COLOMBIA - Bucaramunga, Chicamocha National Park

Bucaramanga airport was amazing to fly into, perched up on a plateau on the hill side, and it was really small – we could see Silvia jumping up and down at the door as we waited for our bags. That lunch we went to a typical Ranchero steak restaurant and had some of the best steak I’ve ever had with yucca chips and salsa – yum.

We hung out in Bucaramanga for a few days spending quite a bit of time lazing round at Silvia’s mum's amazing house. We took a family trip (both Dave and Silvia's families), out to the Chicamochas – the grand canyon of Colombia – lots of big dusty hills and ravines and millions of cacti.

Right in the middle of it was a giant ‘theme park’ with slides and a flying fox and a big monument to the revolutionary struggle in Colombia.

We went also wandered round town, did the 'ole tourists thing at a fruit and vege market and bought lots of weird fruits most of which were ‘not for eating, just for juice.’ It wasn’t really a touristy place – people were staring at all of us, not just Dave and his dreads like usual.