Armenia´s coffee region

Salento

So instead of heading to the Pacific I am on a bus to Armenia, the capital of the department Quindio. There I change the bus and head towards Salento, the most popular village in this department, and check into the hostel "Ciudad de Segorbe – a place run by 2 super nice guys from Spain. Its almost sunset and I drop my stuff and run outside since the sun is out which gives me a chance to take some nice pictures. The village is pretty small so that I run around the center in less than 30 minutes before I climb up the stairs in the Calle Real to have a marvelous view over the village and on the other side over the mountains. The setting sun sets the mountain peaks alight and offers me a spectacular picture. I walk around and come to a place from where I get to see a rainbow coming out of the mountains breaking half way through. This mesmerizing view and the intense smell of the plants and trees around me, gives me a rush of excitement which I haven’t felt for a while. I feel free again, far far away from the smog and rush-hours of the Colombian cities. If there is one thing that this journey has changed in my life then it is my relationship to nature. In the past I always enjoyed my life in the biggest cities Europe’s and only rarely tried to escape the stressful life. I had my own ways to release the stress that was building up. However, since I have been to places in the jungle or after spending 2 weeks on a lost island in the Pacific I have found a resource of energy, one that actually restores my energy level without harming my body and also delivers peace and balance into my life. When I get back to the hostel I take time to talk to Henry, one of the owners, who, in a very friendly and charming way, tells me what I should definitely do and see during my stay.

 The first thing on the agenda is Valle de Cocora, one of the most beautiful places I have been to in Colombia and extremely popular not only with the travelers but also Colombians. I take the Jeep at 7.30am. With me on board is Ted, a Swedish guy I met in Cali. During the drive we get to know another Dutch couple and another Swiss girl. All 5 of us then make their way through the Valley. Our way leads us through a valley surrounded by a mountain range. Everything is covered in a bright green thanks to the never stopping rain. Luckily for us the morning is very nice and the sun is shining for the first 2 hours of our hike. On the way we pass a small waterfall which Henry told me about. After that we make our way up the hill and have to cross the river 10 times or so because the way goes zigzag. At around 12pm we reach the point we can watch an enormous number of Calibri’s which flies in front of our nose. All of us take millions of pictures since it is very challenging to get a good shot of a Calibri. As well we have a hot chocolate with cheese, something very typical in this region (not necessarily for my taste). After that break we carry on our hike with the most difficult part ahead of us. The last 800 meters to the top have a sharp incline and with the muddy earth under our feet it is challenging. I leave the others behind and go up my own pace reaching the top just in time before the heavy rain starts. The 4 of them come 15 minutes later soaked and we wait an hour until the rain stops. The way back is on a road that is used by cars and by far easier than the other side, especially since its going down. The mountain range is covered in fog and at first we can only see shadows of the famous 70 meter high palm trees growing on those mountains. But the more we go down the better the sight becomes so that we get a pretty good picture of this beautiful region. After 6 hours we reach the entrance and our journey is over.

On the second day I do another hike around Salento which brings me to a famous coffee farm. Just before I reach the farm I take the wrong way and get lost for an hour going a way that leads nowhere but further and further away from where I wanted to go. On the way I pass twice houses with dogs that yell and attack me. A few month ago I would have been scared to death but in the meantime I have learned that nothing happens if you show no fear which is exactly what I am doing both times. And both times the dogs surround me without actually attacking me. James told me that he was once attacked by a dog here in the same region when he walked through a private property. He made the mistake and ran and as a consequence the dog bit him in the ass so that he was actually bleeding. When the owner came he started laughing at the sight of a gringo with a bleeding ass on his property – hilarious!!!

 Anyway, at some point I get back on track and minutes later reach the farm. I only go there because I would love to have a coffee and also need a loo. The administrator shows me around and tells me all about the coffee production. The whole trip takes 40 minutes at the end of which I get my coffee ;) After that I continue my hike and bump into a group of soldiers at the turn around. They check my bag, the first time it happens to me since I am in Colombia, and direct me towards Salento after being sure I am not carrying weapons or drugs. Most people I know still believe that Colombia is a dangerous place to be. Well, believe me IT IS NOT. The guerilla has long been pushed far away from most places so that for 3 to 4 years the country is safe again. Most people also still believe that the Cocaine is coming from Colombia but this as well is not entirely true anymore since the biggest Cocaine producer are Peru and especially the less know Bolivia where the guerilla fled after being defeated in Colombia. Therefore, the army has a very high status amongst the population in Colombia for freeing the country from terror. After 5 hours I come back to Salento and spent the rest of the day traveling to Armenia to get cash because I wouldn’t get it in the only bank in Salento.

