There's been a few times during this trip that have felt more like vacation than the rest of it. Mom and Dad came down a couple times, our family friends in Egypt took good care of us, Elizabeth and Alexa's visit to Argentina; these were all times when we put the backpacks away for a week or so and enjoyed some luxury. I got to do it one more time on the Colombian Carribean Coast and it was a perfect way to end the trip. A few of my friends from home (Lindsay, Walter, Lauren) met me in Barranquilla for Carnaval, the pre-lent Roman Catholic holiday celebrated all over the world but most famously in South America. The biggest carnaval - which is supposedly the biggest party in the world - is in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The second biggest? Barranquilla, Colombia. It was epic.
Like I said, it was vacation time, which means we were getting taken care of by someone. The someone this time was Maria Patricia Salcedo & Family. Maria is from Barranquilla but lived with Lindsay during the year she spent at the University of Georgia. Lindsay you know this week was the best thing to ever come of that relationship, right? Maria, sister Claudia, maid Rochi, aunt Caya, mom Patricia, and dog Manolo treated us like family and made our trip so much better than it ever could have been otherwise. So I'll go ahead and give a big muchas gracias to them. Most of the things you're going to read about here would not have been possible without their help and connections.
I got to Barranquilla on a Thursday afternoon, hung out with the caregivers, got my Claudia-designed Carnaval T-shirt, and went out with Maria to the Coronation of the Carnival Queen, a music and dance show put on to introduce the queen and kick off the 4-day carnaval party. Mira en Barranquilla se baila asi! Shakira wasn't kidding in her song "Hips Don't Lie," Colombians can freakin' dance. This was by far the most impressive dancing I've ever seen in my life.
One of the traditions of Carnaval is to throw corn starch all over each other. No one could explain why.
Went straight from the show to the airport to pick up Lindsay at 3am.
Carnaval didn't actually start until Saturday, so Lindsay and I hung out with Claudia all day Friday. She showed us around her town, we had another delicious Rochi-made lunch, a few pina coladas by the pool at Country Club country club, and just enjoyed being in Colombia. They took us out for a nice little ceviche dinner too.
Saturday. Day One of Carnaval. Day One of seven day bender. Lauren and Walter had to listen to us say stuff like this the rest of the week........."The first day was the best, man." "Ga, I wish you two were here on Saturday." "Hey Lindsay, remember on Saturday..." "On Saturday this place was absolutely packed!" "You missed it man!".........so the two of yall might want to skip this paragraph. Truth be told, the parade was A+ and this was the craziest day of Carnival.
Me and Caya getting ready
Lindsay and Maria Makin' plans
The main activity of the day is the Carnaval Parade. Thousands of people line the streets to watch about 5-6 hours worth of floats, dancers, semi-trucks, people dressed up like celebrities (Osama bin Laden, George Bush, Obama to name a few), popular singers and bands, naked women, naked men, just about everything that can move down a street.
You would
One of Lindsay's new friends
Teaching her the John Wall dance. John Wall played basketball for Kentucky last year, and this little dance he did got pretty popular. I wonder if he knows how many Colombians were doing it during this years Carnaval. You're welcome J-Wall.
Yea
We were lucky enough to be sitting on bleachers under a shade.
He fell over the back of the bleachers right after this was taken. Looks cool here thought right?
He didn't really fall over.
My life coach and my stylist.
Maria and some friends
Maria, me, Claudia, Lindsay
Saturday night at the bar. Claudia, Maria, and friend Shadya
Claudia showing off her talent with tequilla
We are all filmed for the E! Channel tv show 'Wild On Barranquilla' that night. Lindsay got a personal interview.
I doubt many Colombians will be able to understand that Bartow County accent though
On Sunday we had a nice little recovery period on the beach during the afternoon. I don't really remember but Rochi probably made us some more finger lickin' food for dinner before we headed off to the Bomba Estereo concert. Bomba Estereo is a pretty popular band from the Carribean coast of Colombia so it was cool to see them in Barranquilla. I'd never heard any of their music but it actually turned out being one of the best concerts I've ever been to. That might have been because we were in the front row and drinks were free, but I think the music was pretty good too. How awesome was that show Lindsay? Definitely the second best part of Carnaval, right? I mean that and the Saturday Parade, pretty much downhill from there.
Here's Maria trying to teach me how to dance
Somehow we always ended up doing this one
The girls were pretty pathetic at first but they got the hang of it
John Wall!!!
That sign says ' Bomba Estereo Entrada VIP'
Get that camera out my face!
Get a few drinks in 'em and they just can't help it...
Another 3am airport run. Welcome to Colombia.
Walter and Lauren showed up just in time for the Monday Parade.....
Man, you guys should have been here on Saturday
It looked pretty bleak early on but people showed up eventually and the parade was B- so good day overall. At night people take to the streets to keep the party going. Vendors sell party supplies (beer, bottles of liquor, food, foam) from streetside stands which makes it easy. Here's a few pictures from the last night of Carnaval...
Beer, rum, foam
Everyone loves to pick on the blondies...Lauren lost that battle but she won the...
..no, she lost the war too.
After Carnaval, Claudia, Maria and Company kicked us out of the house for a few days. The four of us Americans went up the coast to Tayrona National Park, one of the most popular destinations in Colombia. After a grey day and a rough night camping on the beach there - Lindsay and Lauren slept in our Play Skool Little Tikes tent while Walter and I braved the elements - we woke up to bright blue booty-slappin skies and had some nice beach time in Tayrona before catching a boat to the nearby town of Taganga.
Good lookin' campsite, but that doesn't equal soft ground
Get it all figured out, Lindsay?
Lauren and Lindsay loved this little spider
That spider gon getcha Lindy
The beach at Tayrona
Boat to Taganga
Our hostel, the Casa Blanca
These things were everywhere in Taganga. Thousands. We heard they were sea snails that had come into the bay to shed their old shells.
Taganga was another place where you can get everything you need right there in the street, so thats where people tend to hang out. We met some cool people and had a really good time in this town.
From Taganga we went back to Barranquilla for a night. Lauren had to go back to the real world, which stinks because she missed a really good time in Cartagena, where the rest of us went for the next couple days. Cartagena was one of the most important port cities for the Spanish when they controlled much of South America and the Carribean way back in the day. They built a stone wall all the way around the city to protect from pirate and enemy attack. The wall and many of the canons still stand today around the 'old city,' where we got to stay with one of Claudia's friends, Laura.
Lauren's farewell dinner
This was Lauren's farewell dinner. I guess I don't remember when we had that other one. That's Patricia, our mom for the week, in the middle here.
Laura, Claudia, Walter, me, Lindsay
White washed buildings, terracotta roofs, the wind...that's just beautiful.
They tried to charge Walter and Lindsay for this picture
Nice lunch in Cartagena
View from Laura's apartment
Getting ready for a night out in Cartagena
Huge thanks to Laura for putting us up
When we got back to Barranquilla on Sunday night it was time to say goodbye. It was tough. Maria, Claudia, Rochi, Laura, Caya, mami, we had an absolute blast with you guys. I hope you all make it up here to Georgia and Kentucky someday so we can pay you back.
On any given Friday night, I'd say there's a pretty good shot that Maria or Claudia are doing the John Wall dance at a bar in Barranquilla, Colombia.
-Ryan
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