Jardín, Medellín and Home

So Jardín is beautiful. It's a small town nestled in the mountains. And there's lots of outdoorsy stuff to do, so it was a perfect end to our Colombian travels.

On the first day we did a few hour hike to a nearby waterfall. We made friends with a guy from the hostel by the name of Swain. He was also a programmer, and also quit his job, and was also traveling around Colombia. So he joined us for our little day hike.

The waterfall took about 2 hours to reach. It was quite splendid. 

On the way back down, we stopped at the local Cristo Rey, a statue of Jesus overlooking the town. The statue itself wasn't much to write home about, but the view certainly was. 

Once back in town we stopped at a vegetarian restaurant that served amazing homemade hashbrown delicacies. And then we explored the main center. 

Oh yeah, we also had one of the dogs from the hostel follow us for the entire day. Her name is Fiesta. She was very well behaved and helped us find our way along the trails when we got a little lost.

The next day Camille, Swain and I decided to hike to another waterfall inside a cave called La Cueva del Esplendor. Swain's friend also joined us. He was friends with some local guides so we stopped there to see if we could pay for a Jeep to drive us closer to the entrance of the cave. We got a good deal on a one way drive to the cave. Probably saved us 2 and a half hours of walking. Also, one of the guides decided to join us for the day and hang out. That was especially cool because he knew a lot about the area and the local plants and wildlife. He was also fun to talk to (and useful for practicing my Spanish...).

The Jeep took us way up into the mountains. From there we still needed to hike for an hour or so. Then we arrived at a farm, which apparently owned the land on which the cave was located. We had to pay an entrance fee and wait for the owner to take us down to the waterfall. A bit of a bummer, but totally worth it once we got there.

I saw photos beforehand and they really don't do it justice, just like my cell phone photos won't truly convey how special this place was. The light was incredible, the cave was magical and the waterfall had an incredible energy coming from it.

And the owner encouraged us to swim. Now, I absolutely loathe cold water and avoid it at all costs... but I felt compelled to go for a quick dip, especially since there was jumping involved.

(Thanks Camille for the video)

After plenty of swimming and exploring we began our hike back down into town.

The views were incredible!

Once back in town we offered Manuel (our new friend/unofficial guide) a drink. He brought us to this crazy private resort place where we had some cold Club Colombia beers. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day. 

The next day Camille and I left Jardin and made our way back to Medellin the day before our flight. We stayed at her friend Jessie's place (the one we met up with in the beginning of our trip). She was beyond generous and kind to choose to sleep in a hammock that night and offer us her bed.

That night we went out with her and some of her roommates to a local brewery. We unfortunately arrived just before closing but they were nice enough to let us grab one drink first. And I have to say it was by far the best beer I had during this trip to Colombia. A very pleasant way to end our brief trip!

The next morning Camille and I made our way to the airport, flew to Fort Lauderdale and then took another flight back to Laguardia in New York. Then a cab to the bus station and a bus to Springfield where my Dad happily and graciously picked us up at midnight to take us home. A long day indeed, but a day with no issues and very little stress for which I'm thankful.

Of course as soon as we recovered, caught up on sleep and washed some clothes, we made our way to visit Christian (and check in on Tiny McBoatface).

Christian made some very nice progress on the stairs! It's the first piece of finished furniture to go in the house and it looks great.

After lounging around for a week and readjusting to life in cold New England, Camille had to take her flight back home... She's now currently in Paris visiting friends. Soon she'll be heading back to her parents to relax a bit (where it's already springtime) and eventually looking for some short term work to save some money before she comes back here in late summer.

As for me, I've been working with Christian on the house as well as following some leads on potential jobs. Have a big phone call tomorrow to see if there's a position available and worth taking for some short-term work similar to what I was doing almost 4 years ago.

I know I know... I've mentioned wanting to work more than a few times in the last couple of years, but this time I think it's for real....

Building a house isn't exactly cheap!