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Sunday 6th August

Puerto Viejo and Cahuita - Monday 31st July to Sunday 6th August

The last week of our sabbatical has absolutely flown by. We can’t quite believe that three months are over and we’re heading home tomorrow. We’ve had a fab week exploring Puerto Viejo and Cahuita, and been so lucky with the weather. We were nervous when we arrived on Friday that we’d be twiddling our thumbs with not a huge amount to do, and if we’d have had the classic Caribbean rain storms the week could have been a bit of a wash out. Thankfully we needn’t have worried and we’ve had sunshine almost every day.

We based ourselves at Pagalu, a fab hostel that doesn’t take bookings - meaning we could decide every morning whether we wanted to stay another night. 6 nights later we were still there and it was the perfect place for our last week, with a lovely outdoor kitchen/lounge and communal area and a great room with ensuite bathroom. Apart from a poor sad whining doggy next door, it was also blissfully quiet. At $30 dollars a night it was also an absolute bargain and we both think it’s ranked as one of our favourite hostels of the whole trip!!

The days have passed in a blur of good night’s sleeps (we’re coming home so well rested), making our own breakfast at the hostel, some days walking down to the nearest beach, Cocles, to lie in the sun and play in the waves, and others hiring bikes and cycling 45 minutes down the road to the beautiful Punta Uva and Arrecife beaches, which were a little quieter and with calmer seas. One day we hired body boards and spent 2 hours getting completely taken out by the surfing waves on Cocles beach - ending up upside down in the washing machine of huge breaking waves more often than not. We bought picnics from the local bakery and ice lollies to enjoy in the afternoon, and played cards at happy hour in Lazy Mons bar watching the sunset over the beach. It’s been absolutely bliss.

Another highlight was a visit to the Jaguar Rescue Centre, a rescue centre for injured or orphaned wild animals. With vet care and rehabilitation the aim is to release all the animals back into the wild once they well/strong/big enough to look after themselves again… a process that often takes months or even years. We were slightly nervous that it would be effectively a glorified zoo that let tourists hold and touch the animals so we researched it a lot before going, but it was a great organisation, with lots of rules in place to ensure the safety of the animals and to give them the best chance possible of returning to their natural habitats. The main highlight was definitely seeing the Sloths (both two and three toed varieties) who were growing up and learning to climb there, having been found on their own with no mothers. They are such funny creatures and so lazy - they have to be forced out of baskets with blankets onto their ‘jungle gym’ to hang instead of snoozing in comfort.

On Friday morning we left Pagalu for our final stop on the trip, taking a 30 minute bus back up the coast to the small town of Cahuita, next to one of Costa Rica’s most famous (and best) national parks. Once we’d checked into our room at Passion Fruit Lodge which was a bit off the beaten track but in gorgeous grounds and with a lovely pool, we set out to walk through the national park to discover more of the Caribbean coast’s best beaches. It’s the only national park we’ve been to that didn’t charge for entry but only asked for a voluntary donation as they want to ensure everyone of all means, both locals/nationals and tourists can visit it. It’s so well looked after with beautiful sand pathways and, further into the jungle, wooden board walks, and the whole place was teeming with wildlife. We saw countless geckos, hermit crabs, lizards, spiders, huge black grasshoppers, a rat/guinea pig/capybara (no idea what it was), a very cheeky raccoon and a very loud pack of howler monkeys. After a 2 hour walk and a stop to eat our picnic we arrived at the most beautiful almost empty beach, with the whitest sand, bluest water and leaning palm trees, and we spent another 2 hours their having a swim and lying to read our books in the sun.

Yesterday, on our last day in Cahuita before starting the journey back to San Jose for our flight home, we decided to stay by the pool at Passion Fruit Lodge, enjoying the good weather and trying to beat our best catch rally scores, before going out out for drinks and pizza and salad. Today we’ve done our last long haul bus journey (won’t be sorry to see the back of them) back to San Jose and all of a sudden it’s the last night of our trip. Weirdly it feels like the time has flown by but also like we’ve been away for absolutely ages.

3 months, 13 weeks, 6 countries, 10 flights (with 2 more to come tomorrow), 19 bus journeys, 39 hostels (the good, the bad and the ugly), a visit from Andy, 2 stolen passports, countless laughs and the occasional tears - it’s been more than we ever could have dreamed of, our expectations have been well and truly exceeded. We will treasure these memories for the rest of our lives. What a trip!

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Puerto Viejo and Cahuita - Monday 31st July to Sunday 6th August

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Puerto Viejo and Cahuita - Monday 31st July to Sunday 6th August

