Semana Santa (CAMERA IS BACK)

Semana Santa or Holy week for all the Laymen.  This week is a big deal in all Latin America and is full of festivities and leads up to Easter Sunday.  So for a Jew this means a WEEK vacation!  I was also lucky enough to land a heathen girlfriend, Sarah, who also preferred the week vacation to the seven days in church, so she came to visit! 

Sick Sarah

The vacation started off a little rough as she got pretty sick and I ended up taking her to the hospital for what looked to be food poisoning (word to the wise, lay off the mysterious street meat sticks until you have been in Colombia for at least a month).  The hospital was very helpful and in 2.5 days time she was nursed back to help thanks to the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Tea).  So although a bit late the vacation was underway.  

The first truly tourist thing I have done in three months was take Sarah to meet up with some friends and go to Volcán del Totumo, also know to us non-spanish speakers as the MUD VOLCANO.  Which is not so much a volcano as it is a huge termite mound with a hot tub size opening at the top.  Once filled to maximum capacity, around 20, men are ready inside to lather you up with the mud that contains 50 some odd minerals.  Although some might consider what the men do inside the mud tub to be sexual harassment, I actually found it quite pleasurable.  After getting a full body mud massage we then tried our hardest to sink to the bottom, which we found impossible.  So we just relaxed suspended in mud for around 30 minutes.  We, like everyone else, then headed over the the lagoon to get further harassed, or scrubbed off depending on how much you enjoy strangers pouring water over your head and scrubbing every nook and cranny of your ENTIRE body.  These local ladies obviously were not working for free and charged us $1 each.  Money well spent to get rid of all the mud.   

Mud Volcano

The tourist activities didn’t stop at the mud volcano however, the following day we went on a tour of the Islas del Rosario.  These are 27 small coral islands a few miles off the coast of Cartagena.  The islands range from being able to fit one shack to holding resorts that play host to upper class citizens.  On one of the islands we even got to snorkel and although the coral looked pretty dead, due to the warm currents and the general lack of oceanic protection laws, the fish were beautiful and I really wish I had one of those nifty underwater cameras.  The tour ended on Playa Blanca, aptly named for its white sands.  This was the most beautiful beach I have seen in Colombia thus far and had amazingly clear water.  However, the word has obviously spread about the wonders of this island paradise and unfortunately the beach was packed with faces whiter than my own (lots of tourists).   

Playa Blanca

The other days we passed the time strolling thought the walled city or at one of the many beaches.  At the beaches we were able to make tons of new friends, granted they were mostly stray dogs, we enjoyed the time in the sun none the less.  This was my first and best Semana Santa to date, thanks Sarah!

Dog friend

Playa Blanca

Tree busted for cocaine 

Male Shakira impersonator 

Getting rubbed down in the mud volcano 

A cumbia dance group we ran into