A day trip to Guatapé

La Piedra

Wow - the view from the top of La Piedra de Peñol, just outside of Guatapé - is just wow. Just as is claimed on the sign on the way up to the 'rock', this is probably one of the most beautiful views that I've ever seen.

Volunteering with the Angeles de Medellin

James and I with some of our English students

In Medellín, we spent a few weeks volunteering with the Angeles de Medellín, teaching English, playing with the local children and distributing much needed clothes, food and household goods.

The charity operates up in one of the mountains in Medellín in the small barrio of Regalo de Dios (which, perhaps ironically, translates as gift from God). 

Photo Friday: No need for viagra!

This sign, which translates as "Don't take viagra, drink goat's milk", was on a wall in the small town of Guane, just outside of San Gil in Colombia.

There were several shops in the town, selling goat's milk,

From Barichara to Guane

The pretty town of Barichara is just a 40 minute bus ride outside of San Gil. We jumped on a bus from the local bus station on the

White water rafting in San Gil

San Gil in the Santander region is about 6 or 7 hours north of Bogotá. It's Colombia's centre for outdoor sports, from caving to bungee jumping, down hill mountain biking to white water rafting.

Rapids!

We opted for a day on the river, as I had never been white water rafting before. Despite my lack of experience, I was persuaded

Photo Friday: The mud volcano

About 30 miles outside of Cartagena lies the Volcan de Totumbo, where you can bathe in a mud pool inside the crater of a small volcano, while getting yourself a massage. We were intrigued.

On arrival at the volcano, we were a little surprised at what it looked like. We'd expected it to be much larger and to look more like a volcano, rather than

Being vegetarian in Argentina

I may have been able to seek out more vegetarian options in Argentina, if James hadn't been on an ongoing mission to find the best steak in the world. 

Luckily, because of the Italian influence on Argentinian cuisine, pretty much every restaurant in Argentina (including the steak houses) do serve meat-free pasta dishes. However, generally these options are either pasta with a nice (but not especially inspiring) tomato sauce or pasta with a good (but again not particularly varied) cheese sauce. 

To avoid just eating pasta covered with tomatoes, here are some of our top tips for being vegetarian in Argentina:

Relaxing on the beaches of Tayrona

Sunset in Tayrona

The Tayrona National Park is beautiful mix of dense jungle and pristine white beaches, bordering the clear waters of the Caribbean sea in north east Colombia. 

Unfortunately for us (and the trees), there had been very little rainfall 

Photo Friday: Knockers of Colombia!

In parts of Colombia - we particularly noticed them in Cartagena and in Barichara near San Gil - some of the door knockers in the central part of town are really quite elaborate.

Highlights of Cartagena

The famous clock tower entrance into the old town

We visited the beautiful colonial city of Cartagena de Indias twice during our time in Colombia. The main reason for our second visit was to catch a sailboat out of South America to Panama on our way home, but we were also pleased to get more time in the town.

On both visits, we enjoyed wandering the colourful streets, eating and drinking, 'walling'