Miami - Art Deco and Alligators

The Ritz Carlton Hotel

The last stop on my 13 month journey was a brief stopover in Miami before the 24 hour flight home.

Miami is a fairly typical US city, however it has a large number of beautiful art deco buildings along the celubreous Ocean Drive near the famous Miami beach.

Hotels on Ocean Drive

Shops and restaurants on Ocean Drive

The city from South Pointe pier

You can walk the length of Miami beach from the famous South Pointe pier and see all the beach and the art deco hotels along Ocean Drive.

The South Pointe Pier

A surf lifesaver station on Miami beach

Looking across the bay from South Pointe pier

The other thing that Miami is famous for is the Everglades. There are many companies that provide tours to the Everglades or you can easily hire a car to drive there.

Once there you can see plenty of wildlife on the airboat tours.

Airboats

The airboats head out across the grass sea, through channels and past many Alligators and other animals.

A channel in the Everglades

The grass sea

A bird in the Everglades

An Alligator

There was also an alligator sanctuary where there were even more Alligators.

The Alligator sanctuary

My last evening on this trip was spent with friends watching the US election and considering the results, I was quite happy to leave Miami...

The view out the window at Miami International Airport

This is the last blog post of my year long trip, so until I head off on my next adventure it's back to the usual politics, philosophy, technology and food :)

Santander: San Gil - The adventure capital

San Gil

San Gil is around 2 hours by bus from Bucaramanga situated on the Fonce River.

Iguana by the River Fonce

The town itself is quite small with a small main square with colonial architecture.

San Gil church in the main plaza

Overlooking the town is the Cerro de La Cruz, from which you can get panoramic views of the town.

The cross on the top of Cerro de la cruz

San Gil town

The river and the surrounding hills are well known for adventure sports such as paragliding, bungee and kayaking. 

For kayaking,  the river has some good class 2 and class 3 rapids and when I went there had been a good, solid rain so the rapids were especially large.

A calmer part of the River Fonce

I ended up spending a lot of time under water, mainly because I hadn't done whitewater kayaking in many years and it took a while for all the techniques to come back - however the class 2 rapids were quite manageable (the class 3's were where I ran into trouble). There are also class 4 rapids for those who are experienced - I took a pass on those.

Nearby to San Gil is the small town of Páramo which is known for its small cave system which can be explored with a guide for $COP30,000 (around $A15).

The cave entrance

The river at the cave exit

The cave has several narrow passageways and large caverns full of bats.

Narrow passageway

Bats in the cave

Páramo Is also well known for its historic church and the grotto of the Páramo Virgen de Salud - a small grotto whose waters are said to have health-giving properties.

Páramo church

Santuario de la virgen de la salud

Also near to San Gil is the Juan Curí waterfall. Easily reachable by bus, you need to ask the driver to drop you at the entrance to the falls.

The trail to the waterfall is relatively short and easy.

The trail

However there are many river crossings, so waterproof or reef shoes are essential.

A river crossing

There are several swimming holes under the falls as well.

Swimming pool beneath the falls

As well as many trails giving varying views of the falls.

The falls

The falls and the pool

The River beneath the falls

There are also several trails alongside the river where there are other smaller waterfalls.

Another waterfall on the trail

A small waterfall

The river along the trail

And views of the river and some of its inhabitants.

The river

Butterflies on the trail

A frog

The trail continues down the opposite side river until it reaches the road back to San Gil where you can hail a bus back to the town.

Looking back to the falls from the road

Santander: Bucaramanga

Parque García Rovira, Bucaramanga

Bucaramanga is the capital and major regional centre of the Santander region. It is surrounded by many small historic towns such as Girón - a small town with a lot of original colonial architecture.

The streets in Girón

Another view of Girón

The Basilica in Girón

Bucaramanga itself also has several historic buildings in the city centre such as the Cathedral de Sagrada Familia.

Cathedral de la Sagrada Familia

And the Parroquia San Laureano.

Parroquia San Laureano

Bucaramanga also has a small but pretty botanical garden which is a relaxing reprieve from the busy city.

The lake in the gardens

Turtles in the lake

A tortoise on the lawn

Red squirrel

In the suburb of Floridablanca, a teleférico leads up into the surrounding hills.

Floridablanca church

Ascending at sunset on the teleférico

From the top of the Cerro de Santísimo there are sweeping views of the city

Bucaramanga at night

There is also a giant Christ statue on the top of the hill.

Statue of Christ

And there is a lift to the top of the statue, from the top there are more views of Bucaramanga.

Bucaramanga from the top of the statue

And after taking in the views of the city, you can relax with a beer and watch the coloured fountain show set to music.

The fountain music and light show

Although Bucaramanga is a small city it has a diverse range of things to do, from the restaurants and bars of the Cabacera barrio to the colonial architecture or Girón, Floridablanca and Piedecuesta it makes a perfect base for exploring the Santander area.

The main square in Piedecuesta