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Do what? Choose a bag, book a bus, plan a trip, get a taxi, or just generally figure out where to start? I admit it has been a difficult journey. Every aspect has been researched at length, but even now we have so many unanswered questions, and so many unknowns. The where was the hardest, so many places in the world and we want to see them all. If I had planned our 15 month journey once, I planned it a 100 times, buy a car and drive through Europe, fly to Egypt, fly straight to New Zealand, were just some of the early days options. It took guts and a feeling of recklessness when I decided (after watching endless YouTube namely Nicole and Mico, and Backpacking Bananas for some truly great and confidence inspiring videos) that South America was the right choice of budget conserving destination for us to start. Was it out of our comfort zone? you bet, are we loving it? absolutely. Bag/backpack, we are committed to backpacking, we really don`t want the hassle of suitcases, as for hold luggage costs, not for us. The charges of adding hold luggage can almost double the cost of your flight. We are each carrying a clam shell type backpack made by Stubble and Co, and they are awesome! 40 litres. compartmented. Neat, look small, easy to manage, and are cabin bag size. Each to their own, but these tick every box for us. Even got a shoe compartment. (and their customer service is excellent) " bunnies are also carrying 30 litre rucksacks as their personal item, whilst bunny three is carrying a love nook bag. This lovenook bag is amazing, my little bag of pockets, but it does have one problem, it doesn`t make for a good turtle front carry bag. Wait, am I hearing you say you cannot travel the world with only a backpack, well take a look at my room photos, do we look like we are missing something? Book a bus, or generally get around?. At home I tried every which way to learn how to get around, and finally decided to stop fretting and figure it out on the ground at each destination. Google and RometoRio. Your new best friends. R2R is just about the best app anyone can have, and when R2R is out for lunch, Google. Unless you plan to bunnyhop across the Andes or roller skate across the desert, I`m pretty certain somebody somewhere wanted to go or has gone exactly where you want to, and has written about it. I`m all for hindsight and experience, who am I to question those who have actually done these trips? Taxi drivers seek you out, at bus terminals just stand around and listen, somebody is more than likely shouting out your destination from their little booth. Staff are always ready to help, hotels or even shops will call you a cab. Getting to your destination is the least of your worries. (add google translate to your friends list, your probably going to need it) I don`t intend making suggestions to which bus or terminal you need, everything changes over time, eg Ambato (if you have been or going to Banos) has a brand new bus terminal, not mentioned anywhere online. but R2R and Google tend to stay up to date, besides, there is more than one way to skin a cat and peoples choices of destination and how to get there should be their own. For example, I feel like we are the only backpackers travelling North to South, everybody we meet is on their way uphill. Do it your way, do what suits you. Still early days yet, but up to now travel hasn`t been a problem. Less is more. Did we learn that lesson? nope, we didn`t. We tried, but failed. We still managed to pack Justin Cases. I did try very hard to follow the instruction to get out your stuff, divide it in half and divide again. Hence the reason I failed to pack a bra and managed to pack 3 green t shirts. Can you have too much? yes, very much so. I could wear a different t shirt every day for 2 weeks, same for leggings/trousers. See earlier blog post when I mentioned we went shopping for missing items...lets just say I got slightly carried away! A new t shirt every day for 2 weeks? That`s when you know you have too much. Best buys? I am living in Salomon trainers for their sure footed grip. I had expected to be wearing my old faithful comfy Skechers, but the terrain so far has warranted decent sturdy footwear. My expensive super light packable puffy coat is amazing. A waterproof is much needed, but splurge. You need a waterproof, but space is premium. Spend the money on the tiniest, lightest, 100% waterproof jacket you can find. Mr Bunnies coat ticks that box, where as my coat takes us more space than I like. Merino wool socks are the bunniesbolox, but t shirts have to suit the wearer. Sweaty bunnies make prefer the merino, but those bunnies who merely sweetly perspire may prefer cheap t shirts ( easily replaced on the road as required) and decent deodorant. Skinny little bunnies just take whatever they like and lots of it. Rule of thumb, the bigger the bunny the less clothes you can take. sucks, but its true. We are still reading the How To Book of World Travel. We have made mistakes, the wrong bus added 3 hours to a journey. Mis reading the room description left us sharing a kitchen. You can book a dorm room for 4 and still end up in a room for 10. You can book a tour and have the best day out, or you can end up with the self important family with the most appalling spoilt child who screams for an hour on a small bus. It is all a journey, and each day we learn to adapt. Ear plugs and warm clothes for buses, with a t shirt just in case. Toilet paper lives in every pocket, as does small change. The wish you had remembered to buy insect repellent, packed more tummy relief tablets, or not packed your most favourite trousers, the ones you live in at home, but don`t seem to have a place for now. We are learning that bus `rules` are pretty stickers with words to be ignored. No food! (but your dinner in a tray is fine) No Pets! but the dog is fine, so is the puppy, and the kitten, sorry sir sheep go in the hold..... And so the journey continues.

