Santa Marta - photos 3

Santa Marta - Taganga

- This little bay was in the way to go to the "Playa Negra". Superb landscape!
- View of the "Playa Negra", famous for its fish restaurant,
- Cactus in the Caribbean...
- Sunset in Taganga Bay...I like this picture, one of my best! I followed Lee's advice regarding the composition...he can be right sometimes...
- For the last sunset, we went to the small bay close to Taganga Bay but that was not very nice. Lee had set up his tripod...a lot of work for not too much reward!

Santa Marta - photos 2

Santa Marta - Taganga

- The terrace of the apartment we rented for 5 days with sea view. Nice breakfast the morning,
- Lee is enjoying a kip in the hammock. That is one of the activities he prefers....lazy boy!!!!
- During our stay, we had a temporary pet, Fifi the cat. We called her Fifi because she was resembling to my niece's cat. She was entering and leaving the flat using a hole in the grid of the roof. She was all the time asking for food even waking us on the morning for her breakfast!! We learned just before we leaved, she had kittens just downstairs,
- Others "pets" quite unusual, the geckos. There were very shy and just coming out during the evening to catch any mosquito or flies around the light. But they did not do their job properly judging by the number of bites we had in the morning!
- Lee was coming out after a swim and some snorkeling but not too much to see around. Here we were in the "Playa Negra", a beach 20 min from Taganga beach.

Santa Marta - photos 1

Santa Marta:

After our 5 day marathon in Venezuela, we were happy to reach Santa Marta and the coast. Santa Marta was founded in 1525 by the Spanish De Bastidas and is the oldest town in Colombia and one of the oldest in South America. In this town, the Libertador Simon Bolivar died in 1830. We stayed in Taganga in a lovely apartment in front of the beach. Relaxation and swimming was our program for the 5 days we stayed around. But due to the wind, the water was a little bit to cold so only sunbathing for me...

- The Cathedral. Its building was started early in Santa Marta's history (1529), but not completed until the end of the 18th century. This cathedral is the oldest on the South American continent,

- The Plaza Simon Bolivar in homage to the Libertador,

- Typical colonial houses in narrow streets. Santa Marta was peaceful but also full of life in the shopping streets with lots of street vendors,

- Taganga Bay and Taganga village. Only 10min for Santa Marta town centre, this village was what we wanted to relax after the exhausting journey in Venezuela!

- Our first sunset on the bay with Lee having a late swim. Yes the person on the picture is Lee!!! You can recognise him, he has no hair!

Venezuela - photo

Venezuela (5 days):

When we were in Bogota, we were thinking going to the customs to renew our visa which was only for 30 days. But we decided to carry on our trip and to cross the border with Venezuela to visit Merida. Then to come back to Colombia via Maicao in the north. I saw a documentary in France about Merida and the longest cable car in the world. The pictures were very impressive.

During our trip across South America, we met several people reporting bad comments about Venezuela and in particular the Venezuelans...ignorant, unfriendly...But we wanted to make our own opinion and to see by ourselves. Well, we saw...5 days later and 200 pounds less, we were back to Colombia. Very, very expensive, 3 to 5 times more expensive than in the travel guide book, unfriendly people, feeling not very safe...and the cable car in Merida was not working (apparently it has been closed from 6 month ago for repair!). That all the comments I can put in this post. We were jumping with happiness when we crossed the border with Colombia...what a difference between these 2 countries! And to add to this picture of Venezuela, the money is worth nothing and when we changed our remaining Bolivars in Pesos, we lost 20 pounds! Mr Hugo Chavez should take more care of inside this country than creating relations with Russia or China to say "s..." to USA! (my own opinion)

Here is the story of 5 crazy days:

Day 0: From San Gil we took a bus to Bucaramanga, the capital of the Santander department, where we stayed for the night. Day 1: Wake up at 6.00am...bus to Cucuta at 7.00am...6hrs later, we were in this border town...1.5hrs later we passed the frontier with Venezuela at San Antonio de Tachira...bank holiday day to celebrate the arrival of Chavez as president, everything closed...hopefully cash machine open...2.5hrs later we arrived at San Cristobal where we stayed for the night in a dodgy hotel close to the bus station. Day 2: 9.00am bus...6.5hrs later, we reached Merida and learnt that the cable car was not working...merde, we were coming only for that! So far everything was out of price and too expensive for us (I bought 2 apples and a plum for 4 quid in the market!!!!), pasta and rice, lunches and dinners! Day 3: we stayed around Merida to visit the surroundings....nothing new, nothing fantastic...natural hot springs as swimming pools...Day 4: bus to Maracaibo during 9hrs and 15C in the bus...freezing...1star hotel for the price of a 3 stars hotel in England, pizza for tea. Day 5: the "delivrance"! after a 4.5hrs journey in a taxi and 18 dollars less to leave the country, we were in Colombia, at least...1pm bus to Santa Marta...5hrs later, we were left in the middle of nowhere and absolutly exhausted... but finally at 7pm we arrived at Taganga, our destination and time to recover on the beach...

- Plaza Bolivar in Merida with Simon Bolivar statue. In Venezuela, everything was called Bolivar...in homage to the conquerant who delivered the country from the Spanish occupation. We were disappointed because Merida wa supposed to be the best city of Venezuela and it was far behind many towns we saw in South America. And if Merida was the best city of the country, we can't imagine how bad are the others cities!!!!

- The village of Tabay, 12km from Merida. We went to visit this village for its hot springs but we were disappointed because there were only 2 swimming pools full of 60year old people!

