5 things you need to know about Colombia

1. Its Colombia NOT Columbia!

Fed up with everyone from international media sources to Paris Hilton and even US presidents* misspelling their country's name, a social media campaign was launched last year to shame offenders into correcting their error. 

The campaign is also designed to encourage people to take a second look at a country that most people immediately associate with drug-lords and kidnappings. 

Sleepy Salento: In pictures

The streets of Salento

Salento is a small and colourful town in the zona cafeteria, Colombia, about 8 hours west of Bogotá. We spent 3 days there, enjoying the scenery, blowing things up (!), eating and drinking and of course touring a local coffee plantation. 

Arriving in Colombia: Bogota

The sprawl of Bogota from Monserrate

While we would have liked to have explored Brazil much more, when we flew to Colombia we were very pleased to arrive back in a Spanish speaking country, where we could properly communicate again. 

I don't think I've ever had such a good conversation with a taxi driver than the one I had from Bogota airport to our hostel!

Being vegetarian in Chile

Arriving in San Pedro de Atacama over the salt flats from Bolivia, we were pleasantly surprised to find a town in the middle of the desert stuffed with a range of good restaurants - all of which had tasty veggie options, which is not always guaranteed in South America. 

Aside from trusty (and yummy) pizzas, the options were quite varied too, including quinoa risottos, stuffed peppers and stir fries. Just walk up and down Caracoles - the main street in town - and take your pick! Be warned

Waterfalls, Cachaça, Jungle and Waterholes in Paraty

The countryside around Paraty is full of pretty waterfalls, cachaça distilleries (known as alambiques), pretty jungle and a number of waterholes for a refreshing dip.

Pretty Paraty

Pretty streets of Paraty

From Rio de Janeiro, it was with some slight regret that we skipped Ilha Grande and headed straight to Paraty.

The forecast was still looking a bit ropey and with only a short amount of time before our flight to Colombia, we decided that it made more sense 

Where we stayed - Argentina

Mendoza: We very much enjoyed Mendoza and stayed there three times while in Argentina - each time renting out a room at Federico's house, who we found through Air BnB.

We had a lovely stay at Federico's house. He was very welcoming and generous. He cooked a traditional Argentine barbecue for

A breakfast of açaí

Açaí berries are a purple fruit from the Brazilian rainforest, which  for hundreds of years have been a central part of the diet of native Amazonian people.

In the last ten years açaí (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) has become known as one of the latest superfoods, alongside goji berries and adzuki beans. Its popularity