We decided to avoid any difficult border crossing and chose to fly directly to Quito. At an altitude of 2850m compared to Bogota at 2625m we were prepared for the change of altitude and how it may affect us, what we didn`t expect or know, is that Quito is the city built on a hill, or rather a mountain. I don`t think I could be a mountain bunny, as these hills are killing me! Altitude and steep hills just don`t mix. After relaxing for one day to acclimatise, we dived right in with the must see sights in Quito and visited the very famous Otavalo Market, which as per every other must see in Quito, isn`t actually in Quito! Otavalo market, a 2 hour ride into the hills above Quito is huge, there is no other word for it. Often described as a tourist trap, maybe it is? but so worth a visit. I have never seen as many llama jumpers, scarves, ponchos, hats, jewellery, bracelets, stuffed alpacas in one place before. A truly wonderful market, but best enjoyed with 2 things in hand, cash and a willingness to barter. Look, but don`t touch unless you are willing to make an offer. Personally I am not a bartering kind of bunny, I prefer to have a price tag wafted under my bunny nose so that I may either waffle with interest or hop away. We 2.1 bunnies also found it rather difficult to weigh up the merits of an alpaca blanket, when one hour previous we passed the Mitad del Mundo monument, aka The Equatorial centre of the world. Its the Equator and you want me to buy an alpaca blanket? Quito Historic centre. A place we were advised to stay on our visit to Quito. Not sure why. It is pleasant enough walking around, and definitely an older part of the city, but nothing really to write home about. We have found a couple of pleasant squares to wander around, but mostly it is a historic centre of tiny local shops selling just about everything under the sun, eg we have a road drilling equipment shop next door to our apartment, with a sewing machine shop nearby, on the next street is a buckle shop, and a chocolate shop next door to that, whoo what a find (more about Ecuador chocolate later) We loved the Basilica which we can see from our bedroom window. Two huge towers, with two big clocks neither of which tell the correct time soar above us. A few dollars each to enter. we wandered freely around the upper basilica ramparts, (not the church itself) via a set of stairs, the type you would normally find in a car park, not your average squishy uneven winding staircase of hell that you usually associate with an old church building. Brave little bunny climbed the stairway to heaven, which gave us two older bunnies the flutterbies just watching her. A metal almost vertical ladder over the city lead to a small church spire, no health and safety here, just go on, up you go if you fancy. Even brave little bunny had wobbling legs on her return down the equally vertically stairs. Of course there was the proverbial cafe at the end of our climb where we bought rather good coffee with an even better view of the city and its Angel. Quito Angel monument. or Virgin of the Panecillo. Not a lot I can say about this. It looks great looking out over the city, but we were warned that under no circumstances should we walk anywhere near it. Taxi yes, walk, nope. We decided to give it a miss as the Basilica views were more than satisfactory. Mindo, another must see when in Quito, that isn`t. Mindo is a place we were really looking forward to visiting, and it didn`t disappoint. We had a shaky start to the journey after we found out that the 11am bus that we wanted only left from the `other` bus station. Quick taxi, and caught it with minutes to spare. Another 2 hour beautiful scenic journey and we were dropped off at The Cock on the Rock. A large red bird monument sat above a sign pointing to Mindo. Only one other sign and that was Taxi. so there we waited. We didn`t wait long before the best taxi driver in Mindo appeared. We were not to know at the time just how brilliant this taxi man was going to be. Gonzalo is his name. Not only did he take us to our accommodation (oh wow!) booking.com The Temple II Mindo, but he waited for us to check in, then took us to our chocolate tour, collected us, picked us up after dinner, picked us up at 7am for birdwatching, to the waterfall hike, to the butterfly farm, and at each time waited for us. Gonzalo, remember his name. Mindo chocolate tour, El Quetzal, excellent and very recommended. Not only did we get a personal well informed demonstration of the various stages of chocolate making, an informative tour of the orchard with the various fruit trees, the tasting session was pretty yummy as well. Note of caution, when the guide says `place a little powder on your tongue` he really does mean a little , not the large spoonful that big bunny swallowed and darn near choked on! finding out the hard way that dry coca powder is intense! The town of Mindo is tiny and quaint reminding me very much of old western movie sets. Many of the shops and houses were wooden, with old rickety balconies and wooden handrails. Chuck a horse rather than a llama in the street and it would look neither lost nor out of place. Waterfalls hike next. Gonzalo again, picked us up and took us to the start of the hike, which begins with a ride on the Tarabita cable car. for something so small, open sided, higher than the trees tops, it was the most fun thing we have done in a long time. The hike to the 5 or 7 waterfalls, well documented online so no need to elaborate here, is challenging. think mountain goat type challenging. Ignore those blogs that say ` a 35 minute hike` tosh !! Many parts of the trail have handrails, whoopy do, but even so, it was a long hard slog and very steep in places. Worth it? The hike yes, the waterfalls? meh..I`ve seen better and unless the waterfall is particularly really dramatic I`m not much of a waterfall loving bunny. Would I do it again? Yes, but only for the enjoyment of the jungle environment rather than the love of waterfalls. The ride back on the Tarabita cable car was even more fun on the return, as we had a four legged passenger with us. A dog named Princessa hopped on board and casually rode the cable car to its start point. Hummingbirds, tropical birds and butterflies next. Once again Gonzalo picked us up at dawn and drove us to his choice of bird watching venue. Not disappointed. Local knowledge is everything. A house? at the side of the road? Absolutely. San Tadeo bird watching. A back garden