Ciao Colombia...

Hello,

This week has gone so fast and I have done so much! We went to Playa Blanca on Tuesday which is a paradise beach with lots of Colombian tourists. Luckily the tourists leave at about 4pm though and then we literally had the beach to ourselves (4 of us!). We slept in hammocks and swam in the boiling hot Caribean at moonlight! It was so beautiul and so relaxing. The next day we woke up early to go snorkelling which was fantastic. Loads of fish and beautiful coral just off the beach (unfortunately I really sunburnt my back but it was worth it!).

We travelled by boat back to Cartagena then onwards to Santa Marta where we found a really cheap hostel on the beach. There was a huge party going on the whole time we were there because it was the towns aniversary so there was masses of music and dancing all the time! So great! We met some amazing salsa dancers so have been perfecting our technique! There aren´t that many tourists in Santa Marta so although I tried hard to fit in as a local I was an obvious outsider!

My friend Adeline and I decided to do our PADI diving course because it was only three days and was pretty cheap. So we had to wake up at 7am every morning which was tough seeing as we couldn´t escape the fiesta! We did 6 dives overall which were fantastic. We went to Rodadero, Parque Tayrona and Taganga all of which have fantastic reefs with loads of fish, eels, sea snakes, crabs, lobsters and beautiful coral. I got used to the feeling of diving pretty quickly and absolutely love it. It is so peaceful to be under the sea observing everything. We did quite a bit of theory and finished with an exam which we both passed so are now qualified open water divers.

I arrived in Caracas (Venezuela) today after a nightmare journey in dodgy taxis and buses . One bus (which should have taken 8 hours but took15!) had no air con and played a sweedish film really loudly on loop! The corrupt police stopped us about 5 times and we all had to get out and show our passports and as soon as they see that I am foreign they ask me to show them my bags too! And for some reason my debit card wouldn´t work so I had no money so didnt eat or drink all day! Luckily I met a really nice guy who helped me and now I have money which is lucky because I am so hungry! Nightmare but I made it! I am so much more relaxed and patient having had all these crazy experiences!

Tomorrow I head down south to Santa Elena where I will be living with the Pemon People for a month. I doubt they have internet (!!) so this will be my last post for a while. I am back on Spetember 1st and want to see everyone before I go off to uni in October to catch up with everyones news so keep in touch.

Take care everyone and see you very soon xxxxxxxx