So as you saw from our last post, we were able, without cost, to extend our stay here and we’re so glad we did. However, as blessed as that felt, I felt less blessed as a day or two later I received ‘the runs’ and a poor stomach. The first time since December in Manaus that I felt ill; that time we *believed* we had caught Corona from Vivian’s extended family members. Although I didn’t show many of the symptoms this time around, it can still play havoc with your paranoia - especially when you have flights booked in the same week! That would have been catastrophic for us, health aside. The logistics and expense would have been unimaginable.
Look how much closer to Nicaragua and other countries than Colombia's mainland itself!
So San Andres is an island that Christopher Colombus himself is said to have visited between 1492 and 1500. In the late 16th century the Dutch used the island as a safe haven from pirates and smugglers but the first real settlement came in 1628 when the British arrived. Did our former Empire know no bounds!?
Admittedly it is pretty cool to hear the older generation speak English in that famously well-known Caribbean accent.
Who has heard of Medellin? I’ve since learned that Medellin is where drug lord kingpin Pablo Escobar operated in and founded his infamous cartel. He was also eventually killed there too. Notoriety aside, the city has grown in popularity over the years and has established itself as one of the main got-to-go-to cities in all of Colombia.
With several days already spent in Cartagena, we booked our flight to Medellin but I can tell you it wasn’t to locate Pablo Escobar’s former stomping ground, it was for a very different reason.
Colombia! I know, right!? Who’d have thought we would end up here!? Certainly not us and probably not you. Whilst we’re actually really glad to be here, it wasn’t stress free and that was just getting here! You see, we had to book another flight at Panama airport to depart from out of a country we hadn’t even arrived in yet. We were better prepared this time but it still hurt to have to do this. Predefined times and dates are a traveller’s nightmare. Still, we gave ourselves two weeks to get a feel for this country in whatever way we could.