we did was swim in the sea which was lovely and refreshing after the sweaty walk.

We managed to meet up with the guys from the other hostel (Melissa, Michelle, Florian and Heiko) but they all had to leave around 3pm to get out of the park before it shut at 5pm. Luckily I met another girl, Hanna, who was staying the night too. We watched the sunset with a beer – it was a bit cloudy so it wasn’t the best but still pretty beautiful. We had dinner at the only restaurant at the camp site and met up with a couple of other girls from England and Colombia. It’s great getting tips from everyone as you travel round. Sleeping in the hammock was an interesting experience. It was a pretty windy night so was a bit colder than I was expecting so I hardly slept at all despite the hammock being really comfortable. But it meant I was awake to see the sunrise from the viewing point. We decided to do the walk to Pueblito to see the ruins and indigenous village and then out of the park via Calabazo. To be honest I had no idea how difficult this trek was and we had to scramble over rocks and climb a huge amount of steps- but it was definitely worth it. I had to get the local bus back to Santa Marta where the air con was open windows and for most of the journey I was standing as the bus was packed with the conductor literally hanging out of the door! After the most needed shower it was off for some pizza with Elissa and Onur before heading to a rooftop bar for a few rum and cokes and a bit of salsa dancing! Am looking forward to a lovely sleep and a relaxing day on the beach tomorrow

After walking round the old town of Cartagena and then walking over the walls of the city in 32 degrees heat yesterday I was pretty knackered. So I tried to have a little kip but didn’t really sleep.

Around 5pm I set out to cafe del Mar which is THE place to watch the sunset over the ocean – all the tourists go there. But despite being quite full, and the drinks being expensive for Colombia, it is definitely worth it.

For dinner I just walked down Carerra 10 in the Getsemani area, stopped for a bit of people watching at Trinidad square and then had a delicious traditional meal at Viva restaurant. The food was delicious and cheap.

After a quick rum at the Hostel bar I was in bed by 1030pm which meant I woke up nice and refreshed this morning, ready for my trip to Santa Marta.

By the way, I would definitely recommend El Arsenal Hostel- it has really good, clean facilities, a small pool and the staff are really helpful (and they speak English).

I got the bus to Santa Marta which took around four hours. Luckily it had air con and I managed to have a little sleep. The leg room left something to be desired. My new friends Elissa and Onur were on the bus too.

We checked into the hostel in Santa Marta and then went to get some food with a couple of Canadian girls too. I had some delicious seafood.

And after a couple of beers I’m going to have an earlyish night as a few of us ate heading to Parque Tayrona tomorrow and it’s an early start.

Loving Colombia so far!

The flights went smoothly, the food was pretty good and my luggage arrived at the same airport as me.

I arrived very early this morning so made the most of it and took a free walking tour around Cartagena – which I highly recommend. This is a beautiful city – lots of old colonial buildings and still surrounded by an old fortress wall.

It’s been invaded lots of times and once by Francis Drake who destroyed quite a few of the buildings before he left. It has a pirate history too.

The weather is amazing – currently around 32 with beautiful blue skies. Luckily my hostel has a small swimming pool to cool off in. I’ve tried some of the local food – Arueppe (or spelt something like that) which was corn bread with beef and egg inside and then fried- pretty good.

May go and watch the sunset later and grab a beer or two.

Life is good