From Montanita we headed to Cuenca, probably the nicest South American city I have ever seen. Usually you see some sort of dilapidation in the architecture, stray dogs roaming around, or at least some sign that you are in Latin America, but none of that was to be found. I only spent a few days here and honestly didn't do much worth writing about, but I will be back at some point with a more detailed description of the city.
I said goodbye to my travel family and began my 3-plane hop back to Colombia for Carnival. The port city of Barranquilla is Colombia's most famous Carnival destination and alledgedly South America's second most famous spot after Rio. After 4 days in Barranquilla I'm not quite sure what more Rio could offer. I still aspire at some point in my life to secure formal employment, so unfortunately I cannot provide many pictures or a play by play description of the bacchanal. But here is an idea of how it went down.
It was a party the moment I stepped off the plane. Scantily clad women were handing out free beer on the way to the baggage claim. Tables of aguardiente shots (miserable tasting Colombian licorice alcohol) lined the exit like water stands in the middle of a race. Other less-than-clothed females danced by the taxi stand. You get the idea.
I managed to convince my three best friends from home, Eric, Matt, and Gor, to meet me in Barranquilla for the festivities. I arrived a few hours before them and relaxed in the luxury of the only hotel we could book for the night.
They arrived late in the evening and we enjoyed a relatively quiet night of catching up, allowing the storm to build. The next morning we trekked to our base camp down the road and settled in for the next four days.
First thing we did was pick up supplies. Staying in a hotel eliminated the possibility of cooking but snacks were a necessity to bridge the gap between meals.
Fully stocked, we headed back to enjoy the hotel pool. From here on out it is probably best to offer a series of observations:
Tropical destinations lack distinct seasons - there is usually just a rainy season and a dry season but little fluctuation in temperature, foliage, etc. Carnival exhibits a similar phenomenon: day and night cease to exist as normally defined entities but rather exist as a continuous stream of time.
Carnival can best be described as a free for all. The streets are flooded with people of all ages singing, dancing, and of course consuming libations. Vendors sell giant canisters of foam and packets of flower and everyone is fair game to be drenched. To be fair, there are a few organized parades with floats but we elected to skip those in favor of the streets.
Carnival's anthem was "El Serrucho," the Spanish word for "saw" with double entendre phallic connotations. Every few hours the song would blast and everyone in the street started singing and dancing. Hold out your left arm, pretend to saw it with your right, and you can dance like a Colombian. We were welcomed into these dancing circles with open arms and often posed for pictures. We actually never saw any other gringos throughout the entire carnival, although I did end up meeting quite a few who said they went so we must have just missed them.
All too quickly the chaos came to an end. Matt and Gor headed back to the US and Eric and I continued on our Colombian adventures. An unforgettable four days.
I said goodbye to my travel family and began my 3-plane hop back to Colombia for Carnival. The port city of Barranquilla is Colombia's most famous Carnival destination and alledgedly South America's second most famous spot after Rio. After 4 days in Barranquilla I'm not quite sure what more Rio could offer. I still aspire at some point in my life to secure formal employment, so unfortunately I cannot provide many pictures or a play by play description of the bacchanal. But here is an idea of how it went down.
It was a party the moment I stepped off the plane. Scantily clad women were handing out free beer on the way to the baggage claim. Tables of aguardiente shots (miserable tasting Colombian licorice alcohol) lined the exit like water stands in the middle of a race. Other less-than-clothed females danced by the taxi stand. You get the idea.
I managed to convince my three best friends from home, Eric, Matt, and Gor, to meet me in Barranquilla for the festivities. I arrived a few hours before them and relaxed in the luxury of the only hotel we could book for the night.
They arrived late in the evening and we enjoyed a relatively quiet night of catching up, allowing the storm to build. The next morning we trekked to our base camp down the road and settled in for the next four days.
First thing we did was pick up supplies. Staying in a hotel eliminated the possibility of cooking but snacks were a necessity to bridge the gap between meals.
Fully stocked, we headed back to enjoy the hotel pool. From here on out it is probably best to offer a series of observations:
Tropical destinations lack distinct seasons - there is usually just a rainy season and a dry season but little fluctuation in temperature, foliage, etc. Carnival exhibits a similar phenomenon: day and night cease to exist as normally defined entities but rather exist as a continuous stream of time.
Carnival can best be described as a free for all. The streets are flooded with people of all ages singing, dancing, and of course consuming libations. Vendors sell giant canisters of foam and packets of flower and everyone is fair game to be drenched. To be fair, there are a few organized parades with floats but we elected to skip those in favor of the streets.
Carnival's anthem was "El Serrucho," the Spanish word for "saw" with double entendre phallic connotations. Every few hours the song would blast and everyone in the street started singing and dancing. Hold out your left arm, pretend to saw it with your right, and you can dance like a Colombian. We were welcomed into these dancing circles with open arms and often posed for pictures. We actually never saw any other gringos throughout the entire carnival, although I did end up meeting quite a few who said they went so we must have just missed them.
Our hotel had a wonderful deserted rooftop that looked out upon the whole city, perfect for enjoying the sunset.
The pinnacle of the trip was certainly our second to last night. The previous evening we befriended a group of Colombian ladies. We agreed to meet up the next day with the promise of a beach bungalow discoteca - Kilymandiaro - a little ways outside the city. This was probably the most surreal experience I've had on my travels - sometimes it was difficult to tell if we were in Kilymandiaro or on the set of a movie. Multiple DJs dropped continuous beats while groups of the most beautiful people I have ever seen danced for what had to have been at least 6 straight hours.
All too quickly the chaos came to an end. Matt and Gor headed back to the US and Eric and I continued on our Colombian adventures. An unforgettable four days.
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