Checking in after week 1 in Colombia. Still alive and unkidnapped! Just arrived in Villa de Leyva, a small colonial town in the east Andes. I finally figured out how to get to the bus terminal in Bogota and with much hand signals and writing stuff down on pieces of paper, I got a bus. We stopped in lots of small towns to pick people up and drop people off. The town is packed today but should empty out by tomorrow. Apparently, lots of people in Bogota travel away from the city on weekends, and it is a holiday weekend since they celebrate Colombus Day. Walked all over with my backpack trying to find a place to stay. A guy that had no single rooms helped me find a cute little hostel around the corner that had one open bed in a four bed dorm for $15,000 Colombian Pesos (about $7.50 US dollars). The owner seems very sweet and she keeps calling me "my love" and kissing me on the forehead. Haven't met the guys in the room yet, but hopefully they are okay. Otherwise, I should be able to find a single tomorrow. The town supposedly has lots of day hikes and a few waterfalls to explore.
Bogota was crazy-- in an organized chaos type of way! It is a HUGE city... I think the biggest one I have ever been in. It is gritty and colorful with lots of graffiti and some brightly painted places. I stayed with Carlos and his girlfriend Paula, who I met in a bar in Seattle a few months ago. They were wonderful hosts. They made me one of the specialty soup of Colombia, arepa for breakfast, and even took me to a very nice lunch on the last day. They both work in a university (Carlos has an engineering degree and a PhD in physics and teaches and specializes in some kind of solar cells). They, much like most Colombians are very hard workers, sometimes leaving for work around 8 am and returning at 10:30 or 11 pm. Traffic is horrendous, but I have learned to use the very packed TransMilenio rapid transit. Spend the days in museums, sipping coffee, exploring the city, and eating everything new I can get my hands on. So much fresh fruits, soups, roast pork, etc. Oh, and my favorite... jackfruit ice cream popsicles! Carlos says I have lots of favorites, because all the food is delicious (except the soup with cow stomach... not a huge fan). Found a woman names Nancy who teaches English and takes her students on tours to Cano Cristales. Although not a student, she was taking an Italian guy who had been working as a lawyer with an NGO to get better child rights in Colombia. It was way more affordable than the tours I had seen, and was only about $100 US dollars more than trying to hitchhike on a cargo plane (which I decided was worth it for my safety and not having to deal with the trouble of using my very limited Spanish to try to attempt it). She also let me stay at her house the day before and the day after the trip. We were to leave early on Thursday morning.
And now for my now funny, at the time terrifying, Bogota experience. I read in my guidebook that on Wednesdays, you could watch the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. I heard it was really nice to watch, so after meeting Carlos and Paula for lunch, I headed to check it out. When I tried to get to the area to watch, the guard said no. We went back and forth with my translation dictionary, and I got out of him that it wasn't going to happen that day, due to some student thing. Okay, that would explain the extra military out and about, but there was always so many police and military people everywhere that it was hard to tell something was up. The guard suggested I take a longer way back to the TransMilenio station to avoid the growing number of students. I took his advice, but could tell I needed to move fast. As I rounded the corner for the station, I saw them slam the gates down, and all the shop owners around me did the same. I could hear loud bangs heading my way. Tried to ask people what was going on and what to do, but apparently, the Lonely Planet translation guide doesn't include a "riot" section. Finally, one guy just points in a direction and says "GO!" I turn around, see hundreds of students running towards me followed by tanks and police, and take off running. I try to head towards another TransMilineo station, but get caught up in the protest again. And that is when I got tear gassed. There were tanks spraying water on one side so I took off away from that, but ran into another bunch of students who were followed by tanks dropping gas bombs. Don't know which came first, tears from the tear gas or tears from the frustration of wanting to get out of the situation and not being able to, but thankfully a sweet woman grabbed me and another scared pregnant girl and whisked us around the corner, where she convinced the shop owners of a bakery to open the gates and let us in. We all hunkered down until it passed (yes, I was scared, but did consider that if I had to be stuck somewhere, a bakery was a pretty brilliant place to be). Anyway, got out okay. Took three hours to get home. And now, if ever I play the game "I Never" and someone says "Get gassed by the Colombian Police", I will have to take a drink.
