Carribean Beauty

Wow! 4 months after I first stepped on the South American continent in Buenos Aires and 3 months after I reached the very Southern tip in Ushuaia we have made it all the way to Caracas at the Northern end of the continent (and as I type these lines we are already back in Switzerland). What an incredible journey it has been. From the stunning natural beauties in Argentina, the impressive archeological sites in Peru to the exotic rhythms and joy of life in Brazil/Colombia. We are taking so many memories, so many stories with us – I guess we will bore you with them until the end of our lives… Personally, I have rediscovered my love for South America and I am deeply impressed how much progress has been achieved in countries like Brazil, Peru and Colombia over the last decade. No doubt, the future looks much better and the potential is enormous…

We spent all of the final days of our trip in Cartagena, Colombia. It’s a beautiful, well-preserved colonial city on Colombia’s Carribean coast (did you know Colombia has exposure to the Carribean?) and practically the only place in Colombia that has been “discovered” by international tourists. For me Cartagena is hands down the most beautiful city on the continent of South America and I wish I had bought real estate there when I first visited 10 years ago (these days celebrities like Mick Jagger, Enrique Iglesias and Donald Trump (!) are moving in and real estate prices are now among the highest in South America). But it’s not just the historic center that makes Cartagena such a wonderful experience. It’s the whole package of being the safest city in Colombia, the nice beaches (the only place to escape the heat), the laid back Carribean lifestyle, the friendly locals, the Salsa and Vallenato music blasting from every corner and the wonderful balmy nights when a bottle of cold Aguila beer just seems to taste better (and go down faster) than anywhere else in the country. All the nights we spent drinking beer (and watching people) at the beautiful Plaza Santa Domingo amidst all kind of artists, singers and other fellow tourists… It was as close to paradise as you can get and I was secretly wishing that the nights would never end and we’d never have to get up from that chair…

Our arrival in Cartagena was very well timed – 19th of May, my birthday! Of course that was no coincidence. I have had friends there for 10 years and I thought it would be a great idea to celebrate with them. They are actually more like my Colombian family. The welcome after 10 years was so warm, I could not believe it. There was a big sign saying “Bienvenido a casa Chibcombiano” (welcome home chibchombiano – my Colombian nickname) and the whole family was there including neighbors and cousins from Baranquilla etc. I had no idea that I had left such a lasting impression… Also realized quickly why the family seemed so much bigger than last time. There are six new kids on the block – viva Colombia! So we spent my birthday night remembering the good old times, drinking whiskey and beer and eating birthday cakes. It was wonderful to spend my birthday so far from home but still have so many loved ones around. It was overwhelming and I was glad we got to hang out in Cartagena for some additional days.

In terms of day time activities there was not much going on in Cartagena – it was simply too hot! So we spent our days on the beach or at the Islas del Rosario. We undertook one trip to Moroa with the goal of buying high quality hammocks at good prices. It turned into one of those adventures I described in my last report. About one hour outside of Cartagena we run into a huge traffic jam and learn that a bridge has been closed for maintenance and will only reopen in 2 hours. So we get to wait for two hours in the middle of nowhere in the sweltering heat of early afternoon (with lots of nasty invisible mosquitos). Naturally it was the business of a life time for all the street vendors (one girl is cycling to the village and back just to sell me a Diet Coke) and I am always amazed how easy the locals take incidents like this (in Switzerland there would be riots). Fortunately, the bridge was re-opened after 2 hours and we still got to buy our hammocks. You can bet we will remember this trip every single time before we doze off in that comfy hammock…

One night while we were having beers at the Plaza Santo Domingo, we got a free lesson in how to conquer the heart of a Latin woman (or probably any woman for that matter). A beautiful young couple was seated at the table next to us and from there the story unfolded… Step 1 – the gentleman ordered a glass of champagne for the lady (and something stronger for himself). I guess this is as far as we can all follow, except the gentlement kept ordering drinks… Step 2 – the gentleman waves over a guitar player that plays and sings at their table for roughly 15min (it must have been a special guitar player since he did NOT sing Guantanamera). Step 3 – the gentlemen hires a Vallenato band to sing at their table. Vallenato is one of the traditional rhythms of coastal Colombia and is going through a huge revival (for a sample song, go to the end of this report). These guys sing with so much passion that even Gustavo and I get goosebumps. And the point is, they dont leave anymore. Gentleman buys them a couple of cervezas and they stick around for hours… Step 4 – about two hours later a horse drawn carriage arrives. Gentleman buys the coachman a cerveza and then he packs the whole band and his precious girl on the carriage – and off they go. If gentleman was not proposing that night, I dont know what the hell he was doing…!

