Coming to an end of our time in South America we headed back to Cartagena for our last few days. We had saved a couple of activities left for this time so we still had lots to look forward to even though we had already explored a great deal. Checking back into Hotel Marlin we was once again comfortable in our nice air-conditioned room and buying lots of alcohol from the supermarket we barricaded ourselves in for the rest of the night to savour the coldness. The following day we set off to explore the fort which is situated just off the port overlooking the city. Fort San Felipe de Barajas is very impressive; Built in the 17/18th century it is complete with high stone walls and canons which definitely makes you feel like you have stepped back in time as you walked around it's grounds; you can imagine soldiers defending it and the canons blowing up the enemy ships in the distant bay! The fort was also made up of many underground tunnels which you could wander through, which in turn served to defend and evacuate the fort in case of attack. A stroll through the fort and a few photos later we completed the day with a walk down the beach strip towards modern Bocagrande for a spot of late lunch before booking our island trips for the following day.
Up early and on the boat 'The Alcatraz' the following morning we set off for a tour to Isla del Rosario and the beach Playa Blanca. Isla del Rosario Is made up of lots of (27) tiny islands, some only big enough for a house. The islands are dotted around in crystal clear water and as we gently sailed around them you could look down and see the ocean floor beneath the boat. We stopped on one island for a short break where if we wished we could watch a dolphin show. However, what caught our attention was the food that was on offer! To our delight we could buy a snack of fresh Langoustines for £3... They where delicious! Setting off again we arrived at the beach, Playa Blanca for lunch. To get across to the shore this time a smaller boat ferried us across to the beach. Clambering onto it was fairly difficult as the waves were quite rough and the two boats knocked together quite violently. One young girl must have gotten her finger trapped at some point as it had snapped straight in half. At a completely unnatural right angle and bone sticking out I think the image will be carved in my mind for some time... Barf! Not a great time for an injury as it had taken us three hours to get to this island however she was rushed away so hopefully they had a faster means of getting her to a hospital! Playa Blanca Is a very beautiful beach with golden sand and turquoise water and as the day was getting very hot it was an ideal place to cool down and go for a swim. Relaxing for a couple of hours, eating ice lollies and sipping Cocunut milk we set off back to Cartagena. Ahhh the life! The following day we set off to the Gold museum (interesting gold ornaments from the Zenu culture 500BC) and then Jonathan decided for one of our last nights in Cartagena we would spend it in the bars of the old city town. Happy hour from 4-7pm also meant the he would steer us towards the first bar for precisely 3:55pm. We found a great little bar that also sold tapas and as we had already necked a few beers and glasses of wine before setting off we were both rather peckish. For £1 per dish we ate some tasty little morsels of Camerones in Salsa, Dorado in a Garlic marinade, Garlic bread, Pork meatballs and Potato wedges. They were so tasty and cheap that we got second helpings of the Camerones! Moving on to a few more bars we bumped into two Aussie blokes that we had met on the island tour. 11pm came and I was shattered so I left Jonathan to it. This time he arrived back at a more sensible time of 3:15am; so now I am waiting for him to sleep off his hangover so we can enjoy our very last day in Cartagena. How the time has flown!

The Colombia Top 5
1) Cartagena- An amazing place and is packed full of exciting history; Pirates, Bucaneers and Soldiers! This city has something for everyone. It has some of the most beautiful architecture, plazas, statues and is one if the prettiest places we have visited within South America. It has been a great finale of our trip.
2) Fishing- The cheapest and the best fishing trip we have ever been on! Having two local fisherman for the day meant we fished the best spots and in turn we caught the best fish! Even better that we could eat what we caught! Our very first taste of the lovely Dorado!
3) Beaches- Park Tayrona, Playa Blanca and Palomino have 'Caribbean' stamped all over them and makes this country truly special. Golden Beaches and warm turquoise water mixed with Cocunut trees (that you can actually pick/eat yourself) and jungle; Paradise!
4) Seafood- Jonathan and myself have been to many countries, but none of the seafood has ever smelt as good as here. It smells fresh and healthy and tastes absolutely fabulous. Dorado, Sierra, Langostines, Camerones, and Snapper have been some of our favourites and it is great trying them knowing that due to there quality you are going to want to eat them by the bucketful, as they are extremely tasty! Jonathan says I am now an expensive girlfriend as I greedily eye up the Giant Langoustines on the many chalkboard menus which we pass!
5) People- The Colombians are some of the nicest people we have met throughout South America. They smile and say hello as you walk down the street and in general have made us feel very welcome.

Colombia is a fantastic place and I think that choosing to miss Ecuador in order to spend our last three weeks here was the best choice to make. All in all we could easily do another month here as there is much of Colombia that we haven't seen. It's been a great end to our tour and has definitely lived up-to and exceeded our expectations!

Some facts about our trip:
1) 14 weeks in total in South America.
2) Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Patagonia, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia visited.
3) 28 towns/cities in total.
4) 195 hours on the bus!

Places to stay best:
1) Camp Paudimar, Foz do Iguazu, Brazil
2) La Tosca, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
3) Yagan House, Puerto Natales, Chile
4) Real Los Andes, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
5) Prisma Hotel, Cusco, Peru
6) Dreamers Hostel, Santa Marta, Colombia

Places to stay Worst:
Rio Nature, Rio, Brazil. The dirtiest place with huge dive-bombing bugs the size of birds!

Worst bus:
Bolivia, Uyuni to La Paz- 12hours- Ill all the way, extremely bumpy and sat next to the blocked/smelly Loo!

Best bus:
Argentina, Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires- 19 hours- Three course meal, Champagne and English films plus seats that turned into beds!

Favourite Towns:
1) Brazil, Foz do Iguazu
2) Argentina, Puerto Madryn
3) Chile, San Pedro De Atacama
4) Bolivia, La Paz
5) Peru, Cusco
6) Colombia, Cartagena

Places missed: (To note for in the future as unfortunatly we couldn't do/afford everything!)
1) Brazil, Florianopolis and Pantanal.
2) Argentina, Mendoza
3) Uraguay, Colonia
4) Chile, Ushuaia
5) Bolivia, Rurrenabaque Amazon Jungle
6) Peru, Mancora
7) Ecuador, The Galapagos
8) Colombia, Bogota
9) Venezuela (When it stops being dodgy!)

Best food (No particular order as all was yummy)
1) Black bean sauce and sweet popcorn, Brazil
2) Argentinian meat steak/lamb, Argentina
3) Empanadas, Chile and very tasty in Colombia also.
4) Llama, Bolivia or Alpaca, Peru
5) Seafood, Colombia

Top tips for touring:
1) Always have blanket and pillow for bus journey's. You never know when you will freeze to death through the Aircon or fall asleep through boredom!
2) Learn your Spanish numbers, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands and Millions! Or carry a calculator!
3) Have a pad and paper. Accents change so much that if you don't say a word correctly they look at you blankly, even if they understood you just fine on the last country! Writing it down is often easier.
4) Always carry hand sanitisers and lip balm in Bolivia.
5) It is best just to smell and be wet when trekking rather than carrying a big hefty rucksack. Walking poles are essential!

Best sights:
1) Machu Picchu in Peru
2) Iguazu waterfall in both Brazil and Argentina
3) Moreno Glacier in Argentina/Patagonia
4) Torres Del Paine in Southern Chile/Patagonia
5) Moon Valley in Northern Chile
6) Salt Desert, Lagoons and Geysers in Bolivia
7) Cartagena and the beaches in Colombia
8) Wildlife in Patagonia.

Bye bye South America.
Hello South East Asia!