Written by Mia:

“Feliz Navidad!” is what we said when we got to the Amazonas, the district of Colombia through which the mighty river flows. We were tempted by the crew of Kattami who showed us pictures and gave us recommendations of a great place to stay with wild monkeys and parrots. The flights were expensive and we sat in our cockpit and debated. Santa Marta is not far away and we thought it would be crazy to miss the opportunity. Plus, my brother Mark reminded me that our Grandpa travelled to the Amazon as a senior and he would want me to see it, so we booked tickets as our Christmas gift to ourselves.

We flew from Santa Marta to Bogata and from there to Leticia. We arrived just in time to slather on the bug spray and dash to the town park for the massive return of thousands of green parrots. They come to roost in the park every night and seem to have a LOT to discuss as it was very loud! We ascended the church tower to watch the sun set over the Amazon, it was unforgettable! The Amazon is 6937 km long, passes through eight countries and is the the home to 3000 species of animal. It starts in Peru and ends in the Atlantic Ocean where the estuary is 330 km wide. It moves more water than the next eight rivers combined and the indigenous people who live there number 20 million. It accounts for 25% of the fresh water in the world. This is a truly awe inspiring place.

We were eager to get up the river and the next morning Jon got up early to see if we could get spaces on the “bus” up the river. The bus is really a boat, of course and the only spaces were on the first one which gave us less than an hour to rent wellies, get more cash out, grab breakfast and dash to the ferry. We made it, hooray and we’re speeding 85km up the Amazon to the cute village of Puerto Narino. The two hour journey was amazing to us as you see whole families traveling up and down the river with babes in arms and often umbrellas to keep the sun or rain off. Rowing a boat is the equivalent of riding a bike and of course there is a lot of fishing as well. There is also a lot of erosion and the boats have to be careful to avoid entire trees floating in the water.

There are no cars in Puerto Narino and they are proud of their recycling, they have even used plastic bottles as planters. Felix, our guide, who is born and bred here told us that the town has grown extensively in the last decade and now there is culinary competition as there are two restaurants as well as street food as the intersection of pedestrian paths. He also told us he remembers when the hospital was one room, and now it has patient rooms with beds for overnight stays.

We stayed at a place called Cabanas del Friar and they came to fetch us with another smaller “peque peque” boat to travel another 10 minutes up the river. Teo was much impressed with the length of the prop and was tempted to have a go at steering. Manuel and Naddi from Monado were sitting waiting for us and they introduced us to the parrots Red and Blue&Gold macaws) and monkeys (squirrel  monkeys). Teo named them “Red”, “Fluff” and “Never Leaves our Room”. These parrots have the intelligence of a three to eight year old child and live up to fifty years.

Once we were settled we jumped into our wellies and Felix took us for a walk through the jungle to a nature reserve. The walk through the jungle was full of sights and sounds that were awe inspiring. He pointed out grasshoppers and spiders and trees and the different frog and bird calls and some extremely loud crickets along the way. We stopped for a rest at a clearing with what resembled an Amish barn raising. Felix told us it was a community center for indigenous tribes. At the reserve we visited a beautiful pond full of Victoria Regia water lillies, which look like they could hold a child’s weight on their giant lily pads. We watched turtles and two giant types of fish, but the caymans stayed out of sight. One of the huge fish we saw we the eerie Pirarucu which can grow up to three meters long and legend has it that it was once a human warrior who was changed into a fish for being vain. A couple of Howler Monkeys made an appearance just as we were leaving, they were amazingly playful and we loved just watching them play in the trees. On our way back through town we stopped for street food, grilled chicken, grilled plantains and corn and well deserved cold drinks to wash it all down. When we got back to the hostel, the Squirrel monkeys were sleeping in the eaves on one side of the door to clubhouse and the parrots roosting were on the other.

We awoke to monkeys jumping on the tin roofs of the cabanas and they were hungry! If you stand still holding a bit of food they come running across the roof and jump on you and help themselves. They are very gentle and have very soft hands. There were even a couple of mamma monkeys with a baby each on her back. The mammas were the most chilled out and gentle ones, with a tiny, adorable monkey clinging to her back. They were a definite highlight of our stay. Down by the river, next to a shed they have built a little bridge into the trees for the sole purpose of feeding the Pygmy Marmoset monkeys. These little cuties are the smallest true monkey, weighing in at only 100 grams. They are dwarfed by the bananas they love so much.

We wandered through town and went to the corner store for ice cream and later walked around the pedestrianized walkways to explore the town. It is colorful and full of planters made of plastic bottles. We followed the raised wooden walkways to the Natutama museum. We watched videos about the pink dolphins of the Amazon and the plight of the manatee who have been hunted to near extinction. Afterwards we were guided through the museum, we went through the mouth of the anaconda to see beneath the water level, there were hundreds of carved wooden figurines of the animals that live in the Amazon including the pink and grey dolphins, the manatees, the piranhas and all the other fish. We moved on to another room showcasing the indigenous people, especially the Ticuna people and how important it is to take care of the river.

