Hasta Luego mi Amigos

Another Christmas holiday, another adventure in a far off land...
Big thanks to all our friends and family... both new and old.
To the new, We loved meeting you and sharing the road with you. Our home is your home (or at least the couch is), should you ever find yourself in Southern California.
To the old (especially our Moms), Thanks for the understanding for being away during the holiday season... we hope you enjoyed your new purses to help ease the pain. :)

As always, should you like to connect, please don't hesitate to email or call...
Heather 949 887 5693 and heatherzhere@hotmail.com
Riad 714 931 3985 and riad_bacchus@hotmail.com

Love, Peace and God Bless
Heather & Riad

the Loperas came through

Our return flight departed from Bogota, so it was back to the place where it all started.

At first glance, Bogota appears to be just another big city, but with a little help from the Loperas, we were able to discover some interesting insider tidbits.

They literally walked us through every aspect of our stay... 

*where to sleep (Zona Rosa section of the city at the elegant and refined Royal Andino)

*where to eat (La Plaze de Andres, a food stall style restaurant area, serving small plates of all types of wonderful Colombian cuisine) 

*where to play (Cyclovia, major thoroughfares/ areas of the city are closed to vehicular traffic and people run, ride, skate, walk and play in the streets... 

*what to see (several fascinating museums, churches and plazas).

The Loperas gave us an itinerary, built from a locals point a view, we executed and were not disappointed.

First stop was the Museo d'Oro (Museum of Gold)... 

Fortunately, not all the gold was plundered by those damn conquistadors.

The craftsmanship and detail was stunning... 

In addition to the gold pieces, there were some interesting pottery as well.
Love the expression on this little guy....

Next stop... Iglesia Santa Clara, a 400 year old church nestled in the center of the city.

 Hard to deny the glory of God with an altar as majestic and grand as this...

A few interesting detours in the city...

Stunning mosque, or oriental museum? Nope... carpet store... probably the most beautiful facade of a carpet store I have ever seen... but still, just a carpet store.

Look, in the sky, is it a bird? is it a plane? no, it is a SUPER churro!!!

Bogota is home to the largest collection of Botero art. For those who are unfamiliar, he is a Colombian artist who is known for his full figured subjects... painting, sculptures, men, women, children, small animals, whatever he does... they are super chunky and super interesting.

His take on the most famous painting in the world...

Man and ugly little girl...

Naked woman sitting on a box...

Last cultural stop of the day... a Colombian modern art collection at Banco de la Republica

"Jesus sacred heart in florescent lights"

"Colombia in cursive Coke script"

Ended the day with a last bite from some unidentified but ridiculously delicious fruit...

Juan Valdez still rocking it

So for about a 100 years, the Spanish staged their ships hauling back all the plundered Incan gold to the old country.
And as we all learned from the first Pirates of the Caribbean, Incan gold attracts pirates, roughians and all sorts of rogues...
During the 1500s, Cartagena was sacked by Pirates 10s of times.
Getting your stuff stolen over and over and over again, gets old, sooooooo the Spaniards build a fort, and not just any fort... the biggest fort in all of the New World. In fact, today, it still remains the largest fortification on this side of the Atlantic.

stunning view from the top of the fort looking out over the inlet and Bocagrande (Colombia's South Beach)...

We explored the entire fort, from the tunnels running through (to carry soldiers and supplies), cannons, and turrets.

With a few hours to kill before heading back to Bogota, Heather and I got lost again in the old city.
Every town needs a mini market, except this one happens to be in a 300 year old home.

We stumbled upon an exhibit of sound and art... artists listen to the sounds of the city, then illustrate what it made them feel...

For those of you who have followed the blog for a while, know that I have a deep abiding love of 3rd world mannequins... creepier the better.
Who exactly is this selling to? Two weeks in Colombia and I can promise you I saw no woman who looked remotely like this... crazy and awesomely inappropriate.

We began prepping our trip back home, and with that comes gifts for friends and family.
When you think Colombia, you think coffee... OK actually you probably think of a few other things, but come on, this is a family oriented blog.
We asked a few of our new friends...one simple question.. as a Colombian, what is YOUR favorite Colombian coffee?
We were expecting some super secret, only ever whispered in hush tones by baristas in the most exclusive coffeerias.... nope.... Juan Valdez... the dude from the commercials, with the mule.

the jewel by the sea

New Years Day saw us rise super early and catch the first bus out of our little hippie beach town to the jewel by the sea... Cartagena de Indias...
Deep in the heart of the old city, behind the walls that once protected this important way station for the Spanish Conquistadors shipping plundered Incan gold back to the crown in Madrid... Heather and I wandered aimlessly, getting lost in alleyways, fruit stalls, cevicheria, churches and the explosion of Caribbean culture.

