After a great weekend here in Medellin, it was time to take our party to the pacific coast. We were shooting for a remote, beautiful slice of paradise and maybe even a glimpse of humpback whales. I knew it was not a touristy place or anywhere that is really well discovered yet. It was so neat to be going somewhere off the well traveled circuit. The area was also very very poor so it was nice to see the community coming together to organize tourism and make some money off of their beautiful land.
Our day started nice and early as we headed to local airport, right in the middle of Medellin. Our short 45 minutes flight was supposed to leave at 8:30. The time kept fading on and on as we played cards sitting at the gate. The airport in nuqui was closed due to rain and storms in the area. It was around 11:30 before we finally got off the ground. Walking right out of the airport door and right up to the plane was a little different than atl. The pilots gave us a quick briefing on the flight and then we were off. We were rewarded with some beautiful sights of this crazy diverse country on the way too.
After landing, we grabbed our bags and walked a few minutes to the dock to catch our lancha (boat) to our lodge. It was about a 45 minute ride over some very choppy water- the pacific ocean! We made it to our beach and stumbles out of the boat (literally, right beebs?). We grabbed a late lunch, dropped our bags off in our cabin, and left for a walk to a little waterfall.
A group of us walked with a guide along the beach to a tiny little trail to a small waterfall, la cascada del amor. It wasn't the most impressive waterfall but it was great to be walking around and checking out the area. Every step we took, every turn we took was just beautiful. But the sky was still quite grey from the storms that day.
Every night at dinner we chatted about our plans for the next day. We had two guides at the lodge that we loved, Harry (or ovideo) and Esteban. They were so fun and helpful throughout the entire week. Esteban was only 20 but had been working there for over half of his life because his uncle was the owner. I loved his energy, work ethic, and playfulness. He was always willing to help. Harry was older, 36, and had only been working there two years, in the high season. He also has a cinnamon farm. Harry was the smooth talker. He organized everything.
Our first night there, we talked and the plan was to try to go whale watching the next day. This was all very dependent on the weather because you have a much greater chance to see them when it is sunny.
Now is as good a time as any to mention that there was pretty much no English on the entire trip. We found a couple visitors that spoke English (a group of 3 from bogota and a guy from Australia) but other than that it was all Spanish all the time. I was definitely put to the test. It was a fun challenge but it was also mentally exhausting. We joked that all of Miami better watch out because mom was craving some talking. Talk about culture shock...
We woke up to blue skies and our best shot at seeing some whales. We ate some breakfast and headed out. We were packed pretty tightly on the lancha but we were lucky in that we definitely picked the right (well actually left) side of the boat. Fortunately, the seas were much smoother as well or we would have been in even more trouble. Its safe to say a couple of people still thought they were too rough if you know what I mean.
The whales were just spectacular. I wasn't fully expecting to see them because we went at the very end of the season. We didn't see huge groups of them but I would say we probably saw 6-8 at least. Each and every time we caught a sight of one the whole boat gasped. It was a very fun and excitable group.
Easily, the highlight of the day was when we were actually on our way back. We were riding along and I saw one jump out of the water! I did not imagine I would ever see that. Immediately, our captain zoomed over there and the whale kept performing for us.
I wasn't ready to go but we eventually headed out to termales. this was again a very poor part. It was not a town at all, just a couple of shacks along the beach. we paid a tourism fee and then we walked a little to some thermal baths. we rinsed off in a cool river first and then got into the warm pools. Esteban took a rock and rubbed it along the walls of the pool to make a sulfuric face mask. we sat with our head again the rock while he applied our beautiful masks. We swam around, tried some new fruit, and just chilled for a while. Fun fact, the sulfur in the water changes the color of silver if it is not completely pure.
A long walk back along the beach was the last bit of activity for the day. It probably took over an hour and half. it was so beautiful but it was long and exhausting. mom is a champ.
Lots of chill time was on the agenda for the rest of the afternoon. That evening, we continued our second nightly condition of playing cards. I gave Harry a hard time about when he was going to let us play the first night there so each night after dinner we played cards for over an hour or two.
Harry taught us how to play Mao. It is a game that Harry made up, or so he says. It was a fun, easy to learn game. we had so much fun and we laughed hard every night.
The second full day there we went to rio Jovi. we took another boat ride to another tiny area. We sat in a little 'classroom' where we learned about the river and tourism in the area. We paid another little fee and then we loaded up in these little dugout canoes. with a man in front and back, they guided us through the river. it was absolutely beautiful and a very neat experience. we got out and walked about 5 minutes to another waterfall. it was tough walking there through a river and some very squishy ground.
After playing around in the water fora little and watching people be crazy, we headed back to the canoes and then back to our cabins for lunch. it was a crazy muddy walk back to the beach. my brand new chaos definitely got worn in. This day, our walk along the beach was completely different and much shorter. it was low tide when we were walking back so we were essentially walking on the ocean floor. the whole way back we maybe saw 10 sea shells. most everything were rocks.
That afternoon we laid out on the beach and caught a beautiful sunset while playing cards out on the beach. It was a perfect relaxing way to end the day.
I was insistent on finding something for us to do our last day there. we felt like we had already done all the big things that we really needed to do there. we still couldn't believe we saw whales. finally, on Thursday morning, after nagging harry enough he finally mentioned the possibility of kayaking. so, we made it happen and we both went kayaking for the first time in the ocean.
And finally on our last night there, we did something super cool. harry was not happy with us at all because he didn't want to take us but he told us about some bioluminescent fungus and plankton. so at 9:00 that night, we got on our bathing suits and headed out for our last adventure there. after walking about 20 minutes on the beach, we headed into the trees and he shone his light around and then cut it off. lots of sticks all over were glowing both internally and externally. Then we headed back to the beach and set our stuff down and headed into the ocean. we had no idea what to expect but it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. they were tiny little specks, like lights in the ocean. but you could only see them when you agitated the water. we were waving our arms around, kicking, doing flips etc. it was so neat.
Nuqui was so good to us. it was a great adventure. the perfect mix of fun and relaxing. we were even given a nice surprise on the boat ride back to the airport, another whale putting on a show.
Friday was definitely a chill day when we made it back to my apartment. traveling is great but it is almost always exhausting too.
Saturday we went on the Real City Tour of Medellin. I can't say enough great things about this tour of the city. It was very real. we got the history and heard both sides of it. it was very informational and entertaining. We grabbed a bite to eat at the end of the tour before heading back and beginning to get mom packed up.
Sunday was a little rough. we had a great morning out by the pool (once again playing cards). mom brought some great sunny weather when she was here. she didn't understand why I was so pale because the sun was always out. we haven't hardly had a sunny day since she left though. the goodbyes were rough. we had such a great trip and it was fun having here her and showing her around. the apartment felt way too empty with her gone. until December beebs!
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