Columbia Part 2, complete!

Our last night in Cartegena was totally out a character!! Having seen loads of fantastic looking posh restaurants we decided to treat ourselves!! True to form though, we did spend a whole day looking for the best deal....got 4 course meal with free bottle of wine each for 20 pounds for both of us!!! The meal was gorgeous, and it was so nice not to eat sat on a plastic chair using cutlery that breaks as soon as you look at it!!! This set us up for a big night out Columbian style!!! We were still on the dance floor at 4am, Salsa music blarring and the locals all wondering what the hell 10 gringos were doing at their dodgy out of town club!!!

We left early the next morning feeling worse for wear, heading towards Santa Marta and Tyrona National Park. We encountered our first break down of public transport so far in our trip, when bus just stopped all of a sudden, driver got up promptly handed us all back our money and left us stranded on the side of the road!!! Ended having to get taxi!! Eventually made it to Santa Marta (4hrs), decided to stay in little fishing village nearby (Taganga). Not very eventful as the lack of sleep really catching up with us by now!!!

After a good kip, another early start (6.30am) to get to Tyrona National park!! After faffing around looking for bus in Santa Marta made it to park enterance at about 11am. Then the fun really began....we still had our full rucsacs with us, plus food and water for next day.....we were faced with a long, hot, sticky 50min trek through jungle and mud (up rocky hills!)!!! Needless to say we were not in particularly good moods when we arrived in Arrecifes (small settlement next to beach consisting of one restaurant and some huts!)...only to be told there were no huts left and we would have to sleep in hammocks (under shelter)....sounds cool, but believe us it was shit!! We got absolutely no sleep and both ended up with bad backs and loads of mossie bites!!! The place would have been gorgeous if the sun had come out, plus I think we have both been spoilt now with Carribean retreats, so it certainly wasn´t worth the hike there, or back for that matter!!! On the way back it had rained that night so the path was even more muddy than before, plus we were due to catch 16hr night bus later that day with no means of showering before hand....felt sorry for our fellow passengers!

Our 16hr nightbus (to Bogota) turned into a 19hr nightmare as we were right at the back above the rear suspension...yet again another night of no sleep!!! If anyone knows Chris when he's tired (Kenny I think you were witness to this on many an occasion), he's not a pretty sight, and thank god no Guilleras (and no I'm not talking about men in monkey suits!) had attacked our bus cos they would have got more than they bargained for from him!!! Moody bastard!!!

Got into Bogota (Capital of Columbia) around midday....very tired and in for a shock when we got off the bus - at 2600m above sea level its bloody freezing here!!!! (compared to the Carribean coast, that is). Bogota is nice enough, but having wandered around it for a few days its not much more than another big city!! Killed some time at crap Gold museum, then spent rest of the time eating!!! Its so cheap here!! At last we are spending money aimlessly...notably on a local speciality...Chocolate Santerfereno...hot chocolate, served with cheese and bread...you put the cheese into the hot chocolate till it melts then scoop it out with a spoon and eat it with the bread...yes it really is as random as it sounds!!!

We are fed up of the cold so after 2 nights we leave Bogota on Wednesday night for Cali, on our way to Ecuador! Have heard differing reports about the safety of night buses in the southern part of Columbia so watch this space and have some money ready to wire out to us!!

Well despite the warnings we made it to Cali with relative ease....the biggest problem being Chris' guts!! Seems that the gamble of eating off the cheap street sellers has finally caught up with him!! As a result our time in Cali was (literally) shit! So after one night, and with Chris bunged up on immodium we took the next night bus out of there....choosing to go straight to the Ecuadorian border and onto Quito!