So thought I'd put my roaming to another use and compile some info for anyone that is thinking of traveling or visiting Colombia!
Let's start by saying: best country in the world. haha welllllll, I realllly have a soft spot for Argentina, and well, I absolutely love our dear U.S. of freaking A. butttttt... We really like Colombia!
Would definitely reccommend doing some research on el cafeteria (the three coffee regions in the middle of colombia) because as you may have heard, this country has some pretty nice cafe (: If you are at all interested in doing some WWOOFing there is a lot of farms in this area! It's beautiful! We (Debra, mi hermana, and I) spent a couple weeks on a cool farm that grows bananos and cafe, and it was quite the experience Although our shack was creepin with cockroaches and we usually had cold showers, we learned a ton about animals, taking care of gardens, using machetes, composting, making bread, how to not want to shower all the time, annnnnd Spanish! haha To be honest though, the farm we stayed on was more of a family style, grow for their own sustenance type of deal, and we really were hoping to see the scenes behind the coffee production here... which wasn't really what we found, buttttttt we started an englsih class for all the neighborhood kids and I've definitely am satisfied with how much more ninja like I've become (I was basically already a ninja coming in -should ask Maya Webber about it) with my machete choppin yerbas & trees & telarañas down all over like nobody's bizzzz! (:
Anyway enough of that... the farm's name is Albergue Azul, and it's nice, but I'd check out some other places, there's a lot on the WWOOF website! As far as other places to go in Colombia, soooooooo much to tell!
Sooo, there's this AWESOME boat trip through the San Blas Islands that I'm going to do (haven't done yet but have heard only good things) with my brother in November from Cartagena, Colombia to Panama (which you are also able to do the other way around) But it's a 3-6 day (depending) boat trip where u stop at all these beautiful little almost uninhabited islands! It does run a bit on the expensive side though around $400-$600... (which for me is a lot, but i heard its nutsssss slash worth it!)
Anyway, in Cartagena (up north on the caribbean coast), lot's to do! The walled city (is what they call it there) is beauuuutiful, and it's the colonial city that was oringially cunstructed because apperently Sir Francis Drake (after many others) stole a bunch of stuff from the city (as pirates) and so they built up this huge wall for protection around their city! It's literally like Pirates of the Caribbean style, kinda cool! OK woo woo woo, hostel to stay at Media Luna, do zumba in the plaza a block away on Sundays at like 7 or at the cultural center on mondays and wednesdays at 6 (also right down the street and the instructor is freaking a hoot! SOOO FUN!) Also, you can do day or over night trips to Playa Blanca, which is beauuuuutiful! Just go to the boats the day before to reserve ur spot (or early in the morning) because they leave at 930 I think!
Also... from there, we went up north even further to Tayrona National Park which is beautiful. You can do a hike to 'Pueblito', you can camp along the beaches there in hammocks or you can pitch a tent. We just hiked through the day there, which was cool (get there in the AM because you can walk all day to all the beaches) and then we went back to our spot at Costeño Beach! Which, is a spot definitely worth checking out! It was awesome! (bring bug spray tho, cuz the bugs will get u!!!) It's a little beachfront piece of land owned by two Canadians that are in their late twenties. It's basically a surf spot slash chill in a hammock and read slash chop coconuts slash eat meals with everyone (it's 5000 pesos for breakfast and 10000 for each lunch and dinner -which is not suuuper cheap, but not spendy, just pretty reasonable, and these are sizeable portions also -there are no stores/restaurants/anything near enough to go out, so bring food or eat theirs family style haha) ALSO MAKE A RESERVATION before you go, because it's boooooked usually. Basically you get on a bus from Santa Marta that's going to Tayrona and then tell your 'conductor' you're headed to Costeño beach and it's just a couple miles after Tayrona.
*NOTE: Ok also, all flights within Colombia use the airline vivacolombia! It is SUPER cheap (usually cheaper than buses!!!)
So from there, We haven't yet been to Bucaramanga, but have heard nothing but awesome things -it's a place to do a lot of outdoorsy activities and nearby is some of the best white water rafting (San Gil) but is also a little bit of a city, kinda has both worlds.
Medellín we LOVE! Are living here! It's very much a put together city despite it's recent cartels (ever watched the movie "Blow"? haha), it's cleaned up a whole bit! Great infrastructure in Poblado and other neighboring barrios, it's beautiful. Wherever you're at, ask about the roads that are shut down on sundays for people to run/bike/walk/rollerblade/walk dogs on and get ur juice on at one of the thousand stands or ZUMBA at one of the handful of places gettin their groove on on the side of the road! This city is a good escape from the more rugged areas because it's clean and put together. We stayed at two hostels, one, more chill, but very welcoming and family-esk called Black Sheep, and one called The Pit Stop (both in barrio Poblado) with a pool and a nice kitchen, nice comfy beds, a vball/bball court(ish), a big screen TV movie room with endless DVD's, and a cool bar area with a pool table woo woo woo -it's cool (: Also, you could work there for a couple weeks if you wanna get your room paid for and work in the bar a couple nights a week! Also in Medellín many people (including us -one of the few touristy things we did do) take the Gondola up to Parque Arvi which was quite an incredible view!!! (Atención: WE GOT STUCK IN IT! Because of THUNDER AND LIGHTENING! was scary as poop! Sitting next to a lady who was praying for her life, rocking back and fourth chanting "Dios Mio, Dios Mio..." helpful.) As far as going out, Zona Rosa is a cool, also a good spot for an afternoon walk/lunch/coffee or if you wanna go out to dinner.
Bogotá we were pleasantly surprised
CALI!!!!! we haven't been there BUT WE ARE GOING AND IM SO EXCITED!!!! It's a college town and TONS of salsssssa! That's all I know so far... Also, I have a friend that lives in Popayan which is a couple hrs out -but another place that we've heard is cute and a little more low key!
Que tengas un buen viaje!
