Chapter 22: Paradise of the Caribbeans

From Medellin we took a $25 bus north to Turbo, which we heard was a quite unpleasant place, so we headed directly to the port and jumped in 3h speed boat (another $25) to Capurgana, just before the Panamean border. And there, OH MY GOD!!! This is the most beautiful place we both had ever seen in our life, check this out:

It used to be a holiday destination for former cartels of Escobar. Now it's totally abandoned and only local people live there, and let me  tell you that you can feel the Caribbean spirit! Spanish with strong African accent, finally some good reggae (Tom was in paradise; a couple of days before he still didn't realised we were going to the Caribbean! Aahhh Tom's sense of Geography! He thought that Jamaica was next to Thailand!! Now he knew we were so close he was ready to do anything to go there! (But unfortunately and because of some fucking tensions between country and a strong protectionism policy, it's impossible to fly from Central America to there, you have to go first through the US!)

But back to our clown fish... First afternoon we met the lovely French Christine, who offered us to stay for free in the hostel she was renovating, the "Luna Verde". We stayed there a couple of days, eating "frutapan"at every meal (kind of yuka/pumpkin but growing in the trees), leaning a very approximate Portugesh from her Brasilian boyfriend, shaking every night in our beds to the sound of the thunder (it's rainy season here and it's quite impressive!) and of course enjoying as often as possible the sea as warm as the baths I take in December in France!

I don't have so much photos coz my brand new camera is shit and already broken, but here is a recording of a 5in walk in Capurgana a Saturday night. Close your eyes, and enjoy =)

(mmm doesn't work for now, will try again later, sorry)

2nd day we walked half an hour through the jungly mountain to go to natural swimming pools... It sound a bit boring said like that, but it was actually so exiting! The ocean crashing into the pools felt like a wave machine on full power! As fun as an amusement centre!

The following day we did a similar walk to get to Sapzurro-La Miel. They are beaches, the first before and the other just after the border of Panama (you need your passport to get there! They actually check it, but don't stamp it, because you can't go further in Panama, boats only go back to Sapzurro or Capurgana). In the end we didn't get to La Miel: we got to Sapzurro and it was a bit late... And also when you are there, do you really wanna leave for anywhere else?

On the way we came across a couple that we had met the day before on our walk. The girl was from Germany, and the guy, from England, was the perfect doppelganger of our beloved friend Robin Brown. (The week before we had Ali's one in Salento hehe.) They were very cool and gave us the amazing opportunity to use their snorkel the time they went for food. I didn't realise how great the opportunity was until we were actually in the clear-blue water... It was beautiful, one of the best experience in my life! Here is the kind of stuff we could see: (sorry it's only photos from the internet, camera broken :( ...)

Following day we came back to Sapzurro by boat with all our stuffs, where another boat would leave early the next morning to Puerto Obaldia first, do to customs stuffs (actually the first time they ask e to epty all my bags entirely!), and then directly to Carti, where the first road to Panama starts.
This was (and I've heard so many travellers telling me the same before) absolutely the most beautiful part of our trip. It was a (f***ing $120) 9h speed boat (in French we would say "tappe-cul", literally arse-tapper^^), crossing the San Blas Islands... Never heard of the San Blas Islands? Let me help you:

6h of exhilarting view, under the very hot sun but also totally soaked by the very warm water as a mild salvation. We landed too late for any car to drive us to the city, so we all spent the night at the indigenous of Carti, the last island of San Blas, just before the road starts.

Here is a beautiful photo (from the internet, sorry again) just to show you the traditional Panamean art. Women spend hours threading beads together and have them sew around the lower part of their legs, like this: ...beautiful, isn't it?

The following day a car picked us to drive us to Panama City, going through customs a 2nd time (emptying all bags included); and there we called Pedro, a contact that was given to Tom by Manon, that he met in Medellin... Pedro ended up being a super cool dude, welcoming us like stars, bringing Tom to party at weekend, sharing art with me... And surprise! Manon actually showed up the same night haha... What a coincidence!

We're now about to leave him to take a bus to a touristic place called Bocas de Toro, which we heard is wonderful... Tell you more in the next chapter =) Until then, peace, love and laughter dear friends x x x

PS: We're crossing Panama Canal tonight, so exiting!!!!

Chapter 21: Welcome to Columbia!

Oh Columbia, sweet Columbia,
With your tasty patacones and arepas (banana beignets and cornflour tortillas)
Your big bum chicks and wonderful fella's
We love you Coluuuumbiaaaaa!

We took a 20h bus direct to Cali, the birthplace of our beloved friend Pablo living in Scotland now (and also Salsa dance, but that’s nothing compared to our wicked friend).
We loved the city, probably because we just entered Colombia and met its friendly population. It is not a myth, people in Colombia ARE different, they ARE friendlier than any other country we visited until now, they ARE closer to you (the girls also DO have way more beautiful bums, says Tom).