Traveling Colombia´s biggest cities

Bogota

The capital of Colombia with its roughly 9mio inhabitants is a vibrant and metropolitan city Latin Americas. It is the first capital on my travel that I could actually live in. It has a very beautiful city center with a mixture of colonial and historic buildings and modern skyscrapers in the financial area. It is also the first city in which I can actually get everything I would be able to consume in Europe, most importantly books. In most streets in the city center you can find at least a book shop which shows the education level of Colombia which is way higher than in all Central American cities. Reason for that is that Colombia has actually a middle class like in all western European countries and a very good school system. During my time here I was for the first time during my trip not confronted with poverty, which is not to say that it doesn’t exist. Apparently, Colombia is one of the worst countries in the world in terms of redistribution of wealth and protection of human. My friend James, a specialist on this subject, told me that union members fighting for labor rights disappear or get executed. Nevertheless, thanks to my friend Luis, who I met 4 years ago in London, my experience in Bogota will go down as one of the best times of my travel.

I haven’t spoke to Luis since I left London and frankly speaking I didn’t know much about him and his life when I got in touch with him a few month ago telling him that I will come to Colombia. Still he welcomed me as if we knew each other for ever and introduced me to his family and friends. I spent a week in his José Luis´ apartment, one of the closest friends of Luis. Since Luis´ family moved in the suburbs of Bogota he asked his friend to put me up so that I can stay closer to the city center in order to have shorter travels. Despite not knowing me, José Luis hospitality surpasses everything I have ever experienced in my life and makes my stay in Bogota unforgettable. Luis and his friends look perfectly after me, tell me which places to visit, what food to try and take me out partying. The only little downturn to my time in Bogota is the weather. Being located on 2600m the temperature in Bogota is the worst that I have had since leaving Europe. When the day was cloudy or rainy the temperature dropped under 10 degrees and during my stay I had not one sunny day J This alone would be reason enough not to live there after my 3 depressing years (in terms of weather) in Dublin.

Medellin

When I leave Bogota I already know that after that great experience everything after that will not be able to match that. For the first time I have heard about Medellin when I was in Nicaragua. James told me that this city, with 4mio inhabitants the second biggest in Colombia, is known for having the most beautiful women Colombia´s. At first I obviously get all excited about that and cannot wait to be there. But the more I heard about Medellin the less attractive the whole story became for me. My friends in Bogota tell me finally that all the beauty there id fake and 90% of the women have some kind of plastic surgery. This is when I totally lose my last bit of excitement. Plastic surgery, I am told, is very huge in Colombia so that even Americans come down here to get their boob job done or to improve other area of their ugly bodies. Most travelers come here either in the hope to meet the girls of their dreams or just to fuck prostitutes and get fucked up on coke. Most of them do both and an infamous hostel for that is "The Pit Stop". James stayed there for a couple of days and told me about the negative atmosphere created by this kind of travelers. When he came down at 10 am to the pool he would meet people who spent their night snorting and had to listen to their homophobic conversations. He also told me that 3 month ago the bar keeper in this hostel died of an overdose. Unfortunately this is the downside of Colombia and this kind of people will end up destroying the reputation of travelers amongst the Colombians.

I arrive on Thursday 28.10.10 in Medellin and stay there until Sunday. Unlike Bogota, with its broad streets and avenues, Medellin is build very tight with little space between the buildings and on the roads which reminds me of London. I don’t like the vibe of the city from the moment I arrive at the terminal and my feeling doesn’t change in the following days. The best thing I do is a trip to Guatape, a little town north of Medellin which is famous for its huge rock "La Piedra" from which you have an amazing view on the breathtaking lake district. Not knowing how long the trip would be I start a bit late and reach "La Piedra" – a 200m high rock – around 2pm just when the clouds start to cover the sun. I run up the stairs only to totally lose my breath before I reach the top. Still, when I stay on the top platform I get a view that is one of best that I had on my journey through Latin America. Wherever I look I can see lakes and land or islands that break them up. After that I go to Guatape to discover that it is a very pretty little town, a bit cheesy, but with its own charm. Every building in the center has a colorful stucco. I would have loved to eat a fish fresh from the lake but I since I was running late I end up having a haircut before I catch the bus back to Medellin. I regret not having more time to spent there and make a note on my mind to come here for a couple of days on my return to Colombia.

