Calí and Salento

Hey Guys!
After the amazing time in Galapagos it was time to head for Colombia. Our first stop was to Popayan, which gave us a chance to break up the long bus rides through the south of the country.


Puente de Humilladero, constructed so the priests could carry the holy water easily from the river to the church.


Plus there was a nice hill to watch the sunset from

Our next stop was to Calí, Colombia’s heart and soul of salsa. We went to a salsa club that night with some people we had met at the hostel. We only got one picture, of one of our friends with Aguardiente. This is a hard alcohol, kind of like pisco to the Chileans or cachaça to the Brazilians. I was way too busy trying to learn how to dance salsa to be snapping pics.


After a night in the city dancing we headed out to the country. We went to a little town called Salento. It’s known for growing coffee and having some beautiful landscapes.


The first day we walked through the Valle de Cocora, famous for its massively tall wax palms.





Along the hike we stopped at a hummingbird feeding area, and got to see some amazing birdies



Check out that tail!








These photo credits all go to Jared, he was right in there taking pictures


I was mostly just doing this














Here are the wax palms, rising 60 m/ 200 ft into the air











Some people we met and hiked with


Linda vista, no?






That evening we played a game called ‘tejo’ which is like bag toss meets horseshoes with gunpowder. There is a metal ring with paper packets of gunpowder around it, and you throw a metal disc at it trying to hit the centre or at least the ring to cause an explosion. It was quite fun with a couple beers!








After a rainy day we ventured out again to see some coffee plantations


Coffee plants. Fun fact- unlike other places (like Brazil), all the coffee in Colombia is hand-picked so you only get the red beans, none of the green beans that need more time





A little coffee bean shoot


Green coffee beans on the vine


This is the first machine that takes off the first skin


Then after a week to 10 days of drying, this machine takes off the second skin


This was a small outfit, so they roasted the coffee in small batches like this over the fire


Once roasted, they could be ground with this machine


And then you get coffee!

Colombia is an insanely beautiful country, full of rainforest and lushness. Salento was an excellent taste of that

Until Next Time!

Rest of the Galápagos

So as you you saw, we had ourselves a great cruise but luckily our Galápagos adventures weren't finished there. We were able to spend another week there! Upon finishing the cruise, we found ourselves on Isla Santa Cruz. There are actually more people living on the Galápagos Islands than I was aware of (over 25 000). After finding a hostel, we explored around the island a bit more.










Wall of tiles









We checked out the Charles Darwin Research Center. There was a lot of info to take in there. One of the main functions is to act as a breeding facility for many different kinds of tortoises. As the pirates and other seamen took so many as ship food. Some species were becoming extinct. At this facility, they also had the saddleback species. These particular species live on the really dry islands and had adapted a saddle-shaped shell and a long neck in order to reach up and eat cacti.



















Over the next couple of days, we explored the underwater world a bit more. Galápagos is world renowned for the excellent diving. The craziest sites are only accessible by Liveaboard Dive boats but we felt quite lucky to be able to do the ones accessible by day trips. We ended up doing 4 dives total at two different dives locations: North Seymour and Gordon Rocks. We were not disappointed, let me tell you. Over all the dives, we saw over 40 hammerhead sharks! Many coming within meters of us (No they are not dangerous!)

I grabbed some pictures off the Internet here.









Gordon Rocks Dive location










The superstars of the diving!










So many turtles...










There was also an instance where we found ourselves surrounded by a huge school of barracudas.



















Also saw Galápagos sharks, white tip reef sharks, and black tip reef sharks.










There was huge areas that were covered in garden eels who would slip into their holes once you got too close.










We also saw so many different kinds of rays: spotted eagle rays, manta rays, and sting rays.

The reason for the abundance of the marine life is that the Humbolt current upwells from the deep ocean, bringing all the nutrients with it. This allows a lot of algae growth starts the chain of life. This also mans the water is quite cold. Water temperatures were around 18 C so we were wearing thick wetsuits with hoods and everything. At times there would be thermoclines in the water that were much cooler temps, so it was chilly! But when you see a school of hammerheads right beside you, you tend to forget about the cold!

The one things that was quite affordable on the Islands was the food. There was a bunch of outdoor restaurants in a row selling all kinds of fresh seafood. A lobster meal for 2 was only $15 after some bartering. We ate there every night when we were on this island.



























Some local residents....


























After a few days, we grabbed a boat over to San Cristobal. We met up with Carol and Jaime once again which was great. They are the couple we have travelled with many times all over South America.









One day we hired a taxi to take us around the island. First stop was at a crater lake.









The girls working the camera.
It was a bit cloudy and cool up there.

Then we headed to the tortoise breeding facility on this island. We just couldn't get enough of these slow moving giants. It was the first time Carol and Jaime had seen them, so they were quite excited.








Next we headed down to one of the beaches on the island for a couple hours.









Roberta did some exploring and found a whale skull.


















Some residents of the beach...


















Relaxing at the hostel after another "tough" day









We spent some other days just hanging out on the beach and exploring the island. We were even able to catch a couple of great live music shows a couple nights.

















Roberta found this mama sea lion who had just given birth.



















Blue-footed booby...



























Just hanging out with baby sea lions....



































We also did two dives off of this island at Kicker Rock.








Once again it was awesome. Just as we were descending, a large school of fish started swimming wildly and within no time a sea lion came cruising by. She was definitely the star of the show on one dive. Watching the fish scatter while she hunted them was amazing.

















There were also many schools of large fish and some sharks as well.









And that concluded our Galápagos trip. We spent more money in two weeks than in most 2 month periods, but it was a once in a lifetime experience!



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