Nathan & Missy's Adventures

I’m not really for sure where I left off. This past weekend I finally made it to Bucaramanga to get my paraglider. It was 2.5 hrs there, and 2.5 hrs back. I stayed the night (saturday), flew saturday evening (1+ hrs), and came back on Sunday.

Monday:

Lately I’ve just been hanging out in San Gil. I’ve made a few friends (both travelers and locals). On Monday, a group of people from the hostel went to do tandem flights in the canyon, so I decided to go with them! I had a 1+ hr thermal flight. It was really nice. Everyone really enjoyed it.

Tuesday:

On Tuesday, I had 2 hours of spanish classes, and 1 hour of private salsa lessons with my friends’ mom. I asked my friend, Camila (who works at the hostel), is there was anyone around where I could learn salsa. She said she would teach me. I showed up at her house, and her mom offered to teach me, because she had to go to work. It was so much fun. Her mom doesn’t speak English as well.

She was very friendly, and welcomed me to her house anytime. People here are very friendly!

Wednesday:

I had another 2 hours of spanish (1 in the morning, 1 in the evening), and then ran around with some people from the hostel. At night, we decided to hike up to an overlook (about 2km away) over San Gil. It was really pretty. There is a statue of Mary up there, and it is all lit up.

While I was up there, I was taking some long exposure night shots of the city. I walked past a group of people my age, and I heard one of the girls say: “Que Bonito”. I smiled, and responded with: “Ahh.. Gracias!”. She didn’t expect me to understand her, and she got really embarrassed. I went over and ended up hanging out with them for 2.5 hrs+. I can understand a lot more spanish than I can speak, but they were very patient with me. It was so much fun!!

After we came back down, a few of us from the hostel ended up stumbling upon a birthday party. The locals invited us, and were very friendly. The guy who had the birthday owned a restaurant in town. I only stayed for about 20 min, and came back and hung out at the hostel.

Well. I think I’ve decided to stay in San Gil for a while. It’s such a friendly town, and I found a nice spanish school that does one on one lessons for $10 US/hr (I really want to learn more spanish. I feel so out of place here not knowing it). I tried to find a school in Buca, but I think I would enjoy myself here much more. I’ve mostly been travelling the whole time I’ve been here, and want to stay put for a bit until Tyler gets here (because then we’ll be traveling more).

There is an awesome paragliding spot (Chichamocha Canyon), which I should be able to fly daily. There is a tour group here that goes there a lot, and I think I can hop in with them for little to no costs.

Sunday:

Last night, Marie and I watched “The Social Network” (a movie about facebook). It was pretty interesting! This morning, we went out for breakfast, took a nap in the hammocks, then headed for “Polo Azulu”; a local swimming hole with waterfalls & bar. It was a $3,000 PESO taxi ride, or a 35 minute. We opted for the walk.

It was a nice hike, and such a nice area. We took a nap by the water, hung out for a bit and enjoyed the area. It reminded me a lot of Mill Creek in Moab. I tried a couple of new desserts, had some ice cream, then we made our way back to town.

The evening consisted of more hammock napping, pizza, then walking around town. I really like this area, and am excited to spend more time here once Tyler gets here.

Monday:

I was planning on heading back to Buca this morning, but, that didn’t happen. Marie signed up for a tandem paragliding flight at Chichamocha Canyon. I really wanted to go with them, but I left my paraglider in Buca (2 hrs away). The hostel owner called around and found a glider for me. I was packed, and ready to head back, but decided to go fly the Chciamocha Canyon with them at the last minute.

The drive was beautiful. Once we got there, a guy gave me a site orientation in spanish (and by drawing the canyon in the dirt and pointing of where not to go). I only understood about every 10 words, but I got the jist of it: “house thermals over there”, “rotor over there”, “land out over there” and “top land here”. A few moments later, a guy landed and just handed me his personal glider (dhv 2 freestyle glider).

We launched around 11. There were perfect clouds and perfect thermals. I was quickly able to thermal up above launch, and flew for about 45 minutes. I came in, top landed in the small LZ, and had a permagrin for the rest of the day.