For us it was also time to hit the road again but our bus trip to Caracas (24 hours!) and flight to Zurich (another 14 hours) was not nearly as romantic. Before we were allowed to leave Colombia I had to promise to my friends that I would return sooner than in 10 years. Well, that’s an easy one you’d think…

Anyway, I am now taking a break from backpacker’s life to decide about the next steps. Check back in a couple of weeks or even better send me an e-mail if you want to know what I am up to. Thanks to all of you for following my blog and for all the positive feedback!

Hasta pronto

Adrian

 

Here a sample of modern Vallenato (again with beautiful pictures of Colombia)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIBdN4jxtv0

Danger Zone?

The stereotypes about Colombia are pretty clear and strong: most dangerous country in the world, capital of kidnapping, the world’s largest supplier of cocaine… Well, we got news for you. Things have been changing down here (pretty much unnoticed by the rest of the world) ever since Alvaro Uribe took over presidency in 2002. He has been successfully fighting the guerilla thanks to a huge increase in the police force and the army plus tight security controls across the country (we got firsthand experience). This has had a big effect in the country side where previously the guerilla could do as they wished. It has also had a dramatic effect on the psychology of the Colombians. For the first time in 2-3 generations they now believe in a better future. With regard to the cocaine trade, the government claims that coca cultivation is down 70% since Uribe took over. Whatever the number is, there has been a shift in the psychology of coca farmers too. They have been incentivized to grow other things and noticed if there is no coca, there is no guerilla and hence no more violance. So, things are definitely moving in the right direction but there is still a lot of work to do. More than 50% of Colombians still live in poverty…

Security Check on the trip from Popayan to Cali

With regard to tourism, Colombia is refreshingly unspoilt (at least where we have been travelling so far). After all the organized “adventure” tours in Peru, adventure simply seems a natural byproduct of daily activities around here. The Colombians are very friendly, easy going and curious about the few foreigners that travel around here, so we get approached quite often and of course that is more fun when you speak Spanish…

Our gateway to Colombia was Bogota (2600m above sea leavel) where we were greeted by chili temperatures. It’s an enormous city that spreads as far as the eye can see. No wonder, all those 8 million people have to live somewhere… We toured the city for a day or two and were surprised by how modern, well organized (except for the traffic jams on Saturday), lively and safe it is. Actually when we went to Zona Rosa (entertainment district) on Thursday night I had to pinch myself a couple of times. People were dressed well, the bars and restaurants were sophisticated and best of all, people really seemed to enjoy themselves (Colombians are very good at enjoying the moment). Also liked the Gold museum, one of the most important ones in the world, with many pieces from pre-Colombian times (entrance fee $1!!)

Bogota as far as the eye can see…

One of the precious pieces at the Gold museum

The less pleasant side of Bogota was that we figured out we brought some souvenir from Peru with us. After one week of diarrhea we decided to go to a hospital where we were promptly attended and free of charge (in Switzerland they charge you $100 just for a handshake with the doctor). After a short examniation, the cute doctor (in high heels!) diagnosed some bacterial diarrhea and prescribed us one week of antibiotics and a very strict diet. Well, it actually did the trick even though we are both not back to 100% yet.

After sorting out the medical problems we caught a night bus to San Agustin (it must have been the Ice Express since the aircon was blasting at full power during the whole trip despite outside temperatures of only 15 degrees) in Southern Colombia. SA used to be in the red zone with lots of guerilla activity but thankfully it is now safe again to travel there. SA has some of the most important archeological sites in Colombia, mainly tombs and several hundred spectacular stone statues that acted as guardians of the tombs. All of this is the work of some pre-Columbian indigenous tribes and unfortunately very little is known about it. Also, only about 10% of the estimated sites have been uncovered due to a lack of funding.  Still it’s mysteriously beautiful and best of all, it is all set in a wonderful hilly semi tropical landscape dotted with fincas and plantations of all kinds. It was so beautiful and peaceful, my eyes could not get enough of it…

