Tom's Adventures in South-America: april 2014

Final destination Colombia...

In one word, Colombia is CHIMBA!! (The local slang for 'cool')

The people here are super friendly, hospitable and the overall vibe in Colombia is very relaxed!

Traveling around in this country makes you instantly happy :-)

My trip starts in the Sierra de Cocuy, an Andes mountain range NE of Bogota where I climb two mountains, and continues to the Caribbean coast where I relax at the incredible beaches of Tayrona, go and look for la Ciudad Perdida (the lost city) and hangout in the must-see city Cartagena!

Right now I am slowly heading to Bogota, via the famous Colombian coffee region.

It's almost time to go home...

Sierra de Cocuy

The final (steep) meters to the summit of Ritakuwa Blanco (5300m).

Cumbre!! Me and climbing buddy Frey on top of Ritakuwa Blanco.

Enjoyable evenings in the mountains...

Beautiful sunrise on Pan de Azucar (right) and Pulpito de Diablo (left).

Juju, David and me, a great team to climb Pan de Azucar!

The impressive Pulpito de Diablo seen from high up the mountain...

Happy being on top of Pan de Azucar (5135m)!

Tayrona and Ciudad Perdida

From the cold mountains straight to the Caribbean coast... aaaaaah :-)

Sunsets at the beaches of Tayrona are simply stunning!!

Yes, that swim was refreshing!!

Sleeping at the beach, waking up when the sun rises, going for a swim... it's a hard life, especially at this kind of beaches :-)

Lorenzo, my indigenous 'Wiwa' guide for the Lost City trek (la Ciudad Perdida).

Indigenous village on the way.

Wiwa girl.

The start of the 1200 steps which lead to la Ciudad Perdida...

I was lucky to have Lorenzo as my private guide, teaching me a lot about the indigenous people.

La Ciudad Perdida!! A sacred place located high up in the jungle of Tayrona.

Cartagena

La Muralla, the city wall, one of the things which makes Cartagena a must-see city in Colombia.

The old city if full of cosy and colourful small streets.

'Vinde gij mijn gat nie te dik in deze rok?!?'

A Club Colombia beer helps to appreciate the art of Botero on Plaza Santo Domingo :-)

Martina and me with the skyline of modern Cartagena.

Typical souvenirs from Cartagena...

When I leave Patagonia it is already end of March. This leaves me just two weeks more in Argentina before heading to Colombia. Bariloche and Buenos Aires are the two places I still want to explore!

The town of Bariloche is not that interesting -although it is famous for its good chocolate, ice-cream and artisanale beers- but the surrounding mountains are beautiful and ideal for some more trekking! The days before I arrive it has rained a lot in town and this means snow in the mountains... After the incredible good weather I had in Patagonia, it is a nice change to hike through these winter landscapes. Bariloche is sometimes still considered part of Patagonia and it is obvious why: blue lakes, granite peaks, amazing forests, big glaciers and condors!! After 5 days in the mountains the weather turns bad and it is time to enjoy the beers, chocolate and ice-cream in town :-) unfortunately it doesn't stop raining for 3 days in a row and my bus to Buenos Aires is delayed with 24hours...

But after rain comes sunshine... and eventually I get to Buenos Aires, the second time in my trip after the 1-day visit I did in February on my way to Paraguay. This time I a meeting up with Silvina, an Argentinean girl who lives, works and studies in BA. I got to know her on a bus a couple of months ago and she invited me to stay at her place in the centre of the city and proposed to be my personal guide! Perfect, because BA is quite expensive to stay and is too big to to try to discover on your own in just a couple of days. Especially for my birthday the whole country goes on strike against president Christina and the government who seem unable to stop the massive inflation in Argentina. There is no public transport in the entire city and a lot of highways are blocked... which makes it for us an enjoyable day to stroll around in a remarkably quiet Buenos Aires!! To finish the day we find some nice asado place (typical Argentinean BBQ) and enjoy live music, tango and red wine in a Milonga bar. Birthday in BA... it could be worse ;-)

Arriving at Refugio Frey, a paradise for climbers (but not with this amount of snow...).