Safe Travels - and Sometimes Not - Athena- Colombia

A lot of people have wished me safe travels or traveling mercies on this trip. And I'm very grateful for the warm thoughts and timely prayers. It seems like sometimes it's just automatic to say this to someone without giving it deep thought. And it's also automatic for us to just think things will be safe...until they're not. While we were in Colombia, in the Cartagena bus station waiting for our bus to Medellin, Megan's backpack was stolen. We didn't notice when it happened, but we have a good idea who took it. None of us realized it was gone until Megan rejoined the group and said "Hey guys, where's my backpack". I immediately thought this wasn't going to end well. It was just a feeling. The next half hour, well it was crazy. We all worried, stressed, and felt violated and frustrated. How could this happen? Megan cried- I would too if I lost my laptop, ipad, some money and other things that I needed.
 

Tiffany- Colombia - Snorkeling in Cartagena

Playa Blanca

Today was a great day! We wanted to take a boat trip to one of the nearby islands and after some deliberation, we decided on Playa Blanca. After about 35 minutes on a very bumpy speed boat, we made it to Isla del Rosario where we were given the option of touring a local aquarium or going snorkeling in the clear blue water. We opted for snorkeling and it was definitely one of the best snorkeling spots that I have been to.

Our next stop was Playa Blanca. Playa Blanca is a very busy, very beautiful beach. We were served lunch which consisted of fish, rice, salad and plantains. We then spent an hour soaking up the sun while being approached constantly by vendors selling everything from fruits and sandwiches to massages and necklaces. The people on the island were extremely nice and I appreciated the fact that most of the vendors (with the exception of the women offering massage services) were not too persistent.

View from our boat right before we jumped in

Lunch at Playa Blanca

Tiffany - Colombia - Intro to Colombia

Picture taken on my morning run in Bocagrande

After 3 weeks in Brazil we have moved on to our 2^nd country in South America. This is also my 9^th country visited in the past 3 months and I am still super excited to explore. We left Rio at around 6am, stopped for a layover in Lima, Peru, then another layover in Bogota and after almost 18 hours of traveling, we arrived at our apartment in Cartagena.
My first few observations of Cartagena included:

• The airport appears to be in the middle of a neighborhood. Literally, you can exit the parking lot and people are walking around, shopping at corner markets or sitting on their porches.
• The taxis here are SUPER tiny. Our driver took out a cord to strap two of the suitcases to the back of the car for our short drive to the apartment. I’m pretty sure we all held our breath for the entire 15 minute drive praying that we wouldn’t turn around to see our clothes scattered across the road 
• People here are very nice. I went on a run on the morning of our second day in Cartagena through one of the wealthier neighborhoods (Bocagrande)  and was surprised to be greeted every few minutes with an occasional “Buenos Dias” or “hola”. This wasn’t something that I experienced much during the past week in Rio so it totally took me by surprise.

Excited to be in our apartment!

Cab driver trying to figure out our luggage issue