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I have finished this Winter's backpacking trip around South America. As you might recall my departure from the US got delayed 1½ months because I had to wait for a defect camera being repaired in Denmark. This had a big impact on my travelling as I had to do my the countries in reverse to avoid the worst part of the rainy season.
First I spent 2½ months in Colombia experiencing the Caribbean coastline with its magnificent beaches, sub-tropical forests, colonial towns and small fishing villages. Then inland through central Colombia with its mountains and small villages, valleys and rivers, a desert, big cities and colonial towns as well as ancient sculptures in San Augustin. Finally I hiked over stunning snow-capped mountains before finishing up in the capital Bogota. It was off-season so it was often overcast and rainy but on the positive side in meant much less tourists. As other countries in South America Colombia has a completely unfair reputation – I was only offered drugs a few times and everybody was really helpful and friendly despite my (still) far from fluent Spanish.
Afterwards I spent 1½ months island-jumping Aruba and the Dutch Antilles - relaxing on the beaches, admiring the incredible turquoise water, hiking/biking/driving around the countryside with its often desolate landscape and rugged coastline. Finally I did a lot of diving for the first time in almost 3 years – supposedly some of the best diving in the world though I found it fairly average (acknowledging that I'm spoilt). With 30-35C (85-95F) the weather was nice especially because the constant breeze made the high humidity tolerable. Contrary to Colombia where it didn't work out, I couchsurfed most of the time staying with some wonderful and interesting people.
I finished with 1½ months in French Guyana, Suriname and Guyana. Again the off-season (rain) limited my travelling into the interior, however I did visit some national parks experiencing a lot of wildlife, waterfalls and (sub)/tropical forests. In general the region in itself was not too interesting but once again I was fortunate to meet a lot of nice people providing unexpected, great experiences.
Since then I have spent some time visiting friends and family in Europe and the US and in a few days I begin this Summer's bicycle trip from California up to Alaska.
You can read much more and enjoy countless pictures/videos on my homepage:
www.worldtraveller.dk
Navigate through my travel description “South America 2013/14” at the top of the dark blue menu bar on the left. You're of course most welcome to write in my guestbook and/or send me a personal message as well as referring people you think might be interested to my homepage - see options at the bottom of this mail.
I wish you and your family all the best - may you be as happy and fortunate in life as I am.
Greetings from Michael
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