THE SPANISH ADVENTURE BLOG

Best Restaurants in San Carlos
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Best Restaurants in San Carlos

When I got to San Carlos I was eager to try out the restaurants. There were lots of great options, but it was a hard to know where to look at first. Thanks to recommendations from friends, I was able to scope out some of the best eats in town. The following is a list, in no particular order, of must-try restaurants in San Carlos.

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Natural Resources and Socio-Environmental Threats in San Carlos
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Natural Resources and Socio-Environmental Threats in San Carlos

San Carlos, Colombia is nestled in the jungle-coated hills of the Cordillera Occidental, the westernmost branch of the northern Andes. Known in the Antioquia district for its plentiful water resources, the region boasts 6 clear rivers, 76 streams, and over 50 tumbling waterfalls. The dramatic topography extends into three distinct climatic zones, resulting in unique and incredibly varied flora and fauna.

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3 Ways to Maintain Fitness in San Carlos, Colombia
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3 Ways to Maintain Fitness in San Carlos, Colombia

As a part of the U.S. Marines, we are expected to maintain high physical fitness standards. Maintaining cardio endurance and muscular strength is essential to our ability to conduct various missions worldwide. While spending 8 weeks in San Carlos, Colombia with Spanish Adventure, I tailored a dynamic exercise routine which allowed me to maintain physical readiness and enjoy the local Colombian community.

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Why learn Spanish?
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Why learn Spanish?

You already know that there are many reasons to learn Spanish here, in San Carlos. But what if what you are struggling with is not where to study Spanish, but if? There are countless reasons to learn Spanish, but the ones listed in this blog are the most important ones to me.

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Life experience over job experience
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Life experience over job experience

Like with most tasks that have been put on hold for a while, I’m having a hard time finding a place to start. So why not start in, uhm, southern Italy, in June 2019. Back then I was on vacation, camping and surfing with some good friends. The weather was incredible, our camping site was located right by the ocean and the wind was strong. Shortly before, I had just started my first job in a rehabilitation hospital after finishing university for a degree in psychology. My original wish was to travel the world before starting my career, but that’s kind of difficult when you don’t have any money saved up for it. So I did what my parents urged me to do: I took the path of flawless CV’s and least resistance, leading straight into the world of full-time-work. I searched for a job to begin my therapy program, found one, and eventually started helping people get their life back together while mine was not really where I wanted it to be.

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4 Reasons Why You Should Learn a Language (& Travel!) with your Partner
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4 Reasons Why You Should Learn a Language (& Travel!) with your Partner

My husband and I have been together for a little over 4 years. The first night we met, I told him about this epic “World Tour” that I was planning to take one day and he was ALL about it. Fast forward a few years to early (“pre”-pandemic) 2020: we were celebrating our wedding and looking forward to finally making our World Tour dream a reality… and then COVID-19 happened.

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Travel in the Time of COVID-19
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Travel in the Time of COVID-19

At the beginning of 2019, my wife and I started making arrangements to leave our jobs and take a 14-month sabbatical starting in April 2020. When the pandemic “started” in March we had already sold all of our furniture, purchased numerous never-to-be completed flights, and set irreversible dates for our departure from work and the end of our apartment lease. In short, we were going somewhere. This blog post is not written to convince others that travel in the time of COVID-19 is or should be accepted. Instead, it is written to describe our experience and provide some tips and predictions for those who decide to travel in the short-term future.

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Adventures in Antioquia: Hike to Piedra el Tabor
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Adventures in Antioquia: Hike to Piedra el Tabor

Every Saturday, Spanish Adventure organizes a big adventure for the students from the school. This Saturday we hiked to the Piedra el Tabor – also known as “the fucking rock”. Everyone of us was exciting about it. Everytime we passed the square of San Carlos we saw the huge rock and I couldn’t wait to hike up to it and have a 360 degree view of San Carlos and it’s beautiful nature.

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Colombia Immersion - Faces of San Carlos
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Colombia Immersion - Faces of San Carlos

Spanish Adventure is more than just a Spanish school in Colombia. It provides authentic immersion in Colombian culture in the town of San Carlos. When I joined Spanish Adventure, I was surprised to discover that I wasn’t only a visitor, but became a member of the community too. Every day, I saw many of the same friendly faces and, over the past month, some of them have become friends. Let me introduce you to some of them!

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Adventures in