Three Days of Fun in Columbia, Kyle F.

Kyle F.
Yesterday, I went to the Amazon Basin in Columbia. It did not look like any other part of the country. Its so amazing! They have so much wildlife there and tons of animals. I even saw a colorful parrot it was so cool! I went to the jungle town of Leticia. I had to get there by boat it was so cool. I went there because they said its for people who like Adventure or who want to cross over into Brazil or Peru that's where they meet!

http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/colombia/amazonas/



The second day in Columbia I went to the Pacific Coast and saw all the amazing sea creatures and almost got eaten by a Tiger Shark.  I also went snorkeling and I touched a Great White Shark! It was so cool and fun. I also rode on top of a giant sea turtle. Then I almost got bit by a snapping turtle. It scared the life out of me it popped out of know where! It was so beautiful to see where the Amazon and the beach meet. I saw beach then jungle then fish then snake it was amazing! I'm going to have to come back and explore the Pacific Coast some more.
http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/colombia/pacific-coast/



The last day I went to the San Andres and Providence Islands. They sit in the Caribbean sea near Nicaragua.  I went there for the amazing beaches, and the best diving in Columbia its so cool. There is also a very unique culture named Raizal. One ofthe islands draws its duty-free-status making it a much cheaper place to shop than the mainland. The stuff was really cheap there. All in all, I had a great time in Columbia. I would recommend going to all these places if you go to Columbia.


http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/colombia/pacific-coast/
 

Andy E.



 

Galapagos Islands

 

            In October I visited the Galapagos Islands. I was, in one word, EXTRODINARY. I've never been to a place anything like it before. I went snorkeling, saw the history of the Islands, and I got to see the largest species of tortoise in the world! First, I went snorkeling at Elizabeth Bay on Isabela Island. When I first got there I looked over the bay and standing on a rock was a penguin! He was swimming in the water and having a good time with all of the other penguins. So, I went snorkeling, and there was such beautiful coral, and there was all kinds of exotic fish. I went with a group, and I saw some pretty interesting people. I saw this one guy with a rainbow bathing suit and it had a tail sticking out the back. Anyway, when I started swimming back towards the boat a turtle started swimming up next to me. I stared at it in awe. It was so cool!


 

 

http://www.discovergalapagos.com/elizabet.html

 

 



 

            A few days later, I went to the island of Isla Santa Cruz. There was an awesome museum called the Charles Darwin Research Museum. It was amazing! It had some of the worlds oldest and the biggest species of tortoise in the world. And, this guy was being pretty dumb and tried to pet the tortoise, and that didn't go very well... but he left immediately.There was also stuff on the human history, like some of the fossils and how to preserve the island well. It had and explained most of the conservation efforts. After we went to the museum, I was FAMISHED! So, we went to a traditional Galapagos Restaurant. It had such interesting and delicious food. We had dumpling with fresh fruit on the inside, and some of the best lobster I have ever had.

 

 

            On my last day there, I went to Puerto Chino on San Cristobal Island. I had heard that it was very quiet, and off the grid, so I went snorkeling there. You could access by taxi though, but I decided to walk to do some sightseeing and take pictures. Going there was the best idea EVER! The snorkeling was so cool! The tour took the group on a boat to get farther out on the ocean. The 30 min. boat ride was worth it because of the beautiful sightseeing in the ocean. It was so pretty. There were so many colorful fish, sea lions, rays, and turtles of all kinds. There was this girl who swam up close to a ray, and she got stung... BAD! It seemed like there were some pretty unlucky tourists on this trip, to say the least. But any way, it was a fantastic trip despite the incidents, and I really hope to visit it again someday.

Alexis C

Alexis C.

For my vacation I went to Venezuela, South America. Margarita Island, a island of Venezuela, was the first place I went to. It was very beautiful and peaceful until I saw a shark with red eyes swimming towards me. I was on my hotel balcony about to leave to hike the swamps and lagoons when I saw the shark swimming towards the hotel. Just when it was so close to me, it turned around and left and I continued my day shopping, relaxing, swimming, and hiking.

I also went to the Orinoco Delta which was so much fun. This is the longest river in Venezuela so I decided I would take a raft down it. When I was going down the river, I met a guy named Hurly. He wanted to join the fun and come with me. We were almost to the end of the Delta when small crocodiles and piranha catfish ripped a chunk of our raft off and it slowly started deflating. Hurly and I grabbed another person's raft and hopped on. That was the most thrilling trip of my life!

