Day 24: Thursday, October 25th

Salento, Colombia- Stayed at El Viajero Hostel

Dear Obiwan,

Obi! I am now in Salento! I successfully slept on the night bus to Armenia, you know how tough it is to sleep on buses. So to to get to Salento, the most famous coffee town to visit in the coffee triangle of Colombia, you have to first take a bus from Medellin to Armenia. The 3 main cities of the ‘Coffee Triangle’ are Armenia, Pereira, and Manizales. Salento is the most famous town in the coffee triangle. People say it has become ‘very touristy’ but I loved it Obi! It’s a really small town with huge hills, colorful homes, restaurants and coffee farms everywhere. Also, right nearby is this well known “Cocora Valley” hike that I did.

So…after the night bus to Armenia, and an incredibly kind woman next to me on the bus ride who was working with some people with disabilities- which had me remember some of my past jobs then I reminisced about WORKING… Anywho, she helped me find where the next bus was. Then I got on that bus to headed to Salento! On the bus I met this really nice guy, Ashwin who was from Holland. He was also solo traveling and didn’t have a plan for a hostel so he chose to go to the same one as me! I read about it on Hostelworld, it was called “El Viajero Hostel Salento” and it looked beautiful! Also, they spoke about leading tours and having salsa lessons and group meals, so it looked exactly like what I wanted! We got there at 7am and there were rooms available BUT check-in was at 11 or 1pm or something much later that 7am. The hostel let us keep out bags there, safe, and we changed and decided to hike Cocora Valley!

So we were off! We were told “it isn’t too hard,” and one couple told us “it took us 6 hours, but there is a 2 hour hike you can do instead!” If you could guess Obi, we went to do the 2 hour hike, however, there are no signs or anything distinguishing between paths. There were people trying to sell you horses or sell themselves as guides and we just wanted to hike for free so we said ‘no thanks’(no gracias), and we chose the path to the right, which seemed flatter than the path to the left. We were told that one way is “all the way up, then flat by the river the way back,” or “flat by the river on the way there and the way back is a big incline then all down.” AND- there was a hummingbird area(Obi you know how much I love hummingbirds! Well, you would wanna catch and eat them all)! We were told its an ‘extra 30 minutes there and back’ but hell yeah, we are gonna go (so we thought)! Obviously we chose the way with flat on the way there and ‘down’ on the way back- BUT we actually chose the WRONG way because we had no idea which way we were going…and it was way too late to change ways when we realized. Also, there was no 2 hour hike…

Obiwan, this hike ended up being 7 fricken hours…and first let me say that it was beautiful! After about…30 minutes or so you see the beautiful views of Cocora Valley and the famous incredibly tall palm trees that are just, astoundingly tall. I want understand why and how?! Then all around you are rolling green hills and the valley stretches out far in front of you with trees and cows and farms sprinkled across. LOOK HERE!:

So, the other part of this hike Obi was…well…it monsooned rained! Because, ha, I am in Colombia in the ‘rainy season’ which I chose not to believe. And at first the rain was light and felt amazing as we were just hiking UP endlessly…but then, we were hiking down…and got by the RIVER and man Obi, it was dangerous! Every now and then we passed people either going our direction or coming the other way and everyone was soaked and would warn how dangerous it was. Also, a group of people recommend us NOT to go see the hummingbirds because they told us they saw 3 hummingbirds and that it ends up taking an hour and a half to go there and back, so, begrudgingly, we didn’t go.

In the end Obi, we made it back. We had to cross the river one time walking directly IN IT with a strong current pulling at our feet and besides that there were beautiful wooden bridges crossing over the river multiple times with suspension wires you can hold onto over the river. However, their beauty was slightly blurred through pouring rain and the bridges being insanely slippery. Luckily, I had good company and it was still beautiful and fun.

Here are some videos and pictures of the storm and of us reaching the end!

Also, we met this nice French couple who told us they did go see the hummingbirds and said they saw 30 AND THAT IT WAS SO AMAZING. But, we can’t change the past so it’s FINE I’M NOT UPSET.

The end was also tough because the road just…never ended, and we got back at 530, and we left around 1030 am, so it ended up being 7 HOURS. And at 530 the sun was ALMOST SET, so Obi, if you did the math, if I went to see these hummingbirds we would have been hiking the last hour in the DARK- and WE were told the last car back is at 6 (so we would have been back around 7 and I guess just had to sleep under a tree?)!

After this we returned to our hostel, and Ashwin was told about the nicest restaurant in Salento so we went there! We almost gave up after having to hike a hill that was so steep you almost fall backwards (found out on the way back you take another way that beautifully cuts through the center of the town and is BARELY a hill)…but…it’s okay 😂.

Dinner was so delicious! We saw some fellow hikers and hostel folks at the restaurant and had a lovely end to our unexpectedly adventurous day!

Alright my dear Jedi. Love you so much, till tomorrow!

Love,

Carly

Day 22: Tuesday, October 23rd
Left Rango, stayed at Hostel Estaciones in Guatape

Dear Obiwan,

Obi! I miss you so much, the next two days were relaxing and beautiful. Today I left Medellin for a one night stay in Guatape. I heard both from various travelers I’ve met that, “you only need a day in Guatape,” and “we stayed a night and it was so amazing!” So as I am learning Obi, I just have to go for it, and figure it out myself! People have such strong opinions, and you want to believe them since you know nothing!…But, you just have to find out yourself to really know.