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26th - 30th July San Jose - Puerto Viejo After waving Andrew off early in the morning, we headed out in search of a place to get our passport photos taken ahead of our 9am appointment at the British embassy. We'd been told there was a place to get it done nearby, but after walking around looking for 20 minutes, then asking for directions at the embassy building and looking for another 10 minutes, time was running out so we had to go to our back up plan. Nice bit of stress for 8am! (It turned out Andy had had just as stressful a morning as us as he didn't quite have enough cash for the bus (after kindly giving most of his remaining to us!), then missed his stop on the bus for the airport. Must have been something in that Costa Rican water.) Two taxi rides later across town and back to a place opposite the US embassy, we arrived back at the British embassy with correct photos. Inside the embassy we were helped by a really friendly and sympathetic Brit (also called Andrew) who helped us finish the forms and kindly took our money from us. As we were waiting we filled out the US online forms (much longer than the UK ones) and also read the embassy's advice for tourists. This included a specific mention of theft from luggage racks on buses, to which we had to laugh at. Patrick should have followed his Dad's advice to read the gov.uk travel tips more closely, sorry Geoff! After a couple of hours, we were good to go with Andrew handing us our new emergency passports and having booked us in at the US embassy that afternoon. The US embassy was not quite as smooth, as after a lot of waiting and a couple of questions, we were told to come back on Friday (this being Wednesday) to collect the passports with the US tourist visas inside it. This was because it was nearly the end of the day Wednesday (2.30pm!) and there was no guarantee they would be able to manage the difficult task of printing the visas and sticking them into the passports in just 24 hours. As we had hoped to be in and out of San Jose as quickly as possible we pushed for an earlier time and just about managed to persuade them to let us come back the following day to see if they were ready. Fast forward 24 hours, an unnecessary hostel change and a pesto pasta triggered illness for Patrick, we were back at the embassy and miracle of miracles we had the passports, complete with US visas. Happy days! We stayed one more night in San Jose as it was too late to get the bus, and so headed off next morning (Friday 28th) for our second experience of the Caribbean coast, this time in a small town called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca in Costa Rica. Despite our taxi driver taking us to the wrong bus station (even with Patrick showing him on a map at the beginning where to go), we got on the 10am bus no problems, relieved to be out of San Jose. With the remaining backpack firmly on the floor between Patrick's feet, the first 2 hours of the planned 4 hour journey were fine, then we hit an unknown problem and so moved about 20 feet in just over an hour. Which isn't the most fun when it's hot, humid and no air con. After surviving the bus and arriving just over 2 hours late, we headed to our planned hostel (for which you can't book in advance) to find they had no spare rooms. The owner recommended a place next door which advertised itself as 'cheap and clean' and even that was debatable. But we decided to stay there for the convenience and try our luck at the other hostel, Pagalu, again the next day. Patrick's illness was refusing to go away, and despite lasting the bus journey without incident, took exception to some peanuts. After dinner with just Megan eating and Patrick staring at a plate of chips, we headed back to what we thought would be at least a quiet night. Think again. (With our run of luck we should have realised not to assume things like this). Our neighbours seemed to be having a house party in their tiny room, as dogs barked and cockerels crowed all night, then what sounded like the whole hostel got up at about 6am for breakfast and some banging tunes on their speakers. Thank god for ear plugs. Fortunately, our luck changed, and we managed to check in on Saturday morning to a really nice double room in Pagalu which is great value and the perfect place to use as a base for the next few days. After a quiet day where we walked along the coast a while to check out the next beach along and read our books, we had a great evening watching a Carribean band at a bar then having a great (but slow) meal at a great bar / restaurant called Koki Beach Bar. Sunday our luck continued to improve, the sun came out at last, and we had a lovely day renting bikes and cycling 5 miles down the coast to a beautiful beach at Punta Uva, enjoying the waves, catching too much sun and reading our books. So while most of the last few days since Mr Morris departed haven't been the most glamorous/ fun, Sunday was a reminder of how nice traveling can be! As we write this we have exactly one week to go before we leave, and have just finished our twelfth week of the trip. For our last week we're planning on hopefully catching a bit more sun, maybe taking some surfing lessons, and then lastly heading 30 minutes to Cahuita to check out the national park there.

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Thursday 27th July

The past week has passed so quickly, and it’s been amazing to see Andy. We can only blame the lack of blog posts on him!

Andy's visit - Wednesday 19th to Wednesday 26th July

After a long day of travel from Colombia (thankfully without the 5 hour stopover in Panama that was originally scheduled into our flight), we arrived in the capital San Jose late afternoon to meet Andy at the hostel. Patrick had been giddy all day at the prospect of seeing one of his besties and it was so surreal opening the door of the room to see a familiar face grinning back at us. Unfortunately Andy was more tanned after 10 days in Cuba than we were after 10 weeks in South America. We headed out for beers, dinner and catch ups and realising that the boys were wearing pretty much identical matching outfits.

On Thursday morning we had an early-ish start to catch our bus to La Fortuna which would be our base for the next 5 nights and the activities we had planned. We cut it very fine and with nobody yelling destinations at us from the minute we arrived at the bus station (a bit of a novelty) we had to ask a couple of English girls near the front of the queue to buy our tickets. Not content with how on the minutes we were, Andy decided to disappear to the loo just as the bus started boarding, cue Patrick and I waiting anxiously with the bags saying ‘where the hell is he?!’

Unfortunately the bus journey itself continued on a similar vein with a pretty uncomfortable 4 hours, and the horrible experience of having Megan’s rucksack stolen from the overhead luggage rack. We didn’t see it happen and only realised it was missing when we went to get off the bus in La Fortuna but we know 100% that it was there next to Patrick’s and that it had been taken, having desperately searched every other inch of the bus for any sign of it. At one point it was ridiculously busy with locals standing shoulder to shoulder in the aisle so it would have been quite easy for someone to move it along out of our sight above our heads. We were gutted to have been so unlucky and targeted so near the end of our trip, and it was with complete dread that we realised that with the bag our passports had also disappeared, alongside my kindle, sunglasses, make up bag, a few bits of clothing, my travel diary (thank god for the blog), our playing cards, a selfie stick and our yellow fever certificates. (Arguably Andy bought the bad luck with him!) What followed was a short trip to the local tourist police station to fill in a crime report - not that there was ever any hope of getting the bag back, but if nothing else it would allow us to make an insurance claim - and a phone conversation with both the UK and US Embassy’s in Costa Rica.

