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Steffi & Chris

34 Blog Entries
1 Trip
483 Photos

Trips:

212 days

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Salsa Capital

Cali, Colombia

We came to Cali in the morning and started with an argument with the taxi drivers so we didn’t take a taxi from the normal taxi stand since we were sure they was ripping us of so instead we went out and stopped a taxi at the street and in that way we got it for almost half the price.
We got to the hotel and just went to bed in our room trying to recover some sleep that we had lost the night before on the freezing bus.
At about midday we started hearing other voices outside our room and I and Steffi looked at each other “is it Swedish?” “No I think it’s Norwegian, or maybe Danish” and we sat there trying to figure out

svenskcolombianchilenarna
where they came from and then we realized that they were Swedish only from Sollentuna but with Colombian and Chilean roots. We started talking to them and it ended up with all of us going out together. After dinner we first sat and drank at the hostel and after that we went to a huge Salsa place since Cali is the capital of Salsa this was really a must and we had a great night out! Loads of people, good atmosphere, and just good times over all, and also we finally got to see our dwarves although this time they weren’t waiters but muscular dancers with minimalistic clothing.


frukost!

It was a long night and the next day we both felt a bit “sick” so we didn’t do much at all. Even at night I still felt sick this time bad for real and not just hung-over so we stayed in that night and prepared for our next bus ride.
We had decided that we should take the night bus again because it was another 11hour bus ride but at about mid day the owner of the hostel told us that the night bus to the border town was not such a good idea since a lot of the buses had been robbed and the closer to Christmas we got the higher the risk was of getting stopped.
We quickly decided that we should go by day instead but since we were hoping to celebrate Christmas in Otavalo we didn’t want to get there just the days before.
So we rushed to the bus station and took instead an 8 hour bus to Pasto in Colombia. Children were staring at me and Steffi since we were the only tourists on the bus and one of the girls asked if she could buy my eyes. When we arrived to the terminal we decided to stay the night there and leave early in the morning to Otavalo. Only problem was that we had not thought of the altitude changes and since we were now at almost 2800 m it got really cold (you could see your mouth making little clouds as you breathed) so we pulled on almost all the clothes we had and just tried to stay warm. Then finally at 6 in the morning we considered it safe to keep travelling so we took the bus the last 3 hours to the border and then crossed over into Ecuador.


Chris

Sorry about not being really up to date with the posting but now we are almost there!


permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on December 19, 2009 from Cali, Colombia
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Medellin

Medellin, Colombia

Medellin is the only city in Colombia that has a ”subway”. It is also the hometown of the infamous Pablo Escobar, not that he has left any kind of mark on the city.
Our visit to Medellin started very early in the morning and the first thing we did was going to our hostel. It was nice and cheap but the only problem was that this time there was nothing at all that separated the toilet from the room, not even a curtain or anything. But we figured what the hell since the hostel was so much cheaper than everything else so we went with it anyway.


on a street in Colombia
The first day we spent just walking around the city shopping a little bit and looking at churches. It is a very beautiful city where we felt really safe. It was also very easy to get around using the subway, train, metro or whatever you want to call it.
We visited a botanical garden which was basically a huge park with big temporary statues in it. And also of course loads of flowers and cactuses with little signs.
When we left the park we saw that there were loads of people gathered around something, so naturally we went over to check it out. We found six women in bikinis with more silicone than a porn-movie. There were fake breasts and fake asses posing for cameras. We stayed there for a while watching the scene and it seemed like they were filming for like top model only with girls who looked like they should work in porn instead.

Next, we had gotten the tip to take the subway up into one of the suburbs that are high up on the hills surrounding the city and take a cable car up to the top. There we could watch the sun set over Medellin. It was really beautiful and you had a really nice view over the city, only problem was that the area is supposed to be really dangerous and poor so we couldn’t leave the station and had to wait for 30 minutes until the sun went down.


That same night we took the metro back to check out the next tip we had gotten. We went to the river in the middle of the city where they had put on an amazing light show.
To start with they had built an enormous fountain over the river that was lit up in ever changing colors and in the background they had covered an entire hill in lights.
As if that wasn’t enough then along the whole riverside there where different light shows like small stages that all had different themes. One had a pirate theme, another somewhat of a mushroom theme and it just went on for what seemed forever. It felt like you were walking around high in a really weird carnival with hundreds of people selling food and popcorn and then all these light and people playing music.
This was probably the most we have ever walked in one day on our entire trip. When we came home both of us fell asleep almost with our clothes still on and with feet aching like hell but it was definitely worth it.

