Santa Marta and Parque Tayrona

You may recall my mention of foreshadowing in regards to two women we met on a bus going from Villa de Leyva to Bogota.  Well here we meet again, in Santa Marta!  In our conversation on that bus to Bogota, we found out that Janet and Harlee were in Colombia as part of a surgical mission run by Heal the Children.  Heal the Children often does surgical missions to repair cleft lip and cleft palate, but this mission was specifically geared toward surgeries for children with burns.  They invited us to come to the hospital in Santa Marta for a couple of days to help out doing translation work.  It was truly a great experience.  All the American doctors and nurses as well as the Colombian women who organized the mission were really wonderful people and we felt very fortunate to be able to help out.  I even expanded my Spanish vocabulary with words and phrases such as "skin graft" "splint" and "gauze."

The lovely ladies of UNIMA (a Colombian NGO)

At this point, we are nearing the end of our trip.  It was time for once last hurrah at the beach, so we headed for Parque Nacional Tayrona, which is supposed to have some of the most beautiful beaches in Colombia.  The park is only about 45 minutes from Santa Marta, and here we are pictured at the entrance.  From the entrance, you have to hike for about two hours to get to the beach, but you are rewarded with beautiful views along the way.

After sweating it out on the hike you arrive at Cabo San Juan del Guía where there is a lovely beach with inviting turquoise water.  The small hut on top of the hill in the picture below was our sleeping quarters.

And these were our beds...

A rainbow and a sunset rounded out our two days of near paradise at Parque Tayrona.  

Cartagena

Ahhh, beautiful Cartagena.  A colonial city on the Caribbean coast full of pastel-colored buildings, bright flowers, and fresh seafood.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves in this case...

Medellin

In an Amazing Race like feat, Tamar and I packed our bags to leave Villa de Leyva at 1 PM, hopped a van and a bus to arrive in Bogota about four hours later, hailed a taxi and went directly to the airport where we purchased plane tickets to Medellin and boarded the plane an hour later.  Phew!  I should add that on the aforementioned van and bus back to Bogota, we met two women who would alter the course of our trip (consider this a bit of foreshadowing--look out my blog is getting all literary-like).

Medellin has a reputation as a city rife with drug violence.  This may have been the case in the late 80s and early 90s, but it has certainly turned itself around since then.  The city is very modern and cosmopolitan, and felt very safe.  While we were there we actually took a Pablo Escobar tour to learn about the Medellin cartel and the history of the drug wars.  Pablo Escobar was the leader of the Medellin cartel, and was responsible for much of the violence that plagued the city until he was killed by police in 1993.  After 1993 things began to change for the better and now Medellin seems like a nice, laid back city with beautiful spring-like weather year round, a clean, modern metro system, and a cute sculpture park filled with works by Fernando Botero.

Boarding the flight to Medellin:

The only city in Colombia with a Metro

Medellin Botanical Garden

Sculpture plaza filled with works of our friend Fernando Botero

Villa de Leyva

In a valley three and a half hours northeast of Bogota lies the beautiful town of Villa de Leyva.  Whitewashed buildings, orange tile roofs, cobblestone streets--it's a perfect place to relax, stroll around and take in your surroundings.

Church on the main plaza

Supposedly Colombia's largest plaza

Ajiaco santafereño: a hearty soup filled with chicken, corn, and potatoes and served with rice, avocado and capers.  Muy rico!

Our colorful and kitschy guesthouse...

Cobblestone streets

Awww...

A view from the hills

Colombia, part I

I know, I know, it has been a long time since my last post.  So, I have some catching up to do.  Let us begin with Colombia...

The last two weeks of May were spent traveling around Colombia with my wonderful friend Tamar.  We began in Bogota, where we were met with cloudy skies, rain and chilly weather.  But our adventurous spirit prevailed, so we threw our bags down at the hostel, grabbed raincoats and umbrellas, and set out to see the local sites and try the local foods.

First food in Colombia: arepa de huevo (arepa with fried egg)

First beverage in Colombia: Colombiana soda...tastes kind of like cream soda

Main plaza in Bogota, Plaza de Bolivar

Day 2: The rain finally stopped, and we even got a few glimpses of sun.  Day 2 was a Sunday, and every Sunday in Bogota is Ciclovia, an event in which many streets are closed to vehicles and open for pedestrian traffic.  The streets are full of people biking, rollerblading, running, walking their dogs, etc.  

After a lot of walking around, a snack was in order.  Hot chocolate with cheese!  It sounds like a strange combination, but it was delicious.  The hot chocolate was amazing by itself and the cheese gets a little melty and adds a nice salty contrast to the chocolate.  Don't knock it till you try it!

The afternoon involved a visit to the Botero museum.  Fernando Botero is one of Colombia's most famous artists.  He is known for painting all of his subjects a little bit chubby, as in his rendition of the Mona Lisa below.  A must visit if you are in Bogota.