I couldn't have been more glad to leave Bogota in the morning. Nancy, Mario, and I took the bus to Villavicencio and then a small 5 person Cessna to La Macarena. I was told by several people not to say too much when visiting Cano Cristales, as it was technically guerrilla area. Luckily, I can't understand anyone or communicate with them, so that was not a problem! It was was really strange to a Wanted poster in the airport with rewards for certain people. And La Macarena seems to have more military than civilians (and they pop out of nowhere). At one point while enjoying my fruit juice, I was surrounded by nine military guys with big guns. Despite this, La Macarena is beautiful. It is part of the Llanos savannah plains but also the entrance of the Amazonas. So it is full of ranchers with a few hills and lots of green. After about an hour, I wanted to live there. Stayed at a beautiful campsite under a full moon right by the river and played Tejo for the first time (a game kind of like horseshoes, involving little packets of gun powder and metal discs, and often copious amounts of cervezas). I had my butt whooped by a 5 year old (he wasn't drinking) who then talked to me in Spanish for 45 minutes, even after everyone explained that I didn't understand him. 
The next day was maybe the best day ever. Woke up early (okay, was woken up early by a pig and roosters) around 4:30am. Couldn't get back to sleep, so walked the town and watched the sun rise from the top of the military hill. The horses roam around all night, so the ranchers all come out with a rope and look for their horse, which is often down the road in a neighbor's yard. Then we met up with our guides and got in the motorized dugout canoe to head to Cano Cristales. River to a jeep and then an hour walk brought us to the military checkpoint. And then I saw the red river. Seriously, words can't describe it. I have lots of pictures, but I don't think they capture how amazing the place is. We spent all day hiking the river, swimming in pools, playing in waterfalls, and jumping off rock ledges into the water. I am sunburned, but it was incredible. I kept begging for just a few more minutes, but finally it was time to go. Went back to town, had a lovely dinner, and then the guides came back later to take me and another solo traveler to a bar for Friday night music and dancing. Days like this are the reason I travel. Oh, and I want to retire in La Macarena.Hope all is well in your part of the world. I miss everybody, but not enough to come home :) Off to explore this town and hopefully find postcards (and empanadas... and ice cream). Will be traveling the little towns of the Andes this week and then heading to Cartagena by next weekend for beach week. Will try to check in again in another week or so.
Love,
Betsy
Just got back today from Zanzibar. The island is beautiful with spices and yummy food and tea galore. But it is very expensive! It wouldn't have bothered me so much if I was just vacationing in Zanzibar or relaxing after a safari like most people, but after spending time in Mbeya and Dar, I knew what things should cost and knew I was getting burned most of the time (and they only accept US dollars at the hotels so you have to take shillings out of an ATM and then pay a high exchange rate to change to dollars).
Wait, I guess I should back up. It turns out I don't have Malaria. Most likely, I was just dehydrated from trying to not drink too much fluids on bus travel days (they often don't stop for women to go to the bathroom). Relaxed and ate several times at my favorite little restaurant across from the mosques. They had homemade feta cheese and fresh veggies in an amazing salad (it is hard to get fresh greens around here and I have been craving them). They also have hookahs, and I have spent many lovely evenings sipping mint tea, having great conversation, and enjoying a hookah. Also went on a wonderful day trip to Kipepo with some guys who are also staying at the YWCA. Just a short ferry trip (very chaotic and packed, unlike Seattle ferries) and dala dala trip away, the beaches are beautiful and you can pay $5 at a resort to crash their beach.
Anyhoo, once I left Dar, headed to Zanzibar on the slow ferry, and had the little altercation with customs, I spent several days in Stonetown walking around the old crumbly architecture. I loved the carved wooden doors and narrow winding streets. Went on a spice tour, visited a few museums and went to the slave cave. Then headed out to the east coast for some beach time in Paje. The beach was amazing with sand as soft and white as powdered sugar. Also had a nice breeze to cool things off. Got to do a day of diving and loved the reef. Saw huge stingrays, moray eel, large schools of fish, nudibranchs, and lionfish. The dive company wasn't the safest I have been on, but I will save that story for another email when my mom doesn't have to read it :) Met some awesome people and we hung out pretty much every night. It was nice to have a group of 11 people from all over that got along so well together. It was also nice to not have to be by myself all the time and to have people to eat meals with.
