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Our Hike to the Valle de Cascadas (Waterfall Valley) - By Maria

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This past weekend we hiked to the Valle de Cascadas, which means the Valley of Waterfalls. This was a two day hike. We hiked into the Valle de Cascadas and stayed there one night and then hiked back a different route the next day.  Starting our hike, before we got muddy Our guide's name was Nestor and he was really nice. He was born in the mountains in the jungle and has lived there his whole life. He told us his family was indigenous to the area and his ancestors have always lived in the jungle canyon.   It was supposed to rain a lot, but we were very lucky, and we didn't get rained on at all. It was still super muddy and extremely wet, and we all ended up with soaking shoes. The hike was hard, and lasted about six hours of actual hike time each day, but we took lots of breaks to see different things, to eat, and to swim so we were busy all day.  Our guide would cut lemons off trees and give them to us to mix with our waters. It made them taste really good. He said ...
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El Carmen de Viboral - By Maria

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  The first town we stayed in was called El Carmen de Viboral. This town is a big town; about 65,000 people live here. It is known for all of its ceramics. Greenhouses and plant nurseries are everywhere.  The ceramics are painted with colorful pigments by hand and they are really pretty. They are also all around the city on houses and buildings for decoration.  Building decorated with ceramic plates Tiles were also a common decoration.  Why aren't pharmacies so pretty in the U.S.?  Even the planters are decorated!  This is the bottom of a lamppost decorated with tiles and ceramic plates.  We had the opportunity to paint some ceramics and it was really hard, but it was really cool. It took a long time.  This is the ceramic plate I painted.  This shows examples of some of the more traditional designs.  A cute little hand painted tea set We're staying a little bit out of town and there are greenhouses all around us. The farm we're staying o...
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The Dog Blog - By Seth

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  There are a lot of dogs in Colombia. They are well-behaved dogs. The first dog I met on this trip is a dog called Toby who lives in a restaurant. He is fat and friendly and likes to get rubbed on his back with feet.   There is another dog we see when we go on walks. We named him Leon because there are pictures of lions on the front of the house he guards. And here he was waiting for us   There are also dogs without a leash that follow their owners.    Though this dog had a leash Sometimes people leave water and food on the side of the road for dogs to eat. Dogs also eat human’s scraps or bones when we can’t finish. There is also a type of dog that we call “Trail Dogs”. They follow you sometimes on trails. They just walk back and forth on the route and accompany us. Dogs like me and I like them. 
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Differences from Colombia and America (And a revisit to Salento) - By Maria

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There are some fun differences about Colombia from America. Two of my favorites are animal crossing signs on roads and the different types of locks on doors and windows in houses.  Here are some pictures to show you.  Human crossing (this was not where people were normally walking)  Fox crossing Spectacled Bear crossing Not sure what this one is but I think it's some nocturnal rodent.  I think this is another rodent Deer crossing Cow Crossing A cow crossing                                                     There were also signs for iguanas, pumas, anteaters, armadillos, lizzards, monkeys, parrots, and dog crossings. It was hard to get pictures when we were driving though.  Here are some pictures of locks that I thought were fun.  This is a window lock This is a modern door lock on most front doors. This whole window opens but t...
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