Tomb guardians at San Agustin

Beautiful landscape around San Agustin

 

On the second day in San Agustin we took a jeep tour to explore some more archeological sites. Our driver and guide was called Rafael, probably about 60 years old. He is a cute grandfatherly type of guy, happily honking for all the girls that crossed our way and then always giving us a mischievous smile. Even better than Rafael the person was his car – a red Chevrolet 4×4 with fare more than 200,000km under the belt and pretty much anything we touched seemed to be broken. Because of a weak battery the enginge would never start, so Gustavo and I always had to give a hand and push the car until Rafael was able to start the engine. The roads were also pretty bad, sometimes they resembled dry riverbeds more than roads. As if this was not enough of a rough ride, at some point the engine started sputtering and the car was jumping like a yearling. So we urged Rafael to pull over at a gas station and sure enough there was not enough gas in the tank… Well, that’s Colombia where everyone is improvising and trying to make ends meet every day. Turns out it was a good warm up for the day after…

The bus ride to Popayan was about 6 hours – no problem under normal circumstances. This road though (connecting two major tourist attractions)was almost completely unpaved and littered with potholes. Gustavo and I were jumping around our seats like pinballs, so we were pretty “shaken” upon arrival. Still it was worth the pain, since Popayan is one of the best preserved colonial towns in Colombia. The nick name is “ciudad blanca” (another one) because all the buildings in the center are painted in white. All the buildings seem in very good shape which is kind of miracle given the city has been flattened several times by earthquakes (the last time 25 years ago). Also, we were very surprised to be the only people wandering around with a camera – where are all those tourists…?

In the historic center of Popayan

Next stop was Cali. It is the Salsa capital of Colombia and supposedly has the hottest women. The taxi driver that took us to the hostel told us so many crime stories about Cali that we felt like turning around and hopping on the next bus. This was followed by a lecture of the friendly Swiss hostel owner that we should stay away from the transvestites in the area because apparently they are pretty aggressive and competitive. Well, we still took a walk around town and found it to be remarkably unremarkable. You could tell that the best days of the Cali cartel are a thing of the past. We still had high hopes for the night life, but I had to venture out alone (Gustavo had a headache).  I was warming up with a couple of beers in the bars of Avenida Sexta (it was the first night of drinking again after all those antibiotics!) and then heading to a club called Kukaramakara. It was the kind of place that I had been looking for but just after I ordered my first beer (around 12.45am) the lights went on. By law all parties in Cali are off by 1am (weekdays) – you gotta be kidding me?! So I asked the friendly lady behind the bar for some recommendation in Juanchito (salsa district a little out of town). Her answer? Dont go there, you gonna get killed… So I hopped on a taxi and went back home. It was a fun ride because the cab driver did not stop at any red light. Yes, Cali is still dangerous…

We are now in Medellin. To get here was another 10 hour bus ride on another Ice Express and again in very hilly and curvy terrain (Colombia has 3 major mountain cordilleras, that’s why all the roads seem to go either uphill or downhill), this time through the Zona Cafetera, the region that produces most of the famous Colombian coffee. Medellin was once labelled the most dangerous city in the world. This was in the Eighties when Pablo Escobar was the king of the city and the king of the cocaine trade. But thankfully things have changed and the most important natives these days are Alvaro Uribe (President) and Fernando Botero (Artist). Medellin is labelled as the city of eternal spring. At 1500m and surrounded on all four sides by rugged peaks it has a very balanced climate and beautiful views to all sides (most impressive actually at night when the whole city lights up like a christmas tree). The city center is bustling with activity while some of the residential areas are really quiet, clean and seem to offer good quality of life. Medellin is the only city in South Amercia that has a metro and the locals are very proud of it. It is surprisingly clean, efficient and some of the stations are even connected to the Metrocable (gondolas) that take you up on the hills (crossing over the shantytowns) from where you have amazing views of the city. We happened to arrive here on a Friday night and headed straight to Zona Rosa (of course) and again I could not believe my eyes. While the district was considerably smaller than in Bogota, the streets were overflowing with young people, all of them having a great time… Those kind of scenes were unthinkable just 10 years ago… Also highly recommended is the Museo de Antioquia which displays a number of paintings and sculptures of native son Fernando Botero.

