[Alex's South America Blog] Gran Colombia

[Alex]

My first stop in Panama was the city of David, where I caught a bus up to Cerro Punto to do a 2 day hike through the highlands to Boquete. The trail offered some great views and a fair amount of bird watching with only a few washed out sections. I strung up my hammock in a small clearing on top of a hill and settled in for the night. It looked as though thunderstorms were coming in from all sides, but my good luck continued and after 30 minutes it was clear skies, a full moon, and the sound of howler monkeys in the distance. The downside of the trip was that it got very cold during the night in the uninsulated hammock, and I also made friends with a number of tics, one of which was embedded in my foot. The hike ended in the popular tourist town of Boquete, which really didnt impress me much and seemed to be more of a gringo retirement village than a backpacker hotspot, so I cruised down to nexus of the Americas, Panama City.

The Panama City skyline quickly put to shame that of any other Central American city. Upon arrival I headed straight down to the unusual Casco Viejo district, a wild contrast of dilapidated colonial structures and rejuvenated government buildings. In the daytime you can just walk around enjoying the scenery and eating 75 cent hot dogs, but at night the criminal element pours in from the neighboring ghetto making the streets very dangerous and all blonde people targets. Luckily someone realized this and built the Luna´s Castle hostal, a giant colonial mansion packed with rooms and endless partying. The first night I took the party bus around town, a retired US school bus with the seats taken out and replaced by a dance floor, a bar, a DJ, and some poles to hang on to (or show your skills on). I made a few attempts to leave the city for nearby attractions, but was thwarted at the beach by high prices, and shut down in the jungle by crazy rainstorms (which put a foot of water in my hostel that night). My primary goal in Panama City was to arrange a boat trip to Cartagena, and after a few days I had it all ready with Luke and Sarah.



Luke is the captain of the sailboat Nepenthe, which means anti-depressant in some language I can´t remember. Anyway, the 41ft sailboat is aptly named and the 5 day sailing trip removed every remnant of Panama City stress I had. The first 3 days were spent sailing through the remote San Blas archipelago, a string of tiny picturesque islands often with only one village, one house, or one palm tree on them. We snorkelled a shipwreck, barbecued on an uninhabited island, and fished. I got a little innovative with the fishing on this trip, catching jack (the fish, not the colloquialism) on the hand line and even catching a fish while in the act of snorkelling (sort of an underwater pet on a leash). We hooked into a few big ones, including a 9ft nurse shark, but weren´t able to get the monsters into the boat. After playtime was over we set sail, but there was no wind so we took the sails down and used the engine to power us over to Cartagena, a 36 hour voyage.



After the dighy dropped me off I realized I had finally reached the South American continent. I checked into the hostel and went out to explore the walled city in the heart of the larger metropolis. Cartagena is full of balcony-lined historic buildings, salsa music, and expensive beer. My anxiety of seeing my long lost girlfriend was growing quite a bit at this point so I didn´t do too much the first few days.

On Wednesday I picked Viviana up at the airport and set off to show her my honed traveling know-how on an excursion to a volcano filled with mud you can bathe in. We took the city bus down to the terminal and hopped on the connecting bus for the hour and a half journey to the volcano. Three hours later I was starting to think I may have made a mistake. We got off at the completely uninteresting town of Barranquilla, ate some chicken and started back for Cartagena. On the way back the bus pulled up to a line of traffic 15 minutes out of the Cartagena that looked fairly normal, until we saw cops running by with their guns drawn. The bus made a speedy 10 point turn on the narrow road and went to a nearby gas station so the driver and passangers could yell at eachother for a half an hour. We slowly found out that there was a riot because the town had been without electricity for a month, and some teenagers began lighting things on fire and throwing rocks at the cops in the middle of the street. Luckily it was cleared up after another hour and we eventually made it home.

Two days after my humbling experience, we headed out to Santa Marta, a beach town where the locals come to party on the weekends. From here we plan to take care of some last minute travel arrangements and do some camping and swimming in the Parque Tayrona. With Central America under my belt and South America under my feet I feel ready for whatever comes next...

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Posted By Alex to Alex's South America Blog at 8/15/2010 01:48:00 PM

[DOWNER JOHNSON]

Hi Alex,

Glad to see you back on the map - and with Viviana!  You guys are set for some great adventures, but do check things out first.  What happened to those mud baths - did they even exist?