To end my amazing trip I went to Los Roque's Archipelago  National Park. While I was scuba diving I meet a man named Chang who lived in Venezuela. We went around the island together and saw lots of birds and sea life. I spent a whole day in the National Park before I had to leave.    

Giovanni S.

     Aaahh, the sweet sensation of summer break. This year I decided to go to Colombia in South America. When I got there my first destination was the Gold Museum in Bogotá. It was absolutely amazing, it was a three story building with around 34,000 pieces of gold! Not only was there gold, but there was also more than 20,000 bone, stone, ceramic, and textile items too. I even asked one of the tour guides if I could have one of them, he gave me a lollipop. The gold items varied from nose ornaments to knife grinders that belonged to 13 pre-Hispanic societies. Just the sight of the beautiful history and gold was stunning. While there I lost track of time and decided I should get some food at the nearby town of Cartagena.

     The town of Cartagena is a very old town, almost 500 years old! I ate at a place called La Guacha. They serve the BEST steak you will ever taste, I promise you that. When I was done eating I decided it was time to go sight seeing. The first thing I saw was Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, which was a Spanish fort commissioned in 1630. It is huge, it takes up an entire hill that is a 20-minute walk from the "old town" of Cartagena which was a bit tiring for me. After having enough to see for military buildings, I decided to see a religious building. I went to Convento de la Popa which is a chapel on top of a 150m-high hill. Even though it's only about a 30 minute walk I didn't dare try to walk up that because it is about the equivalent of a walk through the desert. So I haggled with a taxi driver and got a ride for COP 34594.42 ($16) to the top and it was worth it, the view up there was breathtaking. After that I went back to the hotel and fell asleep to be ready for the next day.

     I woke up, ate some breakfast at the hotel, and grabbed a taxi to go to a town near the Amazon known as Leticia. This jungle town is near the border of Brazil and Peru. Although the town itself isn't the best looking, it was still a very peaceful place. In the Amazon it's very humid as you would expect and it's full of wildlife. While I was walking on a path, some monkeys came out of nowhere and started to jump on my shoulders. The only thing you have to watch out for when you're in town are the Caiman, which is a creature related to the alligator and the crocodiles. I explored the Jungle for most of the day, but when I was done I headed back to my hotel for the night. The next day I wandered the streets of Cartagena for a few hours before I went to the airport so I could get back here. Now I'm back in Idaho writing this blog for Spanish. This trip to Colombia was one I will not soon forget.

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/slideshow-photo/gold-museum-bogota-colombia.html?sid=19586742&fid=upload_13012652874-tpfil02aw-30735

Ashtyn H.

For my vacation I chose to go to Venezuela. Venezuela has many beautiful beaches and lots of amazing plants and trees. It also has colonial villages and many majestic mountains. One place I visited in Venezuela, was Angel Falls. Did you know that is the biggest waterfall in the world. When I was there I could feel the mist of the spraying water on my face and it felt so good. Angel Falls is covered with trees and greenery and it was really pretty. While I was at the top, was afraid I was going to fall of because it is 979m high! While I was there I met a man named Comata and he was CRAZY!! He was hang gliding up and down the waterfall! But it looked pretty cool, so I decided to try it myself and it was really FUN!

                            

The next place I went to in Venezuela was, Los Roques Archipelago National Park. It was so pretty. It had clear blue water and white sands. When I was there I went scuba diving and I got to see many amazing underwater animals. My favorite one I saw was the dolphins. One dolphin in particular, was doing all of these cool jumps and flips. They are so graceful and fun to watch. That was probably my favorite place I visited in Venezuela.

                              

The final placed I visited was, Coro and the Sand Dunes. Coro is one of Venezuela's first colonies and has lots of Spanish and Dutch Architecture. It was really amazing to see how they used to build things in the olden days. I even got to go in some of the houses, schools, and churches and they were really pretty. Overall, Venezuela was a very fun and exiting trip to take and I think all of you should put that on your bucket list because it was pretty amazing.  

                                                              Ashtyn H.
  

On my trip to Peru  I went to Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is a very old place where they found Over 50 burial sites and 100 skeletal remains we discovered during the excavation. It takes about 1 day to tour it all. Some people believe that it was found in the waning years. It was abandoned at the time of the Spanish invasion. People say Machu Picchu was once an important Ceremonial Center. It was very interesting there were old house and old plates it took a long time to walk through but it was very interesting many people went with me on the tour and didn't like it at much as I did though. I thought it was an amazing thing to do in  Peru  and I would love to go again.