with the most fabulous bird watching set up, right there in front of you, no binoculars required this time, no craning your neck to find that elusive yellow beaked flying whatsit, these beautiful birds, were right there in front of your noses at eye level flying, eating, feeding, and generally just doing what birds do best. This bird watching bunny cant remember a single variety, but they definitely came in blue, red, green and blue, black with white stripes, pale blue and yellow varieties. And breakfast. The property owner made breakfast for us as we watched the birdies eating theirs. Then just as we thought we had seen it all, Gonzalo pointed us down a path that lead to the most fabulous view point, looking out over the cloud forest of Mindo, and hummingbirds. These tiny beautiful flying birds were everywhere. Multiple feeding stations had been set up, along with a large number of little bottle caps filled with nectar that you could hold up for the hummingbirds to come to you. some little birdies chose to hover as they drank, other perched quite happily on your fingers as they drank. I had a particularly distracted little birdie sat on my fingers who kept licking my hand as his aim for the nectar continually missed. I assume he was a boy.... Butterflies. Not as cute as the hummingbirds, but still fascinating. A quick look around the pre butterfly nests, the cocoons/chrysalis etc..then into the butterfly house itself. 1000s of them flying freely around us. so so many different colours and sizes. worth a quick visit if you don`t mind flying whatsits, but have to admit 2 of the 3 bunnies in our little party got the heebies as butterflies settled on our bare arms. Birds are decidedly easier to cope with. Quilotoa Lake. From Mindo back to our home in Quito for one night, before setting off again this time to Quilotoa, another must see whilst in Quito, that isn`t.. Long taxi ride in the opposite direction this time to the bus station, one bus to Latacunga, then a second bus to the village of Quilotoa. Around 4 hours travelling time in total. We were dropped off at the village entrance which is gated, you pay a small fee for which you get a ticket that you then show at a second gate. As we entered the village our hostel was right there in front of us. I shall decline to tell its name as there are far better places to stay. Nobody in sight, reception dark and deserted, shouting yielded no replies, what now? Ah, why wouldn`t the gate lady be the hotel watcher, across she came and despite her very best attempts to reassure us that all was well, we declined to leave our bags in the non attended hostel and instead wandered around the deserted town with them. Lunch at a llama cafe was pleasant enough, just relieved that we were the only customers. Dead bunnies move quicker than he did. From there we decided to go and see the main event, the beautiful blue Quilotoa Lake. Instagram you are a pain! Yes, the lake is gorgeous, but brilliant blue it is not. Even the following day when we had clear blue cloudless skies, the lake stubbornly remained lovely shades of blue/green/turquoise, but never brilliant blue. Quilotoa is a well advertised tourist destination, so you would expect clear paths to the lake, not exactly, just follow your feet in between two houses, up an incline of grass and gravel to a very well trodden path that looks down into the long extinct volcanic crater, now home to this beautiful lake. The lake views are spectacular, but so are the clouds. I took 3 photos, beautiful lake, pure clouds, beautiful lake, and my photos are less than 4 minutes apart from the first photo to the last, such is the speed of the cloud movement. Given that it was quite late in the day and getting chilly, we decided to check if our room was ready. The room was, but was it a room or a fridge? We have never been so cold, nor stayed in such an overexaggerated described room. We were given a heater, but said heater after being on all night failed to dry a slightly damp pair of socks. If the darn room hadn`t been prepaid we would have left and found alternative accommodation The relief finding 4 blankets per bed was tangible. After a long chilly night, we rose early and set off once more for the lake. Major tourist destination it may be, but for whatever reason we were still the only tourists in sight as we walked through the village. After much debate, fit little bunny decided to venture down to the lake edge. How steep? How far? A mind blowing 40 minutes of downhill walking, before she reached the waters edge. Chubby bunnies one and two decided they had more use acting as baby bunny bag watchers. It was truly glorious sat in the sun watching the ever changing lake colours, watching chunky alpacas being led to various scenic spots for the proverbial pose with an alpaca photo, and watching puffing tourists clambering back up the hill. 2 hours 50 mins later the little bunny reappeared red faced and exhausted. The guide map gives an average down time as 35 minutes, with a return time of 1 hour 30. Sure thing if you are of the super fit variety, but be warned, little bunnies fit bit watch declared she climbed the equivalent of approximately 120 flights of stairs. Shopping day! We really would like a drone. We are seeing the most amazing places, and to be able have an additional birds eye view of these places would be awesome. Research showed us a choice of 2 shopping malls not too far away. One definitely had a drone shop. Mrs Bunny is hopping (sorry) to find a few bits of clothes that are missing from her bunny bag. Mall one, Scala, not bad, out of town nothing particularly special, quite a good number of shops, but not quite what we were looking for. To Mall two we went. This one is called Quicentro and bless my bunny ears, it was everything we could have hopped for in a shopping mall. All our bunny senses came into fruition as we toured this beautiful shopping centre. turns out Quicentro shopping mall is in the heart of the new city of Quito and what a direct contrast this area is compared to the historic centre. This area is the dogs doofers compared to the historic centre. Pretty sure you wont get $28 per night room here, but if I had a bigger bunny backpacking budget, I would