Happy Birthday to You!!!!

Well, too soon my time in the states came to an end. I had to head back to Colombia and school. I wasn't too sad, though, because my Christina came back with me!!! After dropping off some of my new clothes in Bogota, she and I headed to the coastal town of Santa Marta and Parque Tayrona:




We landed at a tiny airport and took an hour long ride in a van to arrive at the Ecohabs in the park. Our room wasn't ready yet, and so we had to make our way to the beach....





Here is a glimpse of the Ecohabs from the beach ~


Soon enough, we were taken to our hut. It was gorgeous!





I think our favorite spot was in the hammock! It was very hot and humid on the coast, and laying in the hammock left you open to the little breeze. We felt quite spoiled!

Most of our time, though, we spent on the beach. The water was just cool enough to be refreshing without being chilly. The sand was coarse and tickled my feet! But the service was good and we enjoyed the fresh lime slushies!!!! Sooooooo refreshing!! The next best thing to the waves!









Every now and then we had to rest!!


One of my favorite sights was the flock of pelicans that swooped over the sea. They were amazing! I usually missed them because I was too busy watching the birds to snap a photo!!


One of the reasons this trip was so special is that Christina decided to come down south with me over her birthday ~ her 21st birthday!! I hope that she liked spending it at Parque Tayrona as much as I did!!

Happy Birthday!

While we were toasting and relaxing, others on the coast were hard at work. Yes, it's those very same "I saw them in the Amazon" Army Ants!!!!






Inspired by our little friends, we went for a walk too. We headed down the beach, enjoying the setting sun.




As a tribute to my Foxy beach friends, here is our foot shot!











The next day we headed out on a trek (for two hours) in search of a 'better' beach. We walked though the forest/jungle (not sure what the correct term here is).



It may look like Christina is looking at a ghost beside her, but no ~ that is simply the 'fog' that built up on my camera on our long, hot, and humid walk!!


There were other creatures in the forest, though, like these super bright lizards ~



Probably the most interesting sight, though, was this:

Yup, in the middle of the 'jungle' they recycle!!!!

We knew we were getting close to the beach when we spotted these gorgeous crabs:



And then, finally, we arrived at the 'best' beach around. It was sort of a little cove, protected from the strong current by the reefs. It was lovely and we enjoyed a break there.






Alas, we had to head back to our own beach (again with the two hour hike!!) but on our way back we noticed this HUGE mango tree!! My favorite fruit!



We also were entertained by these two cute native children, who were munching on mango and trying to stay ahead of us!


We saw trees very similar to, but smaller than, trees I saw in the Amazon. There the large, flat roots were used by the natives to bang messages to each other.


And of course we had to step aside for the mules and horses carrying supplies to the remote beaches.


And almost like a reward for trekking through the heat and humidity, we finally got a glimpse of the elusive insect that made that LOUD crackling noise!! (Cicada family???)



All in all, even though the walk was fun and we felt like we had accomplished something quite grand, we decided that we liked having dinner at our hotel and playing in our own waves!




The only thing that would have made this trip better was if my Jennifer could have been there too.....