jennydenham3

[jennydenham3]

Our Big Adventure

3 years, 4 continents, over 25 countries and countless stops and we made it home without a scratch!! 

I am extremely proud of what we have achieved on our big adventure. We were so lucky to be able to make it on this trip and I will cherish the memories forever. Now we are home our adventure has begun! We have built our very own tiny home, started new jobs and I am now completing a Masters in Primary Education!! 

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Barcelona, Spain SURPRISE!!! This has been this best surprise EVERRRRR!!! As I walked through those arrivals doors I was looking for the exit and in the corner of my eye I saw my bestie!!! I actually couldn't believe it, there was Nicole and Ron in Barcelona!!!! Christmas came early!!! 😁🙈❤️🎄 We had three days that we spent exploring, but mostly catching up!!! I loved it, it really was the cherry on top of an amazing trip and I am so excited to get home and start wedding planning with Nicole!!! You can't wipe the smile off my face right now... I am sooooooo happy!!! Barcelona itself is such a beautiful city and the open top bus tour was the perfect way to see it!!

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Goodbye Colombia and goodbye South America The time has come to say goodbye to this amazing continent that we have spent the last 15weeks on. We have made our way across seven countries, taken hundreds of buses, met so many people, eaten so many pot noodles and made countless memories. Colombia as a country has really taken my breath away... we have spent the last five weeks here and I feel like you could spend months in this country and still find something new at every corner!! It's landscape is so diverse from forests and volcanoes to beaches and the Caribbean sun it really has everything. We have really enjoyed our time here and out of all the countries we have visited on our travels I feel like Colombia is definitely one we would return to as it is a country you could visit at any age and on any budget!!! Bye for now Colombia, and thanks for the tan ☀️🌎🇨🇴 Next stop.... Barcelona, Spain before we head home for Christmas 🎄🍀

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The reality of the backpacker life!!! Spending all your money to get to the most amazing places in the world, eating pot noodles for lunch!!! 😂👌🏼🌎☀️

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Farewells to an amazing bunch of friends, pizza, more pizza and a fancy apartment for our last night in South America 🙌🏼

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Cartagena, Colombia 🇨🇴 Cartagena is a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. By the sea is the walled Old Town, founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. This city was our final stop in South America and it was definitely one of my favourites, although it is quite touristy, it's tropical climate, colourful streets, buzzing atmosphere and delicious food made it the perfect last stop for us!!! I loved this city and Out of a lot of places we have been I would definitely return to this amazing city! ☀️🇨🇴🌎🍕🍻

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Beach days on the beautiful Isla Grande 🏖🏝 I’m going to miss this Caribbean sun ☀️

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Paraiso Secreto Hostel: a ‘Secret’ Paradise in Colombia’s Caribbean Isla Grande 📍 After Playa Blanc la we decided to go to one more island before heading back to Cartagena. We got a boat to the island with two Argentinians with the hope that they were staying somewhere affordable as we had nothing booked and had no idea about this island!! To our surprise we arrived in what can only be described as a backpackers paradise!! Paraiso Secreto is a collection of seven wonderfully colourful hostels, which have taken over a group of abandoned mansions on Isla Grande, less than an hour off the coast of Cartagena. As the story goes, the island was the 1970s holiday destination of choice for families of the then-prominent emerald mafia. They constructed the seven, near-identical grand mansions for themselves, along with two pools, a bar, restaurant and private beach. For reasons unknown, the buildings have spent the last decade untouched, gradually becoming engulfed by the jungle. It wasn’t until 2015 that Juan Carlos Román, equipped with his machete, hacked away at the overgrown greenery, and reclaimed the architectural masterpieces from the island, opening a business that allowed 7 hostels from all over Colombia have their own slice of paradise!! This place really is a secret paradise 🌴

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A few snaps on the GoPro from Playa Blanca 👌🏼☀️🇨🇴🐠🐟

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Playa Blanca, Caribbean Coast - Cartagena ☀️🇨🇴 At this stage we are proper sun worshippers, my freckles are joining up and the sea breeze is bronzing Derm nicely!! Playa Blanca is about an hour and a half away from Cartagena, it's definitely a typical holiday destination and is also a great day trip for people in Cartagena! It is just one strip of beach with lots of bars, restaurants and accommodation. Yes it does get very busy but we were lucky enough to find a quiet little place further down the beach. We sat outside our room that over looked the sea every day, we played with puppies and swam in the crystal clear waters!! We loved it so much that we stayed for three nights before heading off to Isla Grande. A little touch of the Caribbean just before we head home to the cold for Christmas 🎄😁