We didn’t get back until after 2. I decided to grab some food, take a nap in the hammocks, and get some work done.

The evening was pretty relaxed. We walked around town, walked through a park that had a TON of christmas lights, ate (more) food, and played a game of Rummikub. Now it’s time for some sleep!

Well, being the sucker that I am (for cute girls), I decided to head for San Gil on Friday. My bus ride, which was supposed to be 2 hrs, ended up being nearly 5. Long story short, the bus driver drove right past San Gil, and I didn’t catch it until we stopped at the next town (apparently I was the only person getting off in San Gil). After he asked me 30 questions which I didn’t understand/couldn’t respond to, we flagged down another bus going back to San Gil, and I hopped on it (we were only 15 min past San Gil).

I met up with my friend I met in Buca, Marie, and we hung out for the night. We stayed up late, woke up early, and missed our chance to go rapelling from a 300′ waterfall. We decided to go check out a cave instead.

The cave was intense. The cost of the tour was $25,000 COP ($12 USD), and was about 1.5 hrs long. Right off the bat we were crawling on our hands and knees through 1′+ feet of water. After about 5 minutes of wading through up to waste deep water, we got to a section where our guide explained we would have to hold onto a rope, hold our breath, and hand over and to the next “air pocket” section. My first though was: “Ohhh… This definitely wouldn’t happen in the USA”. Well, we dove in head first, and made our way through to the next section. The rest of the cave was really cool. Lots of mud, lots of water, and really cool formations. Once we got to the end, our guide told us we had to make our way back the same way we came. The water was a bit cold, but it was definitely a full on adventure. When we came out, we were covered head to toe in mud. It was definitely a neat experience.

While in the small village where the cave was, we grabbed some food, and talked to some local children for a while. It was difficult for me to communicate with them, but Marie was able to carry on a pretty good conversation with them! After that, we made our way back to San Gil.

I’ve quickly fallin in love with San Gil. It reminds me a lot of Moab. There is paragliding, class 5 white water rafting, at least 10-15 swimming holes nearby, caving, rappelling, awesome scenery, etc. I really want to spend some time here once Ty gets here!

I’ve had a few people ask me if I can post photos. If you have facebook, add me!! If not, you can click here:

Photos

Well, so much for getting to bed early the other night. I ended up making a friend here at the hostel. We stayed up way too late hanging out!

When I went to go to bed, dan was sprawled out across the double bed, so I went and slept in hammock. It was my first full night ever sleeping in one. This one was pretty comfortable.

I was supposed to go to Chicha Mocha Canyon with Dan yesterday, but ended up having a conference call. He headed out early, and I stuck around and did some work.

I explored the city some more yesterday, did laundry for the first time, went paragliding, and went to bed early! I flew for well over an hour, reached cloud base, and landed way early because I was tired. People were still thermalling up 1000′ above launch 3 hrs after I landed!

Now I’m getting some work done and going to head out to San Gil later to meet up with a friend!!

Long story short, we explored Taganga (one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to), met quite a few English speaking travelers, and hung out with them for a day or two.

We found a dive shop yesterday to do 2 dives during the day, and then take us on a night dive. The 2 day dives were awesome. While we were waiting on our night dive, we at lunch with our new friends Julie & Hannah. At lunch, Dan and I were joking about going to Bucaramanga last night (night diving at 6:00, then catching a bus in Santa Marta). Well, Dan booked a ticket from Bucaramanga to Cartagena on Thursday, and so the decision was made.

I wasn’t quite ready to leave Taganga, but Dan really wanted to go to Bucaramanga. We went on our night dive (which was amazing). We were down, 45-50′, with no visibility except the little bit your flashlight offered. We even turned our lights off for a few minutes and stirred up the water to see the bioluminescent plankton. We swam with lights off following each other using the bioluminescent plankton. I saw a Jelly Fish, a blow fish, and quite a few eels. That was definitely an awesome experience.

Right after diving, we rushed back to the hostel, packed our stuff and took a cab to Santa Marta. We arrived 10 minutes before the bus was leaving to Bucaramanga. We left around 9, and didn’t get to Bucaramanga until 10am. It was a lloonngg bus ride!

We got here, got settled into the hostel that Richi (paragliding instructor owns), ate some lunch, and went paragliding. Dan flew a paraglider for the first time. I helped him launch, and he soared for 20 minutes, and made/landed in the landing area!! It’s a nice site!!

Now we’re both crashing. it’s 8pm and we’re exhausted. We’re off to explore chichamocha canyon tomorrow!!

I’ll start with yesterday! I started the day off with breakfast, and a goal to get to the exito. I was told to walk 10 blocks, then turn right, and walk 2 blocks. After about 15-20 blocks of walking, I flagged down a mototaxi and asked him to take me to the Exito (very large store). After about 10 minutes of riding, he pulls off to the side and tells me I’m there (which I’m clearly not). He’s rambling random spanish, and I just hand him my hotel address and ask to be taken there. About 5 minutes into the ride, he jets onto a side street. I ask him what’s up, and all I understood was “Policia” (assuming he didn’t want to be stopped). I made it back, paid him $2,000 PESOS for my 20 minutes bike ride, and went upstairs.

I explored some, tried some new food, and waited for Dan. Someone knocked on my door around 7:30, it was Dan! He flew into a city 4 hrs away. He had to take a taxi from the airport to the bus station, then catch a bus to Santa Marta, then a taxi to the hostel. I left a note with the front days that said: “Mi Amigo Dan Hovanac. Room 205″. He arrived, clueless, said: “Amigo” and they instantly brought him to my room.

As soon as he walked in, he said: “I have no idea how I got here, but I am here”. I replied with: “That’s how my week has been.. hahaha”. It was fun. We grabbed some food, walked the beach for a bit, hung out in the hammocks on the rooft top and crashed early!

We woke up with plans to find the exito (I got directions from some english speaking people I met). We tried to find it (I was trying to buy a cell phone). After 20 min of walking, we gave up, but found a cell phone store. I grabbed a prepaid phone, we stopped by the bank, and made our way to Taganga (10 minute taxi ride).

Taganga is MUCH nicer than Santa Marta. It’s a small fishing village that exploded once people found out about it. It’s tucked back in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We found a really nice hostel. The coolest place I’ve been to thus far. Awesome rooms, breaksfast included, and a bar/hammock hang out on the roof (for $26 000 PESOS for a single room – $13 USD). And, there is a 10 year old and his mom (who run the place) who speaks English. She gave us all of the beta for this area. It’s such a nice place!!

Today, we visited all of the dive shops, and found a pretty good deal. 2 dives tomorrow, and 1 night dive tomorrow night for $150 000 PESOS ($75 US). We grabbed some food, had multiple fresh juice drinks, and hiked over to a secluded beach named “Playa Grande”. It was a nice hike, and an even nicer beach!!

I’m getting some work done, then we’re going to go explore!

I woke up in Barranquilla. The hotel I found was nice. I stayed up a bit late working, and didn’t really get to sleep in. When i got up, I made my way downstairs to the restaurant, was handed a menu, and the only word I recognized was “egg”. I asked the waiter what he recommended, and he brought it to me: 2 scrambled eggs with ham, 4 pieces of toast, FRESH pineapple juice and hot chocolate. After eating, he handed me the bill; $6,500.00 PESOS (about $3.40 US .. including tip). I could get use to this!

I decided to wonder the streets a bit. Everywhere you look there are people selling fresh fruit. I got a large cup of sliced watermelon for $1,000 PESOS ($.60). It was delicious! I walked around for a bit, then decided to make my way to Santa Marta. I stopped by a bank on my way back to the hotel, but it was a bit shady. I figured it’d be better to just have my cab driver take me somewhere.

I had 3 stops to make. 1) A bank to get more cash. 2) Post Office: To ship my paraglider. 3) Bus terminal. I looked up each one on google translate, wrote them down, packed my stuff, and made my way outside. The hotel office clerk called me cab, and said it would be $20,000 PESOS ($11 USD) for all 3 stops.

First stop was the bank. I withdrew some money, then we went to Serventreiga (post office). My cab driver, who is Mormon and loved that I came from Salt Lake City, came inside to help me ship it. He did all of the communication. After that, he dropped me off at the bus terminal.

