Paradise and back

I´m now in Medellin, which is at the tip of the coffee region in Colombia.

I have been to Paradise and back...seriously.

Last Thursday, we took a bus from Cartagena to Turbo and spent the night there. The town was absolutely disgusting and smelled of raw sewage (don´t worry, the story gets better), but it was necessary to stop. Early the next morning we got on a boat to a little village called Capurgana. It´s on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, is right next to another village called Sapzurro and both are only accessible by boat and lie on the boarder to Panama. Due to the lack of ease in getting there, these two towns are definitely off the ´gringo trail´which was a nice break!!!

Our boat ride was incredibly rough and bumpy, leaving our whole bodies stuck on vibrate for hours afterwards. We ended up staying in a cabin so close to the ocean that the waves hit us while we lied in our hammocks. It was unbelievable. The water was crystal clear, the beaches deserted and the sand perfect. We spent our first two nights in Capurgana. The first day I took a really nice walk along the rocky coast, and then spent the day on the beach (I was the only one on the beach)

On Saturday we went on a walk to a place called El Cielo (The Heaven). We got to see a lot of the jungle and crossed a river about 11 times. At the end there was a giant swimming hole that was so refreshing. The scenery around here is still so undisturbed and astonishingly quiet.

On Saturday we got on a boat to go to the next town (we could hike, but we are lazy) which is even more deserted than Capurgana. We stayed in hammocks there for $5 a night at a place right on the beach. It was so quiet and peaceful. We spent a lot of our time eating coconut on the beach (I learned how to open my very own!! :))

We left on Monday (for Bec, Bondy and I it was our final hurrah with beaches) which made us all sad and made our way to Medellin.

Medellin is beautiful. The hostel I´m staying at is really chilled out. Yesterday I spent the day seeing the town. I managed to fit in an art museum, the science centre and aquarium, I went walking around a couple of the different neighbourhoods and then I met up with the others for an amazing Italian dinner...so much in one day. I´m taking it easy today and then heading to Salento tomorrow.