Coffee paradise

Cartagena

It felt strange to have mainland under our feet. The boat continued to rock. After our unique sailing trip, our first goal was a fresh water shower with thorough care. In the hostel room, we admired the paradisiacal photos of our five-day boat trip. Hard to believe the luck that struck us on this trip.

Strolling through Cartagena quickly showed us that it was a historic colonial city with many beautiful places to offer. In addition, we felt privileged to have reached this beautiful city by sailboat. The pirates did the same and took the gold.

We spent the first evening in Cartagena, as you would expect, with our boat colleagues. It ended with large beers, countless screens on the wall, and a rock concert in an English pub.

St. Gallen meets St. Gallen. It's hard to believe how small the world is. We strolled through the streets of the old town of Cartagena when suddenly Céline, a colleague from St. Gallen, jumped out of a coffee shop. "Wooow, what are you doing here?" "So good!" So a cup of coffee with her turned into a cozy evening with dinner.

Taking time

Traveling can sometimes be exhausting. The locals who try to sell you something on the street every day and try to evoke a situational need in you. We know exactly whether and when we want to buy something. They are always trying to bargain with the potential buyer. You pay too much for your avocado if you accept the seller's first price. Over time, this can wear on the nerves. However, such inconveniences do not dominate our daily travel life, they are only brief annoyances that do not cloud the joy of getting to know other cultures. We often think about our home, family, and friends with whom we would like to spend time. Traveling is exciting and sometimes tiring because we always want to be filled with new impressions. On our journey, we meet many interesting people who do not all make it into this blog. But that is what traveling is all about - meaningful encounters, or not. Most people here are ready for a chat. This expands our and others' horizons. Getting to know the life stories of other people is exciting and helps us grow. It is so important to take the time for conversations. Surely there is something to learn from them. If not, it may expand our knowledge of people. This is easy for us here because we only have to adhere to a schedule 99% of the time. We go with the flow and let things happen. It is so beautiful to travel together. The only disputes arise when we are hungry and have no patience with each other. Neither of us is in a good mood when our stomach is empty.

Continuing to Bucaramanga

After two nights in Cartagena, we continued to Bucaramanga, where Chrigel and his wife Teresa live. But the transfer to the bus station was not as simple and quick as we thought. We thought the transfer to the bus station would only take a few minutes. But when we expressed our wish to the taxi driver, he explained how far and how long the journey would be - about an hour! We were shocked. He said it would be possible with our departure time if he drove very fast. He not only had to step on the gas but also had to take a dangerous route through the city. The taxi driver explained that gangs kidnap people on this route and take them to the mountains to collect large ransoms. The many motorcyclists sometimes stop taxis as well and prevent them from continuing. Fortunately, nothing like this happened. However, despite our driver's efforts, we missed the night bus to Bucaramanga that we had already paid for. Without a discount, we had to pay for a new bus two hours later for the equivalent of 30 Swiss francs per person. It annoyed us, but we used the time to write a blog. After the 13-hour journey, we finally arrived in Bucaramanga.

Thank you, Chrigel

Chrigel was waiting for us in front of the entrance to his 21-story building. The entire entrance door was adorned with photos of us. We were welcomed with a warm welcome and delicious Swiss breakfast. Rösti with egg and ham - mmmh! On the first day, we talked a lot, wrote the blog, sorted photos, recovered from the journey, and crowned the arrival with a delicious fillet steak in the city's best steakhouse.

The passionate tennis player Chrigel invited us to play tennis with him. It was great and allowed us to enjoy the sauna in the residential building even more afterwards. On the third and final evening, we cheered on the Colombian national football team for the World Cup during the qualification rounds with a few colleagues of Carlos, Teresa's son. We had a wonderfully relaxing and fun time with the Hochreutener family. We laughed a lot and enjoyed Chrigel's humorous and cheerful Swiss manner. Many thanks for the hospitality.

Colorful Guatapé

The trip from Bucaramanga to Guatapé was exciting. As soon as we closed our eyes, it was bumpy and shaking. The bus driver raced through the streets as if he were the only one in traffic and on the bus. He used the road humps, which we know in Switzerland as speed bumps in 30km/h zones, to send the heads of the passengers flying to the ceiling. We often saw the people making the sign of the cross. The driver did the same. That probably gave him some sort of free pass to drive as fast as he liked.

We really liked the picturesque village of Guatapé with its countless colors and diverse wall paintings. We felt comfortable. The people were nice and helpful. Sports also didn't come up short in Guatapé. Once we explored the area by racing and climbed the "Piedra del Peñol". This is a huge granite monolith with 740 steps. It offered breathtaking views of the surroundings.

