Photoblog: On a Coffee Plantation in Colombia
For the second half of our trip, we headed south from Cartagena (a town we’ll return to in a future post), stopping briefly in Medellin before immersing ourselves in the coffee region. This lush, mountainous area of Colombia would quickly win the award for our favorite spot. We easily could have spent our entire trip in the area and have already decided that it’s a must on any future Colombia itineraries. While in the area, we decided that, despite the …
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Playing Telephone
Doesn’t it look like these two guys are playing telephone, the science trick/game where you attach two tin cans via a string and your voice carries down the string and to the person on the other can? They’re not. They’re actually talking on cell phones, albeit not theirs, thus the strings (which attach the phones to the desk and prevent theft). In Colombia it seems that personal cell phone ownership is not as high as in many countries we’ve visited. …
My Kind of Town
Santa Marta is a stopover town. It’s a convenient place to organize a trek to the Lost City, an easy place to crash before heading into Tayrona National Park. It’s home to a port large enough to accommodate a cruise ship full of passengers that immediately hop a taxi to the nearby village of Taganga. Though a large city, Santa Marta doesn’t have much that would fall under the category of attractions. It’s mainly just a busy local city. I …
I think the site is fixed
I make my long awaited return to the blog to announce … that after countless days of annoying correspondence with our web hosts, I think we took care of all the crap that was going wrong on our blog. Please do let us know if you notice anything weird because we had to move servers and reset links and insanity like that. So hopefully no more spam and hopefully links keep working. Just what I love doing while on vacation! …
How to be an Ugly American Without Leaving Your Hostel
1. At a very full hostel, with conversation flowing at over ten packed tables, talk so loudly that your voice carries over the entire place. 2. Be sure to talk about money. Drop a comment about how much money you make, how expensive your apartment is, or the latest and greatest stock tips you have. 3. Tell the girl at your table who speaks English with a different accent than yours that she must be British. When she tells you …
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A Silent Night in Cartagena
It’s after eight on Friday night in Cartagena, Colombia’s most touristed town, both by domestic and foreign travelers. The sidewalks should be packed. The beat of salsa music should be resonating from behind the heavy wood doors of the clubs in the centro. Bar clientele should be spilling out into the streets. But instead there is silence. Elections are this weekend. Without ever intending to, Jeff and I seem to end up timing our travels with elections more frequently than …
There’s a Difference Between Eating and Eating Well
As we walk down the main beachfront street in Taganga, a man yells out to us encouraging us to come check out his restaurant. This restaurant has no name, doesn’t even really resemble a place to eat. On a circular slab of concrete shaded by a thatched roof, a small bar and a few molded plastic tables and chairs hold court. Aside from one supporting a local having a drink, the chairs remain unoccupied. I look at Jeff and he …
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Relearning to Travel
I know this sounds spoiled. Indulge me. Forgive me. But re-learning to travel like an American (aka on limited time) is hard. Yes, I hear you all crying for me from here. It’s a real sob story. Our trip to Colombia is quickly approaching, and we’re trying to prepare for it. We’re going to be gone for 16 days. In American terms, that’s forever. After a one year trip, that’s not much time at all. There’s a little voice inside …
Shhh. We’re Spilling Secrets
Recently, as part of the Tripbase Blog Tag game, we were tagged by Lisa of LLWorldTour to share our top three travel secrets with the blog-reading universe. I’ve been sitting on this post for over a week now, because honestly I just don’t know what to share. Do I share a place, a restaurant, a hotel, a person, a moment, an idea, a tip? And is it possible there is anything secret I have left, anything I haven’t yet shared? …
February Doldrums
The February doldrums have got me in a headlock, and they show no interest in letting go. Every so often they’re throwing in a noogie to add insult to injury. I’m defeated. Come evening I have no struggle left in me. There’s nothing I can do, but throw myself onto the couch, snuggle under a blanket, and test my knowledge against the contestants on Jeopardy. Yes, my life has been reduced to that. But the good news is I’m apparently …
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