Thursday, August 26th, 2010
We went on a boat trip to do some fishing; first with a pole and then with snorkles and harpoons, and after that we ate fish on a nice terrace. We took it easy, eating and checking out the nightlife at El Mirador, a nightclub with less gringos than Sensations, which is full of travellers and prostitutes. I thought the touristy cities by the coast would be less scetchy, but I was very much mistaken. It´s much safer in the smaller cities. I got a ride back to the hostal in a police car, though.
We went on a boat trip to do some fishing; first with a pole and then with snorkles and harpoons, and after that we ate fish on a nice terrace. We took it easy, eating and checking out the nightlife at El Mirador, a nightclub with less gringos than Sensations, which is full of travellers and prostitutes. I thought the touristy cities by the coast would be less scetchy, but I was very much mistaken. It´s much safer in the smaller cities. I got a ride back to the hostal in a police car, though.
I overslept by more than one hour when I was going on the lost city trek, and I thought I had missed it, but I was right on time.. Colombian time! We had a newcomer from Seattle, Gabe, join us in our crammed jeep. The trip took 2-3hours on terrible roads, but it was quite interesting. The trek starts with rough uphills. The whole trek is pretty much up and down, and it`s quiite muddy and wet, so I was very glad I grew up trekking. I had a huge advantage there. One night was in a hammock and the rest were in beds. They cooked meals for us, some good, some bad. The guides were awesome, feeding us fruit and crossing strong rivers like they were puddles. We swam in many of those pools, and jumped from 6meters. The first night, a couple of us lost the others, and found ourselves walking in the dark jungle for 45 minutes. Really exciting, despite the dangers! No FARC is around there, luckily. There are 150 soldiers on patrol, and some of them lent us their geer to take pictures, on the way back. Cool guys! Don´t know what the deal is, but there is no way they don`t know about the cocain production that`s going on. 120 families in the jungle grows the cocain plants. We went to a cocain factory tha
t next morning; again, very interesting! A guy showed us how to make it and told us a lot about their conditions.
t next morning; again, very interesting! A guy showed us how to make it and told us a lot about their conditions.
The normal day was getting up Really early, and going to bed at first: 9, then 8, then 7! Drying your clothes was useless. We had a lot of time to hang around while it was pouring down outside the camp, and I don´t think any of us have ever talked so much about food before. We had become a big group after day 1, because we put two groups together. Everyone but me were struggling with mosquito bites. My worst struggles were the occasional heat and the food portions that were way to big for me, right before starting the hikes.
La Ciudad Perdida, the ruins of the lost Inka city, were great! Everyone was impressed. For me, that was a bonus. I loved being in the middle of Nowhere; in the wild colombian jungle. Even though the indeginous people loathe us. We saw some amazing scenery, plants, animals like huge toads, white frogs and three snakes. Two were deadly poisonus and a bit too close, and the other one was two meters long!
The roads were muddy as hell, and when we were really looking forward to getting back, we had to pull another car out of a mudd hole, which took us quite a while. It´s great being back, and I´m meeting the others for parque Tayrona tomorrow. I`m actually supposed to be having dinner with them right now but..
It´s been raining so much that the river has flooded some areas and caused landslides on the roads. Tonight, I´m gonna find some good food and chill out with a movie, which is well deserved!
The ruinsA camp with hammocks, not beds
Rivercrossing alternative 1
The whole bunch, on the first day
Rivercrossing alternative 2
