Colombia Pride (Cartagena, Colombia)

Ahhh... it's nice to be back in the caribbean side, with the warm sun and the sticky humid air drenching my skin and clothes.  Okay, I admit, it's a little annoying at times, but I prefer over the cold winter in Buenos Aires.  Mike and I have been on a steady track going throughout Colombia. I guess it's not so different than the average backpacker, but it's been a while since I've done it I suppose. We are onto our 7th place in a couple of hours and will be meeting up with my friends Emilie and Melissa tomorrow!

Some of my Colombian highlights this time around are...

-Partying it up in Bogota with Mike at the gay discotecas, some of the largest clubs I've ever been to!
-Hanging out with my old travel buds, Louise, Orlando and Shaun in their respective cities and reminiscing about our times together.
-Bogota Gay Pride, it was a huge parade, slow at times, and lacking music and festivus, but exciting nonetheless. The after parties in the main city plaza and the evening club was jam packed with people! I love dancing outside under the sun in a gigantic crowd where I can barely stand my own ground! They know how to represent! I was embarassed when one man asked what the gay community was like in Calgary.
- The thermal hot springs in the coffee region of Colombia, damn hot!
- Staying in the small town of Quinchia with magnificent views of the mountians, where we couchsurfed for one night, hosted by a Colombian man who spent most of his life as a famous fashion designer in Costa Rica.
- Meeting up with a couchsurfer in Medellin to show me around, and discovering that we both know Sebastian, my Scottish buddy that I hung out with in Peru for 2 weeks.
- Shopping and sitting in the mall with Mike, where Leticia and I hung out for the first time ever, and shooting the shit and laughing up a storm, then later getting drunk at 6pm from splurging on cocktail after cocktail in the zona rosa.
- Sleeping in a hammock over night in the beach, where I was literally bumping into Mike and our friend Catalina, whose hammocks were only centimeters away from mine, wondering when the morning sun will rise so I don't have to suffer any longer in this damp, hot, smelly caccoon like state.
- Beach, sun, drinks, beach, sun, drinks.
- Sitting on the walls of the colonial city of Cartagena at night time, buying beers from the local street vendor, and have deep conversations with my best friend from home.

One more week to go for Mike being here. I'll miss him when he goes. I'm glad he came out to visit me!