So I am not too into big cities and I was yearning to get out, so I did!

I headed to Guatape, Colombia, which is about a 2 hour bus ride from Medellin. Guatape is famous for this HUGE ROCK that is there, which is known as El Peñon de Guatape or La Piedra. It is about 670 steps and then you see an incredible 360 degree view of the beautiful colonial city and green and blue landscape below!

I went on a tour which included breakfast and lunch and history. The view from La Piedra was phenomenal!

After the tour, everyone else took the bus ride back to Medellin, but I stayed to spend a night in Guatape. I went to stay at my hostel which had the best reviews on Hostelworld, it was called “Hostel Estaciones” it was actually a 25 minute walk up a hill, or a 4 minute tuk-tuk(yes, tuk-tuks like in Thailand!), and the hostel was beautiful! A little farther than I had hoped, and I learned that I should always look of the hostel is in the town center! But it had a beautiful view of the town and La Piedra, comfy beds, wifi, and incredibly kind and warm staff!

I ended up going to bed at 830 Obi, your Madre was very tired.

Day 23: Wednesday, October 24th
Last day at Estaciones, Guatape, headed back to Medellin

Obi, today was my second day in Guatape and I had no idea what to do! I ended up asking Javier and Jesus for help! Jesus, being a tour guide, said I should take a cheap boat to another small colonial town. So I walked down to town, and tried my beginner Spanish, and thought I did what Jesus said? But later Jesus told me I somehow did the wrong boat?! But it was nice! Went riding through the water and saw a bunch of homes related to Escobar. Some of the homed we saw had been bombed and other places some people who worked with him still live at. Here are some photos:

After this tour I walked around the beautiful town, bought 2 hand made bracelets, and went again to ‘Cafe Sin P’, Obi, everyone has to visit this place when they go to Guatape! First off, the woman, Johanna, who works there is warmest, funniest, and one of my favorite people I have met on this whole trip! She makes you feel at home! She is dressed how the coffee bean collectors would dress back some time ago. The coffee is DELICIOUS. AND the best part is there are literally about 20 different ways to get your coffee and some ways ARE SO COOL. SCIENCE OBI. Look!!!:

After this Jesus met me here since he led a tour today! I then headed back to Medellin with the tour bus. After hanging with the awesome receptionist Miguel and packing I was off to take my night bus to Salento!

But, Obiwan, your Mama struggled. I went to terminal NORTE when I was supposed to go to terminal SOL. I was told to go here by 2 different people! And your genuis mother thought, ‘the traffic was so bad, I’ll just take the metro’ even though I had all my stuff, which means about 70 pounds of weight on my back and front from having a back pack on my back and front…and then, the metro took so long. And I was in pain from my stuff. And when I finally reached the stop…it was a 15 minute WALK?! I was so confused?! So I of course took a cab because my legs were completely dead. And I finally was at terminal Sol, making a horrible circle around Medellin.

Finally I found my bus, and actually fell asleep for once on a bus!

Goodnight my love, hope you’re catching all the mice!

Love,

Carly

Oh P.S.-Obi I met a 3 week old puppy! That’s how old you were when we met!!!

Day 19: Saturday, October 20th
Day 2- Medellin, Rango Hostel

Dear Obiwan,

Look at the beautiful street just where I grabbed a quick desayuno!(breakfast)

Welp, remember the medicine I took last night and then went out? Well, this was a bandaid, and today I really felt my Dengue Fever. And just stayed in all day and night, I really wanted to go out on SATURDAY NIGHT in Medellin, but I had to listen to my body. I also just assumed Sunday would be great too!

Day 20: Sunday, October 21st
Day 3- Medellin, Rango Hostel

Today I had breakfast at the hostel and it was amazing! Like, actual real amazingly delicious bread, tons of eggs, and coffee or juice or tea.

Here are the views from my hostel’s breakfast patio:

After breakfast I headed to the mall 🙄…because your wise mother only brought summer clothes Obi and then just thermals for Patagonia. So, I needed a jacket and some PANTS. I ONLY BROUGHT JEANS. No pants? I was distracted while packing, I’m gonna chalk it up to that.

Yes, here are some mall photos, there was this gigantic blow up tube that I really wanted to jump in and it was DOG DAY which happens twice a month, and legit, a million doggies and everywhere you step were doggie vendors!:

When I got back to my dorm, I didn’t really know anyone so I saw a guitar and started playing in my room. It felt so good to play music Obi for me. I mostly only play music for my patients, and while I love being a Music Therapist, I just sometimes only make music for my patients and that needs to change. So it did! I played a few songs I’ve always wanted to learn and then tried to learn Austurias, hahah, which was hilarious, but I slowly can play the first 4 bars! (Out of probably 4,000).

After this I was excited to go out! Then Miguel at the front desk informed me that NOTHING HAPPENS on Sundays!

