Parque Nacional del Cafe, Montenegro, Colombia

It's a long weekend here (today is one of those Catholic holidays), so on Saturday the "gringos" went to the one place everyone always tells us to go and the one place none of us had ever been: Parque Nacional del Cafe. I haven't mentioned it much before, but since the beginning of Term 3 there have been 5 American teachers at LPV (previously there were 3, me, Warren, and Ben, who teaches high school English). We very occasionally do activities as a group (bars, food, parties, etc.), and for whatever reason, we decided to tackle Parque del Cafe as a group of gringos instead of asking a Colombian friend to help us out.

What that means is that we took the wrong bus and probably spent too much money, but we also had a great time.

Parque Nacional del Cafe is literally a theme park dedicated to coffee and the coffee-growing spirit of Colombia. The rides are not exactly thrilling, but the landscape is beautiful and we saw an enjoyable "Show del Cafe" that featured traditional dances, music, and costumes. It was a good day and we had fun, especially after we returned to Pereira and ate at one of the only restaurants in PEI that I can recommend for vegans--Kilaba. (It's an Arabic restaurant across from Pepe Ganga on Circunvalar. Decent hummus and falafel.) Anyway, I've outlined my advice for Parque Nacional del Cafe below. Hope it's helpful!

1. To get there, DO NOT take the Expreso Alcala bus that says it goes directly to Parque del Cafe. It is a lie. It goes on the back roads to Montenegro, and then you need to take a bus, taxi, or Jeep Willys to get to Parque del Cafe. INSTEAD, take a bus to Armenia (there are a lot of express buses to Armenia from both Cali and Pereira). Once you arrive, you can arrange to take a Willys, taxi, or bus to Parque del Cafe. I imagine a bus is the cheapest way, but due to Expreso Alcala's false advertising, we went the wrong way there and took a Jeep Willys from Montenegro. The Jeep ride cost us 8,000 pesos total from Montenegro. A taxi was apparently 7,000, but we didn't fit in a taxi, and we didn't feel like finding a bus. A taxi TO Armenia from the park was 20,000 and a Jeep was 25,000.
On our first jeep:
2. Once you arrive, you have a lot of choices when it comes to buying a ticket. We had planned to do the "7 aventuras" ticket, but when we arrived our group decided to do the "multiple" ticket instead, which was more expensive but included everything. My advice is this: if you have all day, especially during the week, and also if you like horses, go for the multiple ticket. If you don't have all day (We had less than 6 hours) and you don't care if you ride the horses or not, go for "7 aventuras." Remember you will waste a lot of time standing in lines for the rides and/or shows. If you want to skip the rides and just walk around the park, you could definitely do that. It's also possible to pay for the various attractions when you do them.

3. What to do: Take the teleferico down to the main part of the park OR walk down the hill through the "Forests of Myths and Legends." Enjoy the rides but don't expect Six Flags roller coasters. Make sure you spend a substantial amount of time just wandering through the park, because it is quite beautiful. I think the park itself is much cooler than the rides. Also, make sure you see the "Show del Cafe." It's not exactly Broadway, but it was fun and I enjoyed it. The show is about an hour; make sure you are in line at least 30 minutes before the doors open. Apparently the museum is a bit lame; we didn't have time to go in so I can't personally attest to this. The teleferico and coffee fields below:


4. Food: There are restaurants outside of the park and inside the park. Snacks and drinks were not marked up inside the park, and you could bring small food items inside in a purse/backpack. Apparently the park serves good food, but all I had was juice, popcorn, and cotton candy. Those were all good though!

5. Leaving: To leave, we took a Willy to Armenia's bus terminal and then hopped onto a direct bus to Pereira. Definitely easy. The bus cost 7,700 pesos and the Jeep was 25,000 for 5 of us. A taxi would be cheaper (and warmer) but as I said before, we didn't fit.

