Providence - The paradise island in the Caribbean

A good friend of mine, Terese, just started doing yoga and adventure retreats at the Colombian island Providence in the Caribbean. It was a perfect excuse to take a week out of my schedule and escape for a little while to this paradise.

I arrived a day and a half before the retreat started to have some time to relax and spend some time with Terese. She was an amazing host even before the retreat started. We drove around the island, enjoyed the beaches and the sunset and also had the possibility to enjoy some local music. This was a perfect way to get in a relaxing mood.

 

The other participants arrived on Friday afternoon and we had a welcoming dinner looking out on the sea and later we went to the local bar for the live music there.

Saturday morning the retreat started, 5 days of yoga and adventure. We started every morning at 5.30 for a 3-hour yoga and meditation session. For those of you who know me, you might know that I am not a morning person, but as soon as I started waking up during the meditation I actually enjoyed it quite a lot.

The yoga group, we had a lot of fun together

Cristina aka Margarita Marley and I doing an exercise

During the day Terese and her partner, Michael who is from the island, had arranged different excursions. We went to Morgan's head, it was a short hike on Catalina Island, which is just crossing a bridge away from Providence. 

We did a drive around the island to get to know the different parts and in the afternoon horseback riding around the island:

The last day they had arranged an amazing trip out to Crab Key to snorkel and enjoy the amazing nature. The water was crystal clear and there were so many beautiful fish that we swam next to. The view from the top of Crab Key was breath taking: 

Lina and I on top of Crab Key

Back for lunch on Playa Mazanillo 

The food was a seafood heaven. It has been a long time since I have had such good fish and seafood and I fully enjoyed every single bite of it.

The last night, Terese had arranged a meal at the beach with a local band playing. It was an amazing setting, great food and it only got more interesting when it started pooring down. But that did not stop us fom dancing, laughing and enjoying this beautiful place. A perfect way to celebrate Lina's birthday!

 I am very happy that I got to come to this amazing place and that I had the possibility to share this experience with this lovely group of people!

Great visit IV - Isla Múcura and Cartagena

Last part of the trip around Colombia with my parents was on the Carribean coast. We went to the group of islands called Archiepiélago de San Bernardo. Sailing out towards the island Múcura where we were going to stay, we saw some of the othér islands, and stopped at the world's most populated island Islote Santa Cruz. That was a strange experience, there was basically just houses smoushed together everywhere on the tiny island:

Lunch in Tolú the day before leaving for Múcura

Islote Santa Cruz

Arriving at Isla Múcura we were met with the amazing Carribean beach and several days with no wifi and no signal on the phone. It was a nice 4 day disconnect:

One of several beautiful sunsets

Enjoying life

more enjoying life

Kayaking around the island

We didn't do much but relaxing and enjoying the beach. Taking some pictures around the island. And of course having some good fish and seafood:

Afternoon siesta for the old man

The daily rana (frog) competition

Looking at the lobsters for the dinner

Lobster dinner, it was amazing!

We went on a snorkling tour where we got to see amazing parts of the underwater life in the area around the island:

After 4 days it was about time to get back to reality and we spent the last two nights in Cartagena. It was a really good feeling to take a real shower again. 

We walked around in the old city that hasn't changed much, still very beautiful with its colonial architecture and graffitis:

And it occured to us to go to the old castle, San Felipe, in the middle of the day in thw worst heat. It was very beautiful, but a crazy idea at time of the day.

After an amazing sunset at the beach, we had the last dinner in Cartagena. Delicious food, that was a perfect way to end the days here:

Great visit III - Medellín & Guatapé

We had some amazing days in Medellín and sorroundings, saw some different areas of the city and had great food.

We spent a whole day at Guatapé 1,5-2 hours out from Medellín. First Mom and I climbed the huge rock to see the amazing view:

740 steps awaiting

View on the way up

View almost from the top...

... it felt amazing

WOW

Later we took a small tuk-tuk to the Guatapé village where we spent some time looking around the typical Zocalo decorated houses:

Chiva inspired decorated tuk-tuks

At the end of the day we needed a granizado coffee to take in everything we had seen today

Around Medellín we went to see the Botero fat statues:

But to me the most interesting part within the city of Medellín was the tour we did in the Comuna 13. It used to be the most dangerous neighbourhood in Medellín, controlled by gangs, but there has been a lot of change, and today it is full of colorful graffiti and social iniciatives. 

Our guide was very good in English and took us around in the cable cars above the neighbourhood to tell us about the history first and later we dug into the area itself looking at the graffitis. This was a very giving experience and I would definately recommend it to anybody visiting Medellín, the 4 hours flew by.

Taking pictures of Comuna 13

Oscar explaining

Peace but don't forget the past

The neighbourhood's only graffiti with original gunholes still in it

They now have electric escalators to take people up the steep hill, super invention, making life so much easier 

Admiring the colors

Trying the local juice, yummy

Vida - Life, what Comuna 13 now stands for.

We finished the day off with a peruvian inspired meal before heading off to the coast the day after. 

Medellín was a really good experience, and I am surprised how much it has changed the last 8 years since I was there the last time. This is definately not the last time I'll go for some days in Medellín.