A Day Trip to San Cipriano

Without any of those long weekends we teachers love so much happening in September, I was feeling the itch to travel a bit. Thankfully, others felt the same! In the past two years, Kelsi and I have attempted to go to a place named San Cipriano on a variety of occasions, yet never successfully for a variety of reasons. Most of these reasons related back to us feeling like the process of getting there was just too much to deal with (2.5 hours on a city bus one-way, then hailing a passing bus for the ride home) and we had no desire to stay overnight in a place that had only been described to us as "rustic". 

This time around we managed to get 11 coworkers on board for the day trip, so I organized a charter bus to take us there and back. Miracle of miracles, the whole thing went off without a hitch and only ended up costing about $10,000 pesos ($5 USD) more per person than if we had taken the public bus. WIN! 

On the bus and ready to go with a great mix of old and new co-workers!

Next we piled out of the van and onto the brujitas. What is a brujita? Possibly the most ridiculous/ingenious form of transportation ever, but then again nothing in Colombia really surprises me anymore. Basically it is a motorcycle hooked up to a wooden platform with benches on it for riders to sit on. If there are more than about 5 riders a second platform is put in front of the first and the motorcycle just pushes that one along in front. I don't think words will do it justice, but hopefully you get an idea from the picture.

Boarding the brujita...

A brujita without an extra platform in front...you get the idea. 

All aboard!

Looking ahead down the tracks! This part was scenic, but going over the bridges made me a bit nervous!

Once we were actually in San Cipriano we paid a small fee to get into the area where the river is and then found ourselves a place to rent tubes as well as order lunch for post-floating nourishment. We grabbed our tubes, loaded up the cooler and walked upstream about 45 minutes. From there we put in our tubes and off we went! The sun was shining, the river was clean and clear and the company was great! We took our time floating down river, taking time to talk, explore natural pools, ride down some of the rapids and just enjoy the day. At one point we took a serious pit-stop near a rope swing! I love rope swings into rivers and this one did not disappoint! Since the rope itself was located high above the river I found it easy to stay well above the water - long enough for Kelsi to snap a sweet picture!

Ready to go and waiting for the boys to get the cooler situation under control. 

The boys finish packing the cooler...

Por fin! They are ready to go!

Into the river!

Loving it already :) 

Naturally the cooler needed its own tube. 

Nowhere to be, nothing to do, a simple little kind of free.

Rope swings are the best things ever!

 After the river we enjoyed a traditional lunch of rice, platanos (smashed plantains), fish and salad before getting back on the bus to Cali. Shockingly, both the man to take us on the brujita and the man driving our bus were waiting for us at the designated places/times. Which worked out great for us, but as I told Kelsi later, probably wasn't the most accurate introduction for the new people to what travel in Colombia is actually like! We were home by 7:30 PM, in time to watch some TV and go to bed exhausted by 9 PM after a day of sun and adventures...

Cannot wait to go again soon!!

Kayaking Adventures with Anna

To finish up Anna's visit to Colombia we did one of my FAVORITE things in Colombia - kayak along the Pacific Coast. With Julio Perez and his Bicivan adventures company we set out for three days of sunshine, paddling and friends. Kelsi had two friends visiting, Tara and Varun, and our friend Stetson came along as well!

The six of us had a great three days of fabulous weather and excellent kayaking. This trip was one that Kelsi and I have done a few times before, so we were familiar with the area and we knew we wanted to share this unique part of Colombia with our friends.

The trip included three days of kayaking around some islands a short distance from the mainland of Juanchaco, Colombia as well as a short walk to the neighboring town of Ladrilleros. Here is a sneak peek into our adventures:

Kelsi and I on the boat from Buenaventura, the only town you can drive to on the Pacific Coast, to the coastal town of Juanchaco.

Kayaking around one of the islands on the first day. Anna and I are in the green kayak.

Lunch break on the first island! We didn't get very far before indulging in some cervezas and ceviche to keep our energy up for the afternoon.

Gorgeous :)

Thinking about how much I love the Pacific Coast :)

Obviously I made everyone pose for jump shots on our walk.

Co-workers jump shot! LOVE.

A view from one of the little caves looking out to the ocean.

Walking from Juanchaco to Ladrilleros, from left to right, Kelsi, Anna, me, and Julio, our guide.

Post-walk chatting over Coco Locos.

Sunset over the Pacific Coast - there really is nothing like it!

Sunset beers with friends is the best thing.

Varun and Tara enjoying the sunset :)

A Weekend of Sun & Sand Fleas

Last weekend we celebrated Teacher's Day with a half day of school on Friday, so a group of seven of us took of right as school ended for the Pacific Coast. I have been to the coast several times before, but only to kayak, so this was a different experience.

After a three hour ride to Buenaventura, we hopped a boat to the coastal towns of Juanchaco & Ladrilleros and settled in at Hotel Palma Real for the weekend. This part of Colombia is extremely rustic, with very little infrastructure, so the fact that our hotel included a swimming pool, meals provided and air conditioning was a miracle. And one I was very thankful for more than once during the weekend!