very much have preferred to have stayed in this area of Quito and visited the historic centre, than stay in the historic centre and visit the new. Mitad de Mundo. translated, Middle of the World City, or The Equator. when in Ecuador you just have to visit the equator. Situated 28km north of Quito (another must see when in Quito that isn`t) its a short 30 min taxi ride away. We paid a small entrance fee and were delighted to find so much more than we were expecting. Quick few photos at the monument, probably a shop and a cafe, then home again were our initial thoughts, but how wrong we were. Very much a tourist destination, but well planned out , neat, tidy and exceptionally pretty. There are a large number of little tourist shops, restaurants, an area dedicated to recreating original indigenous housing, (who knew they had flat screen tvs showing video documentaries of the Amazon) hmmm, slightly odd, but we ran with it. A beer museum, where Mr Bunny decided to burrow under for a while, a chocolate museum that of course had to be investigated at length,(ginger and lemonade chocolate, oh yum) a planetarium, Spanish commentary only, and an egg stand amongst other things. Egg stand? Apparently for some clever scientific reason you can balance an egg on a nail whilst at the Equator. Never one for science, I`m sure the more academic amongst you will understand why this is possible. Or in my case impossible. Yes I tried. Yes I failed. It needs patience and a steady hand, and I appear to have neither. Mr smug face bunny obviously had to have a go, and yes I admit, he succeeded. The smallest bunny also succeeded albeit with a sleight of hand magic. The Monument itself is the centre point of the whole park. Standing tall with its large world at the peak it just begs you to take the `hold the world in your hands photo`. There is the yellow equator line that runs the length of the park, but if you want to take the same photos but less tourists in your photos, go to the back of the monument. Exactly the same view, except without the door, and the numbers showing the latitude and longitude. We had quite a bit of fun here taking photos of ourselves walking the equator. There is a viewing platform at the top of the monument, which is actually quite large inside. If you chose to walk the stairs there are displays and information on each level which are quite interesting to read. Free to enter, it is well worth venturing to the top, how many times in your lifetime will you get the chance to say,` I`ve been to the top of the centre of the World` Cotopaxi National Park. Cotopaxi is an active stratovolcano located in the Andes mountains, approximately 30 miles north of Quito. ( another of the must see whilst in Quito, that isn`t) the second highest summit in Ecuador it is the highest active volcano in the world. And we climbed it. We booked ourselves a tour from Quito with active adventures ( oh how I wish I had paid more attention to that tour operators name) as we couldn`t find a way to get to Cotopaxi via alternative means. The bus picked us up at 7am and we were driven along with around 12 other bunnies to our first stop, breakfast. There we were told prior to leaving the mini bus, was where we could also buy hats, gloves. scarves if required. The shop owner repeatedly hugging himself saying Cotopaxi, brrrrr. We chose not to buy anything, hoping that our jumpers, gloves, buffs and puffy jackets would suffice, I mean its a national park, how cold can it be? Famous last words. Its very cold. and very windy. From there we were driven along a flat road, how nice, and a brief stop to pictures of the Volcano and Alpacas, you can never have enough photos of either. Onwards we went and then entered the national park itself. How quickly the landscape changed. From a few trees at the start of the trail, trees that apparently belong to another county, don`t ask me why, then onward to the most barren wilderness ever. Flat plains as far as you could see, with some hills, but no trees, just short stubby bushes here and there, and horses. Wild horses. Seems there are over 1000 wild horses just roaming freely around the National Park. We came to a brief stop, and the guide addressed the bus, Hi guys, can you see that building with the orange roof over there on Cotopaxi mountain? That`s our next destination, we are going to hike up to that, its the refuge. Woah!!! whadda ya mean hike ?!!! I couldn`t see any orange roof? Why? Cos my bunny eyes weren`t looking high enough!!! Granted the little bus chugged a fair distance up the mountain, but I assure you it stopped a very long way from any building, never mind one with an orange roof. Walk. Hike. humph, I was relieved to know that I didn`t need to keep up the patently obvious super fit hikers who set off with the lead guide at one heck of a pace, instead I got my very own slow bunny hiking guide who, along with my very patient Mr Bunny patiently bunnyhopped every step of the way with me, nagging cajoling and albeit false promising me, `just another 5 mins`. We zig zagged up that darn mountain for nearly an hour, every step getting harder and harder. We started at very high altitude, but this climb was taking us to the snow level. I swear I needed an oxygen tank. Then just as I was to collapse and die, there it was, in all its glory, a building with an orange roof, and a sign that said `Welcome to Cotopaxi refugio, 4800 metres above sea level` How high is that, well for comparison Everest Base Camp is 5364 metres. I had made it. This chubby bunny with 2 wonky knees made it. I couldn`t have been more proud of myself. The rest of the group managed several cups of hot chocolate as they patiently waited for me, whilst I managed a bite of a chocolate bar, before being told that it was time to descend. The descent, via a shale and sand scree type surface, took 20 mins, such was the terrain and the incline. Yeah!! made it, and what did the guide say? `right guys, time to get the bikes off the van, and we are going to downhill ride all the way to the lagoon` WHAT!! 3 minutes these 2 female bunnies lasted, being terrified out of our bunnies wits at the steep, fast, shale covered rutted road on bikes that didn`t really suit our bunny butts. Mr bunny continued on his bike, riding along side around 4 other nice steady bike riders, whilst the remaining members of the group passed them like blurs on the Tour de France. Little bunny and I were allowed to put our bikes back on the bus, and get them off again on the last flat part of the ride. This bunny then realised that to pedal a bike that was too small, meant bending knees past their capabilities. cue the most ungainly half pedal tiring bike ride to the finish. Would I visit Cotopaxi again? Yes, absolutely. would I climb it? or Ride a bike? Not a chance. Ecuador. A country that has far exceeded our expectations, wonderful in every way. The journey continues as we venture ever onwards, this time to a Bucket List destination. The Galapagos Islands....