Cali

After another night bus ride I arrive in Cali on Monday morning after Halloween. I have two reasons to be in Cali, for once I want to take salsa classes and Cali is supposed to be the best place for it in the world, and the other is to meet up with James, the Australian guy I met in Nicaragua. The time in Cali flies even though I don’t do too much there. My hope of improving my salsa skills end up in a disappointment after a private lesson in Caleño, the salsa style from Cali which is famous all over the world. It is soooo different to what I learnt in Guatemala and pretty tough to get into it that I decide not to spend any money on it. That leaves me with nothing to do in Cali since the city itself is pretty ugly to be fair. Gunther, the German hostel owner of a place I stay with James for a while, tells me that Cali had no importance in the past. For that almost all old buildings have been destroyed in order to build new ones. The oldest building in town is only 150 years. But the time I spent with James, talking about our life and our personal challenges, makes up for anything that the city is missing. At the latest when I arrived in Colombia I realized that I will not meet too many interesting people during my journey. Travelers, even though they have a different mindset to the people who stay all their life in one place, are not any different to them. This means for me that connecting with interesting and inspiring people is by no means easier on the road. That’s why I get the best out of the week with James and regain a lot of energy I lost traveling from one city to the next. Already in Medellin I realized that I had had enough of being in cities and longed to be back to nature, far far away from the civilization. My original plan was to go to the Pacific but like so many times before I change my plan and decide to go to the Amazon instead and go by boat to Peru instead of flying to Cuzco. For that I need to go back to Bogota since I can only fly from there to Leticia which is on the border to Peru.

On the way to Bogota

Bucaramanga

The following morning I arrive in Bucaramanga, the capital of this state with 600,000 people. For me this city is only a one night stop to visit the nearby colonial town Giron. I drop my luggage off at the hotel and directly take a bus to Giron. Lars, a colleague from IBM, has given me a perfect route though Colombia which I try to follow as good as possible and Giron is his favourite colonial town in Colombia. But when I get there I quickly see that we have not the same taste. I find the white colour in which all the houses are painted quite boring and the surrounding mountains not inspiring like the volcanoes around Antigua. Nevertheless, I enjoy my half day in this pretty and touristic town. Get two students as tourist guides who show me around and eat a typical meat platter which is extremely delicious and way to big so that I take half of the plate back to the hotel for dinner. On the way back I get out of the bus a bit earlier since I need cash and also want to see a bit of Bucaramanga. I am the only foreigner in this city just like I was in Giron. But what I really enjoy about being in Colombia is that nobody cares. For 3 hours I am walking through this city realizing that its a nice and safe place to live but certainly not for me. It is way too ordinary and offers nothing, absolutely nothing inspiring. When I am walking back towards the hotel I suddenly realize that I have passed my street and have to go back. This is where my odyssey begins. For 1 hour I am running around trying to find the hotel, which name I don’t know, and its address neither. When it is getting darker I decide to go to an internet cafe where I get the information that I need and 15 minutes later I am finally there.

Parque Nacional de Chicamocha

I leave the next morning for the “Parque Nacional de Chicamocha” – one of the tips from my old colleague Lars. Its one of those spectacular places in this world and definitely one that you should visit when you are in Colombia!! I get there just before 12am – right in time to take the cable lift to the other side where the actual park is located. I get my own lift and spend the following 30 minutes watching, taking pictures and inhaling the magic of this place. The park on the other side is rather sterile for my taste and doesn’t really belong there. Modern buildings filled with cafe´s, restaurants and souvenir shops. I have a cappuccino and look around before I leave. The security guard tells me that I should wait at the road outside the park for a shuttle which apparently comes every 15 minutes. Not so today. I wait over an hour in the burning sun 3000m above sea level until a shuttle finally stops and brings me to my next destination – San Gil.

