Today is the last leg of my first Colombian adventure. As usual, I'm here at here at the hostel wide awake while everyone else is lost in dream land. I've showered, had a cup of coffee, packed my bags and now I'm just waiting for everyone else to roll out of bed. I can't say I'm disappointed. There is something magical about alone time in the morning (well, there is also somethin magical about sharing a coffee and having some quiet time with legit friends...but I left them all in the United States). So here I am, to write.
I'm currently in a small town called Guatape. It is gorgeous. Normally I prefer to describe things before you go searching the internet, but not today. You will see that the area is just gorgeous. Take a second and type it in on google images. The images might give you a glimpse of how gorgeous it is. It is an incredible place. It's really small, comletey surrounded by mountains and wildlife, really safe, and the people are incredibly friendly. Did I mention that it is gorgeous? Ha!
Anyways, we are staying at this small little hostel that opened up a few months ago. The couple who runs it is incredibly helpful, warm and welcoming. Sean, one of the owners, even organized a waterfall trek for us. For about $6 he said he would take us treking through the forest to some waterfalls where we could jump in and swim. Well, that sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The only thing he said was that it was a little bit difficult and that we'd be scrambling over some rocks. Perfect. I love a challenge.
This is what he didn't tell us: you will be jumping over barbed wire fence, evading bulls that aren't pleased with trespassers, rock-hopping through the river, balancing on logs to cross over obtacles, scaling rock faces next to waterfalls, and scurrying up and down embankments. Yes, I did all of that on the 4 hour hike yesterday. It was incredible! There is nothing quite like exploring the Colombian rain forest while following the path of the river.
There was one disappointment - like serious disappiontment. Along the way, I was playing the what-if game. What if someone sliped and fell and broke there leg. What if someone got a severe cut on the barb wire. What if...what if...what if. So I asked Sean if he had a first aid kit. His response, ''Of course, back at the hostel.'' What the heck! You are our guide. What would you do if someone got really hurt? We were in the middle of no where and the going was not exactly easy. He said he didn't think it was that dangerous. Regardless of if it's dangerous or not, he needed to be prepared. I should have asked this before going on the trek. Ah! He didn't see my point of view. Well, after freaking out a little bit I started making plans in my mind what I would do if someone got hurt. There were 15 of us on the walk and we all had full backpacks. We could probably pool enough materials together to have a make shift fix for anything.
When we got back into town we went for some drinks and I talking to Sean. I told him the trek was awesome but I had one suggestion. He perked up and was ready for it. I told him he needed to take a first aid kit with him. He wasn't ready for that and didn't really like the idea but maybe he will get wise and take it with him on the next trip he does. If not, he'll just have to wait for something really bad to happen. I hope the former much more than the latter.
As we were talking about this, one of the guys that came with us piped up, ''I always have a first-aid kit with me." I like this man. When I go home for christmas I'm bringing back a fully stocked first-aid kit and taking it whenever I travel. Brilliant idea bro. Brilliant!
I'm currently in a small town called Guatape. It is gorgeous. Normally I prefer to describe things before you go searching the internet, but not today. You will see that the area is just gorgeous. Take a second and type it in on google images. The images might give you a glimpse of how gorgeous it is. It is an incredible place. It's really small, comletey surrounded by mountains and wildlife, really safe, and the people are incredibly friendly. Did I mention that it is gorgeous? Ha!
Anyways, we are staying at this small little hostel that opened up a few months ago. The couple who runs it is incredibly helpful, warm and welcoming. Sean, one of the owners, even organized a waterfall trek for us. For about $6 he said he would take us treking through the forest to some waterfalls where we could jump in and swim. Well, that sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The only thing he said was that it was a little bit difficult and that we'd be scrambling over some rocks. Perfect. I love a challenge.
This is what he didn't tell us: you will be jumping over barbed wire fence, evading bulls that aren't pleased with trespassers, rock-hopping through the river, balancing on logs to cross over obtacles, scaling rock faces next to waterfalls, and scurrying up and down embankments. Yes, I did all of that on the 4 hour hike yesterday. It was incredible! There is nothing quite like exploring the Colombian rain forest while following the path of the river.
There was one disappointment - like serious disappiontment. Along the way, I was playing the what-if game. What if someone sliped and fell and broke there leg. What if someone got a severe cut on the barb wire. What if...what if...what if. So I asked Sean if he had a first aid kit. His response, ''Of course, back at the hostel.'' What the heck! You are our guide. What would you do if someone got really hurt? We were in the middle of no where and the going was not exactly easy. He said he didn't think it was that dangerous. Regardless of if it's dangerous or not, he needed to be prepared. I should have asked this before going on the trek. Ah! He didn't see my point of view. Well, after freaking out a little bit I started making plans in my mind what I would do if someone got hurt. There were 15 of us on the walk and we all had full backpacks. We could probably pool enough materials together to have a make shift fix for anything.
When we got back into town we went for some drinks and I talking to Sean. I told him the trek was awesome but I had one suggestion. He perked up and was ready for it. I told him he needed to take a first aid kit with him. He wasn't ready for that and didn't really like the idea but maybe he will get wise and take it with him on the next trip he does. If not, he'll just have to wait for something really bad to happen. I hope the former much more than the latter.
As we were talking about this, one of the guys that came with us piped up, ''I always have a first-aid kit with me." I like this man. When I go home for christmas I'm bringing back a fully stocked first-aid kit and taking it whenever I travel. Brilliant idea bro. Brilliant!
No comments:
Post a Comment