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Costeño Beach!! ☀️ I LOVED this place!!! This was a really quirky hostel on a beach pretty much in the middle of no where!! We slept on hammocks for two nights, drank lots of beer and rum, played cards, soaked up some sun and ate delicious food!! What more do you need?? Oh but I did see the biggest crab in the world here 🙈 🦀

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Tubing in Palomino 😁 After we said goodbye to the others who flew off to San Andres Island for a week myself and derm continued on to Palomino to go tubing with a couple we met along the way. Our time in Palomino was very relaxing, with high temperatures, lots of sun and a cute little hostel we really began to relax after what has been a very hectic few months making our way around South America. Tubing was also a lot of fun - we hoped on the back of a Mototaxi and went to the river, we then walked/hiked for about 30 minutes in the dead heat until we arrived at a starting point for our tubes!! We hoped into the cold water and set off down the river feeling completely relaxed!! 😎 the water was very calm and other than a few rapids at the beginning it was smooth sailing all the way to the sea!!! A perfect way to spend your morning?? I think so!!! We also had the most amazing pizza in Palomino 🍕 yummmmm Next stop, costeño beach!!!

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Casa Elemento, Minca Casa Elemento is a really unique hostel located high above the town of Minca and over looking the Sierra Nevada. It is known for its giant hammocks that you can sit on and soak in the spectacular views. We spent just one night here but we really made the most of the little time that we had. We got up for sunrise and hiked even further up the mountain to Los Pinos to get a 360 view over the Sierra Nevada to see the sun rise through the mountains. We then spent the day on the hammocks, taking photos and taking in the views!! An amazing stop over!! 👌🏼🌎 🇨🇴

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Tayrona National Park, Colombia 🇨🇴 Tayrona National Park, in northern Colombia, is a large protected area covering the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta as they meet the Caribbean coast. It’s known for its palm-shaded coves, coastal lagoons, rainforest and rich biodiversity. We had heard a lot about Tayrona so we set off from Santa Marta to get the bus to the entrance of the park where we began out three hour hike into the park to the campsite we were staying at. The hike into the park actually only took us two hours but it really felt like the whole day!! Between the hot sun, the heat and the mud by the time we got to the campsite I think we were all ready to collapse!! With muck up to our knees we decided to get straight in for a swim, the water was warm and deep and the beach was packed with people making the most of their time in the Caribbean sun ☀️ We spent two nights in the park sleeping on hammocks which was surprisingly comfortable. It rained for the whole first night (now we know why there was so much muck on the way in) and the second day and night it was over cast but still very hot. On the third day when we were leaving I decided I didn't want to walk through all that muck again so myself, Rachel and Keeva hoped on a horse!!! There we were thinking it would be a nice relaxing journey back to the entrance and we would be so clean when we got there.... it was the total opposite!! 😂 we trekked through, mud, up and down rocks, through path ways that a child could barely fit through!!! It was a crazy hour and a half something that was a complete surprise and that we have never experienced before but no one fell off and we got off with only sore bums!! We couldn't even take pictures because there was that much that we had to concentrate on!! 😂😂

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Santa Marta & Taganga Beach Santa Marta is a base town or a stop off town for backpackers who are looking to explore areas close by. We didn’t do much here other than visit Taganga beach where we watched the sun set and Rachel and luci got massages!! We also had THE BEST McDonalds of our lives here 😍 The temperature changed dramatically from Medellín, it’s so hot in this area of the country and the mosquitoes are on a mission to bite every inch of my legs 🙈😩 From Santa Marta we will take a trip to Tayrona National Park, visit the town of Minca to stay in the famous Casa Elemento... and then say goodbye to all our buddies for two weeks as they head off to San Andres island and myself and Derm will hit the road again to Palomino and Costeno Beach 🏝 wow a busy couple of weeks ahead 🙌🏼🙈☀️

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This giant granite rock is on the outskirts of Guatapè, we climbed over 700 steps to the top to get the most amazing 360 views!! A great Group picture of all the Irish at the top 🙌🏼 ☘️

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Guatapé is one of Colombia’s most colourful towns 🌈 we spent the afternoon here strolling around and drinking coffee while listening to live music in the square!!!