San Gil and surroundings

I check into the hostel Sam´s VIP right at the central park and who do I meet, my dorm mate Michael from Taganga. Even though we didn’t talk much with each other he seemed like a nice guy and I am glad to see a familiar face. The hostel itself is top notch, the best I have ever been in my life I would say. Helpful and friendly staff, modern dorms even with a bathtub in the bathroom and HOT water!!! The first time since I left Europe I would get a hot shower...I am telling you, its the little things that you get to appreciate when you are travelling for a long time far away from home J The guy at the reception gives me a map of San Gil and explains to me all the things I should do or see. Even though I am not into the activities like rafting or paragliding there is plenty to see for me around San Gil. The following day, my 33rd birthday, I visit a park in San Gil and get more information from a woman in a coffee shop. She tells me about a waterfall in San Juan as well as the best chorizo from San Jose, which is a village on the way to the waterfall. I am very busy that day since I have to make some calls with my friends and family but still I manage to leave San Gil in the afternoon and do the trip to the waterfall which is 45 minutes outside of town. When I get there I have to hike for another 30 minutes up the hill which is not that easy with flip flops. The waterfall is nice but nothing really spectacular and I don’t take a bath in the freezing water as recommended at the entrance. I leave that up to the locals and walk back after taking a few pictures. At the entrance I talk to the restaurant owner about how I can get to San Jose. He tells me its 7kms away from here and that I should wait for the next bus. I say thank you and start walking....a little 7km hike along the road is nothing for me I think. I move on pretty well always in mind that I need to get to San Jose early enough that I can eat and still get the last bus back to San Gil. Luckily for the last few kms a bus picks me up and gives me a lift so that I reach the famous place of Doña Eustaquia (while writing just joined the group on FB “Yo tambien comì chorizos donde Doña Eustaquia!). The chorizo comes with yucca - a root vegetable similar to potato – and an absolutely delicious slightly sweet sauce. Very simple but mouth-watering!!! Remarkable end to a perfect day!

The following day I go with Michael to Barichara, a small but famous and very touristic colonial village close to San Gil. We get there very early and spend an hour or so walking around taking pictures. Barichara is very similar to Giron only smaller but in perfect shape and ready for mass tourism with its hotels, restaurants and bars. On that day the village gets ready for the festival on the weekend and we can see many builders repairing the streets or painting the front of the houses. On our to-do-list this day is also a 1 ½ hike Guane which leads us crossways through the beautiful countryside. We reach Guane just in time to get the 12am bus back to San Gil. Michael tells me how glad he is that I motivated to do this trip since he was not doing anything for quite a long time. On my first day in San Gil we got to know each other better over a bottle of red wine. He is a lawyer who quit his job, sold his chamber and went on to travel the world in 16 months without using the plane once. He has a very good sense of humour and its entertaining listening to his stories. Right now he is trying to write a book about his adventure but is struggling to find the time or the mood to write every day.

Villa de Lyeva

As a last stop before Bogota I visit another famous colonial village called Villa de Leyva. To get there I take an early bus to Chiquinquira on the 21.10.10. This turns out to be the worst bus drive so far in Latin America. Normally, the road to Tunja would be the preferred choice but due to a rock slide the road is closed and during the 7 hours on the bus I find out why the other road is better. The medium sized bus I am on is pretty old, the seats are uncomfortable and the worst, the suspension is sooo hard that you can feel every single hole or hump – and the road is full of them!!! On top, the driver has a very aggressive driving style so that once I almost hit with my head on the ceiling. Somehow I still survive this ride unscratched and change the bus for Villa de Leyva. The village is located in the mountains 2144m above sea level and is said to be one of the most attractive colonial places in Colombia. After checking in I go for a walk. Quickly I realize that the climate here is much cooler than in San Gil and that I am totally underdressed with my shorts and T-shirt. Almost everyone here is wearing jackets or warm sweater. The village reminds me of Barichara, very touristic with lots of restaurants, bars, hotels and souvenir shops. The most beautiful part for me is the scenery – the little village surrounded by the mountains. The next morning I take a 2 hour walk which takes me past a clay house – Casa de Barro – and a famous vineyard before I leave at 1pm to Bogota.

