Feb 15

Armenia, Colombia

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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Getting off the bus in Armenia, and walking through the station looking for a small restaurant to get something to eat we came upon a side of Colombia we never knew existed. Sitting in a restaurant which serves local food at low prices, on the board were posters of people who are missing from around the area. We could have caught the next bus out of town, but chose to stick around and see more of this coffee region.

Like Manizales, this department head offers few sights, most of it’s early architecture have been wiped out by earthquakes. Our lodging were on a farm, just outside town at Finca Diamante . After trying to arrange a tour of the Coffee Park and Farm, which turned out to be closed on the days we were visiting, we decided to just relax and enjoy the country life.

Finca Diamante is a working horse farm, with a small coffee field, along with many different fruits and vegetables. They also give riding instructions to all ages of students.

When we walked in to town we were surprised to see so many Jeeps, Land Rovers, and Willy’s the only vehicle that can stand up to the terrain around here, and serve as public transport.

Feb 08

Manizales

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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We left Medellin early to make our way by bus to the next town on our tour of Colombia. There are quite a few different bus lines, as you enter the station people are steering you toward their company. We chose one and after a short wait we boarded and were making our way to Manizales. The ride can only be described as exciting, part fast travel, part white knuckle racing. The drivers mission is to pass every vehicle he comes upon, No passing zones or blind mountain curves makes a difference.

Manizales is a city in the mountainous coffee growing region of Western Colombia. Its know for its cultural events, steep streets, and views of the nerarby, Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Central Bolivar Square has a man- condor sculpture honouring revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar The city’s neo Gothic cathedral Basilica of, Our Lady of the Rosary has a roof top view.point. The neo-colonial governs palace is nearby.

During this whole trip, Muriel as our agent has been picking lodgings from the internet and again she picked a fantastic place. Owned by a fellow Canadian, the, “ Mirador Finca Morrogacho “ turned out to be a highlight.

Just a cheap taxi ride outside the town are the termales ( hot springs), so after a morning hike down to a waterfall on the farm property we decided to soothe our sore muscles.

Check out the video of our waterfall hike

https://youtu.be/E2RUeUi-MSg

. .

Feb 07

Guatape, Colombia

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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Medellin, has 2 bus terminals, one on the north side of the city, if you are travelling north, one on the south. This way, the buses avoid getting bogged down in the inner city congestion. We took a fast trip by metro then hopped a bus to go north-east to El Penol, a oddity on the landscape, an hour from town.

This piece of rock is a small mountain on top of a mountain, and attracts many visitors who come to climb to the top.

When you get to the site, just off the highway, you take a rugged stair way to the base . We could have taken a small cart but chose to walk. By the time we got there we were warmed up and ready for the challenge to make it to the top.

It took us approximately 45 minutes to reach the summit, meeting other climbers of all ages, we were glad to see the last step. After having a celebratory beer, …..hey we’re Canadian, we then had to walk down. This was harder on the knees and legs, our tired muscles aching all the way to the bottom.

We then went into town to catch the bus back to Medellin, spending some time watching people zip-lining across the mountain lake. A great side trip and well spent time exploring the country side.

Jan 30

Medellin

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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The “City of Eternal Springs” has its own unique character and has made a big turnaround since its notorious days as the center of Colombia’s drug trade.

With Pablo Escobar and company now a part of Medellin’s history, the streets are safe again, you can find easy access to most parts of the city. Although drugs are no longer the dominant economy of trade, the city has managed to build up other commercial and industrial interests (mainly textiles and cut flowers) , and even has a fantastic subway.

The town was founded in 1675 and in its early days consisted of individual haciendas that later became the basis for the many beautiful suburbs that surround the city center.. Neighborhoods are infused with winding streets and much greenery. The entire city is surrounded by lush mountains that harbor quaint pueblos and weekend getaways.

We stayed in the section of town known as Poblado, and each day we travelled by the metro in to the heart of the city. This vibrant city has many attractions which we tried to squeeze in during our short time here. The tourist information told us we would need at least a week. We spent the days visiting the museum, cable cars and parks., truly enjoyed this modern city.

World famous artist, Fernando Botero’s painting of Pablo Escobar.

Jan 27

Cartagena

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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A fairytale city of romance, legends and sheer beauty, Cartagena de Indias is an addictive place that can be hard to escape. Routine sightseeing tours won’t do it justice so you have to throw away the checklist of museums and instead just stroll through Cartagena’s maze of cobbled alleys, where enormous balconies are shrouded in Bougainvillea and massive churches cast their shadow across leafy plazas.

Founded in 1533, Cartagena swiftly blossomed into the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast and the gateway to the north of the continent. Treasure plundered from the indigenous people was stored her until the galleons were able to ship it back to Spain. As such it became a tempting target for pirates and, in the 16th century alone it suffered 5 dreadful sieges, the best know of which was let by Sir Francis Drake in 1586.

In response to pirate attacks the Spaniards decided to make Cartagena impregnable port and constructed elaborate walls encircling the town, and a chain of forts these fortifications helped save Cartagena from subsequent attacks.

After a 4 hour bus trip we arrived in this beautiful city to start our inland travel. We will be staying in hostels, farms and inexpensive hotels as we travel around. Next we will do a 14 hour overnight trip to Medellin.

Jan 09

Settling into to Colombian Lifestyle

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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View of the Marina, from the balcony

Leading up to the holidays, the winds increased as they usually do in this part of the world, so there wasn’t even white clouds in the sky. It was going to be a green Christmas.

