One week (and one day) to go!

Colombia... ask most people what springs to mind and the response, nine out of ten times, is negative. Kidnapping is number one, I have heard all the jokes and also all the horror stories! Next up: drugs. Not to mention terrorism. This, combined with all the other 'friendly warnings' people love to share about travelling alone (and as a female) through South America may cause some people to wonder why I have picked to spend the foreseeable future in Colombia, on my own.


The answer isn't exactly clear to me either. This South America trip hasn't exactly been planned with precision. This time two weeks ago I wasn't even sure whether to head north or south from my touch-down point in Lima. The only thing I did know was that, actually, I didn't want to spend that long in Peru (the country I had booked my ticket to). The only thing I did know when booking the ticket was that I hadn't been ready to leave South America last November, and that if I didn't buy a ticket while I had the nerve, maybe I never would!


A few months later I found myself with a one-way ticket and no plan, so it came back down to volunteering again. My criteria was the same: working with kids and speaking Spanish, and this time I wanted, if possible, to do it somewhere sunny (I know, I know, not very selfless). I had a vague urge to go to Colombia despite its reputation, due to the word of mouth stories of people I met in Peru: the Colombian people are so friendly, it is nowhere near as dangerous as it is made out to be, and the scenery is incredible. These stories and recommendations, combined with a love of Garcia Marquez's books (which are set on the Carribean coast of Colombia) sold the Fundación Mariposas Amarillas organization to me, which actually, given the work they do, didn't really need to be sold...


http://fmacolombia.weebly.com/ 


And then, if I needed further convincing I read up on the town of Santa Marta: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/travel/19nextstop.html 


 While the work with the children seems to be very similar to that of Peru (which can only be a good thing) the setting could not appear more different... So, this time in two weeks, I will be in Colombia, settling in. A prospect that seems so unreal as I sit in rainy, grey London!