I grabbed the first bus I could find to Santa Marta. It ended up being $10,000 PESOS ($5.5 US). I walked around for a bit, PAID to use the bathroom ($700 PESOS), and bought some water/chocolate. On my way out to boarding the bus a cute girl asked if she could have my chocolate bar (she was an employee for the bus company). I handed it over, and we split it!

The bus was pretty small. It took about 2.5 hrs to get from Barranquilla to Santa Marta. Once I got to the bus terminal in Santa Marta, I grabbed a cab to the hostel I had picked out.

This hostel wasn’t as nice as the first one, but also not as expensive. I ended up paying $20,000 PESOS for a single room for the night. It’s quite small, but sufficient; just a single bed, a dresser and a small bathroom.

Knowing it would be getting dark soon, I decided to go find some food. The front desk clerk pointed me in the direction of food, and off I went. I found a place, but they had no menus, and no one spoke English. I was able to tell her to “bring me something good”. She brought me a bowl of stew, followed by a huge plate of chicken, potatoes, salad, rice and noodles. The noodles, potatoes and chicken had a flavor to them I’ve never tasted before. I could only eat 1/2 3/4 of it before I was full. The huge meal, including a cerveza (beer) was $10,000 PESOS ($5.50 US). I’m sure I paid a bit more because I couldn’t speak Spanish!

I came back, took a nap, and went to take a shower. The sink, and the shower aren’t working, so I guess I’ll have to wait on that! I’m still debating if I want to head out tonight or not. We will see.

Dan arrives tomorrow!

After many weeks of preparation and anxiety, I made it to Colombia this afternoon. All of my posts won’t be this detailed, but I just got here, and want to remember this.

I started out in Cincinnati at 6:30 am this morning. I got through security (I was the ONLY person), did some work, and left on time at 9:10. I planned to work the entire time, however, I quickly fell asleep.

I slept until we landed in Miami. As soon as I stepped off the plane, it felt like a heatwave. I called my parents, did some work, and quickly found out the plane to Colombia was delayed. We were supposed to depart at 2:10pm, and arrive at 4:30. Long story short, the plane was delayed leaving Colombia. The weather in Bogota was horrible.

I met a friend, Randy, while we were trying to figure out where the plane was. We swapped stories over a beer (a free beer) in the bar. He’s ex-military, currently working as a Helicopter pilot (or air limo driver as he calls it) in Philly. He’s on a 6 day vacation to Barranquilla/Cartagena.

I made my way back to the terminal, did some work, met a few other people, and finally boarded the plane around 6:30pm. I sat next to a beautiful Colombian girl, my age, who couldn’t speak English. It just so happens that I can’t speak spanish, so our conversations were limited. As soon as we started taking off, her and her brother were holding hands and crying. I was trying to figure out what was wrong, but all she said was “No worry”. I think it was the flying that was bothering her.

The airplane was pretty cool. We had our own entertainment center. USB charger, game center and instant access to tv shows and movie. I watched some shows, did some work, took a nap, enjoyed a hot meal, and learned a bit of spanish. Everyone was really friendly and gave me tips about travelling around Colombia.

I got off the plane around 9:30 and scored a 90 day visa. They typically issue 60 day visas, but I accidentally booked my ticket for 67 days (before I knew they issued 60 day visas). My two options were to hope for a 90 day visa, or pay for it ($50-$60). The guy gave it to me, I made my way through customs, and on to a taxi.

I really didn’t know where to go. My plan was to get to Santa Marta (2 hrs bus ride) tonight, but that wasn’t possible since the plane was delayed. I withdrew $100,000 (yes, one hundred thousand dollars – only $53 US though) and got a taxi into town ($20,000 – or $11 US). The first hostel I went to was full, but the second one, Hotel SanFrancisco had room. I have a private room (leaky toilet, a water-hose stream for a shower, and a very strong fan) for a whopping $42,000 (or $22 US). It’s a nice room, especially for $22 US.

I’m just finishing up some work, and will probably make my way to Santa Marta tomorrow! Till then..

P.S. – It is humid here!

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