Overall impressions: I think Parque del Cafe is a good stop in Colombia if you have time and you don't mind going a bit out of the way for it, as it is not really close to anything. It isn't cheap, so try to spend the entire day there to get your money's worth. Personally, I'm glad I took my family to a real coffee finca instead of Parque del Cafe. It's a nice place, but the coffee finca was more authentic (and cheaper). Parque del Cafe is a nice place to spend a day though, and it is a very safe and easy option for tourists. Almost all the signs were translated into decent English, and it was definitely geared for mass tourism.

I know I'm supposed to write more about veganism, and I'll try to this week, but we've been busy so I can't promise anything. Sorry!

Melody's Guide to Cartagena de Indias

Ahh... Cartagena. I never properly posted about it after our first trip, and I definitely owe it a better post since our last trip. Cartagena is by far my favorite city in Colombia. I even love it more than Medellin, and I LOVE Medellin. In my opinion, Cartagena is the very best of what Colombia offers in one package. Good (but hot) weather all year, the Caribbean Sea, a beautiful setting, great restaurants, fun things to do, easy access to other places in both the States and South America, tourist activities, and easy reach to other destinations in Colombia. Unlike other places in this country, it also has really great hotels and decent hostels. (Medellin has decent hotels, too, but still not Cartagena quality.)



Here are some important tips:
1. Cartagena is hot. Bring and wear sunscreen, because the sun is bright! Even with SPF 30 you'll get a tan.
2. Try to stay somewhere with a pool and air conditioning so you have a cool place to retreat to in the afternoons.
3. If possible, stay in one of the gorgeous boutique hotels in the Old City or Getsemani.
4. Plan to spend your evenings wandering around the Old City.
5. Know that if you are on a super tight budget, it just isn't as enjoyable.
6. Avoid street hawkers with a simple, "No, gracias."
7. If you are a Colombian or someone living in Colombia, the Hard Rock Cafe is fun. Go during lunch and try to find one of the many 20% off coupons floating around the city. It's super cheap that way.
8. Splurge on a carriage ride through the Old City at night.
9. Take taxis at night if you are staying in Getsemani.
10. Drink a coco-limonada.

First things first... getting to Cartagena. There are three options for tourists: by plane, by bus, and by boat. You can take a boat from Panama (and many cruise ships stop in Cartagena), you can take buses from virtually any major city in Colombia, and you can fly from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and many other cities within Colombia and the world. I recommend flying when possible. Cartagena's airport is probably the nicest one in Colombia.

When to go? NOT in December, the beginning of January, Easter Week, or the summer. Those are prime tourists times, and the streets will either be crawling with thousands of Colombians (December, January, and Easter) or thousands of Americans (summer). We loved being there in October--it was quiet and even though there were other tourists, we only saw fellow Americans a few times. There was more of a European/South American crowd, and therefore fewer hawkers on the streets. (Hawkers love Americans.)

Once in Cartagena, get ready to take some expensive taxis. Taxi fare starts at 5,000 pesos (roughly $2.50), while in Pereira taxis start at 3,700. It's quite a leap, but not awful because Cartagena isn't that big. Taxi drivers don't know the names of all the hotels or restaurants in the city, and many of the streets in the Old City don't allow taxis. Whenever you are going somewhere, use a map to find a nearby landmark (like a plaza) and just tell the taxi driver to head there. Obvious exceptions would be the entrance to the Old City, most hotels in Bocagrande, the Sofitel or Hotel Charleston in the Old City, the airport, and the Hard Rock Cafe.

Where you should stay in Cartagena really depends on your budget and company. There are many hostels, especially in the Getsemani neighborhood. They tend to be in the seedier section of Getsemani, and they definitely attract a certain type of backpacker (think dreadlocks). If possible, I definitely recommend hotels. There are hundreds of hotels to choose from. The Old City and Getsemani offer a lot of boutique hotels which are very nice, Bocagrande offers more modern and large-scale hotels, and then there are shady hotels in Getsemani and super fancy over-priced hotels in the Old City. I recommended Casa Santa Ana, a boutique hotel in Getsemani, but just do some searching online to find something that fits your needs and budget. (Check out TripAdvisor, and make sure you look at the specialty lodging and B&Bs.) An absolute must is to find a place with air conditioning, because Cartagena is hot and humid. If at all possible, stay somewhere with a rooftop pool, and if it matters to you, try to find a place with hot water. A rooftop pool in the Old City is great because you are close to everything, but still can cool off during the afternoon. Bocagrande offers hotels on the beach, but Cartagena's beaches really aren't that wonderful, so I personally wouldn't stay there. It's better to be within walking distance of the Old City.