One of the Botero sculptures in Medellin

View from El Penol, about 2hrs outside of Medellin

Anyway, after all those cities we are now heading towards Cartagena, a beautiful place on the Carribean Coast. We are slowly running out of time for this leg of the trip…

Hasta la proxima

Adrian

PS – for those of you who want to see more of Colombia, I recommend to watch the 2min video clip on YouTube (link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzZe0gcc0eY

Radio Felicidad

After spending the first 2 weeks in the highlands of Peru, our arrival in Arequipa was also the arrival to the (semi) desert climate zone. I had no idea that pretty much all of Peru’s coastline is in the desert. Anyway, Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and is called the white city because most of the historic buildings in the beautiful city center have been built with white (!) volcanic stone. It is also the gateway to one of the major tourist attractions in Peru, the Colca Canyon, second deepest canyon in the world (thought to be more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon!).

Historic center of Arequipa

Arequipa is flanked by snow capped volcano Misti (5822m) and Chachani Mountain (6000m). As you know, Swiss cannot resist the mountains and hence we decided to tackle Chachani. But this time we did it the easy way, by hiring a Toyota Landcruiser, two mountain bikes and a guide. Denis drives us to the base of Chachani at 4800m to the tunes of Radio Felicidad (90.3FM). This radio station was playing the weirdest 80s songs we had not heard in a long time. Little did we know that the radio station would follow us for the next 10 days and only once we got closer to the coast were the 80s overpowered by more appropriate salsa and merengue rhythms… The downhill ride was a blast – 52km of mostly unpaved road with some technically challenging sections. Fortunately no one fell off the mountain bike, no one was bitten by the stray dogs. When we got back to Arequipa we were just dusty and happy.

Mountainbiking at Chachani (Misti volcano in the background)

Dust would also be a major topic during our 3 day excursion to Colca Canyon. The canyon is about 150km from Arequipa and in order to get there we have to once again cross some major mountains with altitudes of up to 5000m. We drive through nature reserves with interesting microclimates and stop to see some amazing rock formations. Once we drive past Chivay we start to see the amazing landscapes of Colca Valley with the artistically terraced agricultural slopes dating from pre Inca times. We continue to drive towards Cabanaconde. The valley gets deeper, the terraces disappear and eventually it gets harder and harder to see the small river in the huge Canyon. Our last stop for the day is Cruz del Condor, one of the spots that keeps attracting busloads of tourists every day. Supposedly, this is one of the best spots to see Condors in Peru and Peru probably has the smallest Condor population of the Andean countries. We got lucky and could see several of these majestic birds relatively close up. It was truly a highlight to see them gliding through the air, effortlessly, without a single stroke of wing, just taking advantage of the thermal. Still, when they fly by the “noise” is very similar to the one of a glider… It was hard to leave this beautiful scenery behind us but once the sun disappeared behind the mountains (around 5pm) the air turned chilly and we instantly started longing for a hot shower… Next morning we started hiking down the canyon, descending a little more than 1000m to get to the bottom (at the deepest point the canyon is more than 3000m deep). While Gustavo El Tren took the lead, I decided to walk more slowly with the rest of the group. It took us more than 3 hours to get to the bottom and I had to eat a lot of dust because everyone kept sliding on the slippery path. Once we got to the bottom we were pleasantly surprised to find a swimming pool and some beer (even though it was warm), so we decided to hang out and take it easy for the rest of the day. However, down in the canyon the sun even disappeared at 4pm and from then on it got cold and dark and there was not really a whole lot to do.  So we ended up going to bed (to tent) at 8pm on a Saturday night – shame on us!! Next morning, our guide made us get up at 4am, so we could avoid hiking up the 1000m in the blazing sun. We started hiking at 5am and since I did not want to repeat my dust eating exercise I joined Gustavo at the front. We were in pretty good shape and arrived back at the top 1 1/2 hours later, way before the rest of the group and unfortunately also about 45 minutes before the first sunrays could warm our bodies. Man, it was freezing up there without sunshine… But somehow it also felt great. I dont remember the last time I have finished a major workout at 6.30am Sunday morning… From there it was just relax. We stopped at Cruz del Condor again, went to the hot springs and finally were driven back to Arequipa.