As if paying £100 for emergency travel documents to get us home in place of our passports, we’re also having to pay $150 for non-immigrant tourist visas for our US stopover/connecting flight which would see us spend less than 2 hours in New York. Great. We’re also having to spend an additional few days in San Jose to attend appointments at both Embassy’s to get all the documentation in place and we’ve had to change our plans for our last fortnight as we can no longer cross the border into Panama to the islands of Bocas del Toro for a few days.

After the shock was over and we’d checked into our hostel for the first two nights, we we were much in need of a swim and a drink. We also booked a full day’s hike around the Arenal Volcano for the next day - part one of the activities with Andy schedule for the week!

The following morning, after Andy’s bold choice of breakfast burrito, we were picked up at 9.30 and driven to the start of the hike. Our group was a mixed bunch, with a fair few Americans, some Dutch and one Mexican guy who initially came dressed in smart loafers and jeans. The walk started in the sunshine, with our guides Marcos and Emmanuel taking us along a dry river bed cut from the earth by lava, and pointing out amazing animals and plants along the way. After a pretty gentle stroll for about an hour, getting impressive views of the Arenal Volcano, the heavens opened. From our previous experiences in Colombia, we assumed it would be a short sharp shower but we turned out to be very wrong. For pretty much the next 6 hours it did not stop raining, sometimes being significantly harder than the showers we’ve had in most of the hostels we've stayed in. However, the rain made the hike through the rainforest really fun, as we climbed up and down the ridges of the volcano, slipping and sliding all the way. Some of the sections were very steep so we had to use a rope to pull ourselves up/ climb down, and we ended up soaked to the skin and ridiculously muddy (mainly due to Andy getting over excited). Megan impressed the guides again with her climbing ability and got yet another 'mountain goat' reference which she was very pleased (smug) with! On the other hand, the Mexican guy was struggling big time in his not so appropriate footwear (had changed out of his jeans by this point) but luckily also saw the funny side! Halfway along we stumbled across a big group of white faced capuchin monkeys, who were just as fascinated with us as we were with them, which was amazing. At the end of the walk, by which point we were completely soaked through, we were picked up from the 'viewpoint’ (only clouds for us), and taken to an area of hot springs to end the day. The part we entered was a hot river, which was constantly heated by the volcano, and we relaxed in a more sheltered bit as Emmanuel gave everyone a mud facemask and massage and Marcos passed round the cocktails. Could have only been bettered by a clear sky and a view of the stars. A really cool experience.

After getting back pretty late, we were knackered and drenched so we had an easy night of a few card games, leading to our second bit of bad luck, Andy’s phone smashing after it flew out of his pocket as he reacted wildly at losing poo head to Megan on the last card! Gutted.

On Saturday we moved hostels (for a bit of variety and to get away from the annoying French school children) and spent a day doing some much needed laundry, chilling in hammocks by the pool and booking more activities for the next few days. All three of us (!) also signed up to a free Yoga session at the hostel - Megan spent the hour looking completely graceful and the boys spent the hour grunting and moaning about how inflexible they were! That evening we played beer pong at the hostel and the boys went large before going home. Megan left them to it at about half 11 and left to their own devises Patrick and Andy drank each other under the table. The two of them stumbling into the room trying to be 'quiet’ and then proceeding to snore all night (if you thought sleeping with one man was bad, try sleeping with two) was quite hilarious.

On Sunday we’d booked to spend three hours zip-lining in/above the local jungle. We were collected from our hostel first thing and quickly arrived at the office to be fastened tightly into our harnesses and kit for the day. Patrick had the go pro fixed to his helmet which we hoped would capture some of the antics! The course was 13 zip lines of varying lengths through the rainforest canopy. After a quick intro to the pulley-harness system in Spanglish we were off, with Patrick taking the lead and Andy bringing up the rear. We all had a leather guard on our dominant right hands that we’d hold the wire with and which would allow us to brake. After nearly crashing into a tree at full speed on the first short trial line, Megan’s got switched out for a child’s guard as her hands were so small the adult version wouldn’t work! There was hardly any waiting around and as soon as you’d reach the platform at the end of one line, they’d clip you onto another and you’d set off in a different direction. It was amazing fun. After one of the longest lines we landed at a high platform and waited for the rest of the group to arrive before the instructors revealed a surprise Tarzan Swing that we could opt in or out of doing. With absolutely no idea what it would entail but no time to doubt it, Patrick was first up and before the instructor counted to three he’d been pushed off the platform into a free fall drop - shouting expletives as he fell. After what seems like an age the harness kicks in and you end up swinging like a pendulum. Megan went next and screamed just as loud, followed by Andy who was creepily silent! It was so exhilarating (read terrifying) and the adrenaline rush afterwards was amazing. After we’d finished the zip-lining we spent a couple of hours in the local hot springs resort where the pools were as hot as 39 degrees, and had some fun filming ourselves going down the water slides with the go pro.

On Monday, our last full day in La Fortuna, we set off for a day’s white water rafting on rapids that were level 3 and 4. We met a couple from London (Dave and Tricia) who were on their Honeymoon and both about to start their specialist doctor training, Dave in paediatrics and Tricia in trauma/A&E! They joined our Team GB boat and along with our guide Tom. After a 45 minute drive with a quick stop to buy beers for the way back, and a briefing on the rafting commands, we set off in life jackets and helmets. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take the go pro with us but the pictures they captured give a flavour of the experience - so so much fun, very wet, and very entertaining. Tom was fab and did loads of stuff to ensure we had a great time on the rapids, including leaving Patrick to dangle on a rope swing over the river! We did see a couple of boats from another company stuck in hairy positions (one on a large rock at the top of some rapids, and one upside down under a tree branch) which reminded us how dangerous white water rafting can be if you’re not with a good company/good guide.