What to do...
1. Relax. The first time we went to Cartagena, we made the mistake of being tourists. Cartagena is hot, humid, and dusty in the afternoon. It's not a great place to walk around seeing the sights. Instead, spend your days relaxing, and spend your early mornings and nights/evenings sightseeing. Don't be hard on yourself for taking an afternoon nap in your air-conditioned room or lounging by the pool drinking beer. That's one of the best things you can do in Cartagena.

2. Go to the Castillo de San Felipe. It's an old fort where the Spanish stored their gold, and there's a lot of history behind it. It's a good morning activity, and shouldn't be skipped. (Although we did skip it on our second trip... no need!)


3. Walk the walls around the old city. This is one of the most enjoyable and quintessential experiences in Cartagena. I like walking them at sunset. It's cooler and the walls make a great place to watch the sun set over the Caribbean.


4. Wander through the Old City. It's not that big, but comfortable footwear does make it more enjoyable. The streets are beautiful, and the flower-covered balconies and twisting ivy make great photos. Be sure to see the old cathedrals and Plaza de Bolivar.
5. Eat. I recommend eating at least one meal in Plaza de Santo Domingo, even just for the atmosphere. Torre Luna was also great for a vegetarian meal. San Pedro had veg pad thai, but bad service.
6. Try to visit India Catalina, she's cool.
7. Relax again. For real.

Get out: One of the coolest things about Cartagena is how close it is to the Rosario Islands and Baru Island. If you have time, do your best to go to the Rosarios, which are gorgeous, and definitely to go to Playa Blanca on Baru. I didn't actually go to Playa Blanca, but our boat went past it, and it looked absolutely gorgeous.
(above, Playa Blanca) Apparently it gets packed on the weekends, so I'd recommend paying a taxi driver a lot of money (or taking a bus/renting a car) and going there during the week. We went by it on a Friday and there was literally NO ONE on the beach. Other places you can go are Santa Marta and Baranquilla, which are a few hours away by bus.

I personally wouldn't recommend SportBaru unless you do it as a day trip and everything is included. I think it would be better to pay someone that money to take you to Playa Blanca or the Rosarios.

*side-note* Many of these pictures are from last summer, and two of the pictures (night photo of Cartagena & Playa Blaca are from the interwebs.

***For those of you waiting oh so patiently for the vegan posts, I promise they are coming! This is my last vacation post.***

Saturday Night Hummus

Last night, Warren and I planned a double hummus date with our friends Luis Mi and Diana. Although we love all of our friends, we really appreciate it when we can spend time with another couple. (Warren especially appreciates it, since most of our other friends are girls.) Plus, it's fun to have them over because Diana doesn't speak very much English, and it makes the conversations we have more challenging, but in a good way.

I made way more food than we could have ever eaten, but we certainly made an attempt. Pictured below: four types of hummus, lots of veggies, crackers, chips, and pitas for dipping into the hummus, bruschetta topping and baguette slices, pesto, garlic dip, and roasted red pepper dip.





We also had pineapple and grapes for dessert. Yum!

The four types of hummus I made were roasted red pepper, green olive, roasted garlic and red onion, and fajita spice. They were all good in their own way. My favorite is green olive, but honestly all four rocked. Many thanks to Kristin and her roommate, Kelsi, at Coffee, Calculations, and Colombia for passing on their hummus recipe. We've basically eaten hummus everyday for three weeks.

My own hummus recipe is a bit different now that I've learned how to do it, so I'm going to share it. You know, just to add to the millions of other hummus recipes in internet land.

