Sorry...couldn't resist Mel Brooks' "History of the World" comedy hook. Jen and I start the day with a jog. I take her through the Getsamani neighborhood I've run each morning. The humidity really gets to her at 7 a.m. and we walk much of the way back.    We get back, take a dip in the pool and Katie/Jen/I walk to the Juan Valdez Cafe.    Generation gap ...the girls don't know who Juan Valdez is and ask if this is Starbucks Colombia.  ...

The Santa Clara Sofitel is know for it El Coro Lounge. We stop in for some martinis, wine, frozen concoctions in hopes we bump into the novelist & screenwriter Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Love in the Time of Cholera, Of Love and other Demons) lives next to the Santa Clara and frequents El Coro.  Very cool spot to hang out w/ low sofas, candle lights in a monastery meets Havanna club vibe. Lyn says don't try the Lychee martini..I like it. The bartender perm...

Two sun days at the pool and we need a tour. Pay two cabs $70 total for a day's rent to take us Castilla De San Felipe and La Popa.   These are outside the city walls and we were cautioned not to walk there.   The hottest, muggiest day of our trip.   Warning: If claustrophobic, faint from humidity, scared of dark, wet places, the Castilla San Felipe will be a quick tour for your $10 entrance  Lyn and KT choose to stay up top, but Jen, Ash, and I ...

Jenny, Ash, and I decide on a rustic Spa day at a phenomena of which there are 700 in the world but few this large.  Via taxi about 45 minutes into the Colombian countryside towards Barranquilla is El Volcan del Totumo, a large mud volcano of geo-excreted liquids and gases. Hot water mixes with mud and organic matter beneath the Earth crust, then deposits. . Temperatures are much cooler than igneous volcanos and the gas bubbling up is methane or helium m...

 Our first night we had collapsed into the Santa Clara's restaurant for quick pizzas (muy deliciosa) and some great desserts. After some of us not sleeping for 30 hours, not too willing to venture out.   Sunday was to be another pool day and when I typically run for groceries/goods and explore. I find the local Exito department store on foot and buy water, snacks, coffee, fruit, and some basic sandwich goods plus a panini-maker.   After the lunch/dinner/...