Next day we started with walking around a little bit but since we had covered most of everything we decided to take it easy and save our strength for the night.
We had decided to go out and try the night life and had found one club that was supposed to be very popular with dwarves working as waiters. Only when we came there the place was closed so we ended up just taking the cab back, and so ended our night out in Medellin.
On our last day we slept late really relaxed and waited in the room until checkout just packed our bags watched TV and did not much at all, even from travelling you need to take days off.
So at 3 o’clock we went to have lunch at an amazing crepe restaurant we had found the day before. While we were sitting there we started talking to a local guy at the next table, just basic things like how to get to the bus station and how long time the bus would take. So we chitchatted for some time when we waited for the food and just about as we got our food the guy had finished eating so he paid his bill and the waiter turned to us and told us that he paid our bill as well.
A bit shocked we thank him and he tells us that it’s a gift from him to us to remember Medellin. And it really became a great memory. I have never had anything like it happened to me before.
After lunch we went to the bus station since we thought the bus would be 12-13 hours but when we came there we found out that it was only 8 hours which in most cases would have been good news but for us it meant that we couldn’t take the bus we had planned on since then we would arrive in the middle of the night.
Lucky for us the bus station was connected to a shopping mall that also had a cinema so to kill some time we went and saw Avatar for 2 dollars and what a surprise. It was an amazing movie and both I and Steffi loved it. So after that we just got on the bus and left for Cali. The Salsa capital.

Chris

permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on December 16, 2009 from Medellin, Colombia
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Cartagena

Cartagena, Colombia

We came to Cartagena in the late afternoon after a 4h minibus ride that went without incident.
When we came there we had arranged a Tahitian Divemaster to host us called Erv. So as soon as we got off the bus we just took a taxi and went straight there.


view from Erv's apartment

It turned out that she was living in one of the houses that our bus had driven past and both me and Steffi had commented on the super white entrance.
The apartment building was really close to the water and from Erv’s apartment we got an amazing view of the ocean.
First night we didn’t do much we just went for dinner together with another couchsurfer who was also sleeping at Erv’s place.
The next day we went to explore the Old city which is really beautiful. It’s an old colonial town surrounded by a wall and also a huge fortress close by.
We spent the whole day walking around the city and looking at the buildings and we also had lunch with another guy from Couchsurfing named Jorge living close by who told us about the city and what you could do and gave us some inside info.


Crazy dancers

That same night when we were on our way back to the apartment we stumbled on a really cool live dance performance on one of the plazas it was different kinds of traditional dances and I think we spent at least 30 minutes just sitting there watching the moves, the colors and listening to the rhythm. Sometimes it was so fast that just looking at it made you tired.
That night we had dinner at Erv’s place that Rihanna (the other couchsurfer) had cooked. It was really good and when I get home I really need to get better at cooking food. Pasta and tuna just isn’t enough.
Second day, we went to the Castillo, a fort close to the old city center, that was used to protect the city from the pirate attacks and also to keep it from being conquered.
Cartagena has a really interesting history, it was the most important town for the Spanish in the South America because it was from here they shipped all the gold and other treasures they found while conquering the continent. Therefore it has always been other nations and also pirates who have attacked the city and tried to take its treasures.


To say the least the fort is huge! It has underground corridors and different batteries with cannons and everything you can imagine from a real fort. I found it really fascinating and the fact that the fort had been in battle several times gave it just something extra.
After the fort we went walking around the old city some more and just covering the areas that we hadn’t had time for the previous day. We also found a coffee shop that was really expensive considering it was in Colombia but the brownie we had there was the best I have ever had and considering it “only” costed us less than 49SEK for two cups of coffee and a super brownie. After that we figured we might as well just go back and chill for the rest of the day. I also cooked dinner for me Steffi and Rihanna sausages and potatoes. As I said it’s really advanced cooking.
Third day of our time in Cartagena we didn’t do anything really we had decided to go on a Chiva buss that night so we just rested up and washed our clothes and all other things that you just have to do every now and then, That night we went to the Chiva bus which is basically a chicken bus with a live band that takes you on a tour of the city while you get free rum and coke as much as you can drink, then drop you off at the wall around the city to meet up with the rest of the Chivas before going to a bar and there ending the tour. It is an really cool way to get to see the city and also Steffi got to hold a sloth looking like Sid in Ice Age before we got to the bar where we sat and chatted until late at night.