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo beans
1 tbsp tahini
2 tablespoons (or more, depending on how much citrus you like) of lime juice
1 teaspoon orange juice (makes the lime less powerful)
4 or more cloves of roasted garlic*
water and olive oil (I add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil initially and then add more oil and water as needed. Water makes it really creamy and gives it a lighter texture. I probably put around 1/4 cup of water in each batch, but only a bit at a time so I know if it's getting too watery.)
paprika, sea salt, and white pepper to taste
Whatever "flavoring" you want to add.

To roast garlic, take however many cloves you are using, don't peel them, and wrap them up in foil with a little olive oil drizzled over the top of them. Then roast in a 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. When they are finished, you can just squeeze the cloves out of the peel. Yum!

Directions: As Kelsi suggested, I rinse the beans really well and then cook them. I usually let them boil for 5 minutes or more. While they are cooking, I put the lime/orange juice, tahini, garlic, and my flavoring* in the blender. When they are finished, add the drained garbanzo beans and about a tablespoon of olive oil to the blender. Blend well. If you have trouble blending, add water and a tiny bit of olive oil or citrus juice. When the mixture is smooth, add spices. Blend again until it looks perfectly creamy. Chill and then eat!

*Flavorings:
1. To make green olive hummus, add about 1/2 cup of green olives (or more if you love them) to the blender. Don't add any salt to this hummus. The olives are already salty.
2. To make roasted red pepper hummus, I add two roasted red peppers. (See Kelsi's directions in the blog link above.) I also add a lot of paprika and red pepper powder.
3. For roasted garlic and red onion, I add an entire bulb of roasted garlic and HALF of a large roasted red onion (do it the same way as the garlic), along with a little more citrus juice instead of water. I also add a lot of pepper.
4. For fajita spice hummus, I cheated. I added 1/2 a package of Old El Paso (I found it at Exito) fajita spice mix. Hooray for MSG. I also added a lot of pepper, paprika, and red pepper powder. I would normally use chipotle and other various yummy Tex-Mex spices, but I can't find them here.

Review: Casa Santa Ana, Cartagena, Colombia

Above: Limonadas we received when we arrived. Limonadas are my favorite drink in Colombia (in Cartagena they also make coconut limeade!)

I apologize for the pictures, they aren't my best, but hopefully they will demonstrate how awesome this hotel was... and FYI, this is a picture heavy post.

First of all, if you are going to Cartagena, you have a few options when it comes to lodging. You can stay in the modern and generally upscale neighborhood of Bocagrande, you can stay in any array of generally over-priced hotels, B&Bs, and hostels inside the Old Walled City, you can rent a house or apartment, you can stay in a hostel in Getsemani, or you can stay in one of the cities exquisite boutique hotels. Cartagena, for whatever reason, seems to specialize in tiny boutique hotels. Generally, they are built in remodeled houses in the old city, which is great because it means they are usually beautiful and that they help to preserve a lot of the integrity of the old colonial buildings.

I found Casa Santa Ana on TripAdvisor. It was ranked quite highly under "specialty lodging," was more affordable than the other places we were considering, and we decided to go for it. Casa Santa Ana is located in Getsemani, which is actually just outside of the real walled city. We stayed in Getsemani last summer, but it a much noisier and dirtier part of the neighborhood. This time, we were a few steps away from Plaza de la Trinidad, where an old church stands (and I think it is being renovated). Getsemani is a real Colombian neighborhood, and as such it offers salons, grocery stores, street vendors, playing children, and Comcel shops galore. Although the Old City is probably a tad bit safer, I prefer Getsemani because there aren't pushy hawkers trying to get tourists to buy things. The Old Walled City is special because it has been almost completely renovated, and it is very beautiful. It is also where most of the best restaurants are located, so it is convenient. That said, Getsemani is a quick walk (or taxi ride at night) from the Old City, and it's in the process of being renovated. It was a good base for our trip.