One day I happened to say to my husband, wouldn't it be nice if one day we could walk out of the house with just a backpack and a map, no plans, no pre determined destination and travel? I got no response, just the quiet tick of cogs turning as he sat thinking of my out of the blue (and what I considered rather rash dream). Which is how come, 4 years later I am now writing this blog from Cartagena in Colombia! Turns out my wild dreams of travel were shared, and together we spent the next 4 years dreaming, planning, plotting, saving, YouTubing, and making designs on our retirement so that we could fulfil our dream of adventure. Did I also mention that on telling our daughter of our plans, we got told in no uncertain terms, well your not going without me!! Turns out that certain wonderful schools allow their teachers to take a sabbatical to follow their lifetime ambition to also travel the world! So here we are. 2.1 very happy bunnies setting off on a wild roller coaster of a ride, 15 months of World Travel. Sometimes together, sometimes apart, the three of us are hopping, sorry about the terrible bunny pun, to visit 4 continents, tick off many bucket list items, and generally get out there and live a little. You must be rich! Did I mention the fact we are backpacking with no illusions of grand hotels, or spa resorts? Cheap and Cheerful little hostels and best friends with Booking.com is the way we shall be travelling, at least until we reach a certain slightly less budget friendly country, but more about that in the future. You must be fit and very active! Ha, if only! the .1 little bunny ticks that box, but the two more worldly and lets just say older and ever so slightly chubby bunnies, tick every box bar the fit and active ones. One of us has a dodgy back, the other 2 dodgy knees, and both are hearing the whispers of the word arthritis, boo sucks. But here we are, doing it all the same. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? When opportunity knocks, grab him by the bunny balls and go for it. How did you choose/know where to go? Dear Google, Cheapest countries? South America, Asia, (ok, now I'm nervous), but lets do some research. YouTube, another new friend. Turns out all the main must see places in South America follow a well trodden backpacker route called the very apt Gringo Trail. So we dived in with both feet, booked 3 flights to Cartagena and plotted a 5 month trip from the most Northern (ish) part of South America, to its very tip, Ushuaia, via all the best gringo hotspots (thank you BBC Race Across the World for teaching us the correct pronunciation of Ushuaia. :-) First Stop. Cartagena Colombia. I admit to feeling exceptionally nervous about visiting Colombia, and I have no idea why. We have all heard the stories, but lets face it, every city in the world has its own troubles, but we don't flinch when visiting them, so why here? I still don't know. The people we have met these past two days have been amongst the nicest and most friendliest people I have ever been around. To break us in gently to the land of South America, and Colombia in particular, I chose the Bocagrande area of Cartagena. A long spit of land just to the south of Cartagena, known for long sandy beaches, lovely hotels and upmarket living. We enjoyed the atmosphere of this place, even with its abundance of hawkers. No thank you, not today, or maybe later becomes our most used phrases. Everything from massages (sounds wonderful, but not on a backpackers bucket list) necklaces, so beautiful, hats, surely you must need a hat? food, scarves, dominoes, you name it they come round selling it. It is difficult at first to repeatedly say no to the lovely people, but you just have to. Unless of course you are in the market for a little indulgence. 3 days here and we moved to another part of Cartagena called Getsemani. What an overwhelming riot of colour awaits you as you leave Bocagrande and enter the little area of Getsemani. Wall art, street art, graffiti art, flags, bunting, umbrellas adorn the small winding streets. I believe this area was once a poorer not much visited neighbourhood, but now its an area not to be missed. Beautiful women in traditional dress stand outside their restaurants with smiles to brighten the dullest days. The ladies in their Palenque dresses with baskets of fruit sat jauntily perched on their heads call to you for lovely photographs (at a small charge of course..) From Getsemani it's a short walk across the bridge to the castle of San Filipe with its huge flag, and amazing views across the water to the wider area of Cartagena. Bigger than it looks from a distance, this castle/fortress, is well worth a visit. Not so much so is the exceptionally busy Chocolate Museum opposite. Busy because it is cool and airconditioned after the heat of the steep walks around the castle, but I'm afraid delicious as it may be, chocolate (expensive chocolate) and heat make for poor friends. We tried to order two drinks, a chocolate beer and a chocolate drink, funnily enough though they had run out of both!! I will breeze over the museum part..as they say, nothing to see here. The last days of our stay in Cartagena we spent in the old town. Via Central Park...every walk we took we went via this town park. Sloths in trees! Who knew you could find sloths in trees in a park so close to a town. Not just sloths either, little monkeys, and iguanas also roam freely. Just wander into the park, look up and look puzzled, and