Throughout the weekend we spent some quality time at the beach, playing games and hanging out together since most of the people on the trip are friends who will not be here next year. The beach, La Barra, was mostly deserted on Saturday, so we enjoyed spreading out on the sand, reading, playing lots of frisbee, having a few beers, and playing in the ocean.

View of La Barra beach from the slippery slopes of the path from our hotel.

Welcome to La Barra!

Of course Tara, Hana and I got a Coco Loco to accompany the 30 minute walk to the beach.

We arrived to the beach to find Caleb & Angie had constructed this lovely beach shelter!

Enjoying some beers oceanside :)

The weekend was not all fun and games, however, as I returned back to the hotel that night with more sand flea bites than I could possibly count. Upon arrival back in Cali I ended up doing some Google research on sand fleas and discovered the following in the first paragraph:

"You're sitting there reminiscing about your day at the beach. The water was perfect, the sand was bright and powdery...and now your legs are itching like crazy for some reason. Upon closer inspection, you notice a series of red welts decorating your skin. You have just been the unlucky main course at the sand flea buffet. These bites are rarely dangerous, but can cause discomfort for days."

NO KIDDING.

So now I have two different anti-histamines to keep me from constantly itching. Supposedly the marks will go away in two weeks or so, at which time I can stop constantly wearing pants and looking like I just had a bad case of shingles.

Despite the nasty bites, I enjoyed the weekend of relaxation before the craziness of the next four weeks. Why is the end of the school year always so stressful??? I feel like there is so much to do between now and the blissful days of summer...yet all I seem to be doing with my free time is creating new blog pages, watching the Minnesota Twins stink it up, and making adult decisions like eating oatmeal for dinner two nights in a row.

Is it June 17th yet?

Taking It To the Next Level: Kayaking on the Pacific Coast

Last weekend Kelsi and I embarked on another kayaking trip with Julio Perez and his company Bicivan. We have previously traveled with Julio on a day trip down the Rio Cauca as well as a spring trip to Bahia Malaga on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. However, this trip to Bahia Malaga was going to be different because we were set on seeing WHALES!

According to Lonely Planet,

"The Pacific is famous for its whale-watching. Between July and October whales come from as far away as Antarctica to calve and nurse their young. You can see them all along this coast."

Also, according to Colombia Travel,

"Around 10-15% of whale births in the southeastern Pacific Ocean take place in Bahia Malaga" How cool is that?!?

For more about the whale migration to Colombia, read here.

Following a similar schedule as our last trip we started out early from Cali at 5 am on Saturday, and after a three hour van ride and an hour boat trip, we arrived in our base for the weekend, the small town of Juanchaco. Over the three days in Juanchaco and the surrounding area we went out kayaking twice, hiked along the coast between Juanchaco and neighboring Ladrilleros, and took a three hour canoe ride in native canoes during which it rained the entire time. Also, we were in a canoe with a man who really struggled to maintain his center of balance so basically this affirmed our love of kayaks and hatred of canoes.

This trip 100% confirmed for me my love of the ocean in general, specifically on the Pacific Coast of Colombia, and also kayaking. When Kelsi and I first went on a kayaking trip with Julio we capsized ten minutes into it because we hit the shore of the river unintentionally. Needless to say, we have come a long way since then because this trip we got called "Olympian Kayakers". Probably because we were on a trip with a bunch of people who had not kayaked before in an ocean. We definitely aren't that good, but we have gotten a lot better. We didn't unintentionally fall out of our kayak once the whole weekend! Pretty awesome considering that entering and exiting the water in crashing waves isn't exactly a piece of cake. However, the situation was pretty funny because on our last trip we totally made fun of this couple who came with wetsuits and gloves and just looked like intense kayakers the whole time, and as Kelsi pointed out, on this trip...we were the intense kayakers.

Some of my favorite photos from the weekend:

Kayaking Adventure: Pacific Coast

Almost a month ago Kelsi and I spent a long weekend kayaking on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. I described the trip here and told you a short little story about losing my camera here. However, now that I have collected all the photos that our guide took over the weekend, here are some thoughts post-adventure:

Saturday

• After waking at 4 am, we left Cali around 5 am, and headed for the coastal town of Buenaventura. Buenaventura is the only town on the whole Pacific Coast of Colombia that you can drive to, and it is only about three hours from Cali.
• After arriving there, we embarked on a 45 minute boat ride to Juanchaco, our home base for the weekend.

View of the bay from Juanchaco docks.

• In Juanchaco our accomodations were pretty nice, considering the coast is known for being one of the most "rustic" parts of Colombia. We stayed in a cabin with three other teachers from school that had three rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and front porch.

Our cabin for the weekend.

• We ate all of our meals in a little restaurant right on the shore where we kept the kayaks. The restaurant did a great job of providing us with filling Colombian-style meals for the weekend. After a quick lunch and a short nap around mid-day, we were ready to kayak!

Waking up at 4 am is tough business - Lyndi, Kelsi and I couldn't really hack it.

