Just a quick update on my thermal pool experience - lovely setting for a POND. I nearly broke my neck getting in as it was so slimy but once I'd got all the underwater beetles and pond skaters out of my hair I decided to brave it and do some swimming. Unfortunately at that moment 3 people turned up so I tried to look casual and chatted to them rather than flounder about like a drowning person. I did eventually manage 3 lengths bar the stopping to clear a pathway ...

The hotel we are staying in is very strange- it looks gorgeous outside with bougainvillea dripping from balconies, a thermal spring to swim in and a 450 year history. Get inside and Ghost Hunters would have a field day. I have a four poster bed which I can't get onto unless I take a 6 foot running jump from the door. There is also a very creepy looking crib which is good for hanging clothes on but too spooky for my liking. It is exactly like the crib in the coach...

One advantage of always travelling to countries in West Africa is you know exactly where you are. You know where to go, what the people are like, what to eat and understand a bit of French. You pack a couple of T-shirts you wouldn't walk the dog in at home and off you go. You also know that some places you may be killed there but are less likely to be mugged. As Ween pointed out, I am much more likely to be robbed in Colombia than killed, and advised me to stuff ...

There are a lot of dogs wandering around here, all running loose, all very hairy and all very big. I read somewhere that there's a link between how a country treats their animals and how the people are treated. Think this has been blown out of the water as these dogs look a bit dirty but very well fed and spoilt by the homeless people. It's a bit surreal to see an Alsatian dressed in a dinner jacket with his front legs in the sleeves and one that looked like a St...

I have been looking at the weather in Bogota for some weeks now and it is always without fail, 14c and raining. Night time is 9c and raining. I booked myself on to a Graffiti Tour before I came so after the night flight and a quick shower I went down prepared for the next monsoon to try and find the meeting point. It's a free tour of the older area of Bogota, La Candelaria, where every door, wall and surface has some sort of graffiti on in protest of the old vio...