Every place we visited, we have met very interesting people who we have became good friends with. Our first evening here we met Danny, a man who is visiting his son Stewart and his family. Many nights we meet him on the patio to watch the sunset, and play dominoes, always an exciting time of the day. Stewart, has welcomed us into his home, and at least twice a week we get together for what has become to be known as Curry Night on Thursdays and roast beef night on Sundays. We enjoy his company and his cooking. You never know who will drop in. Some times the table is full but Stewart always makes room for more. He’s a good man even though he talks funny…..LOL. My contribution to the roast beef nights, are usually Carrot cake. They seem to love it, so maybe we will keep getting invited. Natalie; is Stewarts and Yuris’ daughter, she is very interested in baking, so I have shared my recipe with her so she can continue to bake her favourite cake when I leave. She is a natural.

Dominoes on the marina patio

The view from their terrace has a 360o view of the city below. A relaxing place to spend time on land.

Looking east over the Sierra Nevadas

Ineke and Mike, aboard svConari, are three year members of the Stewarts curry club. They sailed in three years ago and have never left. Its home for them for six months away from England’s’ cold winter. They are a wealth of information, on where to get products or services in Santa Marta. They know, and have traveled most of Colombia. Every boat that comes in, is sent to them. They provide a great service. The marina should be paying them. Great people with amazing stories of their travels, all over the world.

New Years Eve we decided to go out for dinner and maybe some dancing. Here in Santa Marta the community spend the evening at home with their families. A large group from the marina went out. Most of the restaurants were closed and the others had waiting lists. We finally got seated. The restaurant had to borrow tables and chairs from a closed restaurant to accommodate us. After a few drinks we ordered dinner, the power in the area went out, no dinner for us. We walked around town till almost midnight before we found a burger place on the pier that could serve us. Happy New year was over a burger, a very good one at that. We all headed back to our boats. We learned later…….. the parties don’t start till 1am.

We have made so many friends, and I’m sure we will make many more it will be hard to sail on.

Jan 04

Minca, In the Sierra Nevadas

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Tutty Lee

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The days on the Caribbean coast have been sweltering with very little wind, so the time was right to visit the mountains which surround the northern coast. We met our driver at the office, and after paying the equivalent of about $4, we were assigned a jeep carrying 8 passengers, we set off for the high country.

Minca, a small town nestled into the side of the mountain, lying approximately 14 miles away from the big city, takes about 35 minutes to reach. The area has many things to do with nature all around. Motorcycles, known as Moto T’s are waiting to take you to whatever adventure you choose. Swimming in the cool streams, hiking to the waterfall, or bird watching are the main activities. There is also a coffee plantation or a brewery offering tours, we chose to walk to Marinka waterfalls, a 1 hour hike through the rainforest.

Nov 03

Getting to know Santa Marta

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Tutty Lee

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Santa Marta was the 1st Spanish settlement in the Americas, thus making it the oldest city on the continent. Tucked below the worlds highest mountains, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with snowy peaks, Pico Simon Bolivar (18700 ft.) and Pico Cristobal Colon, 26 miles from the sea shore combined with the Caribbean sea at it’s feet this place is very unique of its kind. These mountains are home to indigenous peoples such as the Arhuacos, Koguis, Wiwas, and the Kankuamos. The energetic city with its productive harbour, colonial architecture, fun night life, interesting history, and too many things to do, will result in a longer stay than planned.

The only risk here, is…………..We might never want to leave.

Oct 21

Santa Marta, Colombia

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Tutty Lee

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First off, let me say that the internet, or more the lack of internet has not been good to us lately.

We had planned to leave Aruba on the Saturday, October 15th, but the wind changed and was gusting 25 knots, a little too high for our first passage of the season. The Colombian coast is considered one of the worst passages in the world for sailors. It was forecasted to lessen, so we waited til Sunday. Everything depends on the wind and the direction which it’s coming from, so it seemed that we were checking the forecast every hour. We also had the help, that it was a full moon making it easier to see.

After completing some last minute chores, we moved over to the town dock to deal with the officials. When the paperwork was finished we were given 1 hour to leave, we were ready and just wanted to get underway. Off we set, the last islands of Venezuela 57 miles to the west, which we needed to go around, in the dark. As we closed in on the coast of Colombia we were give lightning show, with bolts streaking across the sky. 10 miles out, we stayed perfectly dry.

(Taken from Video)

Except for some countercurrent and wind off the headlands we had a nice sail all the way til the last island coming into Santa Marta Bay. There we met waves coming directly at us with high winds. Our speed slowed down to less than 2 knots, making little headway, we only hoped that we could make it in before dark.

The process of checking onto Colombia ended up being a 2 day affair, with us being confined to the marina property. The cruisers here had scheduled a BBQ, but the rain changed the plans. We did attend, sitting with new friend under a small shelter.

This morning we given the green light to go to town, mostly to stock up on food so off we went with map in hand to find the the stores.

We treated ourselves to a breakfast at a Panaderia (Bakery), 2 empanadas, Potato roll, a piece of something like a pizza, 2 Macaroons, washed down with beer………total price, less than $10 Canadian. Very easy on the monthly expenses to stay here. In the upcoming weeks we plan on doing more exploring, it seems to be a beautiful country.

This will be our home for the next 4 to 6 months while we explore the interior of the country.

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S/V Mistress

Welcome to our Sailing Blog

Category Archives: South America

Armenia, Colombia

Manizales

Guatape, Colombia

Medellin

Cartagena

Settling into to Colombian Lifestyle

Minca, In the Sierra Nevadas

Getting to know Santa Marta

Santa Marta, Colombia