Charming Colombia!

Early in the morning, after a long night bus from the border I arrived in Cali, Colombia not really knowing what to expect, and just went to a popular travelers hostel (the easier option when you have no info about a city). That hostel, and supposedly all the other big traveler's hostels in the city offered free salsa classes - not a huge surprise as Cali is essentially the salsa capital of the world!

I found a place to do a short workaway there in Cali because I fell in love with Cali even after just one day walking around and FEELING the city - Cali really has a special energy! 

So, for the next 10 days or so I worked in a small hostel/B&B, painting murals, cleaning, and cooking, along with two Argentinians, and going out to dance salsa every night of the week! I found the Cali acro yoga group and joined all their "jams". I made friends with some guys (while dancing 😊 ) who invited me to go play soccer...which was so great! I found all the "hot" places that the locals went to each day of the week and weekend to danceeee!! And any other time I had, I spent walking around the city, shopping, eating new foods, and observing this new and intriguing culture I was surrounded by!

Then, I learned of my beloved sister's plans to come travel with me in Central America...meaning that for almost the first time in all of my travels I had a timeline! So, I had to make peace with the act that I wouldn't be able to do all I wanted to in the short 6 weeks I had to get to Costa Rica, and decided to choose a few destinations in Colombia, have some quality experiences in each, and I promised myself that I'd be back soon!!!

So, after a fun and lively time in this infectious city it was time to move on. I traveled north to a small town in the mountains in the coffee region called Salento. I stayed at an "Eco Hostel" (a lot of hotels have started using "Eco" in their title to attract a certain crowd...and it works, even though it's usually not really true) outside of the town, up in the hills! It was such a peaceful few days surrounded by nature, hiking in the mountains - Cocora Valley, and just breathing the crisp, cool, fresh air - it was a nice reminder of why I love my home in the Berkshires!

I met some lovely people here, and ended up traveling on to Medellín with a boy from Houston, Texas, where I stayed for over a week. Medellín is a unique city due to it's recent history: Just over 20 years ago, Medellín was the center of cocaine distribution of the world, making it a very violent and in general drug oriented city. It transformed completely when the powerful runners of the operations were incarcerated or assassinated, and is now a beautiful, and "new" city, and one of the safest I've been to for in a while. It was very interesting learning about all the relatively recent events that completely transformed the city an country!

There were health-food stores and cafés, natural material clothing stores, and yoga studios all around El Poblado (the tourist district) that were fun to check out and compare to home, but too expensive to buy anything at. And then walking around the real center of the city was always a lively adventure! Stalls filling each park, sidewalk, and even spilling onto the busy streets, with pushy people trying to sell green mango, guava, sugared coconut meat, "hot dogs", cheap china-made clothing, watches, tupperware...and cocaine, weed, glue, etc. It was quite an experience walking along a street line with people shooting up right out in the open. Another thing that called my attention was that probably over half the women there had had reconstructive surgery. But, what stands out most prominently in my memory about Medellín (Colombia in general, but especially in Medellín) is the people. So helpful, going above and beyond to ensure I was safe, happy, and enjoying their country. It's truly a city of drastically contrasting extremes.

When in Medellín I spontaneously took a pole dance class, and instantly fell in love! I only took two classes, but thanks to my flexibility and athleticism, by the end I was practicing with the advanced class. I hope to peruse it more seriously in the near future - when I am at least somewhat stationary in a place where I can delve into classes!

I decided to then fly up to Santa Marta (cheaper than taking a bus) which is on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. I didn't realize how completely different everything was - especially the "costeño" people - here on the coast. I think their rude behavior can be blamed on the unbearable, miserable heat and humidity. My goodness it was intense!

I spent a couple days in the small town Taganga right outside of Santa Marta, just enjoying observing and exploring my new surroundings, and trying SUP yoga again in the picturesque Taganga Bay. Then I went to the beautiful Tayrona National Park for a much needed week disconnected from the modern world of technology and all the other distractions around us, sleeping in a hammock on the beach, and eating any food I managed to carry the long hike into the park, along with foraged coconuts and mangos. (:

Next I took a bus to Cartagena, an overwhelmingly touristy city, with a beautiful colonial style "Old Town", a LOUD nightlife...probably because that's the only time it's bearable to step out of the air conditioning. I spent a few hot days here (actually got a cold from the AC) before flying south to Bogotá. I only spent one afternoon in Bogotá as I had a flight to Panama the next morning, but I managed to get a pretty cool view of the city. I went to the Gold Museum, and then jut walked around for a few hours! It was a fair bit colder than the other places I'd been in Colombia because it's higher in the mountains. I saw a teenage boy earning money on the street by racing his three guinea pigs while people bet on them...along with many other interesting things! Bogotá is where the studious Colombians go for the top universities, so it had a much more intellectual feel to it!

I pampered myself that night with ginger, garlic, chili soup and lots of tea, and the next morning caught a flight to Panama, marking the end of the longest period of time I've spent one one continent in over 2 years!

On to more new and exciting adventures...!