very soon one of the very many water sellers or park keepers will be there at your side happily pointing out the various trees in which the sloths live. They ask for nothing, but buy their water please its a small token of gratitude that goes a long way. The sloths by the way came to be in the park when a person was seen a long time ago trying to remove a sloth from its correct habitat. Confiscated and rehomed in the town park these lovely slow sleepy animals are now thriving in this new home. Cartagena old town. Best entered via the Clock Tower, this is yet another area of Cartagena quite unlike the other two places we visited. A walled city with an abundance of small streets with balconies overhead, quite different to the bright colours of Getsemani, the Old Town or Centro could best be described as elegant? Beautiful little boutique shops on every street, a little pricy but so lovely. The first evening we went to the Old Town it was to await the return of our daughter from her boat trip to the Rosario Islands, for more info on that and a very entertaining YouTube/Instagram, follow @miss.tiff.travels . Happy Birthday Cartagena! 491 years young. The whole town was celebrating that evening. There was a stage, singers, live music, and food stalls aplenty. If they celebrate yearly, which I imagine they might as 491 is quite an odd number to celebrate, the first weekend in June is the date you are looking for. Minca. leaving Cartagena we caught a bus to the coastal town of Santa Marta, and a taxi to the hillside town of Minca. This small unassuming little town is a small taste of a green paradise. Set amongst the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, this beautiful area has earned itself the title of Ecological Capital of the Country, and its not hard to see why. I truly wish I could say that I had explored this area a little more thoroughly but the need for rest was more important. Our lovely little hostel has a roof balcony with a full length open window which gave me/us our very own piece of National Geographic, natures television. Following a day of rest, we followed our feet to the famous Pozo Azul waterfall, a pleasant walk through the trees, led us to the waterfall. Grateful that so many were walking towards us, as on reaching the waterfall, we could see how quickly it could become crowded. Leaving Pozo Azul, we headed to our next waterfall, name I cannot recall, it was sign posted, Hidden Waterfall. A rather treacherous and quite challenging path in places, we reached this little gem. Not as grand as Pozo Azul, but the moment we landed on the sandy area next to the waterfall, the heavens opened and a tropical deluge of warm rain descended on us , forcing us to quickly abandon our explorations. To say the trek back up was challenging would be an understatement. The following day we rose at 5am, with a plan to go on a Bird watching tour. Picked up at our hostel by 3 motorbike taxis at 5.55am we were pillioned (woo hooo) down the hill to the town where we met up with our guide and 3 other couples. A quick guide on how to use binoculars without falling over, a quick bout of local bird spotting in the nearest trees, and we were off. Walking through tiny paths, passing what I can only describe as tree houses, houses on stilts on the side of the mountain each with its own incredible views. Our guide pointed out bird after bird after bird. I now know that bird watching is an art form of wandering binoculars, aimed at birds that are definitely not where you thought they were, and a sore neck. I saw lots of birds, they all had wings. Humble apologies to the bird watchers out there, but there are only so many times I can say woo hoo, to yet another little yellow bird even if it is the lesser spotted female version of the other 36 previous sightings of little yellow birds. I admit there was a black one, and one with a tufty head, and another with a white tum. Ask me to name them? nope, not a scooby. I like a nice bird, but "look that`s a nice looking bird" ticks every box for me. Apart from the hummingbirds. I could watch those little guys all day long. The walk minus the birds was wonderful. Even the wading across the little river because the rains had washed away the path was no hardship. Then just at the point when our guide was about to point out yet another flying doofer with a beak, he laughed and called out look Toucan! there!! Oh my goodness a real life Toucan in all its glory. My day was made up. Unable to get my camera to focus that far to take a suitable photograph, I decided that as I had seen it with my own eyes, pinching a cheat photo from the guy the 15` foot lens, was perfectly acceptable. My time in Minca is coming to a close, and I wish I could stay forever. A village well worth coming to, but come soon, as it is sadly clear that as tourism to this charming place is expanding, areas of this pristine unspoilt simple landscape will be lost to the concrete jungle of the more discerning clientele. Medellin, via Cartagena.. Another long bus ride from the town of Minca, I should mention here that I had quite clearly forgotten just how far into the mountains Minca actually is, as you traverse down the mountain with more twists and bends than a soap opera. The road seemed to go on forever, getting less and less green the closer we got to the town of Santa Marta. Not the best bus ride back to Cartagena, it was very very hot, with not the greatest of air con. The free Wifi was awesome, for a whole 15 mins, then zip, nada, nothing. I mention our return to Cartagena as quite by chance I had booked an overnight stay in yet another little suburb of the Old Town, an area called Centro. Such a great little hostel, the ceilings were so high, it made the room seem so airy. A bed like a brick and I slept like a log. Maybe that`s the new key for comfort ratings? Centro, the place to find smaller less designer and more local yet still tourist type shops, street food on every corner that just makes your mouth water and makes you wish (makes me wish) I was a little braver to try such foods just in case there wasn`t a banos nearby..if you catch my drift. Fruit of every colour just cries out to be eaten. The airport, just a short distance away beckoned