When me and Steffi finally decided to call it a night, this was about two hours after Erv had gone home we found her asleep and snoring outside her door since, she had tried banging on the door she said but Rihanna had her earphones on and didn’t hear. So what do you do when it’s late at night and you have forgotten that the key is downstairs in the reception? You sleep on the floor, that’s what you do.
Our last day in Cartagena we were both really hung-over at first. Could it be the free rum? Any how we didn’t do much except argue with the laundry lady who had made one pair of socks and a shirt disappear but we got it back after an hour, that I spent sitting at the laundry place looking pissed off so I guess that one point for us. That afternoon we caught the 12hour bus to Medellin to se Pablo Escobar’s hometown! But that’s another story.
Cheers
Chris


permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on December 12, 2009 from Cartagena, Colombia
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Santa Marta

Taganga, Colombia

We arrived in Santa Marta after about 6 hours crossing the border to Colombia. This was probably the most nervous I have been during a border crossing, because we had heard a lot about how dangerous it was and that it could take forever getting your stamps and also that there were similar checkpoints as the ones we drove through in the beginning of Venezuela, and I did not want to show my penis for any more militaries.

But amazingly enough everything went as smooth as cutting butter with a knife.
We went passed 12 checkpoints but only got stopped twice and they only wanted to see our passports and even then they barely looked at them this is including the border crossing as well and nobody wanted to search our bags for that matter either.
They only opened the trunk once as we entered Colombia and nothing more.

For the crossing we paid 55 bolivares per person in departure tax and another 50 per person in the por puesto from Maracaibo to Maicao and there we got the bus to Santa Marta.
The only problem we actually had was when we had just gotten in to Colombia and was on our way to Maicao there was another checkpoint, Colombian this time and we had to get out and I gave the officer my passport, he flipped through it once, twice and then a third time really slowly, he was looking quite serious by now, and he took Steffis passport looked trough it once and then looked at us and said “But where is your Colombian stamp?”
At this time I could feel the heart beating in my throat, and I was trying to figure out what we could have missed.
Because in our precious guidebook that we by now had lost almost complete faith in, it had said clearly that it was very important to make sure to get all the stamps, and pay all the exit fees.
Otherwise there would be problems in Colombia. So we had been so sure that there was nothing we had missed.

I got the passport back and went for the page were the Colombian immigration officer had put his stamp, found it and showed it to the officer, hands shaking and the pulse beating in my throat.
He smiles and says something like “oh, there it was.” And also that it wasn’t the color he was used to.

Both of us still a bit shaken got to Maicao and straight away caught a bus to Santa Marta for a 4 hour trip. Went straight for a hostel that was ok but not too expensive but the best part was that the toilet didn’t have a door. Only like a shower curtain so this made us come closer to each other in a whole new way…

The following day we took off to Taganga, a small fishing village only 10 minutes away from Santa Marta but a lot nicer, small, about 12 dive shops and a really relaxed atmosphere. We also found a really good hostel a bit more expensive but we figured we could afford it and it felt really good to relax and rest from the traveling for a while.
So we spent 5 nights there not doing much at all sitting at the beach and just relaxing.
We went for a dive one day after been to most of the different dive shops looking for the best price. We went out with the cheapest one and you really actually do get what you pay for.

We got the equipment and after that it took until we were about to jump in the water before even finding out who our guide was then he gave the whole briefing in Spanish so we understood bits and pieces but not all.
Luckily the other guide saw the dilemma and explained the general idea of the dive in English.
We went in and then the guide went on his dive and me and Steffi went on our own almost out of visible range the diving was so-so but we saw a sea horse though and that made me happy!
Otherwise we didn’t see that much at all, some morays but the visibility wasn’t the best. The second dive was a lot better though. Or maybe not but we found a couple of snake eels and also our guide had woken up and took a more active part of the guiding not only showing the way but actually pointing out some fishes as well.

All around Taganga there are hills and a lot of them are quite high and give an amazing view so one day we climbed and walked for almost 2hours to get to the top and we got an amazing view seeing all the way to Santa Marta and also along way into the Tayrona national park.
The sun was really hot that day and it felt like we were walking around in a desert because of all the cactuses.
The nature here reminded me a lot of Greece and Cyprus with really reddish earth and almost no trees.

