Nearing the red carpet home...

After a while in Santa Marta, with whistle stop visits to Taganga to buy coffee and chocolate brownines, i went back to Tyrona. This time I went with the addition of two lovely English girls i met in the cheap hostel I was staying in. They left after a few days and i continued to get into the placid pace of Tyrona, accompanied by token French man.

During this time I played alot of music and recorded a song with Jeremie which we are pretty happy with. It was great to get into such a creative process and with a satisfying end result! I also did loads of swimming, playing, sun bathing, cooking, photography, jungle exploration. I checked out some new beachs, including a nudist one (a first time experience for me) which blessed me with some very interesting situations (i might only tell you if you ask me!) I meditated alot too, on the ocean infront of the waves. It was a really special and suprising time.

During one weekend a large group of Biology students stayed at the camp site where I hung out. I noticed, under a wooden table where i often ate brekfast, that there was a box with a label on it saying "Serpent, dangerous". Tres interesting, i thought...keeping my feet at a distance. There was indeed a serpent in it, which got put down the following day (by lethal injection) for the Biology students to "study". I witnessed this process and felt quite emotional seeing a beautiful creature die for research.

Staying at Tyrona for so long meant that I was able to watch the ebb and flow of people come and go. I met some really cool and interesting people, sharing mini adventures along the way. I also started to feel a sense of community, building connections with people through regular encounters. One of my favourate daily meetings was with the owner of a bakery just off the beach. He was a great character, silent and cool, witnessing the world go by in his weatherd way.

As i write this i am in Leticia! It has been an epic journey to get here, i was in Santa Marta yesterday morning, and Bogota last night before catching an early flight today to get here. When i arrived the humid heat smacked me in the face, contrasting the cool temperature in Bogota (i actually found it very difficult to sleep as i was so cold!) In Leticai i got stamped at DAS and walked with my heavy bags to the centre of this simple city. I was unsure about where to go, and thankfully met a friendly local walking his son back home. He showed me a good, relativly cheap hostel and gave me his number incase i needed any help or advice. My experience has been that often Colombians are very warm, welcoming and friendly :)

The hostel im staying at is a non gringo palce (yey. Im starting to really dislike hostels full of English speakers and back packers, not very authentic.) It is very homely here. It was actually a home until February when it got sold and turned into a small friendly hostel. there is a nice communal area with comfy sofas and books, simple and classey. I like it alot. And here I met a quirky French lady who has been travelling for 12 years, saying her home is planet earth (i know, a very hippy saying...but it fits her lifestyle). She just spent ten days at an Indian Village nearby which she said was deeply rooted in Catholism, likely influcened by neighbouring country, Brazil. At this village she was basically the devil incarnate, as a free woman who will not be controlled, who smokes, who speaks her mind. At one point she stood up in church and started to speak of love, life, freedom, corruption. She explained to me that the words just seemed to flow out of her mouth, perhaps the forest energy propelling her on. Everyone stared with wide and astonished eyes. Afterwards she was afraid she may get assasinated, as she is dangerous to the status quo there...and is messing with political Religious Mafia types. Now she is back in Leticia, safely we hope! She makes a living by finding jobs along her way, running creative art workshops, teaching languages, doing manual labour and taking opportunities as they arise. As I was talking to her a man walked in, they got chatting and she, after 10 minutes, got a job! She will be working with people dealing with addictions in a beautiful jungle area near by. She will run workshops and support where she can. The ethos of the centre is run off love not money, which fits well with her ideals. She was very excited and invited me to check the place out tommorow. I plan to!

The day after tommrow I will be catching a speed boat to Iqitos, where i will spend a few days checking out the witch market and general area before starting my ten day Ayhauska retreat. I see the retreat as a red carpet to the next chapter in my life...back to the UK!