• After some instruction from our guide Julio, we launched around 2 pm, and headed out to the ocean. Kelsi and I were surprised to find how strong the ocean currents are! No one told us about that beforehand... :(

Julio telling us about our route for the first day.
Lauching the kayaks with some help from the locals. In total, Kelsi and I successfully launched on day 1, I flipped us on day 2, and Julio basically held the kayak steady for us on day 3. Winners.

Day 1 - successfully launching the kayak - what what!

• The coolest part of this day was kayaking through a little tunnel formed under an island in the ocean. Our guide headed in without a word, and we just followed along, despite some hesitations. However, the ocean waves basically pushed us through the tunnel, and it was totally worth it! A great ride!

Getting our first taste of ocean kayaking.

Going through a tunnel similar to the one described above, only that one was a lot smaller and darker!

• After some ocean time, we kayaked along a small tributary and through some mangroves. We were able to explore some freshwater pools along the way.

Kelsi & I paddling through the mangroves.



Sitting in the mangroves.

Attempting to exit the kayak ever so gracefully in search of a freshwater pool.

Walking through a shallow part of the river - headed for another pool.
Relaxing in a fresh water pool deep in the mangroves.

A short video - demonstrating just how difficult it is to walk on the slippery, slimy bottom of a river...even in good hiking shoes. :)

Sunday

• Despite a rainy morning, we hiked the short distance to the neighboring town of Ladrilleros. Ladrilleros is about 30-45 minutes from Juanchaco on a short path connecting the two towns along the cliffs above the shore. The walk allowed us to really take in the beauty of the rustic, undeveloped nature of the coastline and see the gorgeous beach in Ladrilleros.

Hiking along the ridge from Juanchaco to Ladrilleros.

Kelsi & I crossing a stream along the hike.

Hiking along...in matching raincoats.

Kelsi, Lori and I on the hike.

Loving my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean!

• In Ladrilleros we ran into some fellow teachers, Angie, Caleb & Tara, who were there enjoying some weekend beach time.

Taking a break in Ladrilleros with friends!

• Around 11 am the tide went down, so we were able to walk back to Juanchaco along the beach. There were definitely times when the water still came up to my waist when the waves came in, so it was quite the thrilling walk! The little inlets and caves made for some great photos along the way.

Walking along the beach, getting closer to Juanchaco.

Kelsi & walking along the shore going back to Juanchaco.

• In the afternoon we headed out for what would be the toughest kayaking of the trip. Our plan was to go around the three islands directly in front of Juanchaco. If the currents had their way, we would have floated swiftly back to Buenaventura, but with some very intense paddling stints, we successfully ventured around all the islands! The currents are very mild next to the actual islands, but in between them the water pushes off from the front of the island and rushes around the sides. This means zero fun for everyone.
  

Kayaking around the second island - lots of little caves and inlets!

Paddling around the second island.

Basically...to summarize, these people joined our group for one day and ran into Kelsi and I a lot with their kayak. We made a plan to avoid them shortly after this photo was taken.

Snack break! Yes, those are corn nuts I am eating. Even more delicious when enjoyed in the middle of the Pacific.

Our whole group!

Heading back into Juanchaco around sunset. So gorgeous :)

Monday

• Without peer pressure from Kelsi, I never would have gotten out of bed at 5 am for the third day in a row, but somehow we made it down to the shore in time for a 5:30 am departure. Good thing we did, because dolphins awaited us! About 200 m from shore we saw a pair of dolphins playing and presumably, searching for breakfast. After all our time in the Amazons searching for dolphins, and now here they were, right in front of us!

Dark photo of Julio giving us our instructions on the last day. Please note that is it dark because the sun had not yet risen.

• This day we kayaked around the entire island of Isla Palma, the biggest of the three islands in Bahia Malaga. We had not seen the front of the island from the kayak yet, and it was interesting to compare the two sides. Our guide pointed out how each side is completely unique in vegeatation and animal life, because the wind, weather and water current patterns change from one side to another.
• We also had a chance to see some cool blue-footed birds!

Checking out the blue footed birds.



Cool Kelsi, I will handle the paddling :)

• To finish the tour of the island we stopped at a little beach on the backside of the island.

Our own private beach! I was swimming just before we decided to take this photo...thus no pants. Whoops.
Weekend of kayaking = amazing...and also exhausted.

Matching Keens = successful kayaking. :) Yay for Lori & me!

While we definitely wore ourselves out with the weekend of kayaking, this was an absolutely stunning way to see the coast. I love going on trips with Julio because he loves nature and kayaking, and he is super helpful...and non-judging when you flip your kayak. The beauty of the un-developed coast left me dying to go back sometime soon. Supposedly, the whales migrate right along the shoreline from July to October, so we have plans in the works for a fall whale-watching trip...cause that would be...just fabulous. :) Also, Kelsi and I both have life lists of things we want to accomplish and during this trip we discussed changing them from "things to do" to "places to kayak". Updates on that to come.