Me amor Medellin, Colombia

Medellin is fantastic. It has much of the beauty found throughout San Fransico (various patterns of cobbled steets and wide walkways, streetside venues, transit, hustle and bustle), yet cleaner, and full of a people unique to the Colombian ways. Everyone here seems to eat the same thing. We havent found one restaurant in Colombia that serves anything gringo. Everywhere is horribly embellished sweet pastries, deep fried cheese balls and empanadas, Fresh Jugo is easily available, but the popular meat is chorizo (a mix of pollo and carne res leftovers), eggs are prepared icky, and tipica soup contents are mysterious but nourishing. I am living off fruit and beans. Had an alergic reaction to suscreen (its getting close to summer and hard to stay away from direct sun), even though I finally found some ´hypo allergenic´stuff. After a couple days of suffering I gave in and bought some antihistamine and hydrocortisone cream. My lips are cracked, swollen, but itching less and less. My spoken spanish is improving rapidly. Still having trouble understanding people. I think this is mostly due to moving from region to region so frequently that my ear hasnt had time to define regional dialects.
Our journey from Cartegena led us first to Teganga. A beach community near Parque de Tyrona (which we never visited due to over pricing and the crowd of tourists flocking that way). However, it was the fates which led us there, as our bus took three times as long as it should have out of Cartegena. We didnt arrive in Santa Marta until after dark and thought it best to just find a hotel close by. As I hailed a cab a friendly face obstructed my vision and said "Are you headed to Tenganga?" With a look at Manuel I agreed, and off we went with two odd Norweigen folk. The hostel they had "booked" for the night (no one in central or south america holds reservations, they only tell you they are holding a room, and if your lucky, it is still there when you arrive. Your best bet is to call the morning you need a room, and hope that if someone checks out that day, the establishment will keep you in mind) had no room, so we met up with a local boy who walked us a couple km from town through the dark dirt road neighborhood of the locals. Women crossed in front of us with red buckets piled high with fresh fish on their heads, and children danced in the street holding dead fish by their tails. Artists sold their jewelry on the sidewalk, and eventually we came to our lodging. It was a thatched roof hut complete iwth mouse, and lo n behold, our amigos from the Stahratte, plus one Colombian New Yorker, were sitting outside drinking vodka-soda mixes. We all went out to eat (after doing some macreme with Irena) and then dancing at a live reggea show. It was a full and laughable evening. I hope to meet up with more friends along the way. Having familiar people around boosts our spirits and livens our moods.
We arrived in Medellin after a days journey from Teganga in the Carribean coast on January 12th at about 5:30 AM. We waited in the bus station until almost seven for the sun to rise, then failed to find the Metro and caught a cab to the central area where we found Hostel Odeon, which isnt really a hostel, but doubles as an hourly hotel for the local nightlife. It is situated off Parque Bolivar within easy walking distance to various teatros and the ongoing festival of lights on Calle del Playa. Spent the day exploring parques and trying to find the metro. This transport system in invariably like the SF Bart, but cleaner, cheaper, more efficient, with more art in the terminales. You can ride over the city center and enjoy impressive veiws of Cathedrals and glorious brick/sculpture architecture.
This morning we went to San Antonio Parque, situated near the museum housing numerous works by Botero (Mom, remember the copy of one of his paintings I gave you?). Posted within the whole area are many huge sculptures of his. Included here is a photo of one that survived a bombing durring the revolution. Botero insisted on it remaining intact in its current state to remind the citizens of the devestating violence and cost of war. To emphasize this point futher, an second installation of this same peice is juxtaposed. Later we went to the theater and saw a free showing of a French anime sci fi flick in spanish. Then we halled our bulsas to the Metro and transferred succesfully to the Suramericana area of Medellin. Here, there is Palm Tree Hostel. We are thinking of spending some time here in Medellin. It is a very exciting city, with great transit, daily street cleanings, very little touristas, a lot of art and theater, and now we have a kitchen.

My love to you all. Stay in touch! Im curious who reads this.....Light and bliss---

Land ho! Cartegena

It took five nights over seas to reach our destination, Cartegena, from San Blas, Panama aboard the Stahlratte 40´ sailboat. Everyone (crew and passengers) were sick. The crew implied it was the worst journey in over twenty years. They had trouble steering the ship with rocking back and forth. What a ride! It took a full day to abort the plagued ship, check in with immigration, find hotel with affordable accomodation, and then retreive our passports which had been witheld till that evening (why!?) It was Dia Del Torro so town was festive- and packed. There were wonderful native dancers in a nearby Parque in El Central (Old town). More filthy cobbled streets, old colonial architecture crumbling under car exhaust, Mambo music, central squares of respite but a whole new territory to cover through South America. Our Hotel Familia has kitchen, so we are pleased. Today we move Norte towards Parque Nacional Tyrona on the Carribean coast. Small fishing villages, jungle, desert, and beahes. Finnally found some pretty string at a little friendly shop and am going to make sea shell things for sale, hopefully. Maybe earn our air ticket to Buenas Aires that we cant afford!

