July 9-10 - Salento, Colombia

We arrive in Salento after an overnight bus to Bogota, followed by a 7 hour bus right to Armania and another hour long ride to Salento. The girl I was travelling with really wanted to see it and it sounded interesting so that's why I decided to go. We found a hostel and went out for some food and tried to decide what to so the next day. There were bikes available for rent but they were faily expensive so we decided the next we would go for a walk/hike in a nearby park.
We got up early the next morning and headed out for the hike. We only walked for about 3 hours in total but it was really beautiful. A really friendly dog decided to join us at the beginning and escorted as the entire way there and back. There were also some weird palm trees that were suppose to be exclusive to the area.  After the hike we returned back to town and wandered around. There were plenty of local artist and artisans that had shops along one of the streets. At the end of the street theres was a really cool view point which we climbed up to. We got back to our hostel around 5 pm and grabbed our stuff to head out. It was a nice break from the busy schedule that we had been on with all the tours. It was quiet with gorgeous surroundings and had awesome coffee and desserts. I was definetely happy I had a chance to see it.

July 5-8 - San Gil, Colombia

San Gil

We arrived in San Gil at around 11am and headed for a hostel someone had recommended to us. We checked in and I headed straight for the pool which overlooked part of the city. All of the buildings in San Gil were white plaster with red clay tile roofs. It's high up in the mountains so the climate was a little cooler than the other places we had been in Colombia and it was a nice change. Later that afternoon, we wandered around the city a little looking for rafting companies to book white water rafting with for the next morning and ended up booking it through the hostel. That same night we went out to a watch a game called Tejo. It's kind of like horseshoes, except you throw rocks at a sac of gunpowder that explodes if you hit it. It's a very popular game here, and was interesting to watch.

After rafting

The next morning we went out around 9:30 am and took a 2 hour bus ride to the river. The guides gave us about a 30 minute safety talk before to explain what to do in case anyone fell out. In actually came in handy as I fell out on the second set of rapids, and then our entire raft flipped over on the 4th set of rapids. It was a little scary but everyone remembered what to do and within minutes we were all safely in our own raft again. The whole thing was a lot of fun although I was a little beat up by the end of it.
We went out that night to drink on a corner of the square in front of our hostel. It's a popular drinking spot in San Gil and there was a bar and liquor store on the corner that everyone hangs out around. After that we went to a local bar that was below a gas station. The drinks were so expensive though that we ended up getting a few beers from the gas station above, sitting outside of it and drinking with some locals.

View while paragliding

The next day I went with two other girls to a colonial town called Barichara. It was small and we were able to wander around it in about an hour but had an amazing view and fresh empanadas. We then walked for about an hour and a half down a cobblestone stone built in 1867 to another small colonial town called Guane. We hung around in the central park, had a few more fresh empanadas and tried Chicha, a traditional corn based alcohol that was common with the Incas. The Chicha was disgusting and the town was cute. We caught the bus back to town and took a night off and watched a movie.
One of the other girls and myself decided to leave the next day as I had to be in Quito by the 12th. We packed up our stuff and checked out but were able to leave our stuff at the hostel for the day. We decided to take the night bus which left at 10 pm so we still had a another full day in San Gil. So another friend and I decided that we wanted to try the paragliding. Unfortunately I had it in my head that paragliding was handgliding, so when I arrived at the spot and saw parachutes I was a little dissapointed. It was still fun and I got some great photos but it wasn't exactly the thrill I was hoping for.
When we got back I had dinner and got ready to leave. We left the hostel around 9:30 and had to say goodbye to the group that we had been traveling with since the 17th of June. It was kinda sad. We had had so many good times together and they were such a great group of people. We arrived at the bus station, hoped on a bus immediately and started on our first 7 hour bus ride to Bogota followed by another 10 hours of buses to our next destination: Salento.

June 30-July 4 - Taganga, Colombia

Beach in Taganga

After the trek 4 of us decided to grab some groceries and head straight to another town about 30 minutes away from Santa Marta called Taganga. It was suppose to be a cute little beach town with pretty beaches. When we got there it was evening. We checked into a hostel that was suppose to have a really good chef at the restaurant there, ditched our stuff and made banana splits for dinner. We met up with two of the girls from the boat that didn't come with us on the trek and had a few drinks and went out.
The next day we were all nursing hangovers. We hung around the hostel and met up with two other guys from the boat (there was now 8 of us again). We had a really good filet mignon that night at the restaurant to celebrate Canada day and went to bed early.

