April 13-14: Rio Claro, Colombia

We left Guatape' with the goal of escaping from the rain reaching the Carabbean coast asap, but guess what? After 30min of bus the sky clears and it's sunny again! Damn! I could have walked up the Penol, a 200m monolite, and seen the amazing view over all the islands around Guatape'! Too bad ...but we were still in time to jump off the bus and catch another one direction Rio Claro, a natural reserve around a clear river. After 2.5hrs we were at  its entrance and in 15min walk we had a great room in the El Refugio lodge. COP$30k each. The room is basically a corner terrace over the river and the jungle, no windows, no screens, just open to Nature. We went for hike along the river: gorgeous rocks, stalactites, islands, waterfalls, adventurous trails... Just what I like! Swimming in the river was fresh but fun because of the current. Dinner and bed: absolutely amazing falling asleep with the sound of the river and the crickets.
The morning after I went for a great adventure: hiking up through the forest to the entrance of a cave and walking, swimming, diving through it... So much fun! After 45 min of cave we came back to the sun repelling a waterfall and crossing the strong river attached to a line. I think I was born for this kind of stuff! In the pm we were on a bus to Medellin again: taking the overnight bus to Turbo, COP$60, 9hrs, and then 2.5hrs lancha to Capurgana', tropical remote Carabbean town right next to Panama.