I went up in elevation again today, by joining a tour to Los Nevados National Park, a park located in the central area of the Colombian Andes. The largest volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, sits at 5300 meters, but we were only able to get to 4400 meters due to some recent activity of some of the other volcanoes. 

The tour was fun . Nestor arranged it for me yesterday. Our guide, Filippe, spoke pretty good English, so he was able to translate things for me. The drive to the park was spectacular. Again, it was constantly uphill and twisting and turning. I'm surprised I haven't become more car sick, but so far I have felt pretty good. Filippe had us open all of the windows in the van so we could acclimate to the weather. I must say I did pretty well among my Colombian tour mates. We made a breakfast stop at a restaurant on the way and ate arepas, eggs and cheese. I also tried aguapanella, a tea made of sugar cane and tastes sweet. The Colombians in my group were dumping their cheese in it. I guess that is common.  

We stopped at a crater lake as well as an area where another kind of palm grows. They are unique to the Colombian Andes, which is pretty cool. Being among the clouds is not something you can say you get to do everyday, or most days in Wisconsin, for that matter. Once we reached the park, it was crazy how one minute the sun was about to come out, and the next, it was foggy. I really enjoyed the park and being among the volcanic rock and ask. 

After lunch at the same place, we stopped at Termales Otono to soak in the thermal springs. It's very close to the place I was at last night, only not as crowded and very open. The views from the pools were incredible.  

I got back to the house around 4:30, checked some email and went out for some ravioli. Tomorrow, I head to Cartagena via flight. I am in major need of doing some laundry, so I hope that can happen soon. No one likes a stinky gringa. I really enjoyed Manizales and wish I had another day here. But, onward I shall go. 

- Jamie