A little cut mango (referring to the fruit not the ladies dresses, although one could understand the confusion... so fresh and so clean clean) to start the morning off...

The old city dates back to 1532, so the building are a little old school, so big bold doors, that you could literally ride a horse through...

And with big bold beautiful doors, one needs big bold beautiful door knocks???

The city architecture is very reminiscent of New Orleans, with its brightly painted houses and bougainvillea lined balconies...

The city is ART, and art can be found around every corner.
A Fernando Botero sculpture in a small square...

a beautiful woman walking past a mural... 

the Virgin and Son on a wall mosaic...

A statue celebrating the Conquistador who founded the city... Pedro de Heredia

In the late afternoon, Heather and I stumbled upon a stunning church in the heart of the city.
It was open to anyone, and we quietly walked the side altars, feeling His presence in the soft light of the dying day.

The day ended with a walk along the old walls...

Colombian Cleavers and NYC power grrls

The final day of the hike was another loooooong one... up before dawn to hump all the way back to El Mamey, then the drive back to Santa Marta.
The plan had been to try to snag a bus from Santa Marta to Cartagena and spend NYE in a relatively big city BUT the idea of a 4 hour bus ride AFTER an 8 hour hike was not appealing.

As we set off, we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise over a former coca plantation...

Not sure how or why the stars aligned on the walk back, but we were definitely treated to some pretty stunning vistas...

Stopped at the same place where we snagged watermelon coming in... this time treated to some freshly squeezed OJ... actually could have been freshly squeezed kale and it would have been equally as delicious... amazing what 8 hours on a real life stair stepper can do to the brain.

And of course, count on Ms. Nose for the Good Stuff, to find the one shack, with the one dude, in the middle of a giant rain forest, to be selling fresh coffee beans and chocolate.
The coffee bush and cocoa plants where right outside his shack door... crazy, but crazy yummy.

This 4 day hike was definitely the highlight of the trip.
It felt like we stumbled upon a little secret that the world has yet to discover.
I truly hope that the Four Seasons and the Marriotts of the world don't come barreling in, and destroy the sanctity of this wonderful slice of heaven.

As always with these types of treks, the BEST part is the wacky, quirky, interesting group of fellow adventure seekers.
And we were not disappointed... our little motley crew was made up of a family of fun loving, travel mad Colombians from Bogota.
Heather and I are pretty well traveled, but we are amateurs compared to the Loperas, Juan (el Hefe), Cristina (beautiful mama) and Isabel & Andrea.
Our guide Juan Carlos, spoke very little English, so the Loperas saved the day, translating the important stuff... "don't eat the orange mush" and the not so important stuff... "this is where the Indian chief took his sacred dumps".
The crew was rounded out with two feisty New Yorkers, Lisa and Holly... super cool, and interesting.
Lisa works for the Clinton Global Initiative and had all kinds of interesting stories and insights.
Holly was a first time hiker and crushed it... skipping along the trail.

Regardless of where we were from, what we did, who we knew... at the end of the trip, we were equal... in terms of how absolutely nasty we smelt... seriously not good.

I will let you figure out who is who

In the early evening of NYE 2015, we stumbled back to our little hostel in Tagana beach, took several hot showers, washed everything from the hike and set out to enjoy a relaxing Colombian beach party.

The atmosphere was super chill, as one would expect from a small fishing village / hippie town.
As with most South American NYE celebrations... they play ridiculously loud music, and burn stuff... super fun.

Sun setting on 2015

Cuidad Perdida

The night before the city was very unpleasant... the bunks were next to the bathrooms and starting at 3:00 am, a parade of bright, shiny, head lamp wearing, hikers, marched past ours beds to empty their tiny tiny bladders and occasional bowels... sight, sounds, smell... every sense rebelling...

Day 3 - the lost city and the start of the long trek back
From the base camp, we hiked an hour down the river to the start of 1200 ancient, stone stairs, winding and weaving it's way up up up into the misty cloudy jungle, and the final march to the lost city of Teyuna... Cuidad Perdida.

There were many interesting twists and moss covered walls, spanning the entire site.

The crown jewel is a terraced view of the mammu's (Kogi word for chief) foundation for what would have been his grand home (bigger hut than everyone else).

Seems like nothing changes... in hundreds of years, across a multitude of societies, the chiefs always get the biggest houses with the best view...

 The chief even had his own private, special bathing pool...

Leaving the city, we encountered another small Kogi settlement... not exactly enthusiastic about seeing us...

After a quick break / lunch back at camp, we began the long walk back...