A few days ago we prepared for the 13 hour bus journey from San Gil to Santa Marta. None of us were looking forward to this but we were packed, showered and mentally prepared....I guess...for the long journey. The bus pulled in and we got on board and a young Colombian girl sat next to me. She seemed friendly but I started to worry when she was asking me where the vomit bags were...not a good sign! I thought, "great"! 13 hours having to smell sick all the way. A little while into the journey I realised why she wanted them, as she must have done this trip before. The first two and half hours to Bucamaranga were like being on a mini roller coaster ride. Twisting and turning, climbing and descending, with some rain for added fun and a confident bus driver who was happy to overtake trucks on bends. I know now why so many trucks and buses here get 'pimped' with many LED lights, so they can see each other coming in the darkness. My stomach was just holding up and trying to focus on the 'cinematic masterpiece' which was Battleship, playing on the tv in Spanish but this was not helping. I started to feel sorry for the poor girl next to me though as she filled a couple of bags but I hardly noticed thankfully and we offered her some snacks later. This rapport was later to benefit me. I had read that they like to blast the air conditioning on buses here but didn't realise just how cold it got. My fleece was no match for this but my new Colombian friend took pity on me and shared her blanket with me. I was very grateful.

While Sarah went off to do her lost city trek, Nicola and I were off to Palomino for some R&R. Palomino was about as chilled as you can get with not much going on but beach and relaxation which is exactly what we wanted. Dreamers hostel was right on the beachfront and a very nice hostel set in amongst palm trees and around a pool. The beach was only 50m away but the currents are treacherous and you can't really swim...still very raw and picturesque though. It was nice to do nothing for four days except work on the tan (although the weather was somewhat cloudy most of the time), drink, eat breakfast and dinner on the beach and lie in the hammocks. So relaxing you can forget about the outside world. If I didn't have to be in Peru next week, I might have taken the bar job that was on offer and stayed for a little while longer :-).

Next we were off to the Finca Barlovento for a few nights where we regrouped with Sarah. This was billed as an amazing place to stay right on the waterfront with million dollar views and lovely food. We would be sleeping in an open air cabin room but it was going to be something special. The girls were looking forward to this for a while as a nice break from the hostel scene. The hostels we have stayed in have generally been nice but this was going to be a mini splurge. I wasn't going to mind staying somewhere nice now was I?!

Nicola and I arrived to some breathtaking views of the river and sea and were greeted by Herman who was a friend of the owner but was playing host. A very charming charismatic Colombian man who had lived abroad and spoke perfect English. The weather had started to change though and Sarah hadn't arrived yet. It was getting dark and started raining heavily. Thankfully she arrived in one piece although soaking wet. A bottle of wine with dinner made everything ok again and we listened to her stories from the lost city trek.

The first night the weather really turned it on and it was raining heavily and blowing a gale all night. I thought we would get soaked in our semi covered room and found it hard to get to sleep. The next morning Herman said it was the worst weather they had here in 30 years. Not sure how serious he was but just our luck!! It rained pretty much all day and there was not much to do but sit around the place. The final day however it brightened up a bit and we made our way to Parque Tayrona. A huge national park with some amazing beaches and scenery, although it was quite a trek through the park to get to some of them. The rains had flooded some of the paths, which meant wading through water up to our knees at times (Nicola was "not enjoying it" as she put it) but we ploughed through and were rewarded with some nice weather by the time we got to Cabo San Juan…the picture on the cover of the guide book. On the way out the guard who checked our bags on the way in stopped me again and ask me where I was from. After re-confirming my nationality he asked if we spoke English in Australia to which I also confirmed. Where was he going with this? "¿Como se dice 'maiz' en Ingles?" he asked, to which I answered 'corn'. He then looked at the newspaper he was reading and then gave me the thumbs up. He was completing a crossword…I couldn't stop laughing!

By the time we got back to the finca we were all looking forward to a nice dinner and a couple of drinks with our charismatic hosts Herman and Matthew (his godson and the owner´s father - also quite the character). All in all it was a generally relaxing week in some amazing scenery but we were all looking forward to the promised warmer climate of Cartagena…our next stop.