Well, I headed down to the bar and ended up meeting great group of people who wanted to go out, including 2 French guys, Gregor and Jeffrey, who knew of some amazing party. The other three people were Laura, who’s in my dorm and is from Holland, and this awesome American couple!

Well, in summary Obi, we went to the supposed amazing rooftop party, and it was closed, or we couldn’t find it. We serached and serached, Gregor didn’t want to give up. But the group to began to divide into let’s find another place’ and ‘let’s keep searching!’ we eventually gave up, went to the main bar area, all closed! Then finally ended up making our own amazing party on the rooftop of our hostel!

Day 21: Monday, October 22nd
Day 4- Medellin, Rango Hostel

Welp Obiwan, due to staying up way too late, today was a tad rough. But, I HAD to explore Medellin. I had signed up for a tour one of my dorm mates told me about, ‘Real City Tours.’ Before doing this I had to change my rooms, due to staying longer than expected.

I met my new roomie, Leeva, who was chill and funny. We mesh well.

Then I left Obi, only with a few hours of sleep, for a 4 hour tour, honestly in hindsight what was I thinking? But I’m glad I did it!

I almost was late but I made it right on time. The tour was amazing. We went around the center of the city mostly and leaned so much incredible and powerful history. Our tour guide, Juan, was so passionate. I also met Jesus, this amazing guy from Venezuela who was hosting a German couple and joined them on their tour today. He leads tours to Guatape and helped me set mine up for tomorrow!

Besides me being a real struggle bus and almost giving up, the tour was amazing. Juan first blew our minds by knowing all of our 25 names after 5 minutes. He also spoke about Pablo Escobar at length but used nicknames for him and other hot topics so citizens wouldn’t get upset. He even shared about when he was 14 and just playing in the streets some of Escobar’s men drove over and shot at everyone, he was shot and was okay, but he lost 4 friends. He acknowledged how he did help the poor people but really focused on how many innocent people were killed due to him. And he ended the tour in this square with some Botero statues (they are all over Medellin!) and one of the statues was destroyed by a bombing from the Escobar time and Botero made another one and donated it for free. Juan talked about this representing many things, including Medellin rebuilding and recreating itself today!

Here are photos from the tour!:

After this I napped the day away and then me and my new awesome roommate Leeva ordered delivery and ate it on our beautiful roof! (Leeva has been solo traveling for about 3 years or something crazy! And she’s 25 or something!) The night ended with Ceasar and Troy coming to hang out before they left for America 😭. It was a wonderful evening, those guys are so funny and warm and Leeva was hilarious and laid back. We all had a great night!

Farewell guys! Till next time!:

I then went to bed very early so I would be ready for my adventures in Guatape tomorrow!

Goodnight my sweet Jedi, love you!

Your Mama,

Carly

Friday, October 19th

Morning at Merecumbe, left to Santa Marta then Santa Marta to Medellin!
Day 1 at Rango Hostel, Medellin

Dear Obiwan,
I had such a great night sleep! I was supposed to get 4 roommates around 830pm, at 1145pm they came in and woke me up, and then left and never returned. They ended up going to another dorm, so I had the room to myself! I naturally woke up at 6 am and wrote a little while sitting on the beach. I then had breakfast with the Panama crew and it was lovely.

I then got the bus to Santa Marta, you just stand on the same side of the road (THIS REALLY CONFUSED ME) as you do to get to Tayrona, just look for the “white and green bus” and eventually it came and you just hope on!

The ride was beautiful and smoothe. Got back to Santa Marta, the bus took me to the RIGHT SPOT. Unlike last time. Got my stuff, saw some old friends at La Brisa Loca! Said my goodbyes then went to the airport and had a super easy time at the airport.

Will miss you and always keep you in my heart La Brisa Loca:

Well the airport was easy except for starting to get sick, I had a runny nose, was sneezing, and a low fever. And due to Ana telling us while we were hiking in Tayrona, okay ready Obi? Ana told us that she didn’t stay at the hostel she planned to stay at in Palomino due to her finding out that 4 hostel volunteers had got DENGUE FEVER. I’m sorry, correction, 3 got Dengue Fever and 1 got ZIKA VIRUS. FROM MOSQUITOS. She said there was a lot of sitting water there or something? But told me and Javier that she was told Dengue is really bad right now and so is Zika, in the Colombian region we were actively standing in or (just was)! The travel doctor back in thr states I saw spoke about Malaria for 45 fricking minutes and I got a ton of Malaria pills that I ended up never taking due to fear of the awful side effects and people telling me not to worry about Malaria.

In summary Obi, your slightly hypochondriacal mother has Dengue Fever, I have flu like symptoms…this must be the beginning, right?!

Well besides having Dengue, here is a photo of all plantains, you past SO MANY while driving:

After the airport I got a 50 minute taxi ride for 70,000 (23 USD) to my Medellin hostel- Rango Hostel.

I went to the corner drug store and asked the pharmacist if I could still go out after taking these meds and he said ‘si fiesta si!’

After I got to my hostel I needed food immediately. I asked the incredibly friend and warm receptionist Miguel and he asked if I liked pizza, PSH MAN would I kill for a pizza at that moment, and there was a place next door!