After a couple of hours on the river we headed back to La Fortuna to the company’s organic farm, where we met a gorgeous puppy (happiest Megan has looked in weeks), had a really tasty traditional Costa Rican lunch, and tried fresh sugar cane liquor made in the farm.

Far too quickly our week with Andy was nearly over and on Tuesday we headed back on the four hour bus journey to San Jose and had a final farewell Chinese for dinner before Andy caught his flight on Wednesday morning… the start of a 27 hour journey for him back via Cuba and France to Cornwall! It has been amazing to spend the week with him - such good company and great times. It’s also been quite surreal to see somebody from home after so long and it felt quite weird not to be heading back to the UK with him.

Still without passports, the last few days for us have been a lot of waiting around in San Jose, with multiple trips to both the British and US Embassy’s to get emergency travel documents and visas. Over £200 each lighter (ouch), we’re hoping to pick our visas up today so that we can head off to the beach tomorrow (Friday) for our last 10 nights of the trip!

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We're on our way to Costa Rica! 5 countries down, 1 to go... Andy Morris we're coming for you!

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Video evidence... the tent incident, Tayrona National Park

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Tayrona National Park, Sunday 16th/Monday 17th July Just when you thought our travels were getting a bit too luxury, the flashpacker dream was up! Thought we'd try to add a bit more excitement to the blog...! On Sunday morning we set off early for Tayrona National Park. 45 minutes from Santa Marta, it's large protected area covering the hills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta as they meet the Caribbean coast. It’s known for its beautiful beaches and jungle walks and we planned to camp for 2 nights in hammocks at a site about 2 hours walk from the entrance. A bus ride and a sizeable queue later to gain entry into the park with a lot of other (mainly Colombian) tourists, we set off walking the trails towards the beaches and what would be our base for the next few days. The jungle was hot and humid and very buggy, but as we caught the first glimpses of the beaches we were so excited... a lot of the public beaches in Colombia are crowded with both tourists and hawkers who try to sell you anything from coral ornaments, to foot massages and ceviche (warm prawns from a dirty ice box, no thank you), but Tayrona's protected beaches were clean, much quieter and remote. Some of the beaches aren't safe for swimming as they have strong currents but there a couple in quieter coves and one, 'La Piscina' that has a line of rocks off the coast that's made a natural swimming pool where we planned to spend our time. We arrived at the San Juan Cabo campsite just after midday to the bad news that there weren't any hammocks left for that night, and they didn't yet know whether they'd have any tents either. The storm we'd watched from our hotel bar the night before had caused havoc and their clean up mission had only just began... to be honest that maybe should have been a warning sign but we were told to come back at 3pm when people had effectively checked out to see what availability there was. If we couldn't stay at that campsite we faced a 90 minute walk back towards the entrance to a different campsite to see if they had space, and if not, we'd have to bail on the overnight stay completely and head back to Santa Marta. 90 minutes walking doesn't sound like that long but it was so humid and we were both dripping with sweat. We decided to take our chances and wait it out, going for a swim, chilling on the beach for a bit and having some lunch. When we headed back to the 'reception' hut, they confirmed that they didn't have any hammocks available but they did have a tent... we paid about £7.50 each for a 2 man tent with a number on the side but can't say we were entirely thrilled by the prospect. We knew it would be hotter than a hammock, and the foam mattresses they boasted were not exactly clean. They were made of foam had built in fabric covers that were pretty dirty and mouldy, so you couldn't help but think about how many sweaty bodies had slept on them before you, and wonder when they were last cleaned. I had my silk sleeping bag liner but Patrick was seriously regretting not bringing anything to lie on. After sorting the tent as best we could and accepting our fate we walked the 30 minutes back to La Piscina and spent the last few hours of the afternoon swimming and reading on the beach, before a samey dinner at the only touristy restaurant on the campsite. We knew we wanted to delay going to bed as long as possible but once it's dark there's not a huge amount to do, so we (Patrick) drank a few beers and sat on a tree watching the waves after we'd eaten, before giving up and going to brush our teeth. In the toilets, a huge cockroach fell/flew from the ceiling onto Patrick's chest cue him nearly falling backwards out of the door yelling and then changing cubicles. What followed was probably the worst night we've had on this whole trip. I'm not sure I can even do it justice describing it so please watch the video evidence above too! The tent was quite literally a sauna. I lasted in the sleeping bag liner approx 15 minutes but it was just stuck to me and making me even hotter so protection from the mouldy mattresses quickly went out of the window. We were both dripping wet, our whole bodies clammy from the heat and there was no air, no breeze. We tried lying as still as possible and thinking cool thoughts. A little while later it started to rain and we quickly realised the tent wasn't waterproof. So that's what the black plastic sheet/tarpaulin on the ground next to the tent was for. Great news. At least with the hammocks they're all under a wooden shelter so not only are you cooler but you're protected from the rain. We were out of the tent again to try and waterproof it, using coconuts to hold the corners of the plastic down. With the plastic sheet on the tent was even hotter and the rain sounded like it was thundering down on us. With every gust of wind (not that we were feeling any of the benefits) the sheet threatened to come of the tent again. I'm not sure we even lasted 5 minutes before water started to come into the tent, and the bottom of the mattresses where the door was (with zips that didn't close properly) were soaking wet. Then Patrick realised that he hadn't zipped the outer door on his side, and of course the mosquito net wasn't doing a great job of keeping the rain out. By 2am, two thirds of Patrick's mattress was wet and we were trying to keep our belongings dry. We started planning an escape - if we made it to the restaurant could we sit up all night under the shelter? A break in the rain and we decided we both needed to the loo. Patrick had taken his contact lenses out and was effectively blind and still scarred from the earlier cockroach incident so made me go first. The coast was clear in the cubicles but in the sink there was a HUGE grasshopper sitting staring at us. We chose the safety of the hand sanitiser over washing our hands. Sorry mum. Back in the tent things surprisingly hadn't got any better and we were counting the hours until dawn. What followed was basically what felt like a never ending cycle of being hot/it raining/fixing the tarpaulin. I slept with both bags on the half of the mattress that was dry and Patrick slept curled like a dog on the bottom third of this that had survived. You had to laugh or we would have cried. By 6.30am we were just thrilled to have survived and by 7.30am we had set off back to La Piscina for a refreshing swim. In the night we'd decided we couldn't hack a second night so on Monday afternoon after a lovely morning chilling on the beach reading our books, drying things out in the sun and having a nap, we set off on the walk back to the Park entrance. Again, it was beyond hot and humid and by the time we reached the bus back to Santa Marta we were dripping. The thought of a cool shower and an air conditioned room was literally heaven and we used a bit of birthday money (thank you Rog and Margy!) for an extra night in the hotel. That night we were asleep by 8.30pm! On Tuesday we made the most of the good weather to sunbathe at the hotel, getting in the outdoor shower every half an hour to cool down as the pool was unfortunately undergoing maintenance. Despite a lot of noise and the lack of pool (which got us a free taxi to the airport this morning) we had a lovely day. Today (Wednesday) we say goodbye to Colombia and hello to Costa Rica and Andy! 5 countries down and only 1 to go... we cannot believe how quickly time is passing now. Colombia has been wonderful, great weather, great food and fab places.