Playing some music in San Antonio a Sunday afternoon I was never alone; altogether maybe 10-15 random people came and sat down with me for a chat, boy or girl… and NEVER had the feeling of being insecure, which happens a lot to me when it’s guys getting too close.It’s funny how in Europe you always hear “Watch out Colombia, it’s the most dangerous country blablabla”; but in fact, after being robbed in every country we visited, Colombia seems way friendlier!

After Cali we headed to Salento, a tiny village in the subtropical area, to meet my friend from the US that I met in Edinburgh, Mike. . The place was paradise, with plenty of peaceful walks to do around. Andres, the manager of our beautiful hostel, gave us his warmest welcome, together with Mike, who was so exited to show us everything that had to be enjoyed in the area.

Salento's main square

2^nd day we did Cocora walk, with its cascades and butterflies.  The walk goes all the way up to the top of a mountain and back to the bottom, and you need to get e jeep to commit with the village. So we took the jeep and started to walk, and after maybe 30min we thought: “Wow, this place is so wonderful! Let’s have a break.” When refreshed we walked again for another 30minand got to a cascade: “So cool, let’s have another break!”. But after that, we had to take a decision: we had not enough time left to go to the top, in which case there would be no jeeps left to bring us back to the village, but too much time left to just go back… So I offered Tom to get back THROUGH the river, meaning properly into it! I already experienced canyoning in France, I know it’s a bit dangerous, but the river seemed totally appropriate to it, and I was sure we would have great fun… But such a work to convince Tom that it was safe and that we wouldn’t die hahaha Because I saw that there was no way to reassure him I just jumped both feet in the river and started the adventure, followed soon by a very clumsy Tom =)

In the end, apart from my flask that I lost in the river, we had a magical time, very close to the nature, with the sweet feeling of very cold water in our feet (water which took 3 days to dry, everything has a price hehe).

And the following day (Saturday), surprise! It was National Day! 20th of July, celebrating the Columbian declaration of independance. All Salento was vibrating of good energy, Salsa and Cumbia running their usual battle for which is gonna be danced the most, the only shopping street of the village filled with street artists and handcraft workers... The whole hostel was gathered for some drinks and after awhile the group headed up to the "main square", where we carried on drinking and jamming in the warm atmosphere of this magical night for Columbia.

On the Sunday happened to be the reggae/hip-hop day of a festival in the closest town, Pereira. We headed there with Mike and 3 other girls, struggled a bit to get in (they were asking for passport and many common things were forbidden in the festival, like usual alcohol, arms and drugs, but also cables as telephone cable, lighters, and even cigarettes!). We ended up seeing only the 3 last groups, which was still very good: one was "the Alcolirykoz" (link) de Medellin, kinda Columbian Cypress Hill... They were amazing on stage! They made up jump jump jump!!! And finally followed by, total surprise, Lutan Fyah! He was playing with a  bunch of local musicians, and it was very good... but after the full power of the Alcolirykoz I have to say something was missing.

After the festival we headed to some clubs in town, where we met the beautiful Paula, with who we spend the rest of the night drinking in town. She offered us to come and visit her in Manizales, where she lives, the next day, which fitted perfectly our plan to go to the hot baths there. We walked to the bus station early in the morning, still drunk, Mike and the girls were heading back to Salento, and while waiting for our buses, something scarry happened: the driver of an empty bus took the turn in the station, and we heard the very loud noise of the breaks of the bus breaking down, and then the bus was projected away of the asphalt to crash on side on the trees! Mike acted like a hero and ran to help, followed by Tom. We girls stayed away, a bit scared. In the end, the driver had been thrown out by the window and was injured, but not to death. Strong Mike came back all white and feverish. Life's hard sometimes...

In Manizales we went like planned to the hot baths... which were closed! Well, saying closed meaning only that there was absolutely no one there... not that the place was actually close hehe... So we sneaked in the expensive place to enjoy an hour of hot swimming pools in the open air of the mountains! What a treat!

At night we met Paula at her place, along with her 3 flatmates, Johana, David and (oups, I forgot). The next day I went with Johana to a beautiful park of Manizales, and offered her to come back with me to Salento for a couple of day, while Tom would go directly to Medellin to make some money in preparation for the cross to Panama. She was a great companion and together we enjoyed one more time the peacefulness of Salento.

      


I left a week to Tom to get rich and met him in Medellin. While he was being a star in the city, I went for a free city tour and leaned a lot about the city of Pablo Escobar: 10 years ago it was the most dangerous city in the world, it was even safer to go to Tel Aviv where the war was open! But you probably know these stuffs, we ear them everywhere, still now, which is where the problem is, because in realiy Medellin is now the most innovative city in the world, with its recent and beautiful metro, its 9 new library to induce better education, etc... A nice fact for example, was to see the old square for junkies and prostitutes, formerly called the Square of Fear, was now rebuilt in a enlightened square, called Square of Hope, hosting the new Secretary for Education. A nice way to turn bad vibes into good energy for a better world! So conclusion, Medellin is safe AND beautiful!