My Favorite Video

Colombia: El Riesgo Es Que Te Quieras Quedar!!!

Getting Around

Maps in Colombia usually look like this:













Yup, a rolled down window and a local. They usually flail their hands around saying "left, left, left" and pointing "right, right, right" and from there you should go straight until... until you reach the point that you are lost again.

Roll down the window and repeat as necessary.

I would hardly say Colombia is any more renowned for its signage than it is for its maps, either, but the Coffee Region does seem to have some decent signs. Or at least we thought so until we got here:



















So, the eco-park... Is it straight, or left? Because if they had hung the sign properly, it would be left. But maybe the messed up the sign and didn't want to invest in a new one, so they just hung it wrong, on purpose...?

The answer: Roll down the window and ask a local.

(These are exactly the reasons why we want to help you plan your trip -- let us get lost for you!)

Are We Going to Get Wet?

Today we had a brand new experience: The duckie! We are not entirely sure how that is spelled, but it's basically a cross-breed between a kayak and a raft. The result is a 3-person, inflatable kayak.

Having no idea what to expect, we asked our tour guide, Johanna, if we were going to get wet. She said yes, so I put on my flip flops. Johanna's reaction? "Umm... no flip flops, you will lose them. Why don't you take off your earrings while you're at it?"

I'm not sure why we were so reluctant to believe that this was going to be a wild ride, but wild it was! Because it has rained so much in the Coffee Region during the last two weeks, the river was roaring by comparison to its normal flow.

Did we get wet? Oooh, just a bit, as the bottom of the duckie isn't even solid - you sit on an tube that is elevated because it is inflated, and on either side the bottom is lined with (intentional) holes.

Here's the after shot:

Just a little wet ;)

Not that we're opposed to getting wet or anything, but we weren't exactly prepared. In fact, Gabriel only brought one pair of shoes to the Eje Cafetero. The only solution:

A barefoot trip to the local mall! Yup, he really had no other choice.

Lesson learned! Don't forget your foot gear =)

(Or, if you want new shoes, forget your foot gear, and have a great excuse to go shopping in the textile/clothing production capital of Colombia!)