Turn off the Lite

Utterly serene on virgin island .. A 30 mins boat ride from Bantayan island.

Okay, seriously.. This has got to be one of the best places I have been to in awhile. Bantayan.. a small island off the coast of Cebu in the Philippines… laid back, lush, beautiful beaches and practically deserted.. No better place to be right now. Too bad we leave tmrw :(

Bantayan, Philippines…

The lovely Playa Blanca.. One last visit!

Did Someone say Pirates?

Pirate Island that is or isle de pirata.. That’s where we spent our day today. Another boatride from Cartagena.. This time double the price of playa blanca so about $45 per person.. Not cheap compared to the other prices but it was stunning… Almost rustic with wooden piers and docks stretching into the crystal clear green-blue waters.. With only a handful of people on the island, this was truly a relaxing paradise.
There are no sandy beaches, just rocks going into the water but the ocean floor is sandy and nice. There are plenty of tropical fish to see right from the dock or by snorkeling around the swimming area.
Lunch, as always, is included and is delicious- the usual fried whole fish, coconut rice, patacones(fried plantains) and salad. There is so much fried stuff in the diet here, I’m really surprised the people aren’t even fatter.

Anyway, this is our last night in Cartagena .. Heading out in our new hood: Getsemani. This is the oldest part of Cartagena and still feels very authentic and genuine.

Tomorrow we‘“ll try for another day at playa blanca (I know there’s no sun waiting for me in Vancouver so I best enjoy it while I can) and then we are off to Santa Marta and Parque Tayrona!!

Cartagena at Last!
Finally arrived in Cartagena last night and after hearing soooo much about it, I really didn’t think it was going to meet my expectations. I was wrong. The old part of the city is truly magical.. I now know why my brother chose to spend so many months here. If I could stay, I would.. In a heartbeat.

I’m sitting on an old colonial balcony, facing a palm tree lined park where some guys are playing chess and classic salsa music is playing in the background. Horse carriages are clip clopping down the street and boys are selling fresh mangos and papayas on the corner. A little piece of heaven, indeed.

Ate at a place called kioyocu cafe.. A restaurant made on the ruins of a colonial building. Amazing red snapper and a beautiful courtyard ambience.

Today we spent the day at playa blanca.. A beach at the end of the Baru peninsula accessible by boat for about $25. The price includes an AMAZING lunch of fried fish (mojarra roja) rice and platajones. The food alone was worth the price.. Better than all the fish I’ve had at the expensive Vancouver restaurants..
The beach was stunning.. Rustic style cabanas and turquoise waters. The vendors are everywhere looking to make a buck.. They didn’t annoy us..they actually provide a great service on the beach: ice cream, beer, watermelon.. All brought to your beach chair. Sounds like great service to me.

Now off for a night on the town…

In the Amazon!

An experience of a lifetime! Just got back to bogota.. Waiting for our next plane to Cartagena but still feeling the amazon energy. What an amazing trip! We arrived in leticia (the furthest south you can go in Colombia and 2 hours from bogota) on Tuesday and had to grab a boat to our jungle lodge. An hour and a half boat ride later and we arrived at a beautiful rustic oasis on the amazon river. We had about an hour or so to check in and get our beds (we booked too late to get one of the private rooms) in a shared room. As dusk settled, the nighttime critters began to emerge.. Flying around everywhere and making sounds that I’d never heard before. After seeing a giant silver flying cockroach at dinner, I actually hopped into my mosquito net covered bed at 7pm and thought i would just chill there for the rest of the evening. In the end, Joerg coaxed me out. I slathered on more repellent and tried to enjoy the evening. The next few days were filled with adventure: climbing a 35 m tree to a rickety platform, crossing a suspension bridge that was coming apart at the seams, searching for pink dolphins and visiting a monkey sanctuary! All while being brave, mortified and curious (at the same time) about all the different amazon insects and animals.

I can’t wait to make the video for this part of the trip…words just aren’t enough.

So far, I’m starting to understand why people fall in love with Colombia.

Next stop: Cartagena!!

Spent the day yesterday checking out the Botero museum and a couple of other art museums in the hood. Well worth it! The buildings themselves are beautiful renovated haciendas with peaceful courtyards, a nice little break when the art gets a bit intense.

Hopped in a cab (yes we caught one on the street despite everyone’s precautions) and went to Usaquen again to wander. A 40 minute cab ride to get there cost about $7. Usaquen is in the north and very quaint, colonial and hip. Beautiful eateries and restaurants eveywhere although the area itself isn’t that big. There is a mall called hacienda de Santa Barbara but it seemed pretty old school to me.

We hopped back into a cab for the 45 minute ride back to the candelaria. The distances in bogota are really frustrating. It really does take about 40 mins to get to the different neighborhoods and there is no real subway system… Just the transmilenio buses. You just have to constantly take cabs.

We checked out another area last night and I think my favorite.. La Macarena. Bohemian and chill but still with cool restaurants and bars. We had some amazing Italian food at a place called monferrino (cra 4a con 26).. Incredible! Drinks and food total.. About $50 for two people.. Including 2 drinks each.

Bogota feels very real.. Very genuine. There aren’t many tourists so you really feel like you are getting an inside look at this amazing city.

Getting ready for the next stop..THE AMAZON!!!!