Day 90-91: Tayrona National Park

This place had been described to us as paradise on Earth. Regina and I were in no position to disagree. We rented two hammocks on the beach and spent the afternoon exploring the beaches that lined the Carribean Coast of Colombia. With the turquoise water, white sandy beaches, and bag of sugar mangos (which we consumed in a day), we were two happy campers.

The next morning we swam and soaked up sun on our beach, Cabo San Juan. Then, to break up the three hour hike back to the road, we stopped and swam at each beach we passed on the way back to the road except for Arrecifes, which is known for its deadly undertow. At the last swimmable beach, known as La Piscina or the "Pool", we were woken from our post-swim nap by a loud thud. A man had climbed a nearby palm tree and was throwing down coconuts. After climbing down, he hacked at the coconuts with his machete and offered them to us and a nearby family for drinking and eating. Mmmm . . . .

As this was my last night in Colombia, Regina and I celebrated by going to our favority juice guy and buying another bag of sugar mangos. Colombia has the most amazing fruit! There are fruit stands everywhere and they are filled with fruits I have never seen before. Sugar mangos, my favorite new fruit, are small peelable mangos that are so sweet and juicy. Compared to these sugar mangos (or even Colombia's regular mangos), the mangos we have in the United States taste like mango flavored popsicle sticks. Then there are carts with baskets of fruits and blenders about every four feet. For between $.25 and $1.50 you can get a huge fruit shake. My favorite flavor was tomate de arbol (tomato of the tree), moracuno (passion fruit), lulo (no translation (maybe lychee), but a small fruit the size of a grape that has a hard green shell with soft white flesh and a pit the size of a plum pit), and a squeeze of limon (lime). By the time I left Colombia, Regina and I had consumed four of those and half a bag of sugar mangos. I am sure going to miss the fruit . . . and Regina.