So much for resting. So as mentioned I decided to park it in Macondo Hostel in San Gil for a couple days since the city is known to be really good for outdoors stuff and the hostel is a common crossroads for international travelers. I met an Aussie, Brook, and a British couple, Tom and Monique who invited me along to do a bunch of cool stuff. So when I returned from the Botanical Gardens where I left off last the group asked me if I wanted to take a bus out of town to some park where there was a couple hundred foot waterfall you could hike to the top of and swim in the bottom of I was like "uh yep I'll get my boardies". That ended up being pretty fun and real refreshing at the pool in the bottom. The buses are quite hilarious, many different types but most of the ones that go to the more rural spots are not much bigger than a long van and have twice as many seats as they should for comfort. People rely on them quite a bit and I have yet to be on one that doesn't end up packed with people standing half way to the destination. Spent the evening getting to know Tom and some others at the hostel such as Jean and Ronan, an Irish couple who have been traveling ardundee the world for 3 years! Typical of most casas in Colombia, the living space in the middle is open to the elements with no ceiling so when it rains about every other night the hammocks have to be taken down and everyone walks around the perimeter of the living area where there is a bit of cover. So that evening the hostal was organizing a class 4&5 guided rafting trip on the Rio Suarez for the next day and again I obviously helped fill the vacant spots. I don't have pictures of that for obvious reasons but must say that it was really wicked at times but for the most part pretty similar to the Lower Yough in Ohiopyle on a high water day, only way muddier water. The last section of rapids was the best, evidenced by the fact that one of the guides in another boat got tossed out a good ways and the rafts were almost vertical at times. Later that night a few of us went out for what has been the classiest joint I've seen in Colombia yet called carne & carne. Man do they love their protein here which you'll never hear me complain about. It's like everything is made with milk and every meal comes with a meat dish. That night we again frequented the meat stick stand after our steak dinners making this local lady just crack up at the fact that some of these carnivore like Westerners such as myself had purchased 10 from her in 3 days. We had a good night having beers in the square and I soon found that the best beer here is Club Colombia. Hanging out in the square is really popular in the small towns. It seems like every town has a picturesque square plaza with a church and fountain crowded to look like a mini-festival is going on every evening. I finally tried Aguardiente, the popular Colombian liquor, but found that I'll stick to their rum instead because it was horrible! Tastes like liquid black licorice just like the Greek liquor Oozo, sorry Ted (my Greek boss who believes since it's of Greek origin it surely is the among the best in the world). That night a young local kid came up to us who wanted to practice English so Tom and I had a real slow 10 minute small talk conversation with him which was interesting. Today I went hiking again, don't ask me why, which was really nice because we walked along what looked like an old walled battle road / trail that connected two small towns, Baranchuro and Guane. Tom, Monique and I had an awesome lunch including fresh purified guava juice, a dried meat steak which was actually awesome and a banana like fruit cut in slices and fried. You can find these 'jugos naturales' at almost every restaurant here literally unless it's some little fast food joint. It takes a lot of fruit to make and just goes to show how abundant the fruit is here. This morning I had mango con leche (with milk) and it took a whole huge mango to fill up the 12 oz glass. On the way back from the little town on the bus a father asked his daughter to tell me something and then she asked me if I liked ice cream and of course I said yes. Then I realized she asked if I 'wanted an ice cream' as she came back on the bus with one for all her family as well as me. It was nice to feel welcomed by a local family and also gave me an opportunity to have a small conversation. Although basic I was relieved at the fact that I was able to tell them I wanted to pay, thanked them, asked what flavor it was and commented it tasted good, wihout having to repeat myself (which is typical for me) to be understood because the speak so fast. Later this evening I went to dinner on my own and also proceeded to speak in Spanish which was funny because unlike most here my waitor spoke a little English and wanted to use that. So I ordered and tried to converse in Spanish and he answered me in English and brought the correct foods I ordered. So it was kind of hilarious but I thought, hey at least we're understanding eachother. But on the language topic I actually still haven't had many opportunities to truly converse and would like to do private lessons which seem to be really popular for Westerners traveling in South America. Well I have heard conflicting comments, again, regarding the route north for tomorrow so I'm waking up early and hoping for the best. Hope all is well for everyone at home