There are 80 000 species of plant, and of them 16 000 species of tree grow along the Amazon including rubber trees and walking palms, but by far the most amazing of the was the Ceiba tree. They grow up to 60 meters high and our guide said they can grow to be 3000 years old, and even if this seems far fetched, they are majestic. They star in a creation legend of the Ticuna. “In the beginning of time, the universe was dark because the light was hidden behind the gigantic cup of a huge ceiba tree. To take the world out of darkness, according to the creation myth of the Ticunas of the Colombian Amazon, Yoi and Ipi, the twin heroes, brought down the tree with the help of the animals of the jungle. When it fell, the thick trunk became the Amazon River and the long branches its tributaries, the leaves became the fish and the roots the estuary into the sea.”

On our last day, it started raining and it was amazing to experience the rain 8n the rain forest. This did not stop us from visiting Lago Tarapoto with our guide Felix in a peque peque boat. We were lucky and saw both the grey and the famous pink dolphins of the Amazon. Felix said it was safe to swim, even though you can fish for piranha nearby. We even jumped in quickly jumped back in the boat but we can say we swam in the Amazon!  This amazing place will fill our memories and feed our imaginations for a long time to come.

Written by Mia:

We rented a car in Medellin and set off to see the countryside. We drove 800 kilometers, Jon did about 28 hours of driving and so we ended up averaging 28 kilometers an hour. There are lots of lorries and buses on the roads and traffic is slow which is probably good because the roads are curvy and there are car sized potholes and landslides to avoid.

Jerico was our first destination and we took the scenic route to get there. The road brought us past the most gorgeous, lush countryside, awe inspiring valleys and bustling towns. As we drove through towns and peered into shops and eateries it felt like we got a glimpse of the rural Colombian lifestyle. And it wasn’t long before we saw our first coffee plants, and they are gorgeous! They very often they seemed to be coupled with banana trees because they offer shade for the coffee plants, the root systems prevent soil erosion and the bark of the banana trees act as fertilizer, plus you can sell the bananas, too. It seemed fitting to take a coffee break and take in the view.

The light was golden as we finally arrived in Jerico and the drive through town to our hostel was a rainbow of brightly painted houses. There are not many hostels in town and we were happy that Las Cometas (which means “The Kites”) had room for us. It was a super friendly place with an eclectic mix of colors and tiles and furniture style and as we walked into the courtyard, we realized it is right underneath the church. In the morning we awoke to a full service. Jorge, the cool guy running the hostel is very welcoming and we had fun chatting with him not just about Jerico, but also the future of Colombia. They are running a coffee project which includes inviting a Kiwi barista to teach the cafes to make hipster coffee and giving free English lessons to locals in the tourist industry. Apparently the area around Jerico was the original coffee region and they want it back. The next day after Teo made breakfast for the coffee project, we went for a long walk around this adorable town and even spent a good chunk of time in the botanical garden. We left town later than we planned headed for Jardin and we arrived with an hour or two of sunlight.

Jardin is another glorious, colorful pueblo in Antioquia and even though the main plaza is under refurbishment, it is full of charm and buzzing with activity. The church in town is black and white striped and we enjoyed fabulous coffee and cake in its shadow. Our family run hostel “Es Tuyo” was just across the square from the church with a wraparound balcony and an amazing view, plus we had six beds to ourselves. I wanted to sublet a double to couple backpackers but Jon wouldn’t let me. There was a man and his horse practicing a special horse gait called “Paso Fino”which demonstrates great control. The sound of it is mesmerizing and we stood in awe as they went up and down the street. The next morning we wandered around town and stopped at “Dulces de Jardin” which is gorgeous family run sweet shop with tons of temptations and gorgeous tiles. On our way back to the car, Teo attracted the attention of about 15 giggly school girls who wanted to touch his blonde hair and practice their English. This was enough to make Teo shy and that made them giggle even more.

We got a late start hitting the road and there is a huge construction project and that combination meant we arrived into Solento in the dark and to make it interesting it was raining hard, too. We had been in contact with the hostel Art Valez and even though we felt bad waking the girls, we were happy to get there! They were happy to get us settled and Teo was thrilled to have a bunk bed, and he decided that upstairs was for playing and downstairs for sleeping. Solento is very cute but more touristy than the other places we visited. We were amused by the tour groups with color coded baseball caps. We enjoyed our coffee tour at the small eco friendly plantation called Arcazia. We got to see the whole process, including what terrain is best (hilly high altitude but not snow proned), when beans are ready for picking (only the red ones, our baskets were not full), what plants to use to keep bugs away (garlic and sage compost soup), how to tell if a bean is top quality (does it float or sink in a water bath) and we got to see where they roast their crops (grandma’s kitchen). We ended the tour sipping coffee on the veranda and chatting with the guide from Venezuela.