Colombia´s Caribbean

Cartagena

My flight arrives at 3.30 pm on the 28.9.10 in Cartagena, the most popular and most touristic city in the north of Colombia. I take a cab to my hostel “The Chill House Backpackers” which is located in the beautiful old part of Cartagena. After the check-in I take my cam and walk around the city. It is still bright outside and very very hot but that doesn't bother me at all!! I ask the girl at the hostel where I can find a book shop and get the direction. Already at the airport in Bogota, where I had to stop-over, I found 2 stores which unfortunately didn't have me LP but that gives me hope that I will be more successful here. I find the shop very easily but what I get to hear from the shop assistant shocks me. The LP only for Colombia costs more than $50 and the one for South America is not in stock. I can´t believe what I hear and leave the shop but I realize now how bad it was from me not to trade the book in Panama City straight away. I continue walking through the old part of the town for another two hours. Its colonial style is absolutely marvellous and compared to Antigua and Granada for me this is the best colonial town I have been to. It has the perfect mixture of beautiful architecture, vibrant lifestyle with many many restaurants and bars, excellent climate and the Caribbean Sea just across the street – you couldn't ask for more could you!?!

When I get back to my hostel I am in serious need for sleep. Since I have been to InanItah in Nicaragua I didn't get to sleep properly and my body is crying for rest. But instead I find the hostel rocking with loud music and partying guest. Bienvenido a Colombia – welcome to Colombia. From all the hostels I could have picked I chose one that never sleeps. And so instead of a break I spend my first night in Colombia rocking and rolling. The next morning I check out very early and go to another hostel where I check into a private room. The TV in my room helps me through the day and the next morning I am gone. I ask the hostel guy for a bus to Santa Marta and he asks me where I would like to go there. I have no idea and no guide and realize that from now on travelling will be some kind of a gamble and that in South America...The guy tells me Taganga seeing my clueless face and I say yes. Check a hostel on the internet and take off. I have got to admit that Cartagena with all its beauty is a very very dangerous place with an extremely negative vibe. One in that you can easily drawn, it chews you and then spits you out on the streets. I am relieved when the bus arrives and I can leave Cartagena but at the same time I am worried since I have no idea where I am going next...

Taganga

The bus ride along the Caribbean coast is fantastic. The landscapes are amazing with the Sea and tropical vegetation on one side and the mountains of the Sierra Nevada on the other. Here in this part of Colombia the tourism prospers and you can see villas being build all along the coast. Well, I got to admit that if I had enough money I would do exactly the same. After 4 hours drive I finally get to Taganga and when I leave the bus I forget my cell phone and my mattress. Here we go again...I wonder what will be left of my clothes at the end of my journey when I get on the flight from Rio to Frankfurt. Luckily it’s all just materialistic things that and as long as I will be on that flight everything will be just perfect :D Anyway, I check into the hostel “La Tortuga” which is run by Mona, a young Colombian woman. When I tell her about my travel plans she starts telling me about all the places that I should visit and at the end prepares a 5 day tour along the coast. I am delighted about her help and feel really good about the trip. During that conversation I ask Mona how it comes that the hostel owners in Colombia are so young (in all three hostels I stayed so far they were all my age or younger). She tells me that the tourism in Colombia has only now started to grow and become profitable and that her generation, which is familiar with back-pack tourism, is using the chance to start their own businesses.

 The same night we all go to another hostel where we are supposed to have a 10 course dinner. A challenging proposition which ends in a disaster!!! We are more than 20 people and the chef in the restaurant is new and has never done this set menu before in this place. We get there at 8.30 pm and get the first plate at 9 pm. It is a small portion of so called Sushi – in reality simply rice with fish. It tastes good but we all get the picture that it will take a while before we get filled up. Unfortunately for us it gets worse because the next plate arrives half an hour later - boiled tomato in strawberry dressing. Imaginative yes, but I am starving to death and want to eat a full plate instead of getting a taste of something every now and then. The next plates arrive in the same speed and with the same quantity of food only different things so that by 11 pm we are just half way through and a few of the group have left already. The only thing that keeps me happy is the conversation with Mona who sits next to me. She tells me about her travels and experiences and how she became the owner of a hostel. I love listen to her because she belongs to the very few people in this world who lives her life without regret, with passion, is guided by visions and realizes her dreams. At 11.30 pm we are told that there will be no 10 courses but 6. The chef probably resigned and freaked out I assume and we are served rice and one shrimp. This was supposed to be the highlight of the menu but in reality it´s a shamble, a bad joke!!!! The rice is pretty average at best and the shrimp has the size of 1 Euro coin. Its a real disaster but to make things worse the staff of the hostel tries to charge us the full price. Ridiculous and totally unacceptable! Mona talks to them and at the end we pay a bit more than the half which is still more that we should have paid for that crap. When we leave the hostel we hear load screams from a woman just around the corner. Since they don´t quieten we run in their direction and see the two girls from our hostel, Mary and Ali, as well as guys chasing someone through the dark. The girls have left the hostel just minutes before us and have been mugged in the dark. The way they have taken had almost no lights, just like most streets in Taganga. Luckily for them nothing has happened and the thief disappeared in the dark without a trophy. Mona is totally annoyed and calls the police but it takes half an hour until they get there. Two locals have seen the thief but the police have no interest to do anything about it. This night I get to see the dark sides of Colombia with its danger and the lack of support. The police here is not trying to reduce crime and only cares about their additional income. They do that by catching foreigners with drugs – which is a very lucrative and extremely easy income. But real crime is not something they want to be dealing with. Mona is pissed off when after the conversation with the two sleazy policemen. She wants to do something about it but in reality she knows that there is nothing that can be done. We get home after midnight, me starving, and Mona prepares a simple but absolutely filling pasta with tuna which ends my day on the good side ;)