Congratulations to Cynthia and Pedro on their new little Neva child!

And all my love to Grandpa- who passed on this January the the 28th at 10pm. I love you. I miss you. May you rest peacefully- and journey safely by my side. Adventure for adventure. Playing bones on the sands of distant seas--Your gonna love it!

Along the backbone

We zipped along Coasta Rica, pausing breifly to toush base in Nicoya where we got REAL dirty spelunking in caves of Barra Honda National Park. Met up with a French-Canadian chica, Crystal, and the three of us caught a ride back to town for dinner. Then we made INSANE headway by bus, and also a ferry over the penninsula, overnighting in Quepos and then a really slow bus driver took 5 hours to transport us to San Isidro. Missed our bus, got the next one out of town to the border. Stranding room only, but we soon found some seats. Then crossed the borderon foot (oh, yeah, an exit stamp...) got a bus to David, and another to Panama City. No food, little water, very little sleep, a whole lot of money later, we were at Zuly´s hostel. Destination anticipated April 2007. Here we are, with a fat deposit on a boat to Cartegena, Colombia. It takes 5 days, departs on the 3rd. We stop over a few nights in San Blas Islands where we spear fish, and chill on seculded beaches with 13 other travelers. Then we try to get a boat along the Amazon to Peru. Wish us luck!

Finally broke out of Utila

We weathered some raging storms off the coast of Utila, Honduras which kept us running to the ferry dock every morning at 5 media AM only to hobble back to the room we rented, and I had forsaken as our crummy luck. We did, however, get some fantastic snorkling in early one morning because of this. Manuel has only snorkled in the Yuba, and myself when I was 10 in Maui. What I remember of it, is vague. We dashes out to the beach and attired ourselves with flippers and masks. Then realized we werent so sure of the rest. Clumsily lopping along the beach, then stumbling, falling, blatantly looking like an ass we realized that snorkling was going to be a learning experience. We soon fell into a ga¿ravitational pull with the current swirling around a coral island from both sides. In a slightly deep impression we spotted both manatee and B fish. Scared the hell out of me until I saw my panick frighten both away. I mostly prefer spying on the bright little fishies in the reefs, and am going to have to work myself up to those montrous entities I have been so far unawares to under the deep blue. The ferry finally pulled us out of the stench bog of Utila around 8 AM on Wednesday.
It took all day to ride a bus from dreaded La Ceiba, through San Pedro Sula and finally down to Tergucigalpa. A couple of frenchmen had been trailing us from Utila, then taking the lead, and as we caught up to them again in a Taxi in Tegucigalpa, we all banded together in broken English/Spanish/French to find a $5 hotel room and the TansNica busline which would take us straight through the Honduran and Nicaraguan border to San Jose, Costa Rica in about 20 hours. (Thanks for all your help Micheal and Alex!) Here I am, at the Pangea Hostel in San Jose. After the experience of La Esperanza, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, and Tegucigalpa, where we went hungry for lack of ambition to face the ugly horriblness of an unplanned and developing nation, we welcome this beautiful Americanized city. Today we spent arranging our Navidad accomodations, and trying to find useful items we have done without for too long. It was fantastic in a dememted sort of way. To fight the rush of holiday shoppers, and a big red Santa in the midst of warm Central America. Manuel successfully found some flip flops (they dont make shoes for big feet down here) and I got me some vitamin B1 supplements to fight those malaria ridden fae. Oh! And the best of all was my trade in of Sandman Vol. 10 for a Costa Rica guide book. Whenever we ride a bus I cant wait to get off, except for the knot in my stomach asking my rationality, where the hell are we going to sleep tonight, and how do we find it? There is a certain sense of satisfaction which comes of knowing how much raw culture we have experienced thus far. We found it first hand, no help but vague realiance on our idiot idiomas and luck. So many places we have traveled with the snide looks of locals who dread the face of gringo on their territory. And we understand it so well. Do we not patronize and scoul at the tourists in Nevada City? They are quite a neccesary laugh and entertaining conversational topic on lazy summer days. But the security the Lets Go, Costa Rica on a Budget offers is something I am willing to trade my endured traveling angst self for.
While crossing borders from Nicaragua (we may trek back that direction yet) into Costa Rica, Manuel and I were attacked by a pleasant surprise. A New Zealander lept onto me. It was Charlotte, and Susie wasnt far behind. We all came to a most simultaneous decision that the Caribbean stormland was not our place for a holiday. So we are meeting up on the Pacific side in Playa Tamarindo. As if the name werent similar to my own enough to spark interest, it is located on the cusp of a national park with breeding sea turtles. We are also staying in a hostel owned by a Mariana, and she says they are having a fiesta for the holidays. We are getting ready to jump on the road again manana, and I am curious where the winds will take us come New Years. Good Solstice to you all, and lets enjoy the Full Moon. Love and bliss!