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Megan's birthday - Saturday 15th July We arrived in Santa Marta on Friday 14th, a town 4 hours further east along the coast from Cartagena in the middle of a huge torrential rain storm that we've come to realise is pretty typical of the region. In the minute it took to get our suitcases out of the bus and into the reception, we were completely soaked to our skin! Patrick had booked a hotel for two nights as a birthday treat, and we planned a ' VIP' boat trip for the next day which was meant to take us to three private beaches only accessible by boat for snorkelling, and before dinner we did a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on drinks for the birthday booze cruise. When it had stopped raining we ventured out for dinner and to explore Santa Marta's main strip and square which seemed lovely, with lots of buzzing bars and nice restaurants. On birthday morning it was a rude 6am wake-up call and it took a couple of minutes for me to realise what had woken me up - Patrick saying 'oh shit' out loud before proceeding to puke his guts up. Great timing. After I'd reminded myself not to be selfish (why did you have to be ill on my birthday) I went to rescue him in the bathroom. Poor boy was practically green and clammy all over. At that point we were both thinking all birthday plans would have to be cancelled... forcing the boy to be on a boat for a whole day with no access to a loo would have been beyond cruel. This was piece of birthday bad luck no.1. We've still got no idea where it came from but thankfully it seemed to pass as quickly as it came on and 45 minutes later he made it down to breakfast and managed to eat. After a short but sweet FaceTime with family in France and a chance to wish my birthday partner in crime a happy day (hi Dad!), we headed down to reception to check all was ok for our day out only to be told that it had been cancelled because they couldn't find a 3rd pair and needed 6 people booked to justify the costs of running the boat for the day. This was piece of birthday bad luck no.2. Despite desperately trying to find another day trip option, and it not even being 8am by this point we drew a blank and I had my first wobble of the day... no cards to open, no presents, no plans, missing family celebrations on the other side of the world, and feeling very sorry for myself. (Quick note here to acknowledge all of my family who posted cards out to Colombia which unfortunately never arrived - the thought was so so lovely and I'm very grateful 😘). Also kudos to Patrick who had written a birthday card back in May before we left the UK and slipped it into our passport/documents wallet that I'd carried in my rucksack for the past 2 months! Santa Marta itself isn't particularly pretty and has a port rather than any nice beaches, so we decided to catch a taxi and a short boat ride to the local 'Playa Blanca'. Not quite the VIP boat trip that I'd imagined but the sun came out and we had a nice couple of hours on the beach chatting, drinking a beer, and reading our books. We'd been stalked by a local guy (no idea what he wanted from us) who introduced us to his brother at the beach restaurant and we had a pretty decent bbq'd fish with coconut rice, salad and chips for lunch - and I reminded myself yet again that it's always better to have low expectations as you're usually pleasantly surprised! We caught the boat back just as the heavens threatened to open (seems to be pretty dead on 4pm every afternoon) and arrived back at our hotel to be told that the restaurant reservation we'd made for that evening had been cancelled because the restaurant had been flooded. Piece of birthday bad luck no.3. I think the receptionist felt so bad for us that they'd put balloons and a small cake in our room whilst we'd been out (knowing it was my birthday) and he offered us 4 free cocktails in the bar that night which we sat enjoying whilst watching the biggest thunder and lightening storm either of us had ever seen. By the time we made it our for dinner I was well on my way to being merry and we had starters for the first time on our whole trip (such a treat!)... delicious food accompanied by another margarita for me and another mojito for Patrick. Thanks so much to everyone at home who sent birthday messages and love - it was hugely appreciated.

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Thursday 13th July Cartagena, Colombia (8th - 13th July)

We’re writing this on our last evening in Cartagena after 6 very chilled and revitalising days. We’ve moved around pretty quickly on this trip so 6 days is a big chunk of time in one place for us, but we’ve really enjoyed it and it’s obvious why the city is such a tourist destination. A big thanks go to Megan’s mum and dad and sis for the hotel bday present which was a much needed bit of luxury for us! The room, the breakfast, and the rooftop terrace and pool were awesome and a bit of a contrast from some of the places we’ve stayed!