us at 6pm for a 55 minute flight to Medellin. Medellin. A city unlike any other city we have been to before, not just Colombia, anywhere. We entered the city late at night via the newly built 7km tunnel that brought you out with the city of Medellin displayed in all its glory down below us. Tiny pin pricks of lights for as far as the eye could see. In the valley, the hills, the mountains all littered with little fairy lights. How big this city, the second largest in Colombia really is, would reveal itself the following day as we explored the oldest part of the town with a guided tour. The tour guide was brilliant, giving us a candid view of the city, from the days of old and the gold miners, to the more gritty and possibly misguided view that may or may not rule peoples perceptions of this lovely country today. Drug capital of the world you are probably screaming at me, yes, maybe, but not in the way you assume. I`m not going to elaborate here, but lets just say Colombia, and Medellin in particular, has the most complicated, multi tiered, intertwined, fascinating, sad, complex, vibrant, resilient and amazing culture that should be respected and admired. Be mindful when you visit, but not fearful. Comuna 13. Once upon a time this area of Medellin was considered the most dangerous area in the world. A certain date in 1993 changed all that. I have no intention of giving said person any kind of platform, but as per our guide, lets just say Voldemort came to a sticky end, and the Comuna 13 of Medellin through passionate, positive and proactive determination to change its image, has succeeded with more energy than anyone could believe. Their history is complicated, their future is still complicated but thanks to its positivity and willingness to embrace change, Comuna 13 is a district to be commended for its love of its people, their devotion to music, dance, art and DJ`s . The escalators to the upper levels are adorned with beautiful graffiti art, not to be confused with scruffy spray can vandalised walls, these graffiti murals are just breath taking. So much colour, everywhere. Visit the Comuna 13, and you will love it. Guatape, a town that featured often on our `how to travel South America favourite You Tubes` We knew we had to go and see this amazing place for ourselves. Leaving Medellin on a small but very comfy little bus, we drove through some of the most beautiful countryside we have seen so far. A far cry from the small shanty towns that we passed from Santa Marta, this lovely bus journey was so green, flowers, well kept colourful little houses, big estancias , mowed grass fields, fat cows and skinny horses, we saw it all. Arriving into Guatape we landed at the small town square. Not choosing to rest, we wandered the town and were mesmerised by the array of tiny colourful cobbled streets, little alleys with their relief panels adorning each house, these panels, or zocolas, each tell their own little story, a school, a baker, a stubborn mule, or maybe just coloured squares. Walls depicting some of the most beautiful wall art, butterflies, hummingbirds or parrots on every street and building. One street is lined with colourful umbrellas, and yet more frescos. This ridiculously cute vibrant little town should be on everyone`s bucket list. Just outside of Guatape, is the big rock, dress it how you will, but it really is a very big high rock, with a huge fissure down one side, that some smart Alec one day thought, I bet if we built a staircase in that gap, people would come to climb our la Piedra, and build that staircase they did. All 750 steps worth. An exceptionally touristy spot, but ignore all that, just go early, go prepared, go with half decent fitness, (ha!) and go knowing that if you plan to climb to the top, and are just a little afraid of heights, go with a pig headed stubborn determined attitude to succeed. Keep your head down, your eyes on the stairs, and advance 25 steps at a time. It also helps if you take a couple of extra bunnies to cajole, coax, persuade and generally offer you moral support. I promise you I have never been as scared in my life. But come hell or high water I was climbing to the top of that damned rock! Yes, I had a paddy, yes I cried, not by choice but by sheer panic and stress. Did I climb crouched down below the eye level of the hand rail? You bet, did I reach the top? Yes !!! Yes Yes Yes! Is it worth the heart pounding fear? Yes, more than just a little bit. The view from the top is nothing short of spectacular. Every direction you look is a view so picture perfect your camera will be begging you to take one more photo, one more.. Once you have taken every view possible, why not treat yourself to a drink or ice cream, because we all know every good place has either a cafe at the top and or a souvenir shop, and Guatape rock is no exception. Once you have had your fill of amazing views, return to the stairs for an equally challenging decent. Unlike the climb up, these stairs meander behind the main stairs, and are set back a little more into the rock itself. Steep, winding and spiralling, but I hasten to add with many many open views to the daylight for anyone with a more claustrophobic disposition. aka me. But, I promise you I am back on terra firma, so the rock whilst challenging, was well worth the tears and terrors. Tut tut, I missed out the tuk tuk. After wandering the streets on our arrival, we got into a tuk tuk for the most fun ride to our slightly out of town hotel. Who knew 2 chubby bunnies, one skinny bunny, 3 backpacks, 3 rucksacks, 2 hand bags, a partridge in a pear tree and a driver could fit into a tuk tuk. Well they do. And if you want to come down from the car park of Guatape rock to street level, the little tuk tuk takes on the persona of a soap boxer racer. Hang on for grim life, and laugh like you mean it. Salento. Not a place I had planned on visiting, but the smallest bunny stamped its little feet and so to Salento we went. Tuk Tuk to town, local bus back to Medellin, Terminal Norte, as every website tells you that is the correct bus station. No, it is not. You need Terminal Sur. Another local bus through the worst traffic ever, to the correct station, to find a coach to Salento. Arriving late into the evening, we fell, literally out of the taxi into our most fun hostel to date. Why fell? I swear the worlds steepest street is not in New Zealand, if it is, then our hostel street in Salento came in a close second. Why visit Salento? Think Encanto, and thank Disney, this is the town that inspired the film, and its not hard to see why. Humble apologies for using the word ` colourful` yet again, but if the cap fits! Salento is the cutest little town, but it is more the base for the spectacular Cocora Valley with its immensely tall palm trees. Not found anywhere else in the world, these palm trees are well worth the walk. To get there hop into or onto, (tell you about that in a sec) one of the very many waiting jeeps, and enjoy the most fun 30 min ride to the valley entrance. 