On our last day in Taganga we did a one day tour to the Tayrona national park. It was beautiful, First we had to walk through the jungle (the landscape being a lot different than from Taganga with really dense jungles and monkeys) and along the water to get to the best beach.


dangerous beach

Tyrona park

Unfortunately we only had time to stay there for about 2 hours and then we had to run back to catch the bus that was supposed to pick us up and drive us back.

So when we got to the parking only about 5 minutes late the bus hadn’t shown up yet and the park was closing. We borrowed a phone and rang the bus driver who told us he was on his way and about 30 minutes away, meaning that he had just left Santa Marta.
When he had driven us back as compensation we only paid half price for the ride back.


A happy donkey

Next day we headed of to Cartagena to meet up with a couchsurfer.


Ciao
Chris

permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on December 8, 2009 from Taganga, Colombia
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Maracaibo

Maracaibo, Venezuela

We came to Maracaibo after a long long bus ride. We were traveling for about 22 hours in total and arrived in Maracaibo hungry and really really tired. We got picked up at the bus terminal by this amazing sweet couple we had came in touch with through Couchsurfing, Fabricio and Connie and also Fabricios sister who drove the car. They weren’t sleepy at all and started singing in the car cause they didn’t have a radio so we tagged along and taught them Swedish drinking songs and soon Fabricio could sing “Helan går” all by himself. In return, we got to extend our Spanish Vocabulary of insults and curses.

We went to get some pizza that they recommended and when the pizza came it was the biggest pizza I have ever seen. We were 5 people splitting it and still there was leftovers. That done we just went to where Fabricio and his sister lived and slept there for the night. And for the first time during this trip I actually got cold during the night, and it was a lovely feeling =) This is not because Maracaibo is an especially cold city, on the contrary, its hot, REALLY hot, and we got to experience that the next day.

In the morning, we got up when Fabricio and his sister was leaving for work and we got a ride to a bus station and from there we took the bus to where Connie and her family lives. She lives high up in an apartment building together with her mom, brother and their two fat cats.

They have an amazing view over parts of the city we had also brought our bags and while we went out to see the city Connies mom helped us and washed our clothes, we thought we were in heaven! Or maybe just back home in Sweden =) Any how we felt really at home in a very warm and beautiful home.

That same day we went walking and was walking for about 5 hours seeing alot of things like churches, an art museum, a marketplace, the post office and also the “amazing” plaza bolivar which according to our guide book is a must-see... It's not.

In the evening we went to the Vereda del Lago park which is a huge park basically but since it was dark we didn’t really see any of it we did buy an ice tea though and sat down for a while just talking.

Next of what would become our last day in Maracaibo we actually spent by doing nothing much at all, we had planned to go to a museum but we all just felt like doing not much at all so we hung out and I got a good chance to improve my Spanish a little bit, I even got a much needed private lesson.


The washing machine

At night we bought a box of beers and some ice, and to keep the beer cold was keept in the washing machine!
We hung out at Fabricios and his sisters place,and had a really chilled out and relaxed evening where people dropped in and hung out with everybody.

All in all we had an amazing stay in Maracaibo as well, so although we left Venezuela quite quickly we got too meet some really nice people and have some good times. A special thanks also to Connies mum for her hospitality and her how-to-make-arepas lesson. Your food was out of this world!

When writing this I’m laying in a hammock in Taganga drinking a beer and being very relaxed, it’s good to have a holiday.

Ciao mis amigos
Chris!



permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on December 3, 2009 from Maracaibo, Venezuela
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Cumana

Cumana, Venezuela

Wednesday morning, it was time to leave the tiny islands and enter the big one, South America.

Early in the morning we took the ferry from Cheguramas to Güiria in Venezuela. The ferry took about 3,5 hours. Güiria was probably the sleepiest town we’ve yet visited and full of weirdos. While we sat there in a park in the middle of the town discussing how to get to Carúpano one of them (also a taxi driver) tried to convince us to go with him instantly by telling us that if we stayed in the park we’d probably get killed and mugged during the night. Showing this with very, very clear hand movements. Especially the stabbing part was hard to miss, even for Chris who didn’t understand much of the Spanish.

We felt more and more eager to leave but everything was extremely expensive. The bus didn’t leave in several hours so we ended up taking the por puesto (shared taxi) which didn’t cost much more than the bus. The fare took about 2 hours. On the way we were stopped twice to be body searched. First they went through our bags thoroughly opening every zipper there was. Then they body searched Christoffer who had to follow one of the machine gun armed guards and strip butt naked behind a house. The guard pointed at Christoffers underwear as a sign to take them off. Why? The guard wanted to make sure he wasn’t hiding any gun in his underwear....