We spent our 3 days/ two nights at the hotel basically glued to the rooftop pool area which was opposite the amazing Castillo San Felipe de Barajas - the greatest fortress every built by the Spaniards in any of their colonies according to Lonely Planet! We did manage to drag ourselves away from the pool one late afternoon for an explore of the castle, but unfortunately timed it with a classic Cartagena downpour.

After getting a taste of the good life, it has been a bit tricky to get back on budget! Cartagena food and drink prices, combined with a great couple of days visiting local beaches, means we spent *slightly* more than planned, but it has definitely been worth it as we’ve had some great food and had two sunny beach days.

Cartagena old town is a beautiful and really colourful colonial town, with a great Carribean vibe, and it’s been nice just to stroll around it (dodging the tourists being pulled around by horse and cart), and also sit in the busy squares with a beer to watch the world go by. A highlight was definitely a hilarious silent comedian who came by the outside bar we were sitting at one night and just caused mischief to people walking by as we sat trying to hide our laughter in case he picked on us.

We also spent a day visiting Playa Blanca, a popular local beach about 45 minutes away by boat as the beaches right by Cartagena are not the nicest. Despite hearing lots about the masses of people, it was fairly quiet where we were and it was a very pretty beach if you were happy to ignore/turn down the many hawkers. We slightly underestimated the cost of everything and ran out of cash early on (about 11am) but other than that was a successful day!

Our last day (Thursday) was lovely - we got a day pass to a hotel on a nearby island, the sun came out, and we enjoyed the super comfy beach beds, tasty drinks and a relaxing lack of people trying to sell you things which is common everywhere else. Plus the speed boat there and back was worth the cost alone according to Megan.

So after a tough week (!), we head to Santa Marta tomorrow for even more beach time and someone’s birthday….

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Birthday hotel, Cartagena (thanks Rob and Caro!)

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Saturday 8th July We've had a lovely few days in Medellin with gorgeous weather, good food and a great city to explore. Everyone we'd met who'd been here has raved about Medellin so we were worried it wouldn't quite live up to expectations, but it's been fab and we're a bit sad we haven't got longer here. We spent our first day exploring the neighbourhood we're staying in, El Poblado, and taking the city's metro to the cable car for a bird's eye view, before having a picnic in the botanical gardens and enjoying the sunshine (where we watched a massive Iguana literally fall out of a tree). Yesterday we'd booked on a walking tour of the city with 'Real City Walking Tours', Medellin's number one activity on trip advisor. The four hour tour was completely fully booked (4 groups of 24!) and our guide Julio was so engaging. We had a fab few hours touring the Downtown area of the city, learning a bit about the history and culture of Medellin and hearing how it's transformed in the past 15 years from being the most dangerous city in the world. As a country Colombia obviously has quite a scarred past, and they're still dealing with the aftermath of the Guerrilla groups, with the government currently negotiating peace with FARC who have just this week finished giving up their arms to the United Nations. A highlight had to be Plaza Botero, home to 23 of Colombia's most celebrated artist's sculptures. Worth about 2.2 million dollars each they are absolutely incredible and were all donated by the artist to be enjoyed by Paisa's (Medellin's people) in the open space. The walking tour was completely free and works on a tips basis... we'd highly recommend as a must do activity for anyone visiting Colombia's second biggest city. Last night we couldn't resist returning to Cafe Zorba for the second time in three nights for houmous and pizza, before heading to another hostel in the neighbourhood for a couple of drinks with some fellow Brits and a German couple that we'd met on the walking tour that morning. Today (Saturday) we fly to Cartagena on the Caribbean coast, the first time we'll have seen the sea since leaving Brazil in week 2 of our trip!

