Wayuu people in Riohacha

We have come way up north to La Guajira. The northernmost department of Colombia which touches Venezuela. The land here mainly belongs to the Wayuu people, but there is no water or electricity and mainly cacti grow. The charity I used to work for has been involved with one group of Wayuu people for a couple of years and we took the opportunity to come and visit them. It was both shocking, moving and wonderful. 

We visited the renewed school building, previously destroyed by the FARC. We brought presents of shoes for each of the children and spent the morning trying shoes on children. We also brought their first uniforms!

This is the pastor's house both above and below. I was so struck by the verses painted on their door: 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.'

We visited their church (below) and I was asked to entertain the children. I taught them some Sunday school songs in english and they tried to teach me some Wayuu which proved most amusing! They speak Wayuu as their first language and are only beginning to learn Spanish, so I spoke in Spanish which then had to be translated! Meeting brothers and sisters in Christ felt incredible - I don't think I'll ever forget them.

Each large family group has a Ranchería, it is very arid here, basically desert. This Ranchería now has water as they have a deep well but the people so far have no experience with growing their own food so often go hungry and children still die here of malnutrition

by Emelye

Rodadero beach, Santa Marta

Where Emelye and I came 19 years ago.

Santa Marta Night Life

The Carrera 3, just around the corner from our hotel, is home to perhaps the coolest cafe/bar/busking scene in all of Colombia.

Putting the Churros back into Adventurous

After a lovely hot day on the beach at Taganga, we caught the bus home over the mountain. A guy leapt on and was selling Churros (fried donut sticks to the uninitiated) so we had to get some. He then wanted to get off whilst Emelye was struggling to find the correct change. Much honking of horns ensued as the traffic built up behind us!

Later on we discovered we were sat with a nice lady who spoke a little English who goes to an evangelical church. Unusual for Colombia!

A Crazy Bar in Santa Marta

There's a sign hanging outside that says "We don't have WiFi, so you will have to talk to each other".

The Basilica of Santa Marta

Santa Marta

We have travelled today by bus to Santa Marta, another town along the coast about 5 hours from Cartagena. We arrived at sunset so haven't investigated very much further than dinner!

We invited 'John' to have dinner with us as he was begging in the streets. He's from Venezuela. We've met many Venezuelans during our time here. John clearly explained the plight. "In past times Colombians crossed the border to work in Venezuela and took back lots of money for their families. Now it's reversed. Colombians allow us into their country despite the fact that we have no permission to work, no identity papers. I have never had a passport as I never dreamt I would have to leave my country. Now if I wanted a passport I would have to work for 5 years to afford one. Our government is very bad, the army were sent out to kill all who protested. I was shot twice but God saved me."

"This money was enough for a motorbike. Now it is worthless. It's all I have."

We've had so many interesting and unforgettable conversations with strangers, but this one I needed to share.

Daddy Sloth

There’s a Park in Cartagena

WHERE YOU CAN CUDDLE BABY SLOTHS!!

Museum of Modern Art, Cartagena

Ice Cream Parlour

We found a ridiculously English ice cream place In Cartagena

A Very English Defeat

The "Pirate" Sir Francis Drake attacked Cartagena on at least three occasions, never successfully.

This coin was struck to celebrate another predicted English victory over the Spanish which didn't materialise. The Colombians seem to find this irony amusing.

Cartagena Old Town

Cartagena

We are staying in Cartagena, a small fortified city on the sea. We lost a battle here and apparently Sir Francis Drake tried to attack 3 times! It was a centre for the slave trade. 

People here love a good chat and are prepared to share life and faith. Last time we came here there were very few tourists from outside Colombia and I found the Spanish here so hard to understand; now people know to speak more slowly and although there are still few non Spanish speakers it seems a very popular place to come.

Early in the morning the fishermen come in to a waiting crowd of pelicans, ibises and herons. 

The heat here is quite intense having come from Bogotá so we have spent a lot of time near water!

Going Down

Castillo de San Felipe

Went up one of Colombia's most historic tourist attractions yesterday. The network of tunnels under the fortress was never defeated. We nearly got lost in them. They go so deep you end up knee deep in sea water!

The Caribbean

View from the Castillo de San Felipe

Coco pops in the Caribbean

We've arrived!

Freeway Entertainment

Spotted these guys on the way to Fusa the other day. Makes traffic lights more bearable.

More Old Friends

Over the last fortnight, we have been enjoying meeting up with old friends. Below are some of the children I used to look after in the children's home with their families. It's been amazing to meet them again and to hear about their lives. I've been amazed at how fondly they remembered our time together 19 years ago as I do! I lived across the road from them and spent some of every day with the nine boys. We felt very much like family. They are all working so hard to make a living to support their families now. Three of them have little girls with whom Sophie has played so beautifully! 

John Alex

Norberto

 This picture includes Grant and Kathleen, the American missionaries we are staying with in their home in the north of Bogota. They are such an incredible example to us, so welcoming and hospitable, patient and kind. They've been in Bogota 20 years this year and have served in many different ministries across this city of 10 million people.

Maicol

Carolina - two of her brothers were in the home, one sadly has died since I was here, and I've not managed to contact the other.

 John Jairo and Ruben, outside Ruben's cafe.

Travel in Bogotá

There are many different ways to travel in Bogotá, this is one of the old buses that aren't used that much, we haven't used one of these yet, but we hope to give it a try.

We have taken most other modes of transport though, this is from the Fenicular,  a tram that goes straight up the ridiculously steep Monserrate. In the top left you can see the wires for the Teliferico, the cable car that brought us up.

The Rock Salt Cathedral

In The Rock Salt Cathedral, we saw loads of interesting things! Those things include the 14 stations of the cross! The picture here is of a small chapel made completely out of salt! We all thought that the miners must of been very resilient and skilful to do all that.

But in my opinion the coolest thing we did there was mining our own salt!! We used massive pick axes to hack bits of salt off the walls and when we had done the tour guide gave me and Sophie each a massive bit of salt - our salary 😂!

Posted by Ethan😀

Fusagasugá

We visited the IMC (In Ministry to Children) home in Fusagasugá (commonly known as Fusa), with Nancy, the Colombian director of IMC, who kindly drove us all the way from Bogotá. It was about a 2 hour drive along some crazy roads, and when we got there we were given a raucous welcome by the children.

We helped serve lunch, which was really cute because each plate was prepared individually for each child. Afterwards they gave us lunch which we ate whilst watching the Colombia vs England World Cup match. We also ate blueberry lollies.

And I played with some of the girls and boys for ages. 

Next, we met a family that mummy met 19 years ago and they had a puppy and a budgie and a bunny. Their house was very simple with an outside bathroom open to the rain, and parts of the wall were falling off. We want to help raise some money to get it mended. Despite their very modest lifestyle, they were very welcoming to us, and very pleased to see Emelye after so many years.

Posted by Sophie

Watching the Big Match

In one of the IMC children's homes in Fusa. Wearing my Colombia top, just to hedge my bets...

Salt Cathedral

Last week we visited the amazing underground Salt Cathedral just outside Bogota, painstakingly created by hand inside an old salt mine. The caverns, of which there are many, are carved out of 100% rock salt, and we even had a go at mining it ourselves using heavy pick axes. It was really hard work and we only managed a few minutes. The miners created the cathedral and Stations of The Cross by staying late in their own time. It is considered Colombia's very own Wonder of the World.