100 Countries Together

After a harrowing drive up narrow roads we arrived at Strawberry Hill of Chris Blackwell and Bob Marley fame. Don’t underestimate Jamaica as strictly a beach location. These Blue Mountains are lovely!

Country number 65 together! Jamaica is warm and sunny. Very friendly people.

We have arrived in Colombia – that’s number 64 together.

Our first stop was in Bogota. It’s much like any other large city (population 8.5 million, close to that of NYC), with it’s many different neighborhoods.

On Sundays, they close down one of the main avenues, and EVERYONE goes for a walk or bike ride. We joined in, and ended up in the Old Town. There they have a fascinating Museum of Gold (you could spend days there).

The main square is Plaza de Bolivar. Almost every city in Colombia has a square named after Simon Bolivar – an interesting fact check shows he was born in Venezuela. The Cathedral of Bogota shown below borders the east side of the square. It was built between 1807 and 1823.

Our next stop was Cartagena.

This Caribbean gem has turned out to be quite a surprise. We are fortunate enough to be staying in the Old Town. We could wander the streets for days stopping in all the restaurants and not repeat once.

We still have to walk the 11 kilometers of defensive walls surrounding the Old Town, and perhaps make it to the “Miami Beach” area or the archipelago of small islands nearby, but in this lovely neighborhood, I am not sure if I want to leave!

‘Nuf said…

How do you like the view from our beach “shack”? Had the entire beach to ourselves this morning. The food is out of this world at our hotel. Michelin starred chef.

We learned a valuable life lesson, you can get sunburned at the equator even when there is no direct sunlight.

Everyone we have met has been wonderfully friendly. Lots of like minded world travelers. Lots is suggestions for next destinations!

We couldn’t come to a country named after the equator without visiting it, could we? Sort of a corny tourist spot, but had fun saying we were not only in two hemispheres at the same time, but also two seasons. We are hoping for a clear evening so we can see both the Southern Cross and the Big Dipper.

There is also a little known fact that honey badgers hang out at the equator.

It’s official – 63 countries together!

Quito is a wonderful city. In 1978, Quito was the first city in the world to receive World Heritage Site status from UNESCO. It’s also the second highest capital in the world which makes it hard to climb some of the hilly streets. We have been fortunate enough to find a wonderful hotel in the historic center, which provides us easy access to the many elegant plazas and spectacular churches.

We have yet to brave eating the local delicacy, cuy (we know it as a household pet – guinea pig), but our stay in Ecuador will provide us more time to be adventurous.

After more than a year with no new countries to add – we are off on another adventure to Ecuador and Colombia.  Perhaps in search of the perfect wave for surfing or emeralds for earrings and cufflinks – not sure what we will find.  Eric has done a wonderful job putting this trip together.  We will cover the mountains and the beaches.  We may even find that perfect beach shack to claim as our home if we decide our interests are best served living elsewhere for the next four years!

Not sure how I missed it, but back in January we officially made it to country #62, Malta.

Fascinating place, worth a return visit.

As we begin to wrap up our wonderful trip, we found ourself in the amazing city of Doha, Qatar. Amazing art and architecture, clean beaches, great sunshine (and Eric notes: many Lamborghini and Ferrari sightings in the wild). We have enjoyed it so much here, we think we may make Doha our jumping off point for all places not Europe in the future.

By the way, this makes it country number 61 together!