I'm an Uncle

Hey, I am an Uncle. My bro and sis-in-law (Jamin and Sarah) had a baby girl Naomi Elizabeth Barrett or NEB for short. Congrats to them. Check out their blog to the right.

Tayrona National Park

I did not know what to expect from Parque Nacional Tayrona, but I was happily surprised by this pristine location along the Caribbean. It does take some work to make it there (some hiking through the jungle, which was wonderful as well). The coastline was very undeveloped. Only a few palapas here and there to string up hammocks under. I had a very relaxing time walking along the countless beaches, in numerous coves, enjoying the cool breeze and watching the waves crash against the coast. And of course being along the Caribbean coast the sunrises are always beautiful. Cartagena is a cool colonial port town a few hours west of Tayrona. It has a large old town that is completely walled in. I was told that the walls were built because back in colonial times this city was constantly being attacked by pirates. On from Cartagena I made the long bus ride to metropolis of Medellin that I am about to explore.

Merida

I have to say that this town was quite the disappointment. Don´t get me wrong this town was very beautiful and I had an enjoyable time, but the Teleferico was down for repairs (The Tram to the top of a nearby Mountain) and the weather did not allow for paragliding or canyoning that I was planning on doing while in town. Needless to say I moved on quickly.

An Eventful Day

This was the site of our first campsite (hammock site). With white (possibly a hint of pink) sand beaches and across a small lagoon to a few beautiful waterfalls that were well worth exploring. This is the dugout canoe (boat) that our group took up river to Salto Angel. This was the only spot we had to walk around on our way up. The rest of the rapids we somehow made it up in the boat without swamping, amazingly. However we did get soaked (including my camera) so this was the second last picture my camera was able to take until it dried out on my way back to Caracas. So I was unable to get any picts of angel falls myself, but the people I went with said they would send me theirs (once I get some I will post a couple). You don´t know how disappointed I was about my camera not working. I missed at least 20 sweet shots, but I am very thankful that it did dry out and is working again now.

A New Continent

The little Cessna that took me deep into the jungles of Venezuela. Some of the falls around the hamlet of Cainima. This last falls, along with a few others in the area, had trails that allowed you to walk behind the curtain of water.

Boquete

The lovely town of Boquete set in the moderate temperature coffee growing hills of Panama. From Boquete I was in the sweltering town of David for a few hours (it was 42 degrees and this was at like 5:00 in the evening). The modern metropolis of Panama City. The first country along my travels I have been allowed to flush the toilet paper (something that is definitely worth noting).

Back to Panama

This picture is from a few moments before it started to downpour along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (Manzinolo). A typical house along the boat ride to Bocas Del Toro in Panama.
Yummy.. A typical meal of beans, rice and pollo (chicken).

Caracas

I have to say that I have some seriously mixed opinions of South America so far (I doubt I should judge all of S.A. from what I have seen in Venezuela so I will retract that to only Venezuela).  It really has been a very large step from Central America.  The tourism infrastructure is simply not here (possibly because they have few tourists) which is amazing seeing the great diversity and beauty of this country.  I am also starting to realizing the immense size of South America.  It takes a long, long time to go from place to place (10-15 plus hour bus rides look like they will be the norm).  I am extremely excited to start getting into the Andies and hopefully go to the highest point I have ever been (4050 meters) sometime tomorrow.  I still am unable to upload photos, but hopefully in the next couple days I will find a place that I will be able to post a few from.  I should get some food before yet another bus (It's a good thing I don't mind riding buses).  For those who don't know I have a number of friends in traveling in Israel right now, check out some of their picts on their blogs at the right of the page under Noel Bondt and/or Troy Barton.

Angel Falls

I made my way through Panama then caught a flight to Caracas where I had planned on quickly heading toward the Angel Falls area.  After trying to find my way to the bus station unsuccessfully (found out that it was closed) I got a place to stay for the night in the City.  I have to say I felt fairly safe around Caracas.  The mall I went to felt like any mall that would be in the states (all the same stores and same atmosphere).  In the morning I made my way to the bus station after a bit of confusion again then to Cuidad Bolivar.  The next day from Bolivar I caught a flight in a small Cessna to Canaima were I started my journey to Angel Falls by boat.  The boat ride was amazing in itself up a fast flowing river with many rapids for 6 hours with the large Tepuis (large vertical cliffs to a flat top) found.  Then finally we made it to Angel Falls itself were the group I was with camped for the night.  WOW, it was almost unbelievable.  Just simply incredible.  The water falls over 800 meters before it hits the bottom.  I plan on posting more about this but have to go for the now.

Bocas del Toro

Following a short stint in San Jose (about 3 hours) I headed to the Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo.  It was a beautiful bus ride through some more jungle and an unbelievable number of pineapple and banana plantations then finally along miles of palm tree lined Caribbean coast.  This morning I rented a bike and biked along the coast then through some jungle.  I have to say the howler monkeys are crazy.  They make these loud moaning grunting noises that are really strange.  I was biking along when one must have been just on the side of the road and it started making that noise.  I almost fell of my bike.  It is to bad it was pouring out so my glasses were fogged up and I couldn´t see anything, but the monkeys were out in force all over the place.  I was thinking they were going to jump me and steal the coconut I had in the front basket of the bike.  I also saw the grossest thing so far on my trip during that bike ride (A Vulture eating a dead monkey - I will leave the description there, inquire later if you really want to know more details). After crossing the boarder into Panama and a short boat ride I made it to my current local of Bocas del Toro.  Another fun little Caribbean Island town with beaches never far away and surfers by the dozen.