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I began 1997 in Guatemala, Central America. I was staying at a small hotel in the village of San Pedro on the beautiful Lake Atitlan. I stayed at the lake for almost a month and ended up running the hotel for three weeks! The American owners needed a holiday and they asked me to be the manager. It was quite strange trying to run a hotel with Spanish only speaking staff and my Spanish being pretty awful. While managing the hotel I met a group of travelers who had driven down from the USA in a four wheel drive, and were continuing all the way down to Panama. They were looking for an extra traveler, so I joined up. It was certainly a great opportunity to be able to drive right through Central America and have a rest from the rough old buses! All I had to pay for was my share of the petrol!
1997 Travel Diary (Part 1)
Gjcmcclurg2005-12-23 14:46:53
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dead, so I decided I would have to take a short flight over the danger area! I took a flight from Panama City to the northern Colombian coastal town of Cartegena.
I arrived in Cartegena, Colombia in early March. Cartegena was a lovely colonial town on the Caribbean coast and was considered relatively safe as far as Colombia goes! I spent about a week here enjoying the pleasant climate and attractive town center. From Cartegena I traveled down to the famous drug cartel city of Medellin. I had to travel through a dangerous region and sure enough I saw a body lying by the side of the road - apparently an execution! I didn't really feel very safe in Medellin so I traveled down to Bogota, the capital of Colombia.
In Bogota I visited the British embassy to get the local security/safety information. The embassy basically said that no where was safe, but gave me some good advice. They also explained that on Friday and Saturday nights around thirty people were shot dead in Bogota alone - scary! In Bogota I visited the world famous Gold Museum, where I saw thousands of priceless golden artifacts stored in a huge underground vault. Bogota seemed quite a friendly city as long as you stayed in the slightly more secure city center.
From Bogota I traveled down to the city of Cali, which was famous for its Salsa music and its powerful drug cartels! Cali was a pleasant city, but again the security worries were oppressive. While I was in Cali a Dutch couple, that were staying in the next room in my hotel, were set up by the police and had to pay over $1000 to be released! I also had my sunglasses wrenched from my face in broad daylight on one of the main streets. After Cali I decided that I would travel quickly down to Ecuador, which is much safer.
I arrived in Quito, the capital of Ecuador in mid-April. I really liked Quito and ended staying in the city for almost three months!
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See photographs from:
Panama Gallery
,
Nicaragua Gallery
,
Honduras Gallery
,
Guatemala Gallery
,
Ecuador Gallery
,
Costa Rica Gallery
,
Colombia Gallery