I head next door to this very cool pizza, Cafe hang out place. And I’m staring at the menu, flapping it back and forth almost in a panic and I ask the waitress, “perdon, yo quiero carne? Pepperoni o jamon? Esta bien?” (Excuse me, I want meat. Pepperoni or ham, is that okay?) Then she makes an odd expression and tells me THE PLACE IS VEGETARIAN.

OBI WHO HAS A VEGETARIAN ONLY PIZZA PLACE. Okay, sorry, I actually understand and respect it, but I moreso think that when someone suggests a PIZZA place, they must explicitly tell you that there is no meat!

Any who. I still eat there. And as I am mid sneezing and blowing my nose and looking traveled and miserable, I look up and see CEASAR AND TROY(American guys from Palomino)! Just staring at me laughing.

I knew they were in Medellin but we didn’t plan for this! They had walked 20 minutes from their hostel for pizza, to here!

After this slightly embarrassing reunion, I broke the bad news about no meat, and they UNDERSTOOD Obi. They understood that pizza and meat goes together like you and q-tips! And they actually left! They weren’t having it.

After eating I become a human, aka showered and changed and got ready to go out for my first night in Medellin!

I walked over to Cesar and Troy’s hostel and met this huge group of hostel people. We all went to go out. Eventually ended up a small group of us hopping from club to club. Eventually found a club we all enjoyed! Finally went to bed incredibly late after a great night.

Goodnight my lamb,
Carly

Thursday, October 18th

Day 2 at Merecumbe Tayrona National Park and Beach Club

Dear Obiwan,

I can’t believe I almost skipped this place! I almost went back to Minca yesterday cause I wasn’t too into Palomino and I missed the mountains. But Magella said I’ve come this far and the park is right there, so I gotta do it! She was right, so I did!

Javier had his day off today so he came up from Santa Marta to hike Tayrona with me! He also has never been so we both were so excited. Also, Ana from Palomino was going to join us!

I forgot to mention Obi that when I got to the beach hostel last night I saw the group of 3 people who I met at Casas Viejas in Minca- Nina, Charlotte, and Marc! They’re planning to go to Tayrona tomorrow too! I had dinner with them last night they’re super funny and friendly and were all traveling solo and met on a sailboat to Colombia from Panama and have been together ever since!

Anywho, to get to the park you just stand on the road the hostel is on and get on any bus going that direction. Then I got to the park and there was Javier!

We then saw Ana! And as we were in line to get our park tickets there were a bunch of sleepy cats!

We ended up heading into the park without Ana, she told us to go ahead and that she would catch up to us.

There are two paths you can take, the ocean path, about 2 hours, which takes you through the park and along many beaches, ending at Cabo San Juan. Or a path through the park that has you pass by a small village, then ending at Cabo San Juan-that’s over 4 hours. Of course we chose the beach path!

It was so beautiful! The first of three animals we saw was a wild pig sort! I spotted it walking across our path ahead. We also saw a tree frog!

At one point we took a break at a view point where a man was selling ice cream. Suddenly a woman comes running through and ANA was with her! We all cheered and we met this wild Colombian woman with so much energy and warmth. As Javier said, “she’s so Colombian,” referring to to her high energy and welcoming personality. Ana told us that her friend hurt her ankle badly in the first 10 minutes of the hike and had leave! She wore her huge hiking bag and the weight probably did it :(. This woman Ana was running with was with her whole family who soon followed behind. Her family was so nice and we ended up hiking with them! One of her daughter’s was practicing English so me and her chatted for a little!

A little bit later we were at the Arricefes beach, first beach of Tayrona. We passed by a lake with a sign that said BEWARE ALLIGATORS. And our Colombian mom told us that once or twice a year he goes swimming in the ocean and showed us a picture of him in the ocean we were about to swim in! But she also told us that he is so used to humans. (I guess that means he is friendly?!)

Well my eyes became alligator search mode and a minute later I SPOTTED AN ALLIGATOR. I wasn’t sure at first, Ana didn’t believe me. But we ran and ran and got closer and YES IT WAS! So we do what any intelligent person does and ran as close as we could. He was huge! Sadly he wasn’t too close but it was still so exciting.

After our successful alligator watching we hiked to the second beach, La Pisina, which literally translates to ‘The Pool’ because the waves are so calm. Almost every other beach (like Palomino and my current hostel) the waves are too rough to swim, but here you can! So we swam for a while and I got super sun burnt due to geniusly only putting sun block on my face and shoulders, I thought the hike was all in a forest? Didn’t realize I was going to a BEACH. 🤦 I put on some of Javier’s 90 SPF but it was probably too late.

After La Pisina we hiked another half hour to the final destination, Cabo San Juan. Wow, the pictures don’t do this place justice. It was more beautiful than the pictures! It’s one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen in my life.

Ana had to go, and hopefully we will meet up in ECUADOR! She will be there kinda when I am.

Javier and I stayed a while longer swimming and exploring and he decided to stay in one of the hammocks! I’m so jealous, if I had brought stuff with me I would have done the same, but oh well. At this point I was so tired. The beach drains me so much. I was interested in taking a horse back because I love horses, and my exhaustion made it happen. Javier and I said goodbye 😭and I hope we see each other again!!! But I know we’ll keep in touch :).