8 people ride inside the jeeps, whilst two people, usually the male variety, but also adventurous bunnies, ride on the foot plate at the back hanging on for dear life. Eat your heart out British Health and Safety. You are dropped off at the car park and from there it is a short walk to the start of the Cocora Valley walk. Two choices, 12 km or 2km. Even the little bunny decided 2km was plenty. Straight away you are hit with a large array of super touristy `props`. You will cringe, but you will still take the I was here photo. Leave these behind, and I promise the walk to the second of the 2 view points is more than worth it. Do I want to go all that way to see a couple of extra tall palm trees? Yes, yes you do. A few lessons learned so far. Sink taps and showers come in one flavour. Cold. Buses come in two flavours, Bake or Freeze. 4 years of watching what to pack on You Tube, does not mean you will remember to pack a bra, enough underwear or to not pack 3 t shirts of the same colour. I did however remember to pack a sink plug, door stop, 3 packs of playing cards and a carbon dioxide monitor. Mr bunny wishes he had listened to Mrs bunny and packed a little more of just about everything, however Mrs Bunny is grateful for the extra space in the big bunny bag for her anticipated purchases. Little bunny found out that Colombia has the most amazing clothes for petite bunnies and is now wishing that the backpack and the budget was bigger. Your new favourite word is Banos. Pronounce this however you wish, you will always get corrected. Gracias and No gracias are used on a regular alternative basis. Your confidence of knowing you spent months learning other Spanish phrases will quickly be zapped when you abruptly realise these wonderful people talk at a 100 miles an hour, barely pausing for breath, making you whisper to your bunny partner `what did he/she just say?` Either take up charades instead before you leave, or accept that google translate is just awesome. If you really, really cannot understand, smile enthusiastically and say Si ! You will now either be going on a walking tour or volunteering for the army. Talking of the army, practise blank nonchalant non-committal facial expressions if one should happen to get on your bus armed with a bloody great gun! Bogota. Fly. The end. We caught the bus from Salento, and started off well. Our comfy little coach positively speed chugged his little way up that first mountain, we passed everything on the road, and the views as we climbed into the clouds were just breath taking. And then the fun started, strictly no overtaking, and just about every mode of transport uses that mountain pass, from bikes, taxis and buses, to humungous low loaders that just so happen to be towing a broken down bus, and in front of us. 2 hours we hugged that broken buses backside until we were finally able to pass it. More spectacular scenery, doing well, chugging along nicely now, until the roadworks started. Never again will you curse the M25. These were not roads being repaired, these were roads being rebuilt and re routed from foundation upwards. We knew the speed as we moved painfully inch by inch by reading the speedos of passing bikes. 12 kph. All the way into Bogota. 1 hour and 50 mins we travelled 9 km. Bogota city. Colombia`s biggest city. Would I come again? probably not. Not certain if too much prior research, first impressions, or the advice to not wander around particular areas especially at night skewed my initial impression, or the fact that we appeared to land when apparently the biggest rally of striking teachers in the history of Colombia was taking place in the cities biggest squares rendering them out of bounds. The entire centre of Bogota was a mass of armed police, security agents, street police with guard dogs wearing muzzles, (exclude the golden retriever with his lack of need for a muzzle on his goofy looking face) Another guard dog was also quite literally leaning on a lamp post, so maybe they don`t take the guard dog persona to heart. Is Bogota usually so well armed, I don`t know. Did we feel safe, both yes and no. Bogota has had an explosive past with a gritty political history. The rallies were peaceful, but the buildings on the public squares were still covered in black netting for their own protection against vandalism and graffiti. We went on a walking tour to learn about the city of Bogota, interesting to a point, but a little too heavy on the political instabilities for my liking. Someone described Bogota as gritty, I would describe it as your average working city. Pockets of interesting streets here and there, occasional amazing street art, but mostly your average spray paint graffitied buildings, a working city nothing more, nothing less. The best bits? The Bogota Gold Museum. That`s a must. So much gold in one place, all or most pre b.c and all of it just beautiful, intricate and fascinating. Monserrate, one of two hills that dominates the skyline of Bogota. Get to the top either by cable car, funicular railway, or for the super fit, shank`s pony, and be rewarded with the most spectacular views of the whole city. Don`t go on a Sunday, the church on the top is a much loved local place of worship. Colombia. You have been amazing. We have loved you. Your colours, your happiness, your welcoming nature, your coffee, your scenery, your art. Not so crazy about your lack of tea bags, or chocolate, but will we return? Yes. Absolutely.