View from Tayrona Park

We were getting ready to leave for another town the next morning when one of the girls checked out the scuba diving and found a really good deal which involved scuba diving in the afternoon and staying in a nearby national park called Tayrona Park in a little hut on the cliffs. We all decided to do it. Although everyone else was certified, one of the other girls and myself were not as it was our first time diving. We went off to another location for the first dive with an instructor who showed us how to use the equipment and the basics of diving. We went down for a short 30 minute dive with him and saw a bunch of different fish, corals and eels. After that we met back up with our group and all went down together for a second dive which was deeper but we didn't see as much. It was an awesome experience and makes me want to go get certified but unfortunately I don't have the time or the money to do so right now.
After the dives we headed back to the house where the guy living there cooked us dinner and we had a few drinks. I slept outside in a hammock overlooking the ocean on a cliff. So great!
In the morning we walked about 30 minutes to a nearby beach and spent a couple of hours there. We headed back in the afternoon and caught a boat back to Taganga. We then grabbed a couple of taxis back to Santa Marta to the bus station where we took an overnight bus to the next town, San Gil.

June 26-30 - Cuidad Perdida, Colombia

The morning of the 26th, we packed up what we needed for the trek and headed out around 9:30 am. After about a 2 hour drive we stopped in a small town called Machete that we would start the hike from for lunch. Around 1, we started. The scenery was absolutely stunning and we were able to stop for a short swim near the start of the hike. Around 4 it started to pour rain. For the next 2 hours we had to hike soaking wet through the rain trying to make it to the first camp before night. We even had to cross a river that was up to our waist with a rope. We made it to the first camp just as it was starting to get dark. We ate dinner and headed straight for our hammocks to sleep.
We hiked down to a beautiful waterfall the next morning before breakfast. After that we returned to camp, had breakfast and started walking to the next camp. It turned out to be only a two hour walk for us because the next camp after that one was full so we had to stop there. However there was a nice spot for swimming to the river next to the camp, and it was only the 7 of us staying there which was nice.

The group with our guide

We hiked to the camp at the base of Ciudad Perdida the next day. It was only about a 5 or 6 hour hike but it was all hills and was beautiful. When we got to the camp we were all happy to see that we would all get beds that night instead of hammocks.

Hammocks at the first camp

On day 4 of the trek we finally made it up to Cuidad Perdida. The ruins consisted of a bunch of clustered circular platforms. Apparently each family would build a platform and build their house on top. Other members of the family would then build their homes next to them so each cluster was inhabited by a family. It was a interesting site and the view from the top platforms was breathtaking. The site took us about 3 hours to see and we were back to the camp by around 10:30am. We had breakfast and headed back out to the camp we stayed at the second night. Along the way I saw three snakes beside the traill, which was the first time I've seen a snaked in the wild. Apparently one of them was deadly too but I just kept my distance from all of them.  It ended up being our longest day and my knees were definitely feeling it by the end.

Cuidad Perdida

The last day I was tired, glad to be done but really enjoyed the entire trip. The city was really cool, the hike was beautiful and I was with a really fun group of people.

June 24-26 - Santa Marta, Colombia

After a few days in Cartagena we all headed down to a town called Santa Marta about 4 hours away where we would book the tour to go to a site called "the Lost City" or Ciudad Perdida. When arrived in the afternoon, found a nice hostel that could fit all of us. We went out to a couple of travel companies that did tours to the lost city and booked for the 26th.
The next day we basically just hung around, went to the beach and ate street food. Santa Marta wasn't the city but it did have really good street food. The beaches weren't that pretty either, but I think I have been spoiled on this trip in regards to beaches and now my expectations are high. I found the beaches to be crowded, dirty and too touristy.

June 22- 24 - Cartagena, Colombia

We arrived in Cartagena at around 5pm and all decided to try to get into the same hostel. We found a street that had plenty of hostels on it and had to split up the group a bit but were all in close proximity. The next couple of days consisted of wandering around the city which is a beautiful old colonial city. Lonely planet claims it is the most beautiful and romantic city in South America and I wouldn't doubt it. It was really pretty. We also managed to catch a couple of soccer matches and sunsets.

On our last full day there, we decided to all go to a near by mud volcano that was about an hour away. We took a taxi to the nearest bus station, caught a local bus out to a small town close to the volcano and caught some motorbike taxis to the volcano. The volcano was basically just dried mud that had solidified after years of the mud flowing over the side. The middles of the volcano was filled with a weird clayey mud that you were able to go sit in. It was the oddest feeling biggest you float on top and can't sink even though the mud is very deep. It was also suppose to be very good for the skin, which seemed to be true because all our skin was really soft after. We hoped out after about 30 minutes in the mud, cleaned off in the nearby lake and caught the motorbike taxis out back to catch the bus. When we arrived at the place to catch the bus, the bus was there and about to leave but we still had to wait for one more friend so the bus driver actually went to opposite way than his route to go meet and pick up our friend! So awesome!

Mud Volcano

We all got back to Cartagena and packed up our stuff to head out the next morning. We had to say goodbye to a couple of people from the boat ride which kinda sucked but most of us were able to stick together. I think Cartagena has been the prettiest city I've been to in all of Latin America. It was nice to be in such a beautiful city with such good company!

Everyone floating in the mud!