The horse ride back was…okay. I just ended up feeling bad for my horse. He was a good horse, similar to me, would get easily distracted, usually by food, and just start chomping away at a random bush but then the guy would WHIP HIM AND YELL. He eventually stopped whipping him, I think it was due to me getting upset and going “oh!…no!…he’s okay!..ow!…it’s okay!” And it was getting dark towards the end and bats came out! Saw so many flying around eating up all the buggies. Oh also the horse had to hike through so much mud and some parts were super steep inclines and declines on BOULDERS. Like is this okay? Are these horses loved? Do they get proper hugging and apples?!

Finally, much thigh pain later. We made it. And I get on the van, and THE PANAMA CREW was on the van! What are the odds!? They took the longer path into the forest and saw some natives to the forest! Said it was amazing! AND THEY SAW MONKEYS!!! I’m jealous but also so happy I didn’t do that hike, it was so hot 🥵.

We all traveled back to our hostel together and of course, can you guess Obiwan what happened as we walked our pitch black driveway? It started super raining, maybe not full blown monsoon? But, a heavy shower. We got back safely. I showered and felt like a new person. Ate dinner with the Panama crew, booked my hostel and plane ticket to Medellin for tomorrow and went to bed!

Goodnight my Jedi,

Love,

Carly

Wednesday, October 17th

Last day at Daydreamer Palomino and headed to Merecumbe Tayrona Hostel and Beach Club at night

Dear Obiwan,

OBI. You know how I hate spiders? Almost irrationally?! And one of the many reasons I love you is how you murder all the spiders when we’re together.

Well, today I had a nightmare come to reality.

So today was my last day in Palomino. The big tourist attraction here is to go tubing down the river. You’re supposed to get a lot of beer and a big group and float down a river. Honestly, this did not appeal to me. But Magella and Drew and Dutch guy they met were going so last minute I thought, “why not?”

On the way there I had my first female motor bike driver and it was so kick ass. She was the boss and started behind the 3 other motor bikes and quickly passed all of them.

At the end of the bike ride you have to HIKE with your ginmormous tubes up a steep climb and yet again, I took the advice of someone who did it and said “oh it’s a an easy climb, you can do it in flip flops!” And what I am learning is don’t believe anyone ever, everyone underestimates!!!

Welp, I wore my only flip flops, which are shower shoes, so that had a bunch of medium sized holes for water to easily fall through. It’s great for when you’re in the shower, but awful for hiking in the wet kinda jungle. I kept slipping, and quickly was way behind everyone else. I also couldn’t even see my feet due to the tube. It was very frustrating. Eventually the boss lady, who was shorter than me took my tube, so now she was carrying BOTH her tube and mine, I still don’t understand how she did this. This made it so much easier, now I wasn’t super off balanced and could see my feet!

Finally we reach the river, the boys immediately said they’d rather be alone then be tied together (typical) and Magella and I we’re so down to be tired together! Just to say, it seemed very ‘typical man’ to choose to be alone but I know if it were my guy friends from home or even some of the great guys I met on this trip they would be down to be tied together! Sorry, I didn’t want to just generalize about all men.

Any who. May I just say how much I love Magella. She is one of those incredibly warm people that make you feel at home and like you’re with an old friend. She also likes to be silly and is witty and we both just have such a great time together!

So we rode the river and also we were WINNERS because the woman who was with us tied her tube to us! And she just kick and steered and we legit just laid back and relaxed and got to appreciate all that was around us. (The boys had to paddle and kick and fight for themselves when they got stuck in the sides).

Obi the river was beautiful! The three of us had so much fun together, I didn’t get any photos due to me knowing I would drop my phone forever in the river.

So due to it being the rainy season, the current was stronger than usual and there were also some random whirpools that you could potentially get caught in! We almost got caught in an whirlpool but she paddled us out. Someone actually told me one of their friends almost was pulled underwater by one of these whirlpools last week!

A few times we hit the sides of the river, it was never hard or painful, you would just get some tree branches or bushes brushing against you…

Well Obiwan, one of the times I was the one closest to the side when we realllly got into some branches. The branches were green and soft but it was at least a solid 7 seconds (count slowly, that’s long) under them. I made it out, all was well.

Until…I looked down thinking I felt a branch tickling my thighs. And it was A BUNCH OF BRIGHT BLUE AND GREEN HUGE SPIDERS RUNNING ALL OVER ME and onto the tube or drowning in the water!!! I screamed and just flailed around like a lunatic. I didn’t wanna fall into the water and somehow I didn’t! But Jesus Obi, it was TERRIFYING. also my scream was really high pitched? Why did that happen? Ha, I’m laughing at myself and getting the feeling of spiders all over me right now as I write you!

But, I survived the spider attack. Sadly the spiders all drowned. After this I said my goodbyes and headed to Merecumbe Tayrona Hostel and Beach Club. I just found it on Hostel World. It looked like a private resort but with hostel prices!

Took a motor bike there and it was a beautiful and fun ride. Then I took a shower in this HUGE beautiful shower that had a monsoon shower head and was attached to the dorm but was outside so you look up at the stars as you shower! I then went to bed around 830 due to extreme exhaustion.

