Ciu-DAD Perdida Trek

Rundown: Headed again into the Sierra Nevada jungles, but this time brought some reinforcements: Papa Gorkiewicz!

Location: Jungles of the Sierra Nevada... Ciudad Perdida

Headed out from humid Cartagena up to Santa Marta with my dad at the end of the school year before flying back to the US. Took off from Santa Marta the following day in a gregariously colored 4x4 chiva which drove us 3 hours into the jungle before dropping us off at the last little village on the jungle road called Mamey.

Hiked for 3 days into the jungle. Local kids played in the rivers... just like the kid in the Jungle Book. What a cool place to grow up in!

We crossed and swam many a rivers ourselves. As we got higher into the Sierra Nevadas the temperature cooled, the rivers became brighter and crystal clear.

The jungle is home to many critters. Our most exotic on the trip was this good looking Toucan, who raised quite a racket with his mate as we were hiking.

The trek is amazing! The terrain changes between dense jungle, savannah, and rocky riverbed. If you like hiking, the hike is superb!

Other local fauna included the Kogi indigenous, whose villages we had the privilege to see from a distance on an occasion. They have such simple lives, and such complex social interaction, it's amazing to think of the similarities and differences of the cultures...

Other local flora and fauna...

Stayed in rustic encampments along the way with interesting trekkers from all parts of the world.

On our last day we did the big push up the long, winding stone staircase built into the mountainside and emerged sweating and breathless at the lost city, Ciudad Perdida.

Safety? Sure! The site is loaded with a platoon of soldiers stationed there to keep the peace in and the FARC out. Amazing to see them after seeing no one on the trail for three days.

For more pictures check out my dad's blog about the trip!

http://bobanddianesadventures.blogspot.com/

Islas San Andres and Providencia

Location: Islas San Andres and Providencia, off the coast of Nicaragua.

Rundown: For semana santa jumped a plane out to a set of islands in the Caribbean. Hiked, ate, slept, snorkeled, and went diving. Rough trip.

Here's a little video to start it out!

The archipelago is off the coast of Nicaragua, but just an hour hop from Cartagena.

Isla Providencia:

Flew to San Andres, a tiny, tropical island off of Nicaragua from Cartagena. The dark blue water turned light, then green, then white in the surf on the reefs surrounding the islands. Stayed only a night in San Andres, then flew via prop-job aircraft with cabin signs in Russian to Isla Providencia, a smaller island, some 18km in circumference just North of San Andres.

After a riveting flight low over the water, we landed on the mountainous island of Providencia. Apparently, landing between mountain peaks is a difficult maneuver...

Our tiny hotel was up the rocky hillside from the most brilliant aquamarine water I've ever seen.

We settled into our little pad, complete with chirping geckoes with the moon coming up over Isla Congrejo, a tiny islet 3/4 mile off shore from our place.

In the morning we took to the highway, i.e. the abused road that circles the island on a mighty motor scooter we named the Blue Beast. We of course wore all the required protective clothing one might expect is essential to riding on trails and beaches: flip-flops and sunglasses.

We chased down some hidden beaches around the island and dried the salt off our skin in a hurry with the rushing wind.

Met up with the locals and had a taste of their catch. These boys were pulling in needlefish as long as they were!

The next day we took a hike into the mountainous interior of the island. There were more colorful lizards than you could count! Every few steps they would skitter out of our way. Trying to catch them was fun, but fruitless. Fast little buggers!

The unmarked trail would up and up through rocky forest, then out into plateau, then peak.

The reef surrounding the island, the third longest in the world, lit up the water like a iridescent ribbon. Great 360 views of the reef system and the isolation of the little island.

We spent some time again on the beach, no hurry of any sort. The kind of time on one's hands where one can try to catch a coconut falling from a tree. Hours of patience...

We soaked up the sun as if we hadn't seen it in months. The only thing that would've made the trip better is if we had arrived from a northern Michigan winter.

At night on the beaches, big white crabs roamed in the moonlight. We had ourselves a wrestling match or two, but running sideways isn't a great defense.

The next day we took the plunge, snorkeling the 3/4 mile out to Isla Congrejo, a rocky spit with a few trees and a dock, wrapped with reefs.

A passing set of ugly clouds left the little island deserted, and Miranda and I hoarded the little piece of heaven greedily. Snorkeled around the entire island, saw rays and lots of fish. Laid on the dock and soaked up the last rays of sun before snorkeling back right before twilight.

Took a jellyfish to the face while snorkeling. Got a tentacle wrapped around the side of my head, down my neck and onto my back. Left me with a really sweet treasure map in raised redness.

Not much to do on a tiny island, which is exactly what we were aiming for. So we spent some more time on the beach hanging out.

Lots of hanging out.

Spent a day hiking around Santa Catalina, another island off of Providencia, connected by a colorful, if faded and in disrepair, that connected the two islands over a shallow passage.

The islands were supposed to have been a regular haunt of Captain Morgan, and many things on the island are named after him, including a submerged cave where he hid some treasure.

San Andres:

Flew back to San Andres and spent much of the rest of the time there underwater. The diving was fantastic! We saw rays and squid, as well as great corals and fish. Snorkeling just off of our hotel was amazing as well!