 

 

 

Next I went and visited Chan Chan in Peru. It was very interesting Chan Chan is the largest pre-Colombia in the Americas it is also the largest adobe city in the world. It was built around AD 1300.It housed an estimated 60,000 inhabitants. Inhabitants is a person or animals who lives in or occupies a place.My trip there was fun it was so fascinating and really cool I stayed there for 3 days because it was so cool.

 

 

 

jayden E.

Two days ago I woke up at my inn and got dressed in my tourist clothes with my binoculars and hat. I went outside and waited for the bus  they picked me up 10:15 I then went and sat next to a Ecuador citizen and he said hola I said hola back he said to me coma se llama? then is said se llama Jayden he then started talking to me, I didn't understand him so I just kept saying si until the bus stopped and I said adios he said it back. I stepped out of the bus and looked up there was a huge building the tour guy said we were in Quito at one of the castles it was magnificent
     after I was at the tower I got back on the bus and I visited to the old town of quito it was crazy and all of the cool old houses it was a little run down but some of the houses were painted really cool colors like blue red and yellow. All of the houses were attached so it was like a row of houses sort of like apartments but a bunch of them. after the bus driver drove around a couple of the streets and then we headed back to the hotel I had a great day that day and I went to bed and was getting ready for the next day for my Cruz to the Galapagos islands.
      I woke up the next day ready for the Cruz . it was  90 degrees outside so I had shorts and a t-shirts the bus pulled in I got on and it took me to the docks I looked out there was a crazy big Cruz ship, people called it the albino panther. I had a little motor bot take me out there and then I got on. On the Cruz ship there was a series of things like a pool and a mini roller coaster. I did many activities that day and then went to bed and that's all I did those two days.

Galapagos islands

Adam O

My trip to Venezuela was amazing. I went to Margarita island. My friend jumped off the roof of a store and we swam in the water and my family went to an amazing restaurant. We went and swam at Beach Parguito. it was awesome at Margarita island until we had to go back to our hotel.

The day after margarita island we went to angel falls. Its the largest waterfall ever and I saw someone jump off the waterfall so I guess they wanted to be an angel. Also I threw a rock and it took like 5 seconds before it hit the bottom so it was really big. My brother wanted to be funny so he pushed me but he grabbed my shirt before I could fall. We were having so much fun till Mom said we have to leave.



The final day we went to Orinoco river. Orinoco means place to paddle. Went went swimming and it was so much fun. we went canoeing and I accidentally flipped the canoe. when Mom said that we had to go I was sad but I had a lot of fun in Venezuela.



Ty Daniel

Ty D.

When I traveled to Colombia it was amazing. There were so many thing to see. During my trip I saw the Pico Cristobal Colon, the Gold Museum and the La Chorrera. My trip was amazing I wish I would still be there but I have things to do. Like this blog.

On my first day we went and saw the Pico Cristobal Colon. It took us forever to reach the top of the mountain. But once we got to the top it was incredible. It was huge. One of the biggest mountains I've ever seen. I definitely will go here again.

On my second day we went and saw the La Chorrera. It is the largest water fall in Colombia. It was beautiful. There were tons of wild life. With lots of monkeys and snakes and bugs. But in all it was incredible. In the trees there were tons of beautiful birds  like macaws and parrots. This is easily way cooler than the mountain.

On my third and final day we went to the Gold Museum. Everything and I mean everything was made of gold all of it was pure gold. Some of the walls were made of gold the ceilings were made of gold, the sculptures I mean everything. It was amazing, beautiful, incredible. I don't think that anything is cooler than what I saw that day.

http://colombiareports.co/bogata-gold-museum/

Collin C.
Last week I went to an amazing country in South America, Chile. Chili is my knew favorite country! If you love hot springs you will love this one. San Pedro de Atacama is a fabulous hot springs. The hick was Super fun. I found three snakes and 7 lizards! The springs were much hotter than I thought! One man almost burnt his but off! I was lucky and just got my feet burnt a little. If anybody goes to Chile do not over look it!

http://www.visitchile.com/en/tours/easter-island-tours.htm

The day after the hot springs I got to go to Easter island. There was the coolest statures ever! One guy even climbed to the top and jumped off! Apparently he wanted to kill him self for engraving his name into one of the statues. After we went and saw the statues we got to go scuba diving at Easter Island! It was Amazing! We even saw a shark eat a squid! I got to ride on a sea turtle for a little until it realized I was on it! Once we were all tired out we got to just sit and relax! This event was probably favorite in Chile!
 
