Final Days in CO ...and on to RIO!

Since I last wrote, I have been on the move. After finishing 3 days of scuba diving, I spent a couple of final days lounging around Santa Marta. On Wednesday (7-18) I then took a long and laborious (only 6 hours, but it felt much longer) bus ride back to Cartagena. Late on Friday (7-18), I jumped on a plane headed for Rio, the final leg of my trip. Let´s cover these one paragraph at a time.

Santa Marta truly has an impressive small town feel right on the coast, and just on the other side of a small mountain to the north, there is even a smaller town called Taganga. Consisting of less than 50,000 people, Taganga mainly consists of small dirt roads, scuba diving instructors, and a great mentality. There is a beach nearby, called Playa Grande (or large beach), that is only accessible by boat. I headed out there with a couple of friends, and enjoyed the sun and the scene for my last day in the area. The entire location is mainly a Colombian tourist hangout. It does not seem to be all that popular with the international crowd, so my white friends and I definitely stand out. We also went on a little snorkeling adventure, which after 3 days of scuba diving, does not quite have the same exotic feel. More Latina dancing was to follow that night -- my scuba instructors, Rosa and Maitili, taught me the art of Colombian salsa, while I attempted to teach them the more flashy LA salsa. It was an entertaining mix.

I then took the bus back to Cartagena. To my suprise, the large group of European / Australian friends were still hanging out in the same hotel. You see, Europeans have a completely different approach to traveling. For example, when I told them that I was staying in the Cartagena / Santa Marta area for 17 days -- a good amount of time from my perspective -- they responded that this was very short. They tend to travel for months and months at a time, so I guess it was no surprise that they were still in the area. I settled back into a routine of lounging for a couple of days, and it felt good after the Santa Marta Adventure. I then caught a plane late on Friday night headed for Bogota, and then on to Rio!

Continuing my travel luck, I arrived in Rio with no problems on Saturday morning. My bags showed up on time, and there was a nice gentleman holding a sign outside baggage claim with my name on it. He took me to the apartment that I have rented out for the next 30 days. It´s a little smaller than I expected, but it has everything I need, and it will be a great home for the coming month. Chad arrived a couple of hours later, and unfortunately he was not blessed with the same travel luck. Due to a delay in Vegas, he missed his connection in Dulles, and had to wait a full day in DC for the next flight to Rio. To his enjoyment, he then learned that his bags did not make it on his flight, but would instead come in a day later. In true Premier form, United compensated him $300 No worries, we´re in Rio! Saturday and Sunday were beautiful in Rio -- sunny and warm! The beach in Ipanema, a short distance from my apartment, was absolutely packed. Thousands of people, travelers and locals, head to this area on the weekends. Unfortunately, the good weather left us on Monday, and it has been cloudy with intermittent rain for the last 2.5 days. We relaxed on the beach and enjoyed the nightlife over the weekend. On Monday, we then headed on a long bike ride along the Rio coast, passing Copacabana beach, heading up the cable cars at Sugar Loaf, and then along the towns of Botafogo and Saint Theresa. I expected Rio to be another big city, but I did not realize the physical beauty of the landscape of which the city is built. There are mountains everywhere, and the city is nestled into any possible crevace. Hopefully, the pictures will do it some justice. After a long night out on Monday, we then crashed Tuesday, and became acquainted with our nearest Blockbuster. It´s Wednesday morning now, and once the rain stops, the next Rio adventure will begin.

The Portugese aspect has been a little tough and frustrating, but more on that later. Regardless, I think Rio should be a great place to settle over the coming weeks.