So Long South America

It is unfortunately our last day in South America. We could definitely have spent much more time here and will hopefully be able to return in the future to see some of the places we missed, and revisit some of the places we loved.

Our time spent in Colombia has been amazing. Cartagena was a very interesting city divided into 3 distinct parts: the beautiful old town, the trendy and modern Bocagrande, and a much scruffier area that seems to be in complete contrast with the others. When we weren't wandering the streets of the old town, we were discovering some interesting places outside of Cartagena.

We visited the nearby mud volcano and had quite the mud bath. You climb up to the top of the volcano and pay people to hold your camera (and take some epic photos), give you massages, and eventually rinse you off in a little swampy area nearby - note: by rinse, I mean accosted by buckets of water while trying to keep swampy water away from your mouth and eyes.  Then you find your bathing suit has been stealthily removed for further washing...really a great experience though- we felt like total kids playing in the mud!

We also visited the Rosario islands and Playa Blanca. We had the most delicious fish of our lives on the beach (in fact all of the food here is amazing) and enjoyed swimming in the Caribbean sea afterwards.

After Cartagena, we took the bus to Medellin. The countryside was incredible and we passed through many small towns along the way. It seemed that every house we saw no matter how basic had an open, welcoming door, and lovely blinking Christmas lights.

Medellin was a great city to visit. They have so many free tourist attractions and interesting cultural sites. Our favorite places were the Botero museum, Parque Explora (where we again embraced our inner child), and the cable car ride up over the city which was conveniently part of the metro system. From Medellin we took a day trip to Guatape and El Penol. Guatape was a very colorful town with animals, vehicles, and geometric signs popping out from all the building walls. There is a huge rock in El Penol that you can climb to see a beautiful view of the reservoir below. Definitely worth the day trip! 

We are now in Bogota and have been exploring La Candelaria (old town) and the more ritzier, not to mention safer, northern zones of the city. We went to the police museum here, and had a great tour by a young local completing his mandatory military service. We learned more about the Pablo Escobar cartel and saw a few of his confiscated possesions (some old guns, and a desk with hidden drawers,etc). We were also taken to a weapons room filled with various sized guns, swords, and cannons. To our surprise, we also found a Mounties uniform among some international police artifacts.