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30th June - 5th July (Photos of the Valle de Corcora) It's hard to believe that we'll have been in Colombia a week tomorrow... time seems to be flying now. From Cusco we flew 3 hours north to Bogota, Colombia's capital city, spending 2 nights before a full day's travel on a bus to Salento which would be our base for 3 nights exploring the coffee region. We didn't really have enough time in Bogota to do it justice, and we both felt pretty exhausted after the Inca Trail so we didn't do a huge amount, wandering around the Plaza de Bolivar in the most popular neighbourhood Candelaria (which had nothing on Cusco's main plaza) and catching the cable car up to Cerrar de Montserrat for a view across the city. It's probably the fewest photos we've taken of anywhere since our trip began! On Sunday we had a 9 hour bus journey to Salento, taking us lower still (goodbye altitude, hello warmth) to an area that's famous for Colombia's coffee farms, the Valle de Corcora and luscious rolling green hills that reminded us so much of parts of the UK. It was a national holiday in Colombia over the weekend and Salento is hugely popular with both Colombian and foreign tourists so we arrived late afternoon/early evening to a buzzing town with a great atmosphere, enjoying beers and trout (something of a strange speciality in the region) on the Plaza. The whole town looks like it's from a postcard, beautifully presented, brightly coloured and pedestrian friendly, with artisan craft shops on every corner. It seemed a lovely place to enjoy spending a few days, and it was so nice to pack our jeans and jumpers away in favour of shorts and t-shirts that have lived at the bottom of our suitcases for weeks. On Monday, our first full day in Salento we set out on an hour's walk from town to an organic coffee farm for a tour. Don Elias coffee farm has 4 hectares and 8,000 coffee plants. A family run business, we had a tour by the grandson Carlos whose English was immaculate - he claimed to have learnt to speak the language just from listening to music! It was the only organic farm in the area and they used all sorts of fruit plants as compost, to control the PH of the soil, and create shade for the two varieties of coffee plants, Colombian and Arabic, from which they harvest 4 tonnes of coffee beans every year. 70% is exported to Australia, Jamaica and Italy, with 30% sold on the farm to visitors on the tours. He pointed out Avocado trees, pineapple plants, banana, plantain and mango trees as we wandered around the farm, and it was such an interesting tour. We then headed up to the house where Carlos showed us the next steps in the process, removing the coffee beans from their shells, fermenting overnight, drying naturally in the sun for a week to a fortnight depending on the weather, before roasting in a wood fire for one hour to create the final product - and recognisable coffee beans as we know them. The tour finished with a cup of freshly ground coffee each, and we couldn't resist buying a bag to bring back to the UK. (Patrick also enjoyed this as he has started to like coffee on the trip as there has been a big lack of tea!). Much to Megan's delight we headed back to town where we found a great cafe for lunch where she ate her first salad of the whole trip! On Tuesday we caught a Willy's jeep from the main Plaza and set off to the Valle de Corcora, a short 20 minute drive away. Hugely popular with tourists visiting Salento, the Valle de Corcora is home to huge wax palm trees which stand individually up to 60 metres tall on the landscape. It was a beautiful day and we'd been recommended to do a 5 hour hike which took us up through a wood, to the top of a hill before meandering back down through the valley and the palms themselves, which felt like something out of Jurassic Park. It was a great way to spend the day; we ate a picnic lunch at be top and the walk was great fun - exceptionally muddy at points which was interesting but we survived relatively unscathed, apart from Patrick who ended up with one foot in the river on a stepping stone crossing, and a wet trainer for the remainder of the afternoon. Tuesday evening we headed back to Monday's lunch spot for what was potentially our best meal of the trip so far (strong praise) - Megan had major food envy of Patrick's steak. Food wise, Colombia is going to take a lot to beat already! Wednesday was another long travelling day with an 8 hour bus from Salento to Medellin, Colombia's second biggest city. Once home to infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, everyone raves about Medellin and from what we've seen so far we know why. It's a really cosmopolitan city with a great vibe, it feels incredible safe and there's great restaurants and nightlife. Tomorrow we're headed on a free city walking tour to discover a bit more about the history and the culture, and the plan for this afternoon is to sit and read our books in the free(!) botanical gardens. On Saturday we fly up to Cartagena on the Caribbean coast line for our first beach since Brazil!! With a Birthday hotel booked (thanks Rob and Caro!) we're so excited to be somewhere hot and lie in the sun by the pool/ on the beach.

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Salento, Colombia and a tour of the Don Elias coffee finca. Monday 3rd July

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Bogota, Colombia 🇨🇴, Saturday 1st July

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Day 4 of the Inca Trail and arriving at Machu Picchu, Thursday 29th June

After what felt a very short night, we were woken up at 3.30am for breakfast at 4am. The porters were all catching a train back to their villages at 5.30am from the town of Aquas Calientes at the bottom of the valley, and so had to be on their way by 4.30am at the latest with all the equipment. As such our tents were being taken down around us as we packed and breakfast was pretty much thrown at us.

Then followed an hour’s wait in line at the trail check point with all the other groups until 5.30am. They do this to regulate walking on the trail before dawn as groups would otherwise get up earlier and earlier to reach the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu as the sun rises. Unfortunately, this would be he last part of the trail when it was still relatively quiet and not too touristy - before we’d even arrived at the Sun Gate the first buses would be arriving from Aguas Calientes full of day trippers who were just visiting Machu Picchu without doing any of the trail. This wasn’t something we were that thrilled about, after walking for three days to get there, it seems slightly unfair that hoards of (lazy) tourists arrive before you. Cue Megan glaring at everyone looking vaguely presentable/wearing make up or jeans/with clean hair for the rest of the morning: “you didn’t even walk here”.

Before we reached the Sun Gate for what would potentially be our first sighting of Machu Picchu (or not depending on the weather), we walked in the near darkness for an hour on the final 5km of the trail as the sun began to rise, reaching the view point of the Sun Gate after a final 15 minute climb. By some grace as we arrived we caught a jaw-dropping glimpse of Machu Picchu but it was quickly covered in cloud before we could even get the camera out of our backpack to take our first picture. We sat here for half an hour or so, waiting for the rest of our group and hoping the clouds would disappear before heading as a group with Edwin for the final 45 minute walk down to Machu Picchu itself.

It’s quite surreal arriving somewhere you’ve been aiming for and walking towards for the last 4 days, and even more so given the hype around it and the fact that we’ve seen so many picture/postcard perfect photographs of the ruins. As a whole, it certainly didn’t disappoint, and was much larger than we’d anticipated. The intricate, beautifully built and incredible intact buildings and ruins are absolutely amazing and the setting is just stunning, with the mountains of Huayna Picchu and Putucusi framing it perfectly. It seemed to look more spectacular from every different. The only slight let down for Megan (Patrick is more patient and doesn’t mind as much) was that we’d been spoilt by the solitude and lack of tourists/built up towns over the last few days and we’d been able to enjoy stunning scenery all to ourselves. There’s no getting away from the fact that Machu Picchu is very touristy, with up to 5,000 people visiting a day in the high season. Not even 5 minutes after arriving we watched a Chinese guy propose to his girlfriend with what felt like the whole world watching…

After storing our backpacks and having a quick toilet stop (the first proper toilets in 4 days!!!) we joined Edwin for our two hour guided tour of the ruins, exploring them in more detail and listening to some of the explanations behind Machu Picchu, the history of the Incans and the Andean people. By the time this finished it was just before 11 but we’d been up for hours and breakfast felt a distant memory, and so after a last walk around and taking some final photos we headed down to Aguas Calientes for our final lunch together as a group, and a well earned Pisco Sour/Cerveca.

