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Jungle is massive

So, horses we got to get to this beach, Playa Brava, in Tayrona National Park.  Proof.

This was just before a huge tropical thunderstorm in which we got absolutely soaked, and the horse above tried to turn round at least twice.  I guess that´s why they call it a rain forest.  It took us two and a half hours to climb through the jungle, up the mountain and down again – and most of this was through torrential rain.  But it was worth it when we arrived to this:

We slept in hammocks underneath these huts, which were run by a Colombian guy and the local tribe.  It was an amazing thing to see, but really quite strange as we had dinner with the other 4 people staying there and the tribe people.  Food was lovely, but from somewhere they pulled a projector (the only other electricity seemed to be about 4 light bulbs) and insisted we watched a 1980s BBC documentary made about them.  The beach was stunning and made all the more beautiful for the wild horses, pigs and chickens that roamed around.  We woke up with a horse standing over Holly and staring her in the face.

Although lovely, it was maybe a bit “outdoorsey” for Elliot so we thought we would take the short hop to the other beaches which were along the same coast.  Apparently it was about an hour and a half (everything here seems to be “about an hour and a half”) back through the jungle. 

Well.  It wasn´t – it took us 4 hours.  That´s four hours of hiking up and down a mountain which was covered in thick rainforest.  As you probably know, we aren´t really the hiking type so managed it in flip flops and plimsoles. There was a path to follow, but it was hardly a yellow brick road and it repeatedly disappeared as we walked through rivers, over waterfalls and clambered over boulders.  Although absolutely exhausting, it was unbelieveably spectacular and impossible to do justice with photographs, but you get the idea.

The first time we sat down to have a rest we saw some branches falling from trees  and stopped to watch.  There were two young monkeys playing in the tree tops and we think they saw us too, as they went to get their dad who came a bit too close for our liking and looked straight at us. So we shit ourselves and ran up the mountain a bit quicker this time.  Also childhood ambition fulfilled by drinking from a fresh river in the rainforest.

The next day we walked along the coast which was thankfully much easier and equally beautiful.

Our next stop was the city of Cartagena.  It´s full of salsa playing bars and we´ve managed to wander around aimlessly for a few days eating some fish and drinking some rum and white wine – a rarity so far.  Awesome place and it seems everyone is up for a bit of a party, with shops, bars and market stalls competing for the loudest sound system.

Regular readers (haha) may know that we planned to head to an Island called Providencia from Cartagena, but we went to book the flights and had a bit of a change of plan as it was far more expensive – nearly as much as it cost to fly to Venezuela from London – than we thought it would be.  So instead we are heading off in the morning on quite a long journey to Sapzurro on the Colombian coast near Panama.  Should be a proper adventure, as it involves a bus, a truck and a boat. Marvellous.

Will fill you in on how we get on…

eh, gringo

Haven’t been by a computer for a while, and although it hasn’t been that long it seems like quite a lot has happened so we’ll run through it quick.

We left Caracas the morning after we got there and attempted to buy a bus ticket to a town called Coro.  Muddled through on a bus which played regaton and salsa music as loud as possible for the next 5 hours.  The small baby in front of us seemed to be quite into it staring out of the window happily underneath the speakers.

Coro was a strange place – not much going on except The annual ‘Miss Coro’ beauty contest complete with a swimsuit round.  Had a few beers on the street with some top people from Venezuela and a couple from Belgium.  The next day we went with a bottle of rum and a small sack of limes to visit some sites, including these mad sand dunes:

Holly Sanddune

The next day we spent getting over a rum induced hangover and wandering around and plotting to get to Colombia.  We really timed our visit perfectly as we managed to work out from the papers that Venezuela had cut all ties with Colombia the day we arrived and had ordered the extradition of all Colombian diplomats.  One for the parents.

We went to bed at around midnight and before we went to sleep there was the sound of a huge explosion which set off car alarms all around the hostel.  Our fears that it had come from some sort of armed gang weren’t helped by the long spell of quick, shorter bangs which we were convinced was gunfire.  Fairly terrified Elliot opened the window to see if anyone else was about and to see what was going on, only to see an enormous firework display which went on for 10 minutes.  Probably to mark our departure.  It took at least an hour to calm down.

Despite this, and the paranoid guy who ran the hostel telling us there was no way he would ever cross the border as it was too dangerous, we got up at 5 again with dollar bills in bras, knickers and socks and set off with a French lady called Stephanie – and without her we’d probably still be at the border.  She had lived in London and Barcelona for years and had the English and Spanish to match.

We took 2 shared taxis – both cars old American Chevys from the 70s – swerving out of the way from cars, cows and potholes until we started getting stopped by the police and army.  The 6th stop became a bit tricky when the Venezulan Dad and his daughter in our car weren’t allowed to pass because, well, we’re not sure really.  He wasn’t that happy and we set off without them 2 hours later, only to pick them up again after he paid the police off.  We started getting stopped every 5 minutes as we neared the border, with the guns getting bigger each time.  Again, one for the parents.  But, to be honest, it was easier than we expected and we were never searched although we were left with soggy dollars.

So here we are in Santa Marta, a Colombian town on the Carribean.  Last night there was a huge party with all the stars from a Colombian soap opera on stage.  Quite strange, but not as strange as the guinea pig racing.

Today off to a Carribean beach for a few nights (possibly on horses, which Holly is very excited about).

Hasta luego.

x

Hello hello,

We have arrived safe and well after a fantastic journey – no hold ups and Air Europa are, contrary to all reviews, really pretty good- The peoeple in front of us were a bit fat so had to push their chairs right back but apàrt from that all was good. We arrived as the sun was setting in Caracas and the sky was the most beautiful deep red.

Caracas heads up a mounain so to my left in the cab it looked like a thousand stars in the sky – actually lightbulbs from homes. 

Been up for pretty much 24 hours now, but still managed to squeeze a few ´cerveza premium SOLERA´in at a bar across the road from our 70´s themed hotel. Don´t think it´s a boutique theme though…

Day 1.

In the spirit of getting to the airport early, we’re up pretty early.  Mainly due to the possible pit falls of flying with Spain’s third airline, Air Europa.  Seriously, look it up. But think it is only fair to reserve judgement when we end up with some/all of our luggage, roughly on time in Caracas.

We’ve arranged to meet the brilliantly named ‘Nelson’ at the airport, which will hopefully stop us from being mugged in the back of a dodgy taxi.

Packed up with a frisbee, books and some other bits we might need and can’t believe we’re leaving already.

Next time you hear from us we should have something slightly more interesting to say – watch this space…

So, thought we’d try and give a blog about our holiday a bit of a go.

We can’t promise it will be good, interesting, funny or even updated that often but to be honest we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to be so ridiculously self-indulgent and we might even enjoy it…

We’re going to Venezuela and Colombia for a month – rough plan is on the ‘Us’ page, so no point in repeating it here, but we’re dead excited.  Only a few days left really, so we’re busy getting our bikini lines done.

If there’s anyone who has been to either country before, and we haven’t yet asked for tips and expertise please drop us a line.

Hopefully over the next month this will be full of award winning snaps of sand, sea, severe sunburn and all that other cheesy stuff , accompanied by a heartfelt yet witty commentary.  Well, it might not be, but we can but try…