The next day we have no light until the evening and I spend it playing cards and Yenga with Mona. We play who will pay the dinner tonight and lucky me ends up getting the better share of the deal. How do they say – luck in the game bad luck in love. According to that saying I should become a professional card player :) To make up for the horror dinner last night Mona brings me to her favourite place in Taganga where we both have a mouth-watering peace of lamb served with an extremely delicious blue cheese cream. The food is accomplished with a Bordeaux  that makes it a perfect dining experience!!! The night ends with golden Tequilas and a night club in Santa Marta but since my body is exhausted I call it a day very early. From the next morning, Saturday the 2nd of October, until Wednesday the 6th I fall in a hole of laziness. Mona's hostel has a huge TV, Internet and DVD and since I feel absolutely comfortable here, just like in my own 4 walls, I decide to take a break from travelling and just hang out doing nothing. My energy level is pretty low and I carry a cold with me since Cartagena which is very annoying and disturbing. During these days I delay my departure day by day and seem not to be able to do more than one thing a day. I can´t really explain what it is that keeps me grounded in La Tortuga and Taganga. On one side I feel I had enough of travelling especially on my own. Only here in Colombia I actually realize how huge my journey is and how many kms I have in front of me. I speak to my dorm mate Micheal who has been on the road now for almost 2 years and he tells me that all travellers reach a point where they just don't wanna go further and wish to come back. After almost a week in Mona's hostel, watching one movie after another, I finally get back to normal and decide to leave for Parque Tyrona on Thursday.
 

Parque Tayrona and the Shaman

The driver drops us off at the entrance of the park where our hike through the jungle begins. Two girls from the hostel in Taganga told me about the muddy hour walk to the beach and so I am prepared for it. The English couple who I walk with are not and the girl is getting pretty upset after a while. They just came back from the 5 day hike to Ciudad Perdida and just wanted to chill out on the beach. Bad luck! After an hour we finally reach the beach but cannot jump into the water and cool down because some 100 people have managed to die here due to strong current a message on a board says. I look around and absorb the beautiful landscape - to my left the Caribbean Sea and to my right the green mountains of the Sierra Nevada. On my travel I have never seen anything like that and take my time to enjoy the moment while we are walking to the next beach. 10 minutes later we are all in the water. Despite the long walk I feel like swimming and without looking back I swim 200 or 300 meters out in the sea. Even though there are no waves I enjoy it and realize that the time at the Pacific has made me love swimming again. In my mind I am already competing at a triathlon next year J When I am done I take my little rucksack and continue my walk. I get to see 5 more beaches along the coast one more beautiful than the other. My favourites are the last 2 since they are almost deserted. For me the perfect place to spend time with your girlfriend and thats exactly what some of the Colombian tourists are doing.