We enjoyed dinner and breakfast at a place called “Brunch” which is run by a guy from Oregon who makes his own peanut butter and write notes for your packed lunch. Teo loved writing on the walls “Are you SURE I am allowed?” and his Mickey Mouse pancake and Jon and I got through half the nachos mountain.

We went for a hike in the valley of palms, Valle de Cocora and loved hiking through the jungle and crossed the river on bridges made of logs. This was not an easy walk and we ended up with an ascent of 1000 meters. The palms of this valley are gorgeous and grow to be 60 meters tall and 200 years old. Many of them were being cut down for Palm Sunday festivities so Colombia has made them their state tree to protect them. We loved the Humminbird Sanctuary Acaime where they just buzz around your head so closely you think they might land. You might see a pattern forming but we stayed too long and then took a wrong turn which meant we were very happy that mobile phones have built in flashlights and that we met Marco from Mexico to share a laugh with on our descent. It has rained a lot and slipping and sliding in the mud in the dark was less fun, but all in this day was incredible and made us even more proud of Teo who was a complete rock star.

Our last outing on our road trip was a visit to the Botanical Garden at Quindío with an incredible Butterfly Enclosure. We enjoyed the guided walk through the garden and all the views points and the small museum but the best part by far is the butterfly enclosure. We loved it and we could lure the butterflies with orange wedges. I even had one omg nose for a while!

We loved exploring this bit of Colombia.

Written by Mia:

Our second inland trip in Colombia started with a flight to the city of Medellin. We’d heard so many great things about this city from both other travelers and also from Alejandro, a friend who grew up there. During our time moored next to each other in Curaçao he regaled us with stories of growing up in the most dangerous city in the world. 

Clearly the opportunity to take our 6 year old son to the most dangerous city in the world couldn’t be passed up! Glad we have not watched the TV series yet…

More seriously, we were aching to explore a real place and grabbed the opportunity to see a bit of this incredible country and we started with the Antioquia which is a region in northwest Colombia, lying mostly within the Andes mountains and extending toward the Caribbean Sea.

We spent four days in the vibrant, edgy, unique city of Medellin. Sorry if this starts out with a school project feel but this is what Google has to say “Medellín is the capital of Colombia’s mountainous Antioquia province. Nicknamed the “City of Eternal Spring” for its temperate weather, it hosts a famous annual Flower Festival. Modern metrocables link the city to surrounding barrios and offer views of the Aburrá Valley below. Sculptures by Fernando Botero decorate downtown’s Botero Plaza, while the Museo de Antioquia displays more of the Colombian artist’s work.”

We very much enjoyed the springlike weather in the area. It is the first time in months we craved long sleeves and it was a nice, welcomed change. We stayed in the La Poblada area which  reminded us of Grunnerlokka/Soho/Islington and we spent some time around the area just soaking up the vibe. We had a ball walking through the parks, watching people and admiring the graffiti. We visited the Botanical garden which had a complete use-it-like-a-local-park feel. There were huge iguanas climbing trees but unfortunately the butterfly enclosure was closed. Just across the street is the Planetarium with the attached science museum and we enjoyed a few hours there and watched a movie on the impressive dome screen. It had gotten dark during our visit and it was incredible to see the barrios spreading up the mountain side. There are amber colored lights climbing the hills of every side.

The next day we visited the nature reserve, Arvi. It was a wonderful three hour hike over spongey woodland floor and it rained a little and we got to wear fleece jackets and rain coats. We were happy campers! We topped it off with lunch like the locals, hearty soup with avocado bits and freshly made juice which was a treat, but the best part of the adventure was the trip there and back. Medellin is situated in a bowl and to enable everyone to get around they use cable cars as part of their public transport system. We had a blast riding the cable cars and even got a birds eye view of an urban mountain biking race through the winding streets and down staircases. Teo’s Eyes were very round as he exclaimed “Epic!” It was sobering to see the conditions in the barrios and even when you can clearly see people have very little, they paint their homes bright colors and seem to be busy making a living and making their living as nice as possible.

We slowly realized that in Medellin the affluent folk live in the high rises in the center of town with doormen, lots of security, and usually a small annex where the maid/nanny lives. The outskirts with gardens are not desirable to the upper class as we are used to in Oslo and London. On that subject we have learned that Colombia and its government have divided people into strata and these levels are established in the residential areas even reach as far as how much people pay for electricity and water. Whereas it is meant to make things more fair, we were left wondering if it keeps the gaps between people more established.

We returned to Medellin after our road trip and visited the bustling/crowded Botero Plaza to see the giant, corpulent bronze statues. In an imaginary world they could meet their Stoney friends from Vigelandsparken in Oslo and they would have a marvelous time. We just soaked up the vibe and grabbed a lovely meal at well established lunch place that has served locals for generations before heading to the airport. Our trip was over far quicker than it should have been!