The many mountains and the artificially created lake offered a great opportunity to rent a mountain bike for three francs a day. With the bike, we visited the monks on the mountain and felt like we were ten years back in time with the squeaky bicycles.

Arabica coffee

Salento was our next destination, which we will remember fondly. The small village with less than 10,000 inhabitants is located in the Zona Cafetera, the coffee region of Colombia. One day after our arrival, we took a coffee tour with Don Eduardo. It was very informative and comprehensive. When we arrived at the English owner's farm, his huge dog had just gotten stuck in barbed wire. Equipped with rubber boots, we set off for the coffee farm. The farmer explained everything to us about this daily companion - from the plant to the caffeinated drink in the cup. For example, heavily roasted coffee tastes more intense, less acidic, and has less caffeine because most of it is in the moisture of the coffee bean. We ended the tour with a coffee tasting. It was delicious and after the two morning coffees and the tasting, we may have had an excess of caffeine. Or maybe we had too little blood in our body for the caffeine? In any case, it felt electrifying. Energized, we then had a delicious curry in an Indian restaurant great nearby.

Meeh Dreck

Whoever brakes later, stays fast longer!
We booked a mountain bike tour with a shuttle at an altitude of about 3400 meters above sea level. Along the way, we had a picnic surrounded by wax palms. When we reached the highest point, we equipped ourselves with helmets and pads. First, we raced about 10 kilometers downhill on a gravel road until we saw the entrance to a unique "single trail" in front of us. The descent with the bike was awesome.

In addition to dirt, we experienced the beautiful nature with hiking and biking. Salento and its surroundings had a Swiss impression with tropical charm. These huge palm trees in the mountains gave this region a special flair.

Sometimes traveling reminds us of the exciting visit to Europa Park that we experienced as children. This sometimes makes it quite challenging to maintain the tension curve on the above-average level. To get this spice, it is clear to everyone that it is important to consciously incorporate "do-nothing" or at least "don't-do-much" days into the travel routine. As mentioned in the blog post above - traveling can be exhausting at times. The danger of sensory overload is great. That's why there may be individual days when we are not particularly enthusiastic about anything. The mind, like the stomach, needs time to process. After all, we want to absorb everything like a sponge. Digesting could also be called unwinding, so that the sponge can take in a lot of fresh water before each new adventure. We hold ourselves to this standard. The dirty water from the wrung-out sponge has character, contains countless experiences, and we treasure it with great care. This dirty water shapes our personality and allows us to tell stories that help other people grow. Thank you very much, dear dirty water, for being so dirty!

On the way to the Ecuadorian border

We spent a few days in the white colonial city of Popayán. After one day in the city, we sought adventure on the nearby Puracé volcano. Unfortunately, we had to give up just before reaching the summit of the four and a half thousand meter high volcano. The visibility was terrible. The wind and rain were bitterly cold, forcing us to give up. On the way to the Ecuadorian border, we visited a magnificent church in Las Lajas. The location is as unique as the building itself. It is the only church built in a gorge. On weekends, people flock to the church and ask the Virgin Mary for help. If the wishes (children, return from war, protection, or similar) of the people are fulfilled, they donate a gratitude plaque. Countless plaques decorate the rock wall around the church.

Two young refugees from Venezuela were on the same bus as us. The conversation with them greatly affected us. He described how badly his family is doing in this dictatorship. In Venezuela, he earned the equivalent of 11 Swiss francs per week. That was barely enough for food. When he was telling the story, his eyes welled up with tears. He and his girlfriend want to travel non-stop to Lima, Peru - they sleep on the bus. When asked what they do for work in Peru, he replied, "Anything, as long as it's work." They hope for a better life for themselves and their families. Venezuela's economy, which is almost entirely dependent on oil exports, is currently in a severe crisis characterized by hyperinflation, supply shortages, and famine. We wish the two of them all the best on their journey.

Anticipation is the greatest joy

We have the feeling that on our big trip, one highlight follows another. Our next adventure is the Galapagos Islands. We can hardly believe that we found a last-minute offer at half the price. A dream come true. For five days, we will explore the world's largest wild animal paradise. Our anticipation is huge. Speaking of anticipation - the Olma is currently in progress, which constantly reminds us of missing the bratwurst. The image of the sausage in hand and the flour from the crispy white bread on our lips is firmly stuck in our minds. Our Swiss culinary anticipations, in addition to the Olma bratwurst, for raclette or fondue, chocolate, and Älpler macaroni are also very strong. Enjoy your meal!