The dangerous hippos are territorial, so they were left as guards in the muddy waters surrounding the coca-fields. The rest of Escobar’s Ark was left in captivation. Including the tigers. But when the big cats later were stolen by the rivalry Magdalena-cartel, they managed to escape. Now they reproduce and live freely in this excact area. Pablo Escobar on the other hand, was captivated and died in the hail of bullets in 1993.

Our first campsite was right on top of a Sierra Nevada mountainrange overlooking the vast and graceful hills on both sides.

And on our first morning in the mountains everyone awoke for the 05:00 o’clock sunrise and coffee (grown, sundried and roasted on the spot), except from Gregory and I who snoozed of old habit and ignored the alarmclock; a hen across the valley… But when I later do decide to listen to the hen’s beep and enter another mountainous day in my babyblue sneakers, a scream is heard from the neighboring hammock.

Greg is also about to stick his feet into his sneakers. But one of his shoes has, during the dark hours of the night, become a sneaky scorpions sleeping bag.

The poisonous creature obviously preferred Gregs worn-out stinky sole instead of my brand new ones, but this encounter for sure wakes me up as well on this first morning. And It also awakens my respect for what can lurk in the many hidingspots of the jungle. For example Pablo Escobars tigers. Yep! Pablo Escobars tigers. The man who headed the drug cartel of Medellin and controlled 80% of the world’s cocain traffic. The 14th richest man in the world who had so much dirty money that he ran out of ways to spend them, and bought his own private zoo…