Thanksgiving Day was hard to be so far from home. And I am the only American staying at this hotel, so I had to explain to many what Thanksgiving even is. To cope, I decided to spend the day with monkeys. Because, really, who can be sad around monkeys? I hopped a dalladalla and headed to Jozani to see the red colobus monkeys. They are supposedly very rare and endemic to this area. So cute! There were lots of them and you could get really close (just had to watch that none peed on your head). And after a day of monkeys, I headed back to see what type of Thanksgiving meal I could scrounge up off the hotel bar menu. The closest I got was spicy coconut pumpkin soup with my meal of... yep, you guessed it... goat.
I was in Paje for the full moon (we had all been dragging each other on midnight swims for the few days before) and one of the locals invited me to a full moon party in Jambiani. I asked if I could bring "a few friends" to split the cab fare and wrangled up 9 others. We all shoved into a minibus and had a great time dancing on the beach under the full moon. Yes, I danced but only because this adorable seven year old, who was one of the best dancers I have ever seen, wanted us to dance with him so he could be with the adults instead of by the fence with the rest of the kids.
Nkhata Bay was nice, but not what I was looking for. I really just wanted a peaceful place to relax, but it was quite the party village. The dorms were loud, people were drinking until four in the morning and then up again at eight to drink. Not that I am against it, but it wasn't what I needed at the time. Oh, and I was awoken every morning by a room full of CHICKENS (the door didn't close and the chickens and baby chicks seemed to like wandering around in all of our stuff). Met up with a woman who I had met in Livingstone who was traveling to Tanzania. We tried to make a plan to head out together.
I started not feeling well sometime Saturday. Not great by Sunday, but made the decision to try to get to Dar es Saalam in Tanzania (better medical clinics and I would have two travel partners to help me). Typical travel day across the border which included a hike from the hostel to the minibuses, a minibus from Nkhata Bay to Mzuzu. Another minibus from Mzuzu to Karonga, where I was squashed between two seats for three hours or so. Then a taxi from Karonga to Songwe, the Malawi border where we walked across, changed our money, and then walked through Kyela on the Tanzania side. Paid some kids 50,000 shillings (50 cents) to let us ride on the backs of their bikes uphill with our backpacks to the daladala stands. Caught a daladala to Tukuyu and then took another daladala to Mbeya. With a high fever, this was a huge accomplishment for me.
Found out the train from Mbeya to Dar did not leave for several days. It is strange... everyone tells you to take the train, but absolutely NO ONE knows when it runs. I must have asked 40 people, and each and every one of them had a different answer. It is kind of frustrating that no one will actually tell you when they don't know the answer to something. They will just make something up and tell you. But every single child in every single village that we passed seemed to know when the train comes, as they were all sitting there waiting to wave to everyone. So cute!
I enjoyed relaxing in Mbeya, waiting for the train. It was much cooler and after our horrible $2 a night hotel, we got a nice hotel room. I found a great food stand that made yummy grilled bananas served with salt and a spicy tomato salsa. Far less people speak English in Tanzania. I have learned early not to ask any yes or no questions because the answer will ALWAYS be yes. I guess what they really mean is "Yes, I do not understand a word you are saying". So instead of asking things like "Does the train run today?" I have to ask "What day does the train run"? to make sure they understand the question. I did see my first chameleon just sunning himself on a great big poinsettia bush on one of my many trips to the train station.
Finally, the train showed up and I got on board. Well worth the wait! The train chugs along through little villages. I also had a chance to practice my Swahili on the train with several people. They all were pretty entertained, and we all had fun. In fact, I may go meet the family of one the guys today or tomorrow. Oh, and I learned how to use a squatty potty on a moving, jerking train... no small feat! The train goes through several game parks so I saw all kinds of animals: antelopes, warthogs, baboons, monkeys, wildebeest and GIRAFFES! Unfortunately the train was moving too fast and I was too spastic to get any good pictures.