Post by WildlyTravelled on Oct 27, 2009 1:38:34 GMT 2
I've been going through my email and came across a couple of emails I sent to friends on my Colombia 2007 trip, so posting here:
Hi everyone
I think it’s nearly March now and I thought I’d say hi! It’s been six weeks since my party and I hope you had fun
I’m in small mountain town called Guican. Unexpectedly they have internet here. One store which is sometimes open (can’t tell when). Sometimes it’s open and there’s no electricity. I’ve managed to catch it open and with electricity.
Yesterday I tried walking up a mountain. I nearly made it but then I started seeing things from the lack of oxygen so I had to come back down.
blah blah
Then the next one:
Hi everyone
I’m two months into my trip in Colombia and it really has been an eye opener, in many different ways.
I’m staying in a fishing village called Taganga on the Caribbean Coast, where I spend most of my time drinking freshly made tropical fruit juices and swimming. I just came back from a few days in Tayrona National Park, where you walk through jungle from beach to beach. A rat ate some of my biscuits but the funny thing was that the rat also opened my water bag and drank my water . I have to go to the soccer this Saturday to take photos of my friend’s soccer team. He doesn’t have any shoes to wear at the game and he´s the captain.
I was going to learn how to scuba dive here but my instructor got sick. I went for one lesson and wasn’t too sure if I liked it.... all that depending on the equipment to keep you breathing!!
I spent some time in a small mountain town called Guican and higher up in the mountains – where there is no internet or phone lines. Even higher up are numerous glaciers in a national park called El Cocuy. The park is closed because the glaciers are getting smaller and smaller every year and they think people walking on snow is making it worse. The army is controlling who goes into the park, so I thought I would have to spend my time evading them. Instead, they gave me food and hot drinks (its cold in them thar hills!!) and some of their rations for day trips.
I went to a glacier 5300m asl. Wasn’t much oxygen around. I’ve been on horses a few times. I’m scared of riding on horses but it’s good to do things you’re scared of.
The glaciers here feed thousands of people and livestock. They are disappearing and will be gone soon. It’s really because of climate change that they are disappearing and when they are gone, so will most of the water here. I met an older woman on one of my walks and she told me that when the glaciers are gone, it will be the end of the world. In a way, I can see what she means. I think the only way we’ll stop global warming will be through changing our expectations of what and how the earth supplies us with our lives.
The scenery is gorgeous here. I’ve had some really nice walks though sometimes when I’m contentedly strolling through the meadows lost in thought a sheep will bleep at me and bring me out of my reverie with a fright. The horses are a bit disconcerting. They move their heads in unison looking at you as you walk by.
Before I came here I was in a warm place called San Gil with lots of water. I rafted a few times, something else I wasn’t too sure about doing. I managed to fall in within the first 10 minutes of the second trip and wanted to leave the raft but would have had trouble climbing up the canyon. The water is very low and the manoeuvres to get through the rapids are difficult. Another group in front of us walked one of the rapids. We rafted it and the boat tipped over. Our guide is the best on the river and that was the first time a raft had tipped over. Sacre bleau! So I was scared the rest of time but I’m glad I did it
I’ve made some really nice friends here, Colombians and travelers.
I hope you are all going well and enjoying Autumn in Melbourne .
Love
Hi everyone
I think it’s nearly March now and I thought I’d say hi! It’s been six weeks since my party and I hope you had fun
I’m in small mountain town called Guican. Unexpectedly they have internet here. One store which is sometimes open (can’t tell when). Sometimes it’s open and there’s no electricity. I’ve managed to catch it open and with electricity.
Yesterday I tried walking up a mountain. I nearly made it but then I started seeing things from the lack of oxygen so I had to come back down.
blah blah
Then the next one:
Hi everyone
I’m two months into my trip in Colombia and it really has been an eye opener, in many different ways.
I’m staying in a fishing village called Taganga on the Caribbean Coast, where I spend most of my time drinking freshly made tropical fruit juices and swimming. I just came back from a few days in Tayrona National Park, where you walk through jungle from beach to beach. A rat ate some of my biscuits but the funny thing was that the rat also opened my water bag and drank my water . I have to go to the soccer this Saturday to take photos of my friend’s soccer team. He doesn’t have any shoes to wear at the game and he´s the captain.
I was going to learn how to scuba dive here but my instructor got sick. I went for one lesson and wasn’t too sure if I liked it.... all that depending on the equipment to keep you breathing!!
I spent some time in a small mountain town called Guican and higher up in the mountains – where there is no internet or phone lines. Even higher up are numerous glaciers in a national park called El Cocuy. The park is closed because the glaciers are getting smaller and smaller every year and they think people walking on snow is making it worse. The army is controlling who goes into the park, so I thought I would have to spend my time evading them. Instead, they gave me food and hot drinks (its cold in them thar hills!!) and some of their rations for day trips.
I went to a glacier 5300m asl. Wasn’t much oxygen around. I’ve been on horses a few times. I’m scared of riding on horses but it’s good to do things you’re scared of.
The glaciers here feed thousands of people and livestock. They are disappearing and will be gone soon. It’s really because of climate change that they are disappearing and when they are gone, so will most of the water here. I met an older woman on one of my walks and she told me that when the glaciers are gone, it will be the end of the world. In a way, I can see what she means. I think the only way we’ll stop global warming will be through changing our expectations of what and how the earth supplies us with our lives.
The scenery is gorgeous here. I’ve had some really nice walks though sometimes when I’m contentedly strolling through the meadows lost in thought a sheep will bleep at me and bring me out of my reverie with a fright. The horses are a bit disconcerting. They move their heads in unison looking at you as you walk by.
Before I came here I was in a warm place called San Gil with lots of water. I rafted a few times, something else I wasn’t too sure about doing. I managed to fall in within the first 10 minutes of the second trip and wanted to leave the raft but would have had trouble climbing up the canyon. The water is very low and the manoeuvres to get through the rapids are difficult. Another group in front of us walked one of the rapids. We rafted it and the boat tipped over. Our guide is the best on the river and that was the first time a raft had tipped over. Sacre bleau! So I was scared the rest of time but I’m glad I did it
I’ve made some really nice friends here, Colombians and travelers.
I hope you are all going well and enjoying Autumn in Melbourne .
Love