Colombia: 'Do you know Ben Cousins?' 'Eh... no.'

We flew into Colombia's capital, Bogota, after spending two weeks in Cuba and headed straight to the nearest Subway and McDonalds, then went out for a main meal that didn't involve ham and cheese or rice and beans - heaven! We satisfied our wifi addiction and checked emails, the news, DreamTeam, and Facebook - all the important stuff. After our shakes had died down, we headed out into the street and discovered it was in fact Semana Santa, a week long celebration that apparently begins the Monday before Easter. All the shops were shut and there was not an Easter egg to be seen - apparently people go to church rather than buy Easter eggs, which is clearly just morally wrong. We were forced to eat blocks of chocolate instead. We caught the 'funicular of death' on half-price Sunday with the locals for a beautiful view of Bogota. The locals, however, were far more interested in the beautiful view of Tom's luscious ginger locks and beard. KG was handed the cameras to take photos- brunettes are so last year apparently.

'You can't spell 'funicular' without FUN' - T.W. Temple, March 2013

Taking in one last view of Bogota before facing our impending deaths

The true meaning of Easter. Meh, where's the chocolate? 

We ventured up to the Caribbean coast to Cartagena for a little mini-break. For 7 nights we lazed around eating icecream, drinking limonada, and enjoying the coast. Cartagena was full of Colombian tourists, many of whom had also not seen a giant red-head, similar to their Bogota cousins, and crowded around Tom for a few more happy family holiday snaps. As very conspicuous gringos were were also inevitably offered copious amounts of drugs, which was kind of to be expected in Colombia. One guy even picked us for Australians then informed us he had a friend who lived in Perth, whose name is Ben Cousins. While we politely declined, we were impressed by his market research. We also went for a paddle in a volcanic mud bath and were man-handled by a couple of burly Colombians. Tom particularly enjoyed this part of the excursion.

In case you need to make a call, just ask this guy. He has a phone chained to a pole you can use for 20c a minute.

Ladies love him, men want to be him - B Grade celebrity Thomas Temple.

Hair looking pristine while strolling the old walls of Cartagena

Bunyips exist!

Hands where I can see them please gents...

Next to the notorious home of Pablo Escobar, Medellin. Much to our surprise, Medellin is an amazing modern city that has come a huge way since the notorious years of the cartels. We headed to the zoo, soaked our paws in the 'Pool of Feet', went on an awesome free walking tour and even check out some art. We also caught up with our English friend Sheryl who we had travelled around Cuba with for a while, great to see a familiar face.

Botero Plaza, Medellin

The most appropriate way to view an emu - behind two wire fences in a zoo. Plenty close enough.

Tom enjoying the Medellin zoo

The Pool of Feet! So serene until we were ambushed by a pack of kindergartners. They never learn.

We also headed to the lakeside resort town of Guatape. Shame everyone failed to tell us the lake was half empty ('for maintenance' - ???). Aaanyway, we tucked into some local trout, climbed a big rock and checked out the colorful houses around the town. Highlights include a cockroach crawling over KG's foot in the hostel kitchen in front of the owner who didn't even raise an eyebrow, our taxi driver stopping in the middle of a highway and leaving us in the path of oncoming trucks so he could drop lunch off to a mate, and the a typical backpacker group dinner outing ('Oh I don't mind where we go' - 'Great let's go here then' - 'Oh actually no I don't want to go here'. FFS). But, we met some awesome people and had a nice time getting out of the city. We also made a snap decision to go to the Galapagos Islands, so a new post about that trip will be up soon!

The Rock

View from The Rock over Guatape

Apartment block in Guatape