Brasil

Brasil was all about Carnival. That was the main reason for me to go there in February. And to see Rio and the mighty Amazon of course. And that's where my tour started.

The border to Colombia was just a little road block, so I walked over from Leticia in Colombia to Tabatinga in Brasil to get my passport stamped and to find a boat going down the Amazon to Manaus. I ran into a friendly old man who drove me around with his little motor bike. He showed me the harbour, bought the ticket with me, got my bags from Colombia into Brasil, showed me around town, where the best restaurants are and next morning he drove me to the boat at 5am in the morning.
The actual boat ride down to Manaus for 1100km was boring but the Amazon itself is not. I saw some special places with Piranhas and the typical jungle animals, the meeting of a black and a white river stream that doesn't mix into each other because of temperature, speed and density. The rivers flow for a few kilometers side by side which is a weird phenomenon. After this looong time on the boat I got to this surprisingly huge city in the middle of the jungle, Manaus. Could enjoy the pre-Carnival celebrations in the streets and got an idea of what awaits me in Salvador.
Apart from that Manaus is not very nice, only the trips to the little side streams are very interesting.

I flew from there via Brasilia to Salvador where the big party should start. I met Gavin (Australia, met in Utila) who booked the hostel and all his Australian friends and then we got prepared for an extraordinary event. The first night out already turned into an 8h dancing and drinking marathon and the next days would continue like that. Well we visited as well the old town and a few beaches out of town for a change what was nice. The Carnival in Salvador had three circuits, each had "bloccos" that consists of trucks with loud music and people moving/dancing down the street and every circuit had different music styles. We saw the traditional show in the old town one night, the rest we spent at the beach circuit following the trucks with the best music. For Tuesday we got shirts to actually be part of the parade and to walk with one of the "bloccos". It was another 8h party pack. It was just incredible and so much fun! After four days of dancing my shoes gave up, I glued them so they kept going till I was back from the 6th night and then they were done. What an experience!

From there I went to Rio, next big highlight. The famous Rio de Janeiro with Christ overlooking everything. It was impressive, too. Saw the beautiful people at the Copacabana beach, went up the Corcovado to say hello to Mr. Christ and to enjoy the incredible views, visited the sugar loaf, followed the artists in Santa Theresa, had drinks at Ipanema beach and bicycled around the lagoon. If there wasn't that heat, it would be a nice place to live.


After party and sugar loaf I continued traveling with my new big brothers Gavin and Rodney (Aus) to the Iguazu falls. On the Brasilian side we got a nice overview of how massive the falls are and planned the next day to check it out closer on the Argentinian side.
But before I left expensive Brasil, we went shopping across the border in Paraguay. Cheap electronics paradise. Shopped for a bit and then looked forward to a nice steak and red wine in Argentina!

Colombia - mi amor !

Welcome to Colombia!

After this rough sailing trip, I finally arrived in Cartagena. And it is true Colombia welcomes you! I can highly recommend everybody to visit this unique country.
The people are friendly and helpful, food is great and it offers all kind of landscapes, from tropical beaches to snow covered mountains and from bustling cities with intense nightlife to dreamy little villages.


For me Cartagena was somehow special, because I had this romantic thought of this old movie in my head. haha The city isn't that romantic, but the old town still keeps its charm and it is nice to wonder around the old streets. But the prices there are more for the richer travellers.
A little side trip to Playa Blanca turned out to be interesting because it was fully packed with local tourists who spend their holiday month January somewhere at the beach. We barely found a tent for the night and tried to get out there by boat next day again.
Since my credit card got hacked in Panama and I tried to get a new card to Cartagena, I had to stay for a while. But it never got there. Very lucky and happy I travelled with a friend paying all my expenses during that time.

So we went on to Santa Martha and Taganga to see and dive the beautiful Tayrona National Park. We got a two nights, three days diving trip in the park and stayed at one of the beaches in hammocks. This bay and its beaches were just for us and we were only three, Tine (Norway), Grady (US) and me. A little paradise in Colombia's north. Got to dive to a coral nursery as well what was something new and cool.

From there we went south and stopped in several little mountain villages, e.g. Giron, San Gil and Villa de Leyva. I had the feeling I'm somewhere in Spain in the Pyrenees, same vegetation and look of the houses and streets.
Was really nice to hike around there, explore nature and some waterfalls. If you like rafting and paragliding, that's a good place to go. In one of these towns they had hot springs that you could swim in at nighttime with candle light, very romantic. Something more action you get if you are up for a bungee jump, like my friend. I never understand how people can do it, for me it's enough just to watch it! ;-)


After that I was ready for some cold and was looking forward to go to Bogota and to wear jeans and a jumper. Temperatures dropped down to 10 degrees Celsius at night, on the mountain even down to 3. But I enjoyed the change and Bogota, did some shopping, good dining, museums (gold museum!!) and coffee drinking. Went up the mountain, to a tower and saw a bull fight. After that, now I understand all the protests against this. What an animal cruelty! I expected something different with a fair chance for the bull, but it is just torturing and murdering poor animals. Apart from the fight the time in Bogota was very relaxing and enjoyable.

Ah and I finally received a new credit card from home and was able to travel on alone. Big thanks to my friend for lending me the money and to my parents for organising all the mail thing to Colombia.
Hope it won't happen again.
From Bogota I flew again into the heat, down to the Amazon basin. Leticia is a humid and hot but friendly little border town and I walked over to Brasil to get my passport stamps and to find a boat to Manaus.
For me Colombia is one of the top countries so far, all is very safe and friendly. Just go and find out yourself!