On the last day, We got to go to the beach La Serena! It was the best beach I have ever been to! There was great weather on the day we went! I even got to touch a dolphin. A shark scared it away and I was lucky it did not see me. My friend got stung by a jelly fish that was 4 feet long. it looks like it hurt badly. That's why it was are last day. This trip was amazing and I hope I can come back soon! 

Ben D.

 Yesterday I arrived in Colombia South America. The first thing I did was go mounting climbing For a little a little while then went to the ocean

http://captnmike.com/2011/03/19/is-this-your-boat/
 

front and went kayaking in the night.


   The next day when I woke up I was taking a walk down to a breakfast place when I saw the Colombian national bird the Andean Condor the weird thing was it was standing on the Colombian national tree the Palma de cera!



     
   Later that day I wanted to take a run so I ran threw a part of the Amazon Jungle for about an hour. By the time I was back it was time for dinner so I went to try some of the local food. I had this thing called bandeja paisa  it was so good You should Try it if you ever visit Colombia.

The last place I visited was Litoral. It is a region of large rivers ,humid tropics, red earth, and outstanding forest. The air was super thick and muggy. I cooled off when I went to the Iguazu Falls. Wow was it huge and loud! It was unreal. The guide told me that The Iguazu river flows into 275 waterfalls and that because of the sunlight rainbows are formed in the sky. I had a wonderful time and took lots of pictures.

Best of Chile 2014 Eli E.

   Hey, guys Eli E. here. Yesterday I was in Chile and I went to Robinson Crusoe Island. The story of how an explorer was stranded there inspired the book Robinson Crusoe. I saw a shark  when I was scuba diving! My tour guide told me we were stranded there as a joke! Finally I played with some of the many seals that inhabit the island.

Robinson Crusoe Island

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Fern%C3%A1ndez_Islands

 

        Later I decided to go to Easter Island look at all of those big statues. But as I learned Easter island is more than just Ancient sculptures. It also has beautiful palm trees and amazing caves! My friend has been there in summer and said it was amazing.

 

 

        My final destination was sand boarding in the northern area of the country. I didn't know what it was at first but when I saw it I immediately understood. Sand boarding is a lot like skiing or snowboarding but on sand instead of snow. I saw a very skilled native that was doing amazing tricks eventually I asked him how long he had been doing this and he said he has been doing this for ten years. I probably couldn't do this in a million years.

Lucie p.

The second place I visited was the Patagonia Mountain Range. The Andean mountain range has an abundant amount of native vegetation. I accidentally got stung by a giant bee sniffing a flower. The lakes were so beautiful especially with al the ice. The mountains we huge and with such a icy beauty. I almost fell through when I got to close to the ice to take a picture. I am such a klutz. I also came across the Cave of Hands were the paintings on the walls have survived 10,000 years! I think sea lions are so cute! We came across dozens of them. It was a super fun experience.

Lucie P.

I chose to visit Argentina . My first destination was Buenos Aires. It is a wonderful , abundant city. Every where you go there are crowds of people buzzing around. It is truly breathtaking. There is sublime food like young bull grilled and seasoned to perfection. I actually got to eat a roasted pig over an open flame.  The shopping is absolutely Fabulous. I bought a lovely dress  but then spilt pork sauce on it. It really was a intriguing place to visit.

 

 

 

Katie L.

For my summer vacation I visited the beautiful Venezuela, located in South America. While in Venezuela, I visited several attractions that were wonderful! However, I had a pretty strange experience at the Colonia Tovar. While I was sitting on the porch of nice restaurant, I saw this weird looking monkey sitting on a tree near my table. It was pretty cute but he liked to spit on anybody who walked by him. I was about to go take a look at him when the waitress warned me that "Buster" wasn't a very friendly monkey.... Well, after seeing Buster the monkey, I went to see some of the "old world" buildings at the Colonia Tovar. The town had wonderful buildings that were so interesting to look at because of the rustic feel they had.

After visiting the town of Colonia Tovar, I visited the Angel Falls. How could you go to Venezuela and not go to the Angel Falls! So, I did just that and headed to the enormous waterfall. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! As I stood on the ledge that was filled with many tourists, I could feel the subtle spray of the rushing water. Visiting the Angel Falls was definitely 
a great experience.

http://www.shedexpedition.com/angel-falls-venezuela-highest-waterfall/

The last place that I went to was the Sierra Nevada National Park. At the park, I was able to go on various trails and explore the beautiful mountains. My favorite trail at the Sierra Nevada was a very long one that went around the side of the mountain and up to a beautiful plateau. It felt like I was on top of the world! It was truly magnificent! All in all, I definitely enjoyed my vacation in Venezuela, South America, and would love to go there again.