We head out tomorrow for Winchester / Roseburg and some great rafting on the North Umpqua.  Other than that, Ava is getting lots of new work and I am working on new stuff in the studio.

Did I tell you about my 50 year high school reunion?  It was a blast.  I saw so many people I hadn't seen in years. I will meet up with them from time to time and renew some old friendships.

Do you have any idea of how much time you will need to reach Chile and Argentina?  That is where I hope we will join you.  Of course there is a lot to see before you get there - Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia - so it is hard to estimate.  And you want to be in Chile and Argentina in December - February for their Summer.

Anyway,

We love you both and hope you have some great adventures.

Dad

[Alex Johnson]

Hey dad,

Been pretty bad at the emailing since Viviana got here. How was Roseburg? It is so hot down here I have had the occasional fantasy about cold Oregon rivers. The high school reunion sounds great. My 10 year is coming up but I feel like facebook has really tainted the high school reunion, since now everyone knows what everyone else is up to already.

Colombia has been an interesting experience so far. We heard so many good things about it from our Colombian friends that we had pretty high expectations, and have felt a little let down so far. It is more expensive than central america, and is compounded by the fact that everyone is trying to rip you off, and you have to haggle for everything, even bus tickets at the official terminals. We havent really experienced too much of the friendly gregarious locals we heard about. While some people have really been fun to hang out with, the vast majority just seem put offish. I still have high hopes for the place though. I think the carribean always has a little harsher culture than the smaller interior villages in latin america, so I think as we move inland it will improve in some respects. Next we plan to go to Parque Nacional El Cocuy which has high peaks and alpine lakes. We are also going to try couch surfing soon to keep down costs.

I am getting anxious to do some more volunteer work, so I´m thinking about doing something short (2 weeks or so) in peru or ecuador, and then maybe another month of volunteering in bolivia. We will also spend a fair amount of time exploring in between. All in all i would estimate:

2 more weeks in Colombia + 1 month exploring ecuador and peru + 2 weeks volunteering in ecuador or peru + 1 month volunteering in Bolivia + 2 weeks exploring bolivia = 3 1/2 months to 4 months.

After this we will be near the top of Chile/Argentina, and this would probably be the best time for you guys to come if you want to see this area. That should be early to mid december. Which areas did you have in mind? Probably Santiago or Buenos Aires are the two major entrance points. Maybe you could even fly into one and out of the other. Or if you wanted to go down to Patagonia we could do something like that too. Also how long did you want to stay? I have to continue with my no flying rule, but it may be worth it for you guys to buy some little jumper flights if you want to avoid 20 hour bus rides. Then we could just meet you at the destination.

Anyway Im very excited to see you. It is still a bit away, but it will be so much fun. Does this schedule sound good to you?

I sent you a package today. It has my camping hammock in it as well as a gift for your birthday. It will probaby arrive 2 weeks after your birthday though, sorry about that. The colombian post office is crazy too, they have all these forms and even take your fingerprints.

Love you!

Alex

[DOWNER JOHNSON]

Hi Alex,

Great to hear from you.  I hope you and Viviana are having a great time exploring and hiking.  I am sorry to hear that the people are a little bit distant, but i m not surprised to hear about the hustling and haggling.  Columbia used to have (and might still have) a school for pick-pockets where beginners are carefully trained in the art of distraction, bump and snatch.  Once when i was at some sort of parade in a Columbian city (probably Bogota) I saw a group of young guys coming through the crowd toward me.  Their plan was so obvious.  I grabbed my wallet and hung on as they bumped into me, but walked away empty handed.

By the way, there is a nice hot spring about a half day's bus ride south from Bogota.  i can't remember the name of it.  I'll see if I can find it in my notes.  When you get to Ecuador and Peru and Bolivia.  I will have lots of suggestions for you.

Will Viviana join you in a volunteer job?  That could be a great way to double your experience - even if she is not at the same job site.

Your timeline sounds good to me.  We would love to join you in Chile.  There is a train which runs the length of the country.  This might be the best way to move up and down that skinny country.  I am guessing that i might be able to stay a little longer than Ava - if she has clients waiting for her.  We will just have to see what is happening at that time.

Can't wait to see you - both of you!

Love,

Dad