Above, street art in Getsemani and La Trinidad Church

Now, for the real review:
When we arrived, we were greeted by Jamie, who was our hostess for our entire stay. She led us to couches and had Gloria (another staff member who rocked) bring us limonadas. She also brought us cold, damp wash clothes, which were definitely appreciated as Cartagena was hot and we had just gotten off a bus. After a tour of their gorgeous hotel, we were taken to our room. Although we had booked a standard room, they gave us the junior suite because we were the only guests. It was awesome.



Above: doors to our room, our room, and Warren with the cold washcloth on his face.

As I said before, the hotel was simply gorgeous. It only opened a year and 4 months ago, so everything is new, but it is also obvious that the staff really cares about the hotel, and they work hard to make it beautiful. Here are some pics:







Top to bottom: bikes for guests to use, sitting area in the massage/hot tub area with views of the San Felipe Fort, view of the San Felipe Fort at night, entrance to the hotel, rooftop pool, massage tables (where we had awesome massages), sitting area with WiFi, rooftop terrace next to the pool, balcony and view of our room, foyer.

Finally, I feel it is necessary to mention these two details:
1. At night, Casa Santa Ana gave us "turn down" service and left a dessert in our room.
2. They had a good breakfast.



Overall, we had a wonderful stay, and I would definitely recommend Casa Santa Ana. It's probably best for individuals or couples (read: not families), but honestly it would be absolutely fabulous for a girls' weekend. Other than one tiny little complaint* we had a perfect stay. It was relaxing and the service was incredible. The staff helped us with everything from directions to restaurant recommendations and reservations to folding our clothes. They also provided an airport transfer, which was greatly appreciated as taxis in Cartagena are expensive, and one night they even brought up an iPod dock to the pool just so we would have music to listen to. Fantastic. They were very attentive. Also, the hotel is gorgeous and it smells REALLY good. That's a weird thing to say about a hotel, but it's true. So, in conclusion, if you are going to Cartagena and you want to splurge a bit on a perfect vacation, stay in Casa Santa Ana.

*My only itty, bitty tiny critique of the hotel is this: it's pricey. The rooms themselves are probably priced correctly as Cartagena is expensive and they were cheaper than most of the other hotels, but the services (non-food-related) they offered were expensive, especially for Colombia. Although our massages were excellent and we were given a glass of wine at the end, they cost around $60 each, which is a lot more than what is normally charged in Colombia. Of course, they were also hour-long aromatherapy massages given by professionals. Also, the pedicure/manicure package they offered started at 40,000 pesos, which is only $20, but I get mine done all the time for 15,000 pesos, so it was a bit high. In the end, though, they did walk me to a salon in Getsemani and made me an appointment to get my nails done, so they weren't really trying to cheat us. If you are coming to Cartagena on an American budget, I'd definitely say the massage and any other services are worth it. On a Colombian teacher's budget, they were a tad over-priced.

The Real Vacation Post.

I'm not normally one for "relaxing" vacations. My most recent trips before last week were to Ecuador and Northern California. On both occasions, I was doing the tourist thing of trying to see too much in too little time and stressing about food, money, and everything else possible. In Ecuador, the weather was freezing and we never had a day "off" to relax. Dumb. In Northern California, I was with my family, and there was always too much to see and we didn't have the time or money to do everything we wanted.

I decided in the middle of term 3 (on one of those days when my students were making me crazy and I had a mountain of work to do) that this vacation was going to be different. I was going to relax, and I wasn't going to be cold, stressed, or worn out. Amazingly, that is exactly what happened. This was one of the best vacations I've ever had. Warren and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together, and we really enjoyed just spending our days lounging around in the warmth of the Caribbean Sun.We spent the first 4 days at a resort called Los Alemendros. We arrived on Saturday afternoon after a long drive from Monteria. During our drive we passed a number of small towns that had been flooded. It was sad but fascinating to watch people trudge through small streams that had once been streets. Once we arrived at Los Alemendros, we were given our cabana and allowed to relax. Alemendros was the only place in Covenas with people, but it still wasn't crowded. I spent a few hours one day slowly swimming laps in a completely empty pool, for example. Warren and I often spent the afternoon or evening on the beach, and we were frequently two of about six people on the beach. Oh, and the beach was literally 100 feet away from our front door. Covenas isn't necessarily beautiful, but it is quiet and peaceful, and we really relaxed. Also, it was free for us, because the school paid for the condo.