That afternoon we had time to spare before our train and bus combo back to Cusco, which wasn’t leaving until 6.20pm, so we headed to the natural Hot Springs that the town is named after, and the majority of our group (only missing the Swedish family) spent a couple of hours with some drinks soaking our tired muscles and laughing about the intense speeches from the eccentric assistant guide Nilton.

It was a pretty long journey back to Cusco, and after our early starts and with four days walking catching up on us we were absolutely exhausted when we arrived back at the hostel at 10.30pm, heading straight to bed and thankful for a hostel mattress that was a lot comfier than a roll matt of hard ground.

It’s safe to say the last few days have been completely incredible and an experience that we will never forget. The Inca Trail is perhaps one of the best things we’ve ever been lucky enough to do, and some of the moments we’ve experienced and the things we’ve seen we’re not sure we’ll ever forget!

Now we’re very ready for a few days rest and relaxation. We’re flying to Colombia today for the next three weeks, and saying goodbye to Peru after a short but sweet stay. It’s hard to believe we are 4 countries down with only 2 left to go!

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Day 3 of the Inca Trail, Wednesday 28th June (The Unforgettable Day) On Wednesday morning it was an even earlier start, waking at 5am for breakfast at 5.40am and to start walking at 6.30am. We had 16km to walk on day 3, with 5 hours before our lunch stop, so breakfast was huge with porridge, scrambled eggs and turkey baps to set us up for the longest day of walking. At 6.30am we left the campsite at Pacaymayu and climbed for the first two hours up to the second mountain pass on the trek at 3,950 metres, passing the Incan ruins of Runkurakay on the way, with a quick stop for some history from Edwin. From here we also had an amazing view back across the valley to Dead Woman's Pass that we had conquered on day 2. By the time we had reached the second pass the paving had improved massively and we really began to feel like we were walking on the proper Inca Trail to Maccu Picchu. Obviously some of the path has been restored and maintained but it's said to be 90% original and the handicraft of the rocks fitting perfectly together is incredible. On the steep climbs the group spread out quite thinly with everyone walking at their own pace, but after a break and a snack at the top, as we began the next hour's walking, descending the steep steps on the other side of the mountain, we were much closer knit making slow progress. The steps are so steep you have to watch where you're placing your feet constantly and if we had any cartilage left from the gringo grinders on day 2 we certainly didn't by the time we arrived at the next set of ruins, 400 metres lower. It was only on these sections of sharp descent that we'd slightly regretted our decision not to hire walking poles, but we made it down in one piece. The next hour and a half or so of walking before lunch was perhaps our favourite of the whole trek; more undulating and easier to walk we really got into a rhythm and started to make some distance. Traversing the edge of sheer cliffs, descending into the cloud forest full of orchids, tree ferns and hanging mosses, and passing through an impressive cave on the trail which had been carved into the rock... the views of the valley were amazing and around every corner the scenery seemed to change, giving us so much to look at. After a short climb, we arrived at the third pass for lunch at 11.30am. Our lunch spot seemed to be perched in the clouds, and as the sun broke though we got occasional glimpses of the incredible views below and the afternoon's descent. After a lunch of cheesy pasta, salad and a cake that the cook had somehow rustled up in the basic camping facilities, we were ready for the afternoon's walking, which promised to be 3 hours of steep descent, just in case our legs hadn't had enough! The descent started at Phuyupatamarca, just below our lunch spot and the most impressive Incan ruin so far. Meaning 'town in the clouds' they think it was the site of religious baths and cleansing rituals for those trekking the Inca Trail to Maccu Picchu. The Incan staircase saw us descend about 1,000 steps and as we got lower the scenery became more jungle-like, and the weather warmer. Having been way out in front for the majority of the morning's walking, in the afternoon we slowed our pace to help our knees and walked with the American couple, talking about our trip and their travels. The other British couple who had been struggling on day two took off out of nowhere and we couldn't catch them the whole way down! When we arrived into camp later (for the first time not the first to arrive), they said they'd not had enough energy to brake so it was easier just to go with the gathering pace downhill! As recommended by our guide, we took a slight detour from the classic trail to visit the terraces of Intipata which were immaculate and incredible. On this section we passed two huge landslides that had wiped out parts of the trail. Apparently in the wet season (June is peak dry season) the Trail can be absolutely miserable, and you walk in the wind and rain for four days. We can't imagine how slippery some of the steps and parts of the track would be, and can't imagine it would be a particularly nice experience at all. Amazingly, tourists do still choose to do this in January/March! When we'd all arrived to camp we were called to the food tent for hot drinks and a snack of popcorn and had to decide as a group how we wanted to tip the porters and the cook for their work over the last few days. Thankfully everyone was very much on the same page and it was way easier than we'd anticipated to agree! Dinner that night was pieces of steak, with potatoes and vegetables, and after we'd finished eating we had a little presentation to thank the chef and the porters as a group for their help on the trip, giving the tip (50 soles per porter, about £12.50 each) to the head porter Frederico to split amongst them. Then it was off to bed for an even earlier night (tucked up by 8pm) to catch a few hours kip before waking up at 3.30am for our final day and the last section of the walk to Maccu Picchu.