Look at the view from the motorbike!:

Till tomorrow Obiwan, please kill some more spiders than usual for me!

Love your Mama cat,

Carly

Tuesday, October 16th

Moved to The Dreamer hostel

Dear Obiwan,

Today made up for last night. Today was a relaxing beach and pool day with a fun night to end it!

I left Prima Luna hostel after breakfast and headed to The Dreamer hostel! It was the same woman who had to turn me away last night. She was so happy to see me! Her name is Jenny and my middle name (Jennifer) for some reason came up as my last name so she was even more excited to meet me since we had the second name!

This hostel was very pretty! Beautiful pool and it was right on the beach! Which also meant super sandy everywhere.

After getting situated I went to the beach. The water was crazy rough and full of brown stuff due to the storms bringing stuff to the shore. The first thing I saw was a woman almost getting knocked over and her top flying down! She had her whole family with her and everyone just laughed so hard at her, it was hilarious. I eventually headed back inside because I was very hot and needed to dunk in some water.

Before getting in the pool I went to the bar for some water, Jenny was there with an American guy. They were having a competition of who did the best pouring of a beer into a plastic cup. I arrived at the perfect moment for both of them to ask me who was better. Jenny’s had a lot more foam (or more ‘head’ right? That’s the term?) So I immediately said the guy, but then Jenny looked and me and said, “Carlyyyyyy my sister with the same name come on look again!” I quickly changed my answer because she was right, we have to have each other’s backs! So I changed it and said she did. Then the guy jokingly lost it and introduced himself, his name was Cesar.

Moments later in the pool I’m swimming around and see Cesar at the end of the pool with another guy moving to some music from a portable speaker. I swam over and met Troy, at this point I thought they were surely messing with me, Cesar and Troy?! What is this some 60’s sitcom?! But no, it’s for real. They’re from NYC and grew up across the street from each other. They we’re hilarious and warm and so much fun.

I then heard my name and there was Ana(from Prima Luna hostel last night)!!! She came! She was sitting with a large group of Israelies! We all chatted and they we’re friendly and pretty hilarious.

Later during the day Magella found me, she came too! And so did Drew! Casas Viejas reunion!

The night ended up with a few more people joining us, a guy from Holland that Magella and Drew met and a few others. It was a great and chill night. We got a beer pong game going with Troy and Cesar and Magella and myself. We lost quite badly but the balls were these large styrofoam balls so it’s the balls fault for sure!

Here are a few pictures from today and tonight…including a video of Troy being pulled away to dance with this woman who was very into him, she took him to dance while he was still eating his french fries! But she wouldn’t take no for an answer😆:

Well off to bed, love you lamb chops,
Carly

Monday, October 15th

Day 4, last day, at Casas Viejas

Dear Obiwan,
Today was a mixed emotions day. It was my last day at Casas Viejas and I truly felt sad to go. It’s been such a safe haven and place full of incredible people that I hope to see one day again.

The day started off relaxing with some breakfast and hanging out with Marcela. I missed yoga by accident by sleeping past 7:30 (when it stated) Claus was kind enough to show me some moves and techniques for me to practice on my own!

I tried to do some yoga on my own and I was half successful but got very distracted by the thoughts in my head. I found it kind of interesting that when I tried to be mindful and focus on just my breath and body my mind moved to some challenging thoughts. I definitely want to keep practicing.

I then had to say my goodbyes and left for Minca to connect to my next place.

Here are the last photos of Casas Viejas, look how gorgeous it is Obi!:

😭Adios Casas Viejas! ¡Hasta la Vista!

I took a motorbike down from Casas Viejas to Minca. I love motorbikes so much Obi! It was so bumpy and wild it’s a rollercoaster ride almost every time!

I then got a bus to Palomino beach, a beach and river town that’s supposed to be beautiful, fun, and chill. Omer said I had to go to ‘The Dreamer’ hostel in Palomino. So I booked it! (Or so I thought 😖…)

The bus had no AC and at first it was only me and a few others, at first I thought it wasn’t that bad! Welp, more and more people got on until every seat was full and the aile was full as well. And someone told me it was “an hour” which turned into about 2.5 hours! It wouldn’t have been that bad if it didn’t start monsoon raining outside. This resulted in everyone closing their windows 🥵. So now Obi, it was about 90 billion degrees. And we had to drive real slow because of the condition of the roads!

Then it gets worse Obi!

The bus drops us off on the road where some people were using computers inside this little shack…? Half of the people from the bus dispersed and the rest, even people from Colombia were left standing there scratching our heads. It’s super dark and raining. I’m so tired and missing Casas Viejas more than anything. I ask the Colombian group of friends and they didn’t know what to do. I then asked an American who spoke Spanish and she also didn’t know what to do. So then I began to look around. I was very confused why motorbikes weren’t swarming us like usual! I then saw people getting picked up by the bus stop across the street by motorbikes! Ah, ha! I told the American woman and we headed over. She got the first bike and I got the second motorbike.

My hostel ended up being a 7 minute bike ride up the road right in front of me, but in the rain it was horrible and the road was so muddy it probably would have taken at least 25 minutes to walk it.

