I have just returned from a 6 day trek through the Colombian jungle to visit La Ciudad Perdida or The Lost City. The scenery was absolutely amazing and it is obvious now why the government has lost control of about 40% of the country and the war on drugs is about useless. Considering that Colombia is roughly the size of France and Spain combined, that´s a lot of territory. Fortunately, this region is somewhat controlled by the government and also para-milita...

This is vacation season here in Colombia and the small city of Santa Marta is Tourist Central. The hotels, restaurants, and beaches are full and the town is alive and active. I´ve been traveling with a couple buddies for a while now; Manuel from Oz who I crossed from Panama with on the sailboat, and Joel from Holland who we met in Cartagena. Manuel is a diving instructor and I witnessed first hand his interview and hiring at a dive center at the nearby beach...

Cartagena has proven itself to be a quite fun and pleasant city ... actually one of the safer places I`ve walked around, believe it or not. Cartagena`s Old Town is one of the most amazing colonial towns I`ve been to .. by far much better than Antigua Guatemala and Granada Nicaragua. There are streets here that have changed little since the 17th century. So far, I`ve explored all over town and hit the beach a couple times. I also visited the old Castillo that was ...

Finally, after 12 long days on a sailboat, I´ve arrived in South America! In Panama City, I found a captain sailing to Colombia. The Panamerican highway, which otherwise connects Alaska to the tip of Argentina, meets its demise in the Darien Gap region between Panama and Colombia. Travel here is next to impossible as the area is infested with guerrillas and drug traffickers. The only sane options to South America are by plane or boat. I am on the Tarona, a...

After the canal and in the following few days, I visited Casco Viejo, Panama Viejo - Panama City`s original location before pirate Henry Morgan burned it down - and also National park Metropolitano. This entry is just to separate these pix from the Canal pix.