 To finish the hike I need to get up to the Pueblito up on the hill. A warning on a board says that you should not go up after 1pm since the hike takes 1.5 hours one way. Its 3.30pm when I start going up. For me this recommendation is a challenge that gives me a reason to walk fast. I am in my runners which makes the hike pretty enjoyable. It takes me 45 minutes to the top. I knew before that there was not much to see and the hike itself through the jungle would be the appreciating thing. But I am still a little bit disappointed since I had expected to have a view on the sea from here above. No chance and so I don’t waste too much time up there and make my way down. While the hike up was tricky so is the way down risky because I decide to run. Almost the entire way is made of rocks of different sizes. Sometimes they are lying flat and sometimes inclined. I am jumping from one rock to another, accelerating, taking a few stones at once, bouncing sidewise from rocks to take the speed with me. My mind is totally focused. I know that a wrong move or step could mean that I slip in one of the wholes between the rocks. I could get hurt or break something in worst case and would end up lying around waiting for help which would probably arrive only the next day. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the thrill and carry on this way until I arrive at the bottom of the hill. I walk all the way down to the first beach where I get a hammock for a night.

 The next morning I enjoy the sun for a few hours before I leave for the exit. Today I am a man on a mission which is a 30km hike to meet a Shaman. The first time Mona told me about her experience and offered me to meet him as well I knew why I was pushing forward to come to Colombia. Part of my journey through Latin America was the soul searching process in order to find the key to the door that has been closed for too many years now. I leave the park at 10.30am for the next 6.5 hours walk the same way back along the highway that I came by bus the day before. I need to get to a white km stone with a 10 on it. The first 20km or so I am fine and enjoy my walk. The sky is cloudy which is to my benefit. But 10km before the finish the sky opens up and a huge rain shower comes down and wash the dirt away. I try to find shelter under a tree but without success and decide to carry on walking. I put on my plastic rain cover only to protect my dry cloth in the rucksack. After 45 minutes the rain stops but by then there is not one part of my body that is dry. Finally, at 5pm I reach the km stone 10 and enter the property next to it. A long way leads me down for a few hundred meters until I reach a small river where I stop. Just before that I another way leads to a dead end with a platform right next to the small waterfall. No house no roof over the top. I wonder what will happen if it rains tonight but take it as it is. I change my close wait for 3 hours since the meeting is scheduled for 8pm. After 6pm the sun goes down and I am lying in the dark wondering where I am and what I am doing here. I have no idea if I am in the right place and since I have no connection I cannot call Mona to find it out. Also, even when it was dark I had no more energy to go up again and at least wait at the entrance just in case. I am aware that if the session is not in this place I will miss it and have to sleep for the first time in my life under the sky on the wet earth. No sleeping back, no tent, under me my raincoat and a blanket as a cover. Despite all this circumstances I feel totally at peace and relaxed. I don’t know if its just the exhaustion or if the place where I am gives me this calmness. At 8pm, when I am already prepared to sleep in this place, a car arrives and stops not far away from me. I know now that I am at the right place, but only moments later I see the car moving further down...only where??And how?? When I arrived there was a river and I didn’t see a way going further down. Obviously there is one but I am in trouble since I have no flash light. I grab all my stuff and in flip flops start to follow the car using my cell phone as a flash light. I cross the river and wonder how I could miss the way going down. The curvy way leads another 500 meters down to the bottom of the property but at the end I reach the house and can eventually relax.

I briefly introduce myself and get to know the people who have already arrived. It takes another 4 hours before the ceremony begins. By then the group has increased to more than 20 people all of different age and with different reason to be here. The Shaman begins the ceremony with blessing words while his servants are cleaning our bodies with smoke. At the end all of us drink the herbal drink that the Shaman has brought and the journey begins. At 5.30am I wake up to the noise of the people who are talking next to my hammock. The night has passed and I have experienced absolutely nothing. All the others around me are exchanging their different experiences while I lie motionless in the hammock. Despite all my effort I accept my faith without bad feelings. To me it is very obvious that I am still not ready. Will I ever be?? I seriously don’t know! During a game of chess the Shaman invites me to come back the coming night and try again. At first I accept but when I leave the place a few hours later I have no desire to come back. My plan was to carry on travelling along the coast towards the Venezuelan border but all my close are wet and I my energy level extremely low. I return back to La Tortuga and when I am there I realize quickly that my time was up there and I needed to leave. Mona is totally surprised at first about what I tell her what happened last night. And when I tell her a few hours later that I am leaving the same night she is perplexed. I fail to explain to her my decision-making process which is no surprise. My taxi arrives at 7pm and brings me to the bus terminal where my night bus leaves to Bucaramanga at 9pm. I am finally going towards Bogota where Luis I will meet Luis for the first time since my time in London.