It was exhaustingly hot outside that day which made our driver very thirsty. And what tastes better than a cold beer? So while driving to Carupano our driver drank beers dumping them on the side of the road one after the other. We arrived in Carupano around 5 pm and started looking for a hostel. We soon realized that the Footprint’s South American handbook that we had bought in Sweden was total crap. Nothing was correct. Everything was triple price (or sometimes even more) in comparison to the book. We got really tired trying to find a place to sleep at. We found a hotel where I could sit down with our bags and wait when Christoffer ran around looking for hostels. At this point we were in our worst conditions yet on this trip. Chocked (due to the prices), tired, hungry, stinking of sweat and angry at a lousy book. Chris came back and just shook his head. Tired, hungry, stinking and disappointed we asked if we could get a better price at the hotel where I had been waiting. We got a room for 90 BsF which would give us a luxury room any other place but here it was a shabby tiny room with a small bed. As soon as we went inside and had unloaded the bags ready to get something to eat the room just suddenly turned black. When we opened the door it seemed a major power outage had turned the whole city black.

I thought someone was pulling our legs and apparently there was. His name; Chavez. We soon learned that this was a common thing in Venezuela. Chavez urge Venezuelans to turn down their air conditioners. He's even lectured the country on the bracing virtues of a cold, three-minute shower. Many people here help themselves to electricity for free by splicing wires onto power lines...

Chavez also made a joke on television telling the people that he needs only three-minute showers: "I've counted and I don't end up stinking; I guarantee it."

Anyways, the power outage lasted for about two hours so we knocked ourselves out and slept for several hours. The next morning we went to look for a bus but again everything was immensely expensive and the bus didn’t leave in several hours so again we decided to take a por puesto to Cumana.

At this time we were both in a pretty bad mood. We had planned to go to the Angel Falls and other spectacular places in Venezuela before going to Manaus in Brazil to take a boat along the Amazonas but now it was too expensive so we knew we had to change our plans. In Venezuela you need to bring lots of dollars to change at the black market. The official rate is horrible but even with the black market it's not cheap. We only had 100 dollars and they disappeared faster than a fart in a thunderstorm.

We arrived in Cumana without needing to be body searched again. Although this time, we had a 10 minute long arguing with the driver who wanted to rip us off. Luckily, he didn’t succeed. Thank God for our Spanish lessons! We went looking for a hostel but again they were all too expensive. We went inside a hostel that had WiFi and went online to see if we had received any couchsurfing replies. Luckily, there was a girl called Damiana who had answered. We instantly gave her a call and she said she would be there in an hour.

Meanwhile, we sat down and met another backpacker, a French man. We shared a pizza and he even bought us some beer. Finally, we could relax a little and laughed again. When Damiana came we were happy to be rescued. We jumped into her car and went to her home which was in this really lovely neighborhood where every house was unique and personal. Inside we were welcomed by her sweet mother and three jumping dogs.

We ended up staying with Dana for four days. Sunday night we wanted to experience something true "Venezuelan style". Something we could never ever experience in Sweden. We bought beer just by sticking out our heads from inside a car by the side of the road on a Sunday night! This is what the Cumana people do. They take their cars to this place, which was next to the sea, to drink beer, turn up their music real high and hang out. Then they drive back home.


On the other days we went to the beach, walked around the city and went to a really beautiful castillio and watched the sunset. By now, you all know we never get tired of sunsets.

We also played cards one night while drinking a bottle of Cuban Rum we had bought in Cuba and eating Ahlgrens bilar. After glasses of rum and vodka Chris could suddenly speak Spanish better than ever before and lectured Damiana and her friend about the Vikings and Gustav Vasa.
Time was running away and we decided we would change our plans and go to Colombia instead. To do this we had to take the bus to Caracas, change there and go to Maracaibo before entering Colombia.
Monday night we took the bus to Caracas. 7 hours later we arrived in Caracas where we bought a new bus ticket for Maracaibo, a 13 hours bus trip.

Esteff

permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on December 1, 2009 from Cumana, Venezuela
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Speyside

Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago

We got on the first flight out from Trinidad and got to Tobago allot earlier than we had even hoped for, Excellent we thought as we got into the main city of Scarborough.

