You may be wondering why I’ve gone quiet over the last few days.

“Aaah already given up on the blog?” No, not yet anyway.

“Run off into the jungle to be at one with the plants and animals?” Give it time.

“Joined a cartel?” Not for lack of trying.

“Having too much fun to write?” Alas, also not the case.

Alex and I have both been struck, to varying degrees, by “travellers’ tummy” a mere week into our trip. I’ll spare you the details, but needless to say we’ve been taking it very easy and not ventured out all that much. That said I have had a good opportunity to practice my “pharmacy scenario” Spanish. I did quite well.

Overall I’ve been luckier than Alex and have faired much better (I reckon one of his meals in Cartagena was the culprit) so have had a chance to wander about our immediate neighbourhood which is far more chilled than previous cities! Far less reggaeton blaring (albeit not totally absent), lots of trees and a generally more pleasant ambient temperature. There is still, of course, the obligatory cart selling “aguacate, mandarina, piña, papaya, manzana, pera” etc but much less loud.

Our hotel has strong hostel vibes with a shared cooking area, co-work space and roof terraces. There is even a sauna that neither of us have braved. Outside our room is a little balcony that overlooks the trees and I have very much enjoyed sitting there and befriending the birds and indulging in some craft.

The yellow guys are “saffron finches” and the tiny little pigeon-esque pair are “ruddy ground doves” which sounds more like an insult and further proves the theory that many birds were clearly named by people who hate birds. Anyway, this pair are my fave and whilst we’ve been here I’ve watched them meet, court, fall in love, shag, and build a nest together. All very romantic and I am deeply invested in their future.

Our bedroom itself is a bit bedsit-ty; there’s a pointless kitchen sink with cupboards underneath and a fridge that was off and smelled pretty bad but has been good for keeping our electrolyte drinks v cold once I turned it on. There is no ambient lighting so we have made use of the incredible “Puff light” that my cousin and his wife gave me; it folds completely flat, is led and solar powered. Such a great travel gadget!

I have also been making use of Alex’s head torch, bought with early morning starts for Andean hikes in mind, but used, instead, for late night craft:

The Feng Shui of our room was all wrong too: bed under the window with a gap for the curtain. So we moved it against the adjacent wall which leaves less room for the wardrobe but is much better over all. Can actually sit up and lean against the wall. The bathroom leaves much to be desired in terms of space… the loo was positioned with much shorter people in mind and I have bruises on my knees from smashing them into the wall opposite as I sat down. Another hazard of being a long person whilst travelling in a country with not so many long people.

The shower is actually the best shower we’ve had so far. I almost fit under it and the water pressure is fantastic. Bonus points for the shower. Minus many points for the loo’s lack of leg room. Anyway, that’s enough about our current living quarters… we’ve spent more time than we would have liked to in these rooms!

Given recent digestive issues, I’ve been trying to stick to healthy and mostly plant based food whilst here and on Thursday left poor Alex to his suffering and went to a cute, traditional Colombian place that also happens to be entirely vegan. The Menu del día was delicious and the woman running it is the cutest little vegan abuelita.

Actually couldn’t finish it but the soup was my fave and the little pineapple pudding thing was super delicious too! Fried plantain was a bit too fried but the rest was top notch.

We also had our first experience of a laundrette on Wednesday. This was a very cool setup (that I entirely forgot to take photos of) which was a laundrette and cafe with a pretty extensive menu. We had burgers and juice whilst we waited (Alex’s was the plainest one on the menu and still wasn’t his friend later in the day) and I had a much greedier one with caremalised onions and cream cheese and stuff. YUM (not plant based). We succeeded in not ruining our clothes in the washing machine or tumble dryer which was also a great relief.

On Friday we went to the Botanical Garden which was lovely. We ambled at a very verrrry slow pace in the dappled shade and took in the nature. It was free to visit, but there was a small fee for the butterfly house – well worth it in my opinion! I took some terrible photos of butterflies and of other wildlife we saw – iguanas, ducks, spiders, turtles and a tortoise. A lovely relaxing trip and just the right level of activity for two people feeling a bit sorry for themselves.

After we had run out of energy, we taxied back to the hotel, had a little rest and then went for a very late lunch/Norwegian dinner (if you know, you know) at about 4:30pm. Fulfilling our need for gentle health we went to a place that I am embarrassed to say was called “Smash Avocaderia”. It’s exactly how you’d imagine and even had a hot yoga studio downstairs (not going to lie, was tempted).

It provided exactly what we needed though, and was thoroughly delicious. Would actually go back and have the exact same thing again which was the vegan bowl with tofu bits. Contained delicious rice either way courgette and carrot cooked in, avo, pickled red cabbage, cucumber, beetroot hummus and kale. Never thought I’d get excited about kale but here we are. Oh, and a passion fruit vinaigrette.

Alex had a veg soup with ginger and some plain avo on toast and we shared (but could not finish) chips n guac. Yummiest tortilla chips I’ve had so far, definitely home-made but not too oily or salty. Out of shot of camera is a very wanky juice named something like “de stress” that was apple, pineapple and cucumber. V refreshing. Alex then went back to the hotel and I went to the supermarket for a few more supplies – mostly electrolyte drinks seeing as they don’t just sell the powder here.

Today is Saturday and is meant to be our final day here… next stop is Filandia in the coffee region. However not currently sure if 5-6 hours on a bus is a good idea or even tenable at this point. Also no fun going to a coffee region if you can’t drink coffee! So we shall have to see how today pans out. Whilst it’s a shame that we haven’t been able to explore Medellín to the extent that we had intended to, I think it’s been good to slow the pace down a bit. After all… still 8.5 weeks and 5 more countries to go! Watch this space…