Into the Heart of the Jungle (Sort of....)

Not traveling alone: not only do I not get bored, I don´t even have to update my own blog! Woohoo! Here is the rundown of the 5 day jungle trek we just got back from, from Angel´s perspective.

The Lost City trek: 5 days of slipping and sliding through mud, wading through rivers, and just generally tromping through the jungle. This seemed like a really good way to spend a good chunk of my vacation. We quickly figured out the routine: The mornings are an early riser at around 5:45 (at least for Mariel and I) and included a gigantic breakfast of either 3-5 cups of fruit or a 4 egg omlett with 1/2 cup of cheese (which I found out after a day of bumbly stomach) and 3 pieces of white toast (smothered in butter). This, of course, we were all ravenous for and ate up and asked for seconds. There was so much food the whole trek and wow did we eat a lot! Mornings were sunny and pleasant and it is when we did the most hiking. Every afternoon, however, at 3:30pm like clockwork the storms rolled in. Sometimes they lasted for two hours, sometimes for 10 hours. Pretty awesome feeling to sit in a hammock and watch the rain pelt the already soaked jungle floor knowing nothing is expected of you but to stumble over to the table when dinner is ready. One night I had to share that rain soaked experience with a mouse that decided to crawl over my head. It's not the best thing to wake up to a mouse in your hair at 1am....trust me.

Of course it was beautiful too! But like most beautiful things, very difficult to photograph. Being in the Jungle is like being in a busy subway but the people are trees and the trash on the ground are countless worker ants. The sound on the speaker announcing the next train is the buzz of mosquitos awaiting to attack if you weren´t lucky enough to remember repellent. I got a few good photos of the scenery, and even better photos of the military. Up until we reached the lost city, three days hike in, I had been slightly worried about all the military walking around Santa Marta and the rest of Columbia. They are slightly intimidating, and since I´m in columbia, very freaky when they are carrying a gun. Then we met the poor kids who are forced to join the military at 18 and were then put on a mountain in the jungle with no one to talk to. They looooved the gringos.

The lost city: Apparently this city was used by the Tairona people from 700AD-1400AD, when the Spanish came and wiped them all out with disease. The Spanish never made it up to the mountain (they were probably disuaded by the 2000 moss covered slippery oddly shaped steps that lead to the city) but the disease was spread through trade with other non-lost city dwelling Taironians. The place was gorgeous and apparently very rich. When someone discovered it in the late 20´s, the archeologists found a crap load of gold. Taironians didn´t believe gold to be a precious stone, so they just had it in their houses ready to be robbed 600 years down the road.

We were promised an english speaking guide, but in true south american fashion, the dude spoke really fast spanish and not a lick of english. His favorite things to say were "this is very complicated", "This is very important", "No problem! relax!" (that last one would be when Mariel and I were complaining about his lack of plan). It was an interesting group. One dude even walked the whole thing barefoot. I´m curious to see what types of infections he gets in the next weeks...gross!

Its been 10 days now in Columbia. Its a great country! I haven´t felt scared yet and the weather is awesome. Do I actually have to go back to work at the end of this?