We started with calling the Venezuelan ferry and reserved our seats and also made sure it was alright to pay for them the same morning.
That done we went on the book the afternoon boat back to Trinidad so that we were going to be able to some diving up in the other side of the island and still have time to go back the same day.
This is where everything started to go wrong the afternoon ferry was canceled so there was only one in the morning, o.k. we figured we will just fly back as well, me not thinking about the no flying after diving rules that are.
We called the airport and they said there was plenty of room left so despite of better judgment we didn’t reserve the seats.
Instead we got the bus that was supposed to take 1 – 1½ hours up to the village of Speyside and where all the good diving is supposed to be.
On the way the bus got into an accident and had to turn around to go back to Scarborough to report the accident this took in total about


our lifesaviour
2hours until a new bus came and picked us up and took us up the island. We asked the bus driver to let us of at Speyside but he forgot so when we had passed the village and the beach and started to go up the hills again a lady behind me woke me up and said “weren’t you guys supposed to get off at Speyside?” I told her that “yeah we are. Is it soon?” “We just passed it she told us and then we were stuck on the bus crossing the island to Charlotteville, Not a bad city but since we were still planning on going diving we asked the bus driver to take us back and this costing us another ½-1 time this meant that once we got to Speyside it was late in the afternoon and since the electricity was out everything was dark.
We walked into the first dive shop we saw and asked some questions and that’s when it hit us; we couldn’t dive, at all. So after a brief mourning period we went looking for at least a nice hostel/guesthouse something but we found nothing.
And just when everything felt hopeless the same girl who had asked us about the diving and flying took us in her car and drove us around the village to look for cheap accommodation but still nothing since it was only a couple of hours time we had we wanted to be a little closer to the beach so we ended up sleeping one night in a really expensive hotel right next to the beach.


expensive pasta for two

Some of you might think that this is where the story ends but it goes on. The next morning we once again got up had breakfast and a little walk along the beach relaxing and intent on enjoying our day in Tobago, we went back to the hotel to get our camera and swimming gear and also call the airport again.
That’s when we found out there was only one flight left and it was leaving at 2, it was now 10 o’clock that gave us only 3 hours to get to the airport and it had taken us almost 6 to get to where we were from the airport.
There was only one thing to do we threw everything back into the bags and went for a taxi back.
Luckily one came and it only took 1½ hours to get to the airport so when we got there we were able to get on standby and even catch an earlier flight to Port of Spain and back to our wonderful host.
Wednesday morning we took the boat to Venezuela and that’s were I’m sitting now it was probably one of the fastest visits to the island of Tobago but it was really beautiful with a lot of hills and small mountains small rivers and always close to the sea.


Chris

permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on November 24, 2009 from Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Port of Spain

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

We came to Trinidad from Jamaica by plane but the plane was more like a bus because it was doing stops everywhere first we flew to Antigua where we didn’t even get off the plane after that we went to Barbados where we also had to do a stop and change planes even though the one we were on was flying to Port of Spain but it was full on the last stretch of the journey so we got off waited for two hours before the next one came.

After getting stuck for a little while in immigration we went to collect our bags, only Steffis bag wasn’t there. All other bags were off the band including mine but Steffis was nowhere to be found.
so we had to talk to the staff working there and after 10 really nervous minutes they told us the bag had been located and would come out shortly.

In Port of Spain we were going to be couchsurfing with a female for the first time so we just got a taxi straight from the airport to her house, and her apartment was the best thing that could have happened to us after the ghetto, so we got to take a nice proper shower and just get to sit down in a couch for a while.


led zeppelin

Next day we got a ride down to the city center and we went exploring for the whole day and Steffi even managed to squeeze in some shopping in there, and we also found a ex US military who although a little smelly showed us a little around the city.

At 5 our host was finished at work and we had decided to meet up so we could catch a ride back to her house but on the way we made a little detour and went up to this beautiful mountain with a monastery at the top were we almost caught the sunset. We also met one of the monks who gave us some inside info about the place and then he tried to sell us some monk made yoghurt.

Also mr crazy himself was on the mountain, an ex convict who really found God, We gave him a lift down the mountain and all the way he told us that he wasn’t really a talker but a listener and that he had seen Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is about 30cm tall and shining and blinking white, he is accompanied by two angels and when he speaks the whole world shakes. Or at least that’s how he had seen him when he was sick with cancer and lying in the hospital… I’m thinking that maybe it was a broken light and he was high on medication, there were a lot more things he told us but now we know that when he dies he is going to check at the pearly gates to see if me and Steffi are going to be allowed in or if the devil is getting us...

