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With a likely top role in a new high profile gaming startup in Canada pushed back until August I decided to jump at the chance to get in some travel, even if I am putting my eggs into one basket. If and when it pays off it will all have been worth it and I will not have been just waiting around for nothing to happen the next few months. As a long time travel junkie I always have three or four trips loosely planned in the back of my head for when the opportunity arises and base the final decision on the season, climate, length of travel and flight cost.

For this trip, with about two months free my top choice had been a trip from Morocco to Senegal Mali and maybe Burkina Faso in West Africa. But as my return would have put me right smack in the European Summer (where most countries have 5-8 weeks off from work) the prices of European and North African travel were crazy high (USD$2200+) and all the frequent flier seats were long ago booked. A close second in my mental bank of destinations was Colombia as I have met a few dozen travelers who have raved about it the past year or two. After a quick check of flights I was instantly sold on a RT  ticket from SFO for $590 (I paid nearly double that to fly to Panama last Christmas) and leaving within 5 days (almost faster than I could get organized to leave).

So my very loose plan for this trip is to hit the main cities (Bogota, Cali and Medellin) and then travel along the coast from Capurgana in the West to Punta Gallinas at the very Northeast tip of Colombia/South America and with perhaps a side trip to the Amazon down to Manaus, Brazil or up to Iquitos, Peru. I am sure I will find new places to explore along the way. I will also update these text travelogues with photos in the future but have some technical issues preventing me from posting a lot on the blog en route. Facebook friends can view the photos more immediately.

So I invite you to follow along with me on my trip. And feel free to comment or sign the guest book.

Interactive Map
Here is my actual travel route that I will continually update: