Meet the fabulous 5

Group Shot!

Chris and I make our way to Santa Marta and go to La Guaca Hostel because Victor highly recommended it.  A lot of people are hanging out at the hostel so I go to chill with them on the couches and hammocks. I had no intention of making friends, as they were all speaking English, (you know my feeling on this by now on this trip 😉 I just wanted to find a place to clean my stinky laundry (just think hot, hot, humid weather the last 2 weeks, yeah, I was pretty gross at this point). Nevertheless,  I meet a group of fabulous 5 people and I can’t help but be drawn to wanting to be apart of that group. Sometimes in the hostels, it’s like you want to be apart of the cool kid group. Somehow I fit in with the “cool kids”. I don’t think I laughed this hard in a long time, but this group is just ridiculous fun.  First, there’s Ali. She’s from Arizona and has the most contagious laugh. She’s into yoga and hiking and her Spanish is great – clearly we’re a good match. Then there’s Jay/Jaybird. He’s British and between his accent, stories, and jokes, he has my abs hurting from laughing so hard. Think – no filter with him. James is also British, he’s generally quieter, (someone has to be quiet to balance the Ali/Jay combo 😉 but when James adds something to say to the group, it’s the wittiest, funniest thing and worth the wait. Lastly, there’s John, who oddly enough I meet him in a hammock (he’s always in hammocks the first week or so I know him). He’s a wonderful, genuine, positive spirited guy from Canada, but he’s been living in Australia for something like the past 6 years and presents with the oddest mix of accents. So that’s the gang for the next few weeks.  The guys tell me they are headed to Minca the next day so without batting an eye, I invited myself to go with.

Ali and I on our hike in Minca.

Ali had already been to Minca, but Jay convinced her to come again with us. It’s only an hour outside of Santa Marta so it’s an easy trip.

We go to Oscar’s Place in Minca which was highly recommended by Franca. Thankfully, we left our big packs at our hostel in Santa Marta because to get to Oscar’s Place, you have to hike 20-30 minutes through the selva (jungle).  We arrive and Oscar is hammered! It’s only about noon and he’s 2 wine bottles deep. Okay, so this is our host for the evening? He has old friends visiting and apparently he’s living it up. But, his place is beautiful. It has amazing panoramic views of Santa Marta and the jungle. Ali and I have a separate little house to sleep in with a deck on top where we wake in the morning to do a fantastic yoga session with the most amazing views of nature.

Views of Santa Marta and the jungle from Oscar’s place and our “yoga studio” in the morning.

 

James, Jay, and Ali letting the fishes eat their dead skin.

Waterfall hike from Oscar’s Place.

Oscar’s place also has a manmade pond with fish in it that eat the dead skin off your legs and feet. Tickles! We all take a try, I’m terrified but manage to handle it for a few minutes. We do some hikes to see waterfalls in Minca the 2 days we’re there. The second day, Ali, Jay, and I end up a bit lost, but we learn plenty about each other and laugh enough to pass the hours as we wander the trails in Minca. Overall, the best part of Minca is hanging with my new favorite people who always have me laughing. Jay – I still need to find a traffic cone for my birthday.

Jay, Ali, and I happy we finally found the waterfall.

We make our way back to Santa Marta to catch a night bus to San Gil. This is my first night bus in Colombia and I’m happy to be going with friends. And I’m oddly excited to try it out. One thing everyone warns you about night buses is they are cold. And if you know me, I’m always cold so this is a terrifying fact. I prepare best I can, the problem is Santa Marta is SO hot, you can only tolerate so many clothes to commute to the bus. On the bus, I’m wearing socks, pants, t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, sleeping bag liner, and my Northface jacket and I’m still freezing. So I put on my hood, sleep mask, and wrap my scarf around my face so every inch of skin is covered. I still wake up on and off, freezing. Did I mention the bus driver is blasting whatever terrible Spanish movie is on TV? Made for a really comfortable bus ride, hardly. I really wish Ali and Jay snapped a picture of me dressed as a mummy. It was ridiculous but necessary.

Sunset at Oscar’s Place

 

Ali headed towards our secret room below at Oscar’s Place.

We survive our night bus and make it to San Gil, the adventure capital of Colombia. It’s no wonder I fall in love with this place.  We do whitewater rafting with class 4 and 5 rapids (5 is the most difficult), paragliding, and drink a lot of wine every night in the hot tub (that’s a sport too, right?). The boys win at that sport hands down.  One of the nights we’re there, the owner takes almost everyone in the hostel (something like 25 people) to a local bar to play Tejo in San Gil. What is Tejo you ask? Think bags, cornhole, whatever you call it back home, and add explosives in the middle. Yes, explosives. Also, instead of throwing bags, you throw heavy stones.

Tejo – I got 2 “boom-booms”!

You also throw from a further distance. If you land in the middle, you get what we called a “boom-boom” and the gunpowder explodes. I got 2 boom-booms and everyone thought I was amazing. I guess not everyone played bags in college or at their friends’ lakehouses like I do.

Tejo – not Ali’s forte

Tejo – John, I’ll give him credit for 2nd best on the team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tejo – James left us for another team

Tejo – Jay, held his own a bit better than Ali on the team

Exploring San Gil

At Gringo Mike’s – the guys’ favorite restaurant that serves you more food than you should eat, but they still somehow manage to finish it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking up to a mirador in San Gil

Meat stick! Street food. You can get a meat stick for 3 pesos and corn on the cob for 3 pesos aka dinner for $2 USD.

Plaza in San Gil. I love the plazas in Colombia. All the locals hang out at them and they’re always full of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay and Ali – making their way back from the mirador in San Gil

 

View from the mirador in San Gil

 

Making our way up to the mirador in San Gil

I have an abundant amount of pictures from Paragliding and Whitewater rafting so you can catch those in my next blog post!