Getting ready

This year´s summer holidays officially started 8 hours and 52 minutes ago - high time to get ready for another one of my "expeditions", thus it´s not surprising that my "office" is filled with loads of clothes, gadgets and travel essentials, all waiting to find their way into my suitcase. There´s still some time, though, as I won´t be leaving until Wednesday (early morning). At least I know what´s going to keep me busy for the next 2 days... and it´s a good way to ignore the cold that´s been tormenting me for a few days ;-)

So it´s going to be Colombia this year! Why Colombia? Are you mad? Looking for setting up a new business? These, or at least along theses lines, were the reactions of friends and colleagues when they found out about my travel destination. Why Colombia? Because I´ve been wanting to go there for quite some time and experience its fabled diversity and friendly people, because I really want to go somewhere warm after this year´s lousy summer, because it´s one of the few white spots left on my personal South America map... and last but not least because I want to get there before more people realize that the situation over there has improved dramatically over the past few years... So now´s the time to do it and I´m really looking forward to touching Colombian ground in Bogotá.

In Bogotá I´ll also have time to see my "Chilean family"´s daughter Francis again after 7 1/2 years plus meet her Colombian stepfather, which is something I´m very happy about. From icy Bogotá I´ll go southward to witness the ingenuity of pre-Columbian cultures in San Agustín. Next (longer) stops will be the Coffee Triangle, el "Eje Cafetero" south of Medellín, Medellín, the remote coast of the Pacific where I´ll go whale watching and jungle trekking and the Caribbean coast around the much-praised pearl of the Caribbean, Cartagena de Indias. So plenty more coming - watch this space!

My planned travel route...