Backtrekking - Right into the Jungle!

So, here we are now. In Bogota, Colombia's capital. Approximately 8.25 million inhabitants live here these days. Many of them came during those hard years when the government confiscated huge strips of land in order to fight cocaine cultivation. They were all looking for a safer, better life, a job to earn a decent living... and so many ended up in poverty. Crime is big down here, they say, and many dreams have been shattered in this valley or on the hills surrounding it. But I haven't been here for long. I can't judge from my own experience.

All I know is, that yesterday morning the whole world looked totally different to us.Well, we better start 3 days ago. We took the bus to the National Park entrance. After our bags had been checked for alcohol, we were allowed to pay the entrace fee: 35.000 Col$ (18US$) for everyone - except for sneaky German "students". They only pay 7.000 Col$ (3.5US$). Bämm, babe, we're sooo damn cool! ^^


Anyway - off we went into the park. Some 40 mins walking were planned, we took some 1.5 hrs or so. Just to enjoy the nature. Look at that - and you'll know why!

So we hiked over rocks...

...waded through (sometimes knee-deep) water...

...and all that, to finally reach this place: Arrecifes. :)

Booked a hammock for 6US$ a night and spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out at the beach on some waste-built bench, talking and laughing, learning how to breakdance and exercising our bodies... :)

Next day. Even before the sun could rise, we were already wearing our swimshorts. Right, we slept in them. *lol* Life is amazing, if all you need is a pair of swimmers and a happy mood.

Oh, and - don't forget the sunscreen! :)

After some nights' sleep we left Arrecifes. Cabo de San Juan was like 30 mins away - way too little for us. So we got lost in the jungle for a while, watching out for massive butterflies...

...and pretending to be hobbits... :)

Finally we foundthe right track. Pretty easy - just head down to the beach and follow the sand...

...pass through rivers...

...always underneath shady palm trees...

...until we finally reached Cabo de San Juan,

where Gin found her personal tree trunk,

Julez his personal rock,

and I my personal palm tree. :)

However, two days were enough in paradise. We decided to go back. Three options were all we had: No. 1: Take the boat. No. 2: Take the same route back that brought us here. No. 3: Go right into the jungle, climb up to "El Pueblito", a former, little village of Tayrona Indians (guess why the National Park's name is Tayrona) *g*) and over some hills down to the second entrance/exit point. Of course, we chose No. 3. And, hey - I might have been mistaken when I first thought that that might take another 45 minutes... we had some five hours hiking to do! With all our luggage on our backs! Damn hard task, sweat was dripping out of every single pore we have... but hey, again - that stunning nature is soooo rewarding! I love it! :)

Well, we reached the exit point, perfectly timed to watch the first half of FC Barcelona kicking AC Milan's ass. :) A bus brought us back to Santa Marta, Julez & I did some shopping, while Gin was watching our luggage, and finally we grabbed a cab to the bus terminal - and (possibly) got almost robbed! Our cab driver tried for like five minutes to call some friend, which made me suspicious. He finally reached someone, just to tell him in Spanish "Tell my brother, I've got clients" and quit the call. We immediately told him to stop and got out of the cab. The thing is: I luckily had read a day before in our Lonely Planet guidebook, that this kind of scam often happens in Cali, another Colombian city: The cab driver calls someone, and a few minutes later, the cab is stopped - and the clients get robbed.

Lucky us, we found another cab, which brought us out to the bus terminal (which was, by the way, in another direction than the first cab was heading to), caught a last minute bus ticket to Bogota, had a French shower right in front of the ticket office (very much to the amusement of the two ticket ladies *g*), and off we went. 21 hours in a bus. Marvellous route, suicide-endangered driver. (Construction site: 30km/h. But that sign must be made for beginners. Real pros take this part with 60km/h - while overtaking another car! Hardcore...)

Anyway - we arrived safely here in Bogota. It was pouring! But hey - finally our raincovers made some sense! :) Found a nice hostel (casa platypus), and I personally like the city. 8.25 million inhabitants. However, from what I've experienced so far, education ain't that bad, people are happy and willing to share a smile, and maybe even some helpful advice if they're politely asked for it. I like it here. The air smells different. Fresh. Clean. In a city of 8.25 million inhabitants. Inviting. Maybe I should start looking for a job around here... maybe I should start making my dreams become true - and help other people to do exactly the same...