The Caribbean coast... where it is hot, hot, hot!!
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2008
1
66
73
Trip End
Ongoing
Santa Marta, Colombia
Friday, May 1, 2009
Unfortunately this also means that I have no photos to upload for the next several blog entries. You will just have to use your imagination! :)
Once again I find myself in Colombia... this time exploring the Caribbean Coast- and once again I find myself falling in love with this amazing country!
Park Tayrona is one of Colombia`s most visited parks... and it is obvious why. Where else can you sleep outside in a hammock with the beach on one side and a lush, dense tropical jungle to the other? There is nothing sweeter than being lulled to sleep by the soothing ocean waves and woken up by the calls of jungle birds. This is a life I could easily get used to!!!
Every morning I would wake up early and go hiking through the tropical rain forest and every afternoon I would lounge around and do nothing but read, relax and stare out into the ocean. The hiking is amazing- the area is packed with animals and everywhere you look whether it is up high or down low you are sure to spot countless creatures. Tons of brightly colored birds, including woodpeckers with their bright red `fros, vibrant yellow, red and blue parakeet-like birds and loads of bright green and red parrots can be spotted in the trees or flying overhead. And on the ground hundreds of crabs can be spotted scurrying back and forth- some bright blue, others red and many are so well disguised they look exactly like the sand. There are hundreds of lizards, some are beige, others are green but my favorite by far are these grey lizards that have the brightest turquoise stripes along their sides... they almost glow! I even saw TWO different types of snakes! They are soooo quick!
And if that wasn`t cool enough, I got sooooo lucky because I also saw TWO troops of the Titi monkeys! Titi monkeys are very small- almost all black with little white faces. Soooo cute! These guys are small and hard to spot in the dense jungle. I just got lucky because I heard them jumping from tree to tree... and when they jump the trees sometimes rustle, giving up their secret locations. The titi monkeys are endangered and almost wiped out from the Tayrona area. It was such a treat for me to see these animals.
AND if that still isn`t cool enough... I also ran into a family of fox! I was out hiking super early one morning and I came around a corner to find three furry faces frozen in place, staring at me as if to say, "What the heck are YOU doing here?" The four of us had a staring contest for a minute or two... and guess what? I am the one that LOST!!! They started to make me nervous and I had to back down! :)
I really wish I had another book with me... because I would have stayed for another night or two if I had something else to read!!! There is a limit to how long I can stare at the crashing waves before I get bored! :)
