Discover Colombia, Barranquilla

You have to love this friendly city of Barranquilla, the people work hard but they like to party hard too. The sounds of the city are so incredible, birds singing, people talking, children singing and laughing, music in the air everywhere, but the most fascinating is the sounds of vehicles and their horns. It's like the is the language of the roads, wow.

I took some different pictures from the rooftops to give you a bit of something new angle and so you can see from the sky what this lovely city looks like.

Oh man, there is a lot of green where ever you see and go, lots of shade and sun, the temperatures never drop down from plus 36 Celsius, and it's so humid that you are always soaked and wet, I really didn't like it but it's better than freezing your berries over here in Canada with the minus 38 Celcius every winter.

Barranquilla is only about half an hour from the ocean and that's why is so humid.

This picture shows a bit of smoke but it was not that bad to walk around and take the nice city in. The food is just superb, very inexpensive and nutritious.

With $10 Canadian dollars ( which I might say is not much ) you can buy ( in February 2016 ) una cerveza, fish and chips, a bowl of the soup of the day and a nice bowl of ice cream in a fancy restaurant.

By the way the ( cervezas ) beers are less than a dollar and it's good beer, 4 to 5 % alcohol content and if you like a bigger kick they have a beer from Brazil called " Brava" that is 6%, but watch out with the heat and drinking because you'll wind up like drunk in no time flat and may need a nap (yes, I'm talking from experience ).

The trees had flowers all around us, we picked flowers from many bushes and trees this day and had a nice bouquet of nice looking flowers when we got back to the house.

Oh yes, these traffic circles are everywhere, in Barranquilla they are a normal every day of life. One day I saw this farmer and his mule or donkey going around and boy everyone in this city is so used to use them, back in Canada we hate them, for the only reason that we are in such a hurry that we don't think who has the right lane.

Carnaval in February, is just spectacular , you have to come and see this..!

Music and people dancing was just fun...

There is a story behind the marimudas but it will have to be on another post.

It was a day full of sunshine, friendship and good food...ok some beers too... : )

*** I Welcome You To The Valley Of The Coffee , El Eje Cafetero - Colombia***

Now we moved on to the center of Colombia, to the valley of the coffee, to the heart of the coffee making country Colombia " El Eje Cafetero ".

You have to put this place in your bucket list, no getting out of that...don't be afraid of the language or money. There are a lot of guide agencies that by the way, they speak a very good ingles and they are so affordable, it will make you say " let's go right now".

Note

Simple spanish 101...this all you have to know..

1. Make some a list or notes of the important things that are part in your daily routine. ex: going to the bathroom, asking for something, about the price, then look it up in your google translator...yes is that simple....

Now write it all down in a nice personal notebook that you are going to have by your side all the time. If you can't say it or won't be able to pronounce it , it won't matter because you show the phrase to that person and they will read it and understand exactly what in the heck you want.

a) Where is the bathroom?
#..." Donde esta el baňo [ ---you can say baňo = banio ]

b) How much is this ?
#..." Cuanto cuesta esto?

c) That is too much money...
#..." Eso es mucho dinero..."

d) Where is the police?
#..." Donde esta la policia? ".

e) want to go to the hospital
#..." yo quiero ir al hospital "...

f) Good morning.
#..." Buenos dias "...

g) Good night.
#..." Buenas noches "...

Keep thinking about other things like : eating, buying, going places, and other...

Ok , after you get all your phrases done, save them in your special notebook and you are done....

Very Important

I know that I have said that Barranquilla is very friendly and safe but there are also not so friendly people there too that like to steal as a hobby, so for best practices don't let anyone have the chance to get so close to you and see your personal stuff or/and keep a low shoppers profile, in other words, don't tell the whole world that you have more money than anyone there and that you are living the good life of the rich and famous.

Ok, it rained all night ( we are in the middle of the rainforest so it has to rain ) and the roof started to leak rainwater inside our room, you can see that right away they did the repairs to the roof so we could sleep in peace. Great people, I tell you.

As you look close you can see a variety of plants, some familiar and some you don't have a clue but the scenery is always pleasant.

So after breakfast, we took a fresh cool refreshing after the rain morning walk around this beautiful " hacienda ". There in our path , we saw many as a hundred different kinds of birds with their thousands of songs cheering us going by.

The many flowers we encountered was just phenomenal to tell you the least...

Orchids are everywhere, up in the treetops in the gardens, growing indoors, growing in little pots, I just didn't get it, there are so easy to grow they told me...

Ok, we were so glad to be here, Colombia is so beautiful, and affordable, don't let politics nor other element tell you not to come here.

Barranquilla, Colombia - South America.