Christmas in Colombia

The last time we updated you with a story was three months ago, when we were still in Colombia. Today we are back in the USA getting some personal stuff sorted out and taking a small break. We don’t know with certainty how much time we will be here, but we do know that South America still needs to be explore and will be explore by us.

Bogotá

Our time in Colombia was pretty nice! Although, we were not exploring as much as we wanted to, we did have a great time with Efrain’s family. Also we were able to do some charity work with a few organizations we found in Bogotá. Our Christmas season was splendid! We had the opportunity to share this special season with kids and youth living in under-privileged areas, but that are working very hard to have a change in their lives.  There is not a better way to spend Christmas; when Christmas is all about getting together as a family to share our joy and love with those we care the most.

The best day of their lives

We were able to provide them with some nice presents, thanks to the contribution of the caring kind people who has donated in the USA, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. Thanks to you, we were able to get loads of genuine smiles and hugs which made our Christmas very very special. We are happy to see that the effort of getting people to believe in our cause is been paying off.

Girls preparing to receive their Christmas gifts

Thanks again for your support!

Now in Colombia

We arrived to Colombia over a month ago. We’ve only visited Cartagena, Medellin, Rio Negro, and Bogota on la Guerrera. Unfortunately, la Guerrera is at the hospital receiving treatment so it can continue to Argentina and beyond… Therefore, our adventures had been very limited in this beautiful country. We hoped to have more time to explore and document the amazing country of Colombia, but we will have to wait until la Guerrera feels better.

In the meantime you can take a look at this video, which documents our maneuvers with tolls in Colombia. Enjoy!

San Blas

Our trip to San Blas marked the end of our journey through Central America. Ten months earlier every southern destination seemed very far away; there were times even I felt it was going to take ages before we could even reach Colombia. But suddenly, on a blink of an eye, we were getting on a sailing boat to explore San Blas.

San Blas is an archipelago of 365 islands along the Caribbean coast of Panama. The islands are inhabited by the Kuna communities, an indigenous group of people from Colombia and Panama who migrated during the Spanish invasion. The Kuna are mainly known for their bright ‘molas’, a colorful textile art traditionally used to make the blouses of the Kuna women. They are also famous for their artisan fishing and for trading lobster and coconuts as one of their main products. Not all islands are populated, but Kunas designate a family to protect some of the islands against any intruders. The settlement of the Kunas on these islands is the main reason why these islands remain in their pristine state.

The islands are just paradisiacal; different tones of blues, white sand beaches, coral reefs, and loads of palm trees dominate the landscape of these amazing islands. What’s best is that you only see native people around and therefore the atmosphere of the place is super calm. It was paradise to ourselves, we could not ask for more. We spent two days swimming, snorkeling, jumping of the boat, sleeping and eating in this amazing place. We also spent hours relaxing on the beach underneath a nice shade given by the palm trees. We even had a nice dinner with the Kunas living on one of the islands, which fed us with fish and coconut rice. We were living a dream, we once thought it was possible and that now was happening.

© La Torre 2011

The experience has been one of the most amazing of our trip. Maybe because we envisioned ourselves there and being there seem part of our dream and not reality, or maybe because the place is just magical. A bit of both we believe had contributed to the change we experienced as individuals. A change that has made us more aware off the retribution that has the philosophy of living each moment like there is no tomorrow.

In Costa Rica

It’s raining in Costa Rica!! As soon as we crossed the border, rain started pouring on us. However, this was not enough reason to stop moving. We got our rain suits on and we kept rolling. Rolling we traced our route and this time we traced it through the Pacific Coast. On our way to Flamingo beach (our first destination), we were literally mesmerized by the beauty of the country. It’s so green, trees covering the roads, no trash, very calm, it’s so PURA VIDA! We reached our destination; beautiful sunset, a clean white sand beach and not crowded. Sounded like paradise to us.

After spending some time at the beach, we continued driving south along the Pacific. The gravel roads were amazing! Again, trees covering the road, farms, hills, thick green vegetation, quiet and peaceful. The views were spectacular and the adventures were fun fun! We had to crossed multiple rivers, including a very deep river. As soon as we got to this point we knew we could not cross. But angels felt from heaven and minutes later we were getting pulled over by a digger that transported us to the other side of the river. We had fun along the process, just watching La Guerrera going through the river, wondering if it was going to make it. Definitely, one of the top five best experiences of the trip. 

The next day we continued on the same road aiming to reach the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. The road was still gorgeous, but the potholes were horrible. We were banging so bad the suspension on the side car broke not once but twice. We were lucky to find some help very close to where we broke up, but unfortunately had to change our plans and head north. Still driving north, the roads were in bad conditions and that was when we noticed the suspension broke up again. Luckily, we got to Nicoya, found a place to stay and were able to find someone to help us in town. We feel definitely blessed with all the help we get every time with seem to be in a difficult situation. For this will continue to exploring south.

Nicaragua

Our visit to Nicaragua was filled with great sharing moments. Not only we were delighted by the beautiful scenery of the volcanoes, beaches, and a super clean and turquoise lake (lagunda de Apoyo) but also by the great people we got to meet during our visit. 

During our stay in this country, we spent a week working with the Nicaragua Capoeira Expedition group giving Capoeira workshops to kids living in different communities around the Managua area. We were able to contribute to this great initiative by helping with their efforts in bringing an educational way to kids in need of all sort of opportunities. We were also able to bring this initiative to the Si a la Vida project, who works in collaboration with the Pulsera Project. The Pulsera Project is a non-profit organization based on the USA, who we helped by selling bracelets to bring funds to the youth based in Nicaragua (For more information visit www.motonomadas.com/cause) Thanks to our partnership with Si a la Vida and the Pulsera Project the kids were able to receive this life experience Capoeira workshops that definitely brought some smiles to their lives and a very fun time.

We also had the opportunity to meet the youth of the Pulsera Project living in Granada, Nicaragua. Our time with them was very special, not only because these are the kids we heard about for over a year in the USA, but also because of all things we learned from them. While talking to them, we realized how fortunate we are for having a fairly easy life in our countries.  Knowing now all the details of their lives and seen where they are standing today, we can say that we are more than proud to see that their own effort, to have a better life, had produced great results for themselves.

But we did not only spend our time visiting kids and youth centers, we also met with a great family working on a mission, The Mustard Seed mission. This mission contributes to a very needy population living in different areas of Nicaragua. Their work is to bring tools and help to these communities so the Nicas can aim for a better life. This family open their house to us and showed us, briefly, some of the hard work they are doing in this country. We were more than happy to have taken the time to visit and spend some time getting to know them, because they are definitely an amazing example of life.

It’s such an honor to be surrounded by all these people. We learned so much from them! Our life becomes richer by the minute we spend with special people like them.

Capoeira Expedition – Ale’ Ale’ Foundation

Justin Toca founder of the Ale’ Ale’ Foundation is hosting a Capoeira event in Nicaragua to serve the children of the Fabretto Children’s Foundation school system. The Ale’ Ale’ Foundations seeks to develop self-discipline, self-awareness, self-esteem, and mutual respect in its students while providing a safe environment for self-expression. Its programs are available for students of all ages and uses a hands-on approach to teach different forms of art.

We (MotoNomadas) will be participating in their effort to bring joy to this very needy population of children in Nicaragua. We are happy to be part of this initiative because it combines a community service aspect and Capoeira; both intricate passions of our lives.

We will be documenting every aspect of our time with the kids on this wonderful event to share with you. Spread the word and stay tuned!

For more information on this event and ways to help visit https://www.facebook.com/alealefoundation