Tres Hamacas

Hola from Barranquilla!  If you're like me, you've never slept in a hammock (hamaca, en espanol) before.  If you're a "stomach sleeper" like myself, well, don't...ever. 

After a weekend trekking through the jungle and enjoying the beaches of Tayrona National Park, we are back in the city of Barranquilla.  I'll do my best to catch you up on the weekend's activities in today's post before we depart for Porto de Colombia and begin our in-depth look at microfinance in Colombia. 

This trip would not have been possible be it not for John Gwillim, the Kiva Fellow currently supporting Fundacion Mario Santo Domingo (sidebar: Kiva.org is the non-profit through which I had a Fellowship back in 2008 in Sierra Leone).  Most recently, John was/is a co-founder for an internet start-up company.  He graduated from Michigan State University (fellow Big Ten grad) and was a photo journalist for their sports teams.  He's mountaineered Illmani in Bolivia, scuba dived with tiger sharks, and ice-climbed the Alps of France.  I guess studying microfinance in Colombia was his next logical extreme adventure.  We met up with John upon our arrival in Colombia on Friday night. 

 

Our first stop was Taganga, a sleepy tourist town 100 km east of Barranquilla (above photo from our hostel balcony).  After a night at the cozy La Tortuga Hostel, we took a "puerta a puerta" to Tayrona National Park.  Tayrona is a stunning combination of jungle with high canopy and gorgeous beaches.  Donkeys and horses transported people and goods to the coastline.  We decided to do the 2 hour hike on-foot through the rough, muddy terrain.  We eventually came to the beaches and our resting spot.  The following was a photo taken from the hammock hut: 

Everyone should experience laying in a hammock, on the Caribbean, with rain pounding against the palm trees and rocks at some point in their life.  However, if you need your Heavenly pillows and blankets, don't want to have to bathe in bug spray before bed and don't have a bottle of rum by your side to aid in falling asleep, then hammock living might not be for you.  I've never been so excited about staying at a Howard Johnson before in my life (our hotel in Barranquilla).   

Buenas tardes,

Adam