Spent some time topside and got to know the locals. Culture on the island is even slower than in Cartagena, much more relaxed. Check out how chill this lizard on the bus was! You'd see lots of people carrying live lizards around. We got a quick shot of this one before he got off the bus.

So there you have it, San Andres and Providencia. Fun in the sun. More to come...

Carnaval!

Location: Barranquilla, Colombia

Rundown: Headed up to Barranquilla for what is said to be the second biggest Carnaval in the world! Sweet costumes and crazy parades!

Jumped a bus from Cartagena two hours north to Barranquilla, hometown of Shakira! Barranquilla itself is an unremarkable, industrial town but every year they throw down a Carnaval celebration that is said to be second only to Rio! We were way in for the fun!

There were tons of people, and getting was a sweaty endeavor. As you'd expect, there were huge floats...

...fancy dancers...

...and colorful costumes.

The tall had the advantage to see the parade in the crowds of people!

And some really overdressed, not anticipating the Colombian heat.

The skies were filled with confetti...

...and the streets were filled with canibals...

...and also with cleavage.

...lots of cleavage...

...of all sorts...

...but we had fun with our old friends and made some new ones at Carnaval 2010!

Ciudad Perdida: The Lost City

Location: Ciudad Perdida: The Lost City

Rundown: A three day uphill trek into the Sierra Nevada mountains through jungles, rivers and native villages to spend two days at a site of an ancient city reclaimed by nature before a three day return trip. Please don't feed the guerillas.



Took a bus north from Cartagena to a city on the coast called Santa Marta, a cross between a beach town and a port, with a beautiful island guarding the harbor and ocean freighters swinging on their moorings right next to kids splashing in the waves.



Spent the night in a dodgy hotel, and in the morning met up with the rest of the group going. Edwin was our guide (the same guide whose group was abducted by ELN guerillas in 2003, and then returned safely), and along with the four other teachers, we had 3 Brits, 3 Germans, 2 Sweeds, an Italian and a Croatian. It was quite a pleasure to get to know everyone along the way.

Took a chiva (cross between a bus and a jeep, without real doors or sides and painted in garish colors) into the interior. Drove for an hour on tarmac, and then spent another two off road climbing into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, often stopping to let people out to hang on appropriate sides of the chiva to keep it from rolling over going over aggressive terrain.




The chiva dropped us off in a little pueblo in the foothills where we began our three day hike. We hiked through the red-dirt foothills up into the jungle, crossing a couple low rivers on the way. Awesome trekking.

Made it to our first encampment just after dark, winding down steep, muddy switchbacks that claimed a few shoes as victims. Check out the little video of the hiking bit of the trek.



The encampment was an open air shelter with a corrugated metal roof under which we slung our cloth hammocks and bug nets. Although we did get bitten, the onslaught was nothing like a June evening in Michigan.






Swam in the morning at the watering hole and played with the resident friendly toucan.






Hiked all the next day in dense jungle, across rivers, and through native Kogui villages where they speak only their indigenous language, and little or no Spanish.




Hiked through dense jungle and high mountian savanna. Up ridges and down valleys... Edwin made us framiliar with the Coca plant that has been so integral to Colombia's history.






Passed a night in our second encampment which was perched about the beautiful and powerful Rio Buritaca. We stayed dry in the heavy rain that night.








Our final day up to the Lost City, we hiked for a few hours, pausing to rest our beaten, bug-gnawed legs, and chow on our daily fresh fruit on massive jungle leaves.



Made five river crossings. The rivers were powerful enough that even though we waded only to our waists, the water was enough warrant linking arms to cross. Fun stuff.






We found ourselves on a rocky island in the middle of the river. On the far side, the earth took a near-vertical leap; the jungle foliage just holding on. Tucked just inside the shadow of the trees, ancient stone steps wove their way up the mountain and disappeared in the brush. We crossed the river and took the stairs.




Most of the steps were no bigger than a shoebox, mossy, and slick, but not in bad shape considering their thousand years of service in harsh jungle climate. An hour and two thousand steps later we emerged (sweaty and wheezing) out of the jungle and onto the first of many stone terraces left by the Tairona people.




The site was a religious center, built into the mountains to communicate with the gods. Five main terraces stuck out of the dense jungle, but thousands of other terraces, some still buried in vegetation, were connected by stone pathways crisscrossing throughout the steep terrain. The site was only ‘discovered’ in 1976, so along the paths, stone steps would disappear into the underbrush, still uncovered.






We stayed the night there and listened to Edwin’s account of being taken by the ELN (similar to the FARC only in that they tote guns, hang out in the jungle, and have their own political agenda). The accomodations included 7 mattresses laid out on the floor with a huge bug net over them on the second floor of an open air shelter. I felt a bit like I was 8 again, making forts with my sisters out of pillows and blankets.




Due to the ease to which any armed group could pluck travelers off of the mountain side, a company of Colombian soldiers were stationed at Ciudad Perdida and in the surrounding hills. They patroled the site with their Israeli arms, but were extremely happy to talk to anyone.




Spent two days at the site wandering around the winding stone paths and swimming in the waterfalls before our return trek. The site was novel, interesting, and beatuiful, but wasn't a place to trek to if one isn't into getting muddy and having a little bit of struggle. As with all my treks, the people and the journey were the best part.







And one little video to cap it off with the theme song of the trip.







.