Well, Obi, I would have rather walked in the mud for an HOUR. This bike driver was awful. He asked me if I was married and I said no, then realized quickly I need to always say yes. He then kept trying to look at me, while driving in the pouring rain through a ton of mud and a thousand pot holes. He then proceeded to hit on me and by saying “I love you” in English! I then yelled at him and said in Spanish “you love me? You don’t even know me! I have a boyfriend he lives in Santa Marta and will be here in the morning and my friend is waiting for me at the hostel, now go!”
He made me so uncomfortable but I made it Obi, all is well.

But I now know, from now on I will say I have a boyfriend waiting for me who is very big and strong and Colombian! (This driver said I need a Colombian boyfriend when I told him I had a boyfriend in Santa Marta 🙄).

I then walked up the path to the hostel and it was all mud up to my ankles.

Finally I reach ‘The Dreamer’ hostel. I was so relieved Obi, I wanted to hug the person at reception…but this all quickly faded.

Because, I booked the wrong hostel Obi! I booked The Dreamer hostel IN SANTA MARTA. I asked if she had anything, she said NO. I told her that I’d sleep on the couch right behind her at the bar. But she had already called a hostel 2 minutes up the road and they had vacancy. She gave me directions…that I somehow messed up. I went left out of the driveway and then the road went from having a few dry patches to a complete flood, so I just went through it, the muddy water was almost at my knees!!!

I ask someone if I was going the wrong way, and of course, I was, then I turned around and went right back through the massive mud puddle.

FINALLY. I reach Prima Luna hostel. It looked super cute downstairs. The storm was so bad they couldn’t even use the credit card machine but they of course still let me stay.

I then showered and met a nice British woman who as also traveling on her own that shared the same room as me.

I also met Ana at this hostel! She is this super friendly and funny woman from Spain! She lives in Madrid. At this point I had booked ‘The Dreamer’ hostel for tomorrow because someone told me it’s better than Prima Luna. I told this to Ana and she said she might do the same!

I had a top bunk which always means I might die cause I’m so clumsy I almost fall a lot…but it was fine. The room was impressively hot but the dinner wasn’t too bad! I went to bed early and fell asleep so quickly.

Love you lamb,
Carly

Day 13: Sunday, October 14th

3rd night at- Casas Viejas, Minca, Colombia

Dear Obiwan,

I slept so well Obi! I actually had to de-sock! After a lovely breakfast I sat at the beautifully made wooden tables and wrote and drank some La Victoria coffee.

Oh, I made a cat friend…don’t be jealous, we would NEVER replace you!:

After this a group of is went on a waterfall hike! It was led by one of the hammer nail game guys! He’s so nice and funny, only speaks Spanish but we would always end up somehow understanding each other.

The hike was called Caminata hike it was 20 pesos (little less than 7 bucks). “Waterfalls and rivers of the Sierra” which included watefalls that only people who know the land and the neighbors can go, so they were private waterfalls! It was 3 couples from the large group of friends from Colombia and Omer, Robert, Penny, and me. AND three doggies from the hostel! One is terrified of people and doesn’t let you touch him, one is pretty friendly and tough, then the third is my favorite! Pictures to follow soon!

He’s SO SWEET. And after bonding the first day he will random sit with me at the hostel.

The hike was amazing! And not too difficult 👍😁.

One waterfall was you just dunk under, look at the picture!:

Here’s me and Omer! (from Israel):

There Andreas from our hostel was chilling! He told us that during to the rain the waterfall was much bigger and more beautiful than normal.

Here’s some more pics:

We then hiked some more to next waterfall, where we were told by others at the hostel that it’s FREEZING but as Claus said “you’re there, you have to!”

(Dog update, scared-y dog was following us at a distance in the trees, bigger doggy came with us to the next waterfall, my favorite girl didn’t join us 😣)

Welp, Obi, here I had some challenges and a moment of drowning and utter panic.

First-OBI it was so cold! But once you dunk your head it isn’t as cold. But wow, the current was so strong! And our tour guide and a few of the Colombians we’re sliding down this natural slide and we wanted to try so I asked our tour guide if I could to. He asked ‘can you swim?’ I said yes, nervously, then he gestured for me to follow him under the water fall. I follow and there’s a huge current that almost pulls me under water! But he catches me then he keeps going, I follow, with waterfall water pounding on our heads, then you make it out to the other side which is calmer. After that you climb up some slippery ass rocks then he told me very seriously, in Spanish how, to slide down. And then he just goes. I nodded like I understood him and I follow but right before I get in the water someone yelled at me in Spanish telling me to stop. Then he explains more explicitly, in Spanish but with gestures, that I need to use my left leg as an anchor, by folding it, to make sure I’m facing the right way, then just slide! He showed me what to do and went first. Finally I go and you fly off this slippery rock and there’s a few feet that you’re airborne then you drop! But the current then THROWS YOU FORWARD and I fly forward and slammed into the guy who just showed me what to do and right when I reached him the current dragged me under water! I start to swallow water for a second and then boom he pulls me out and puts my hand on something to hold on to…in other words Obiwan this man probably saved my life!