On Sunday night there was a really horrible rain, and when we woke up on Monday and put our feet on the floor, we realized there was over an inch of water on the floor of the entire cabana. My suitcase was on the floor, and all my clothes were soaked. My computer cord got wet and didn't work (until Tuesday) and my Kindle cord still doesn't work. (Luckily I have a spare.) Monday morning was rough, but we were moved to a different cabana and after I washed all my clothes by hand (ugh), nothing unpleasant happened until we had to go home.


On Wednesday we took a bus to Cartagena. The rode was bumpy, but it would have been a good trip if there hadn't been a rooster on the bus who thought it was dawn every few minutes. Also, I have never understood why all Colombian buses insist on showing awful horror movies dubbed into Spanish. No matter. There was an adorable little girl (maybe 9 months??) on the bus who kept laughing at me, and she definitely made up for the rooster and the movie.

We arrived in Cartagena around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Our taxi driver couldn't read (for realz, dudes. Colombia seriously needs to work on education.) and had a lot of trouble finding our hotel. It took him over an hour of driving around one neighborhood twenty times and asking everyone he saw where it was and then ignoring whatever they said. He also insisted on calling it Casa Santana, instead of Casa Santa Ana, which of course confused everyone. Whatev. We did finally make it to Casa Santa Ana, and thank goodness because it was literally paradise. I plan to devote my next post entirely to Casa Santa Ana, but until then, here's a picture that I believe sums up how awesome it is:
That's me in the rooftop pool at night (where we could see the Castillo de San Felipe glowing nearby) after we were just served limonadas. They also brought up an iPod dock and put on music just for us. Awesome. Happily, after we arrived we discovered that two of our good friends had also made a surprise visit to Cartagena. After I got a pedicure, manicure, and eyebrow wax, and after we both had ex foliating and aromatherapy massages, we happily met our friends Luis Mi and Diana in Plaza Santo Domingo for dinner.

The next day we lounged around in our awesome hotel, had a great breakfast, watched TV, swam in the pool, and spent some time catching up with things online. I also accepted a job for Jan-May 2011. Pretty nice morning. : ) That afternoon we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe with our friends, and then we wandered around Cartagena, which is GORGEOUS. It's probably the most beautiful Colonial city in all of the Americas. It's also hot. We soon returned to our hotel, where we again swam and watched TV until dinner. For dinner, we went to a place called San Pedro, which had VEGETARIAN PAD THAI... with platanos. Amazing. Warren had salmon.

On Friday we went to the island of Baru. We had arranged the trip through our hotel, and so everything was included. We were taken to a resort called SportBaru on a 45 minute boat ride. After we arrived, we were given a coconut limeade and a room to use for the day. We soon tried snorkeling, but the waves were rough, so instead we went to a private beach with clear gorgeous water and white sand. Also, an Ecuadorian ship was hanging out nearby. We weren't sure why, but they played good music.




After an hour on the beach, we were served lunch, and then I fell asleep in a hammock. That afternoon we returned to our hotel, and later that night we found a vegetarian restaurant with hummus, falafel, and paella with seitan. Who knew such things existed in Colombia!?!

Saturday was our last day, and we spent the morning walking around the old town. It's so beautiful... After a quick swim, we had to head to the airport to come home. Our perfect vacation had come to an end.

This week's been tough. The weather was awful Tuesday and Wednesday, and today is the first sunny day since we've been back. My classes have been good, though, and I've been spending my spare time making hummus and looking at vacation homes in Cartagena. If anyone has 400,000 dollars they don't need, I'd love to use your money to buy myself a vacation home! : )