- I like these trees covered with the tillandsia. I have dozen of pictures of them!

- The Andes. Superb landscape,

- We were amazed by the cars in Venezuela. Full of 60's and 70's american type cars like in Starky and Hutch!!! We took one of these cars to cross the border with Colombia, quite old but comfortable.

San Gil - photos

San Gil (1750m):

After Villa de Leyva, we reached San Gil in the Santander province. San Gil is a main destination for the backpackers in search of adventure as white water rafting, paragliding...are common sports. San Gil (created in 1689) was a quiet place where we visited "El Gallineral" a superb park with exotic trees and flowers. Close to the town, there was the typical village of Barichara, charming for its colonial architecture. We did not try extreme sports as I am not too comfortable on water!

- The Cathedral of San Gil. In front there was a lovely plaza (nothing exeptional) but Friday and Saturday nights everybody was meeting here drinking a beer or eating an ice-cream, chatting and enjoying the soft evening. That what we did too!

- One of the street of the town...very steep indeed...half of the streets of San Gil are similar. Our hostel was situated in one of these streets...Going down was easy on the morning but going up after a day trip, that was more difficult! Please note the adorable red Renault 4L in front...That remembered me when my dad used to have one similar when I was 5!

- The park "El Gallineral" is famed for its trees covered with tillandsia. That was like old man beard! We saw this all around Colombia and later in Venezuela,

- The Inmaculada Concepcion church of Barichara. Barichara is a small village situated 40min from San Gil and was founded in 1705. It is known for its colonial architecture and its houses are painted in white, grey or blue and the streets are stoned. Barichara was a very quiet little town, full of charm and charactere,

- A typical street in Barichara.

Blog Update

Hello, I am quite late writing the blog on this moment. I did not get easy access to internet and I was away for 5 days on a boat from Cartagena in Colombia to Panama. I will try to do my best to post soon pictures from the superb Colombia and the boat trip...Hasta pronto...

Villa de Leyva - photos 4

Fauna and Flora Sanctuary of Iguaque (part 2):

- The lake Iguaque. Not the most beautiful, just a lake. We could be here anywhere in the English or Scottish moors except the presence of the cactus,

- Superb reflection of the mountain in the lake,

- Lee was so absorbed taking pictures that he forgot there was a lake in front of him and fell in the mud! A good laugh!!!

- Lee was cleaning his feet and shoes after the disaster. Because of the wet sandal, he managed to fall also during the way back but no worries, no injuries,

- A beautiful yellow flower. We saw some nice flowers but we have not seen any Fauna (as mentioned in the title of the Sanctuary) just a couples of already seen birds! Not sure wild life exists in national park!

Villa de Leyva - photos 3

Fauna and Flora Sanctuary of Iguaque (part 1):

- Prior to start the walk to reach the laguna Iguaque (3800m), we stopped for breakfast in front of this superb landscape. It was 8.30am and we had already walk for 1.15hr to reach the guard park office and the visitors centre...

- This part of the trail (right on the picture) was the most easy part. We had mud for 1hr (see bottom picture) then a very steep walk for another 1hr and then this nice trail...

- ... From where the view was superb. We were here at 3800m of altitude,

- The vegetation went from forest and big fern type to moors type but with these singular cactus (light yellow on the picture) which were very hairy,

- The muddy trail inside a jungly type forest. A lot of effort to avoid to be covered in mud...but Lee managed to fall in the laguna...very funny!!!

Villa de Leyva - photos 2

Around Villa de Leyva:

- Los "Pozos Azules" or "blue pools" were situated just 1hr walk from the village. Superb blue colour due to the minerals (mainly copper) present in the natural pools where it was possible to swim,

- Lee was testing the temperature of the clear water but it was too cold for me and this day it was very windy. Lee had forgotten his swimsuit...

- An other of the five "pozos" with a different blue colour, this one was greener. We had a nice lunch around this pool and 20 bug bites for diner!!!,

- Superb countryside, very similar to where I am from. This picture could have been taken from my parents' house close to Carcassonne...

- I told you previously that I am a fan of macro photo now. Well here it is an example of my patience to take photos of any bugs...sometimes up to 5 min trying to catch an ant or a fly but my pictures are not too bad...according to the expert Lee!!

Villa de Leyva - photos 1

Villa de Leyva:

After Bogota and its rain, we reached Villa de Leyva (2143m) with a superb sun! Villa de Leyva is at 3hrs north of Bogota and it is considered like one of the most beautiful villages in Colombia due to its colonial architecture. Founded in 1572 by Hernando Sanchez de Villalobos, it was declared a national monument in 1954 to preserve its architecture.

We have not been disappointed when we arrived in Villa de Leyva...charming village with typical colonial buildings and plazas, so far the most beautiful little town we have seen! The central plaza was massive, well with 14ha it is considered the biggest in Colombia! We visited very different landscapes from mountains type forest to desert and dry areas all 15km around the village. We had also a nice walk in the Fauna and Flora Sanctuary of Iguaque. Well very tiring walk, 17km in 7 hrs, not bad!

- The "Plaza Mayor" or main square with the church in the first picture and typical colonial buildings on the second picture. All the roads inside the village were paved,

- The church of the Convent of the Carmelites,

- Sunset taken from the Mirador behind our hostel. After a 30 min walk up hill, we reached the Mirador which allowed a nice view of the village but it was hazy so the pictures did not come out great!

- Typical houses inside the village. Really superb village with a nice and quiet atmosphere...