Agricultural terraces in Colca valley

King of the Andes – El Condor

In Arequipa we had no time to waste since the next highlight was already waiting for us – the famous Nazca lines. We took an overnight bus and arrived in Nazca 6am next morning. We did not sleep very long and not very well and I felt like I was dragged out of the bus in the middle of the night. I felt like a sleepwalker and in that condition we went straight to the airport (the best way to see the Nazca lines is by plane). Next thing I remember is that we found ourselves on a small 4 seater Cessna plane, flying across the desert with the pilot excitedly pointing out some astounding figures drawn in the sand. Some of them were difficult to recognize, even more difficult to photograph and then we also had to worry about our stomaches that started to turn funny… At some point I saw Gustavo fumbling with his little plastic bag but I quickly looked to the other side. And then it was all over, it all seemed like a surreal dream, but honestly my stomach was soooo happy to be firmly back on solid ground. It took us about an hour to recover and once we found our voices again we asked to be shipped back to the bus terminal. Next destination Huacachina, a small oasis in the desert.

The famous Nazca lines

Huacachina used to be a vacation place for the Peruvian elite but these days it is mostly inhabited by backpackers that are chilling out in the desert and enjoy sandboarding in the dunes. Naturally we signed up for the sandboarding too. So we hopped on a strange looking vehicle called sand buggy and thanks to a crazy driver felt like we were flying (oh please not again!) across the sand dunes. The funniest part was actually the 3 Italian gay men we had on board. They were screaming like little school girls at a Robbie Williams concert. The sandboarding was different from what I had expected. Instead of standing on the board like in snowboarding you actually lie on the board face down (and ideally with your mouth shut…). Some of the dunes were quite steep, the speed accordingly high but it felt very safe because the sand is normally quite soft (except for some of the speedbumps when I seriously started worrying about my manhood). When we got back to the hostel we realized that we had carried back half of the sand dunes in our pockets and shoes… Reportedly the cleaning ladies in Huacachina had to work overtime to clean up the whole mess…

Sandboarder in Huacachina

Currently we are in Lima, the capital of Peru. We arrived here after a brief stop in Paracas, a small beach resort about 4 hours south of the capital. The major attraction of Paracas are the Islas Ballestas, also called the poor man’s Galapagos (we are talking about a $10 vs $1000 price tag). The 2 hour boat trip to see the Islands was really worthwhile since we got to see dolphins, penguins, sea lions and a variet of different birds. Back onshore we got ourselves a big Ceviche (raw fish) lunch at a local restaurant. Ever since that day we have been carrying the diarrhea bug with us. Hmm…

Wildlife at Islas Ballestas

As for Lima, we have arrived here with no expectations since most of the large South American cities are nothing to write home about. However, we were pleasantly surprised how modern and cosmopolitan the place is (we even found a Hooters!). Our hostel is in a beautiful residential neighborhood called Miraflores where the streets are clean and safe. We have also been surprised by all the beautiful parks around here and the best part is that Miraflores is built on a cliff, about 80m above the Pacific. The views would be spectacular if it was not for the mist that has been hanging around for the last couple of days (mist in the desert, how does that work?). The city center of Lima is also beautifully maintained with lots of historic buildings/plazas and relaxing pedestrian areas that are patrolled by a cute police force (women in white uniforms…). With 10million inhabitants, Lima is by far the largest city in Peru but I kept wondering where all the people are hiding? The (few) neighborhoods we have seen are really really well organized and civilized… Best of all, Lima has developed a thriving restaurant industry with some very sophisticated menu’s. This is the icing on the cake after all the good food we have already enjoyed throughout the country!

Miraflores in the mist

Tomorrow it will be time to say goodbye to Peru since we are catching a flight to Bogota, Colombia. Peru was really fun and it has a great infrastructure for tourists making it easy to travel around (even if you dont speak Spanish). Unfortunately we have only seen the Southern part of the country but that will give us an excuse to come back! For now, I am very excited to return to Colombia, a country where I have travelled extensively 10 years ago (when it was still dangerous, hahaha!). I am sooooo curious to find out how it has changed in the last decade. Will keep you posted!

Hasta la proxima

Adrian