Had a great weekend with Elizabeth and Victor Eduardo's family in Gambita! Getting up at 4.30 wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but i made sure I was asleep for 10.30. Victor Eduardo on the other hand went to a friend's birthday party and got in at 2.30, how he got up at 5am I have no idea! Elizabeth's brother, who was driving us, arrived and we had breakfast before setting off which was really nice after my week of bread rolls for breakfast! We had aromatica (sweet herbal tea), hot chocolate, bread, a piece of cheese and a soup called 'caldo' which is a typical breakfast- it had potatoes, bread and a poached egg in it. It was nice and good to try something different. I guess we set off about 5.30-5.45 and stopped on the way in Socorro, so I got to see another typical town in this area. We picked up a cousin here then set off again to Gámbita. A scenic journey but windy roads with lots of overtaking, not my favourite type! Was pretty scary at one point when a lorry was overtaking another lorry and was coming right at us on our side of the road, it was the closest I think I have ever been to an accident, but they said, don't worry, it's normal! It's also normal to not wear seat belts, none in the back anyway and they are not worn in front either- I think I prefer the safety of travel in England! Lol Anyway the 4 wheel drive made the last part of the drive to the village of Gámbita easier but it was a very bumpy road! We arrived there at about 8.45 and after meeting the family we got ready to go to Elizabeth's parents' finca further up in the mountains. The LP describes a finca as a country house with land, it's a farm really. They have several pieces of land but the one we went to had a small house on it, no-one lives there but they go up at the weekends. It was a really peaceful, beautiful spot, surrounded by hills. They have cows, around 100 in total and a few horses, but I declined the chance for a ride on one as I don't really like being on a horse- in hindsight I probably should have given it another try, just to see if I still didn't like it....

Everyone wears sombreros here, a bit like cow boy hats, so I was leant one for the day and Elizabeth and Victor Eduardo and I went for a drive to a nearby waterfall. Although Victor Eduardo only turned 17 in August he is able to drive, although not on main roads. He drove well, I wouldn't really have fancied driving on the bumpy roads! The waterfall was pretty and then we visited a river with a bit of a 'beach' with lots of different coloured stones. I explained that a lot of our beaches in England are like that with pebbles. What was really beautiful about it was contrast of the bright blue sky and the bright green hills/mountains- I got some lovely photos. On the way back we passed a man who was walking to Gámbita to sell cheese- a 5 hour walk (one way!)We gave him a lift and then passed some people they knew who were going to the village. Imagine having to walk 5 hours carrying bags of cheese- hard work. We returned to the finca and sat on the terrace, enjoying the tranquillity and the view. Lunch was a typical lunch of soup and then meat with rice and potatoes- the potato made a nice change as lunch has often included plantain. It had grilled chicken and 2 different portions of beef which I tried to eat, but since I hardly ever eat red meat I couldn't finish it. The afternoon was spent relaxing and then we drove back to the village. We stopped lots on the way back chatting to various people, everyone knows everyone here and they have a lot of family in the area. We had a birthday cake as it was Victor Eduardo's grandmother's birthday last week and his uncle's next week- they sang happy birthday in English then Spanish. The cake was delicious and I also had some sweet bread and yogurt for my tea. I watched a bit of "Who wants to be a millionaire?" but was so tired I went to bed at 8.30, which I don't think was that much earlier than everyone else….I ended up sleeping for almost 10 hours and slept really well! They were worried I would be cold as it is quite a lot cooler there but I slept in my jumper and was ok.

The morning was colder too, no way I, or anyone else, was taking a cold shower, ha ha! For breakfast we had caldo again but this time with bread, a typical Santander arepa and scrambled egg (which wasn't in the soup). Once we had got ready Victor Eduardo took me for a tour of the village- it's really small, took us only about 10 minutes to walk around- Sunday is market day so people come from the surrounding area to buy and sell and the village was quite busy. Later on it got busier with a rally I guess we'd call it- the elections are at the end of October and everywhere I've been I've seen lots of posters for the campaigns. A cousin is going for mayor and many local people were taking part in a parade/procession in support of his campaign. This included lots of people on horses, on motorbikes, in jeeps and later also walking. It shows the other candidates how much support the person has. Victor Eduardo went to join the ride into the village from somewhere a bit further away and we waited in the jeep to see them come past- watching all the horses come by was great, the people were excited and obviously proud to be showing their support. We then joined the procession (I guess is best word to describe it) and so did many others, lots of car and motorbikes tooting their horns, driving through the village, following the horses. Then at a certain point, people on foot joined and everyone made their way up the hill to one of the family fincas where the speeches were to be made. So up on the hill everyone stood/sat listening to the speeches, including one by mobile phone made by Santander's governor who was supposed to come but couldn't due to a storm preventing his helicopter from taking off. At one point they played the National anthem and everyone took their hats off. It was an interesting experience to be part of, especially as we don't have anything like this as part of our political campaigns at home. Lunch was fish, red snapper I think, in a sauce (bit like soup) which was really tasty but I struggled a bit as it was a whole fish and there were lots of bones. We also had some pork, rice, patacones and a fruit salad. We set off at about 3.30 and stopped in Socorro. The three of us then got the bus back to San Gil and relaxed in the evening. I showed Victor Eduardo some photos of England, Brighton breach amongst other places and some typical English things like Christmas dinner, Easter egg hunts and cream teas!It was a great weekend and I was made to feel really welcome by all the family. I enjoyed the opportunity to see life in the countryside and to see another part of Colombia I would otherwise not have seen. :-)