That same night we chilled in our host’s apartment drank some Swedish vodka and ate the world’s best popcorn, sweet kettle popcorn.
Next day we got up earlier or at least earlier than we ever got up when we was in the Ghetto and then we went driving to check the ferries to Tobago (they where full) and the ferry that I’m sitting on when writing this that is taking us to Venezuela and the new continent.

We also took a drive up to the north coast to see some beaches and really beautiful scenery on the way step curving roads going across the mountains.
On Monday morning we got up early and took the buss back to the airport to get a stand by ticket to Tobago and that way getting the most out of our stay there.

Chris.



permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on November 22, 2009 from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
from the travel blog: 212 days
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In the ghetto

Kingston, Jamaica

A country of reggae, marijuana, rastafaris and paradise beaches. We experienced all except the last one. We got to see the real Jamaica. Where almost no white people go.

I had spoken with a guy on Couchsurfing for a couple of months and he said we were welcome to stay with him when we arrived. At this time we were oblivious of the fact that it was in fact in the ghetto.

Where the roads are made of dirt, the electricity and the running water is high jacked, the house walls made of sheet metal and the air tastes like marijuana. Welcome to the Watahouse ghetto.

We were advised not to walk outside the house alone. Only in Kingston there are approximately three murders a day. So the first day we relaxed in the house just chit chatting and eating good food. We also watched the news where they showed three people in our age that had been killed with an uzi in some gang war the previous night.


The kitchen
The second day we decided to leave the house to visit our neighbors just 15 meters away. We decided to walk the distance alone. What could possibly happen? The second we’re about to open the door into our neighbor a police car appears just next to us and a police shouts “WATTA TINK YOU DOING?”. We froze. The police clearly showing his loaded gun. Out comes our neighbor. We’re asked to “step aside” and a few seconds later the police is gone again.
Our neighbor then kindly explained to us the police thought we were looking for drugs. Why else would two white people be in the ghetto?

One of the days we went to visit the market down town. The smell was at times terrible. There were sick dogs eating out of the trashes fighting to survive, meat covered with too many flies but of course very cheap vegetables and very cheap food to buy… We walked that whole day without even meeting or seeing any other white people or tourists which was an experience in itself. We didn’t see any other tourists until we went to the famous I-Scream shop to eat the most delicious ice-cream you can imagine. I guess that, where there’s ice cream there are white people.

Next day, another couchsurfer arrived. Mel from the United States. Passing through Jamaica from India on her way back home. The first night together we went up to the rooftop of Hilton and Pegasus hotel to get a look of Kingston by night.

Wednesday night it was time to experience the famous Passa Passa. A wild, ribald, sweaty, weekly dancehall street party. I have never in my life seen so many girls go so wild. The girls here dress to impress, mouthing the lyrics to every song while the male dancers dance in clusters, their movements synchronized. Next to them stands grandma dressed up in her pyjama already joining the party. Almost no one is drinking. Everybody is busy dancing, simulating sex on the dancefloor and smoking weed. The ganja-stick-man pass us countless times offering the crowd dried marijuana stalks that sell themselves. I couldn’t take my eyes of one guy completely dressed in white dancing a little secluded from everybody else looking as if he was imitating a gorilla. His eyes were unable to focus and the music seemed to control his spasmic movements. His rastahair was tied into two thick dreadlocks looking like horns. I called him the Rasta-Devil. At 7 in the morning we took the bus back home.

The last day we decided to go outside Kingston and went to Port Antonio to bathe in the same waterfall as Bob Marley. On our way there, we passed through some rasta villages up in the mountains. Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit them because of the possible danger.

The same day as we were leaving we made it to the Bob Marley museum before the flight which was great. Slightly expensive but worth the money.

Our host asked how old Christoffer parents were and he replied that both are over 60. Chocked he answered. No one lives that long in Jamaica...

Coming to Kingston was an experience none of us will ever forget. I learned a lot from what we saw and experienced here. Sadly, Jamaica is a country with a lot of problems unsolved. Violent crime as well as serious economic problems. I’m glad though Andrew was able to host us and wish him good luck with his free lancing.

And this is where we say Jamaica Farewell.

Blessed.
Steffi


permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on November 15, 2009 from Kingston, Jamaica
from the travel blog: 212 days
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Cuba

La Habana, Cuba


Cuba, what can one say, I think that almost everyone has an image popping up when they think about this island either its Che Guevara, Castro, old American cars, rum, cigars or maybe a little bit of everything.


We came here by plane from Panama City and everyone had told us that it was so hard to get through customs or that it took really long time to get your bags or just problems in general. We didn’t get any of these though, we came filled in the papers and just went through, I had some problems with the immigration lady but that was more because of my Spanish than anything else, she just ended up giving me a look like “stupid tourist, learn Spanish” when she waved me by.
After we had gotten to our Casa particular which means that you rent a room in someone’s home I went to bed and when I started to relax after the trip I started to feel this massive fever that had been built up during the trip so I spent the night freezing while my body was at around 40 degrees, dreaming that Steffi was a rabid dog and even hit her in my sleep, so the next day we went to the tourist hospital where I got some new antibiotics and got cleaned up =)


Apparently the old infection didn’t really die from the first antibiotics so now as soon as I got a cut or a mosquito bite it got badly infected really fast. The doctor also told me that I’m wasn’t allowed to walk and I had to come back for a couple of days to get cleaned.
The next day my mother came to Cuba to visit me and Steffi and so that we could travel around together and experience the country. She also brought things we needed from Sweden (read: a lot of candy). She stayed with us at the casa and since I was confined to bed she and Steffi had to explore the city without me at least for the first couple of days.
On Friday I got the weekend off since the nurse who usually checked the cuts was off and everything was looking better. I was allowed to stay out from the hospital but I was supposed to still be in bed.
Then on Saturday we went to the museum of the Revolution to learn more about what happened. It was a really big museum with too much information. You didn’t know what was really important and what was just meaningless facts like “this weapon was used in the fight at… bla bla.”


This was also my first real look at the City of Havana and it is a really cool and beautiful city, feels like going back in time. You see old American buicks and Chevrolets driving around some looking almost new and some look like they have been driven for 1000 km every day since they were built. It’s also a special city because there is no commercial or billboards only some propaganda.
The day after we went on a day trip to Viñales where the best tobacco comes from. It was really beautiful although it rained a lot.
It is really hard in Cuba to live as cheaply as the locals although we did change our money to the national currency. I didn’t like that they separated tourists by having two different currencies. Going inside most of the shops you didn’t get much to choose from. Most of them only offered rum, cigars, salt, sugar, some canned food and juice.
After Havana we decided to go to Trinidad. A colonial city ………. Our host at the Casa Particular in Havana had recommended another Casa Particular in Trinidad so we went there.
When we arrived there the lady who had the Casa started with the dumbest selling tactic I’ve ever witnessed. Telling us that Trinidad is dangerous for tourists and that we would do better eating breakfast, lunch, dinner in her home rather than putting ourselves at risk walking the streets in Trinidad.
We asked what the meals cost and it was a fortune for her so to say. We started packing our things ready to go and she goes on telling us that all Casas Particulars are full and tourists have to sleep in the park because they can’t afford the hotels or find a casa particular. She really got on our nerves as we walked out the door.
15 minutes later we found even a better Casa Particular for the same price with a really nice balcony, a nice room and a nice lady. The following two days we explored Trinidad. We also went to the beach

me and mom
and saw most of the sights in Trinidad to bad we didn’t know more about the history though but nevertheless it really is a beautiful city

After Trinidad we decided to go to Varadero to let Steffi fulfill one of her dreams, to swim with a dolphin. When we arrived we saw the beach and it was one wave after another, people doing kite surfing and strong onshore winds nice sights and since I still have the problems with my feet it didn’t bother me that the swimming wasn’t the best.
Early the next morning it was time for Steffi to meet the dolphins. An experience of a life time, she was the first one in and last one up, got to try to stand on the nose of two dolphins got a kiss and also tried getting towed by two of the dolphins she got to try everything you see at the tv.


And after the swimming we also saw a cool dolphin show which ended with one of the dolphins swimming around with the Cuban flag... hehe

We got back to Habana and the last night we slept at the same Casa particular and took the plane early the next morning and ended our two weeks in Cuba that we spent with my mother and it was really nice I think all three of us really enjoyed it although I had some problems.

Next we jump to Jamaica Kingston for six days and then it’s almost time for South America.

Chris


permalink written by  Steffi & Chris on November 14, 2009 from La Habana, Cuba
from the travel blog: 212 days
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