Above is Mr. Serious doggy, he came with us across this rough water!(well our guide carried him)

Below is my girl staying behind!:

And then…Obi you know how much I HATE SPIDERS. Well, all around the hostel are these HUGE green and pretty spider in webs. Welp we passed one and our tour guide rips it out of it’s web and hands it to us, me and Penny lost our minds but Penny was worse than me! She just walked away!

Two people calmly held the spider! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, isn’t every part of your body and brain yelling “AH LARGE SPIDER RUN RUN DON’T TOUCH IT MIGHT KILL ME!”?!

Well, here are photos and a video 😫:

Aaaah honestly just shuddered and died a little even posting those pics of the monster spider 😭.

After that adventure we dried off and my favorite doggy from the hostel was waiting for us! I was so happy to see her! And scared-y dog kept randomly popping her head out of the bushes then ran off.
We then ended up at La Victoria! I had the same delicious sandwich and we all had coffee.

Oh here is Omer loving this coffee cake so much and asking for a photo so he can show his mom “better” coffee cake then she makes! 🤦

Welp, guess what was next. That damn hill. Rupert, Penny, and I thought it would be easier the second time around but NOPE we were wrong. I think it was because it was hotter and sunnier?

But we eventually made it back. I showered in the HOT SHOWERS and met up with some amazing people.

I met Marcella today from Colombia, she lives in Barranquilla, a beach town near Santa Marta. She’s incredible. She’s one of those people that are incredibly warm and it’s actually real.

Dinner tonight was BBQ ribs and it was delicious!

I also met this hilarious and friendly woman from the UK or Netherlands and we had wine. Then Magella, Marcela, and Drew joined and we stayed up by the fire having wine and talking and laughing for the evening.

What a wonderful day Obi!

Love you,
Your Mama, Carly

Oh, and some final photos including a huge praying mantis!:

Saturday, October 13th

2nd night at- Casas Viejas, Minca, Colombia

Dear Obiwan,

Today was my first full day at Casas Viejas. The breakfast was amazing! Then I didn’t know I was supposed to sign up for Yoga and showed up. Clauss from Germany was the yoga teacher and he said he would let me join him! I told Denise and we both did yoga with Clauss, he asked which kind we wanted to do and we both said the ‘more relaxing’ option which was ‘Yin’ yoga.

And it was so great. I was following his words on letting go, focusing on the ‘now’ and letting go of anger. It helped me resolve some things in my head and also gain some clarity.

Denise then had to go 😭

Bye Denise! Hope our paths cross again soon!

After yoga I headed to the coffee farm right below Casas Viejas, La Victoria. I went with Rupert and Penny from England, who so fun and awesome to be with. On the way there, it was a crazy steep route down. Andreas at the front desk told us ‘15-20’ minutes, and Obi, what did I tell you? 15-20 minutes actually meant 40!

Well we eventually arrive at La Victoria and one of our hostel workers works here! He gave us a tour and it was so fascinating. I had no idea how complex making coffee was! In my head I thought coffee beans grew on bushes or something. But the many plants we passed with green and red colored berries were coffee! Rupert called it when we were hiking down! But on the tour we were told that during coffee picking season (starts in a week) the coffee pickers get paid by the amount of berries they pick. So what ends up happening is that many unripe berries (the green) get picked, so one of the many machines (oh all machines were from 120 years ago and from England and the US!) sorts the ripe and unripe berries.

Here are photos from the tour:

Also our tour guide showed us how there are three different kinds of beans, and the best are EXPORTED out then…I forget what happens to the second and third but either the second or third is what Colombia uses! So the coffee you causally drink actually is NOT the best, you have to be on a coffee farm for the best! So Casas Viejas gets La Victoria premium coffee 💙.

After the tour we had sandwiches and coffee and it all was so delicious.

Then, my gosh Obi, the three of us had to hike back up. It was grueling. SO fricken steep Obi. We had to take breaks. And it was muddy and slippery at times due to all the rain. As we we’re hiking we saw one of the guys from our hostel making some steps which made that part so much safer and less slippery.

Later during the day I met these amazing sisters from…Holland I think. We we’re hanging out and watching the employees of Casas Viejas, the ones from Minca, play this game.

Okay ready Obi? Here are the rules. There are two tree stumps/logs put on top of each other, then there are nails lightly nailed into the log- each nail for each player. Then they pass around a hammer and you each get one slam per turn. And the LAST person to get his or her nail in has to buy EVERYONE playing a beer!

The Dutch sisters and I asked to play and they were very welcoming. You know how competitive I am Obi…and man, did I suck 😫. I ended up spending 40,000 pesos on beer for everyone! (40,000 / 3,000= 13 USD) but it was 10 beers.

Oh also, the guy who was making the path on the steep hill was playing! And he was so nice. One of the best parts of the game is that you can sacrifice your turn to help someone else. So throughout the game the guys would look like they were about to hit their nail and then would hit one of ours! It helped us play longer and the three of us ladies would do that too and help them sometimes, the game is half cut throat and half really thoughtful!

Here are some photos from the game!:

After this there was happy hour all night due to there being more Colombians than foreigners at the hostel tonight. Monday is a holiday so many Colombians are vacationing this weekend.

I ended up going to bed early and I got an extra blanket and slept so much better than last night.

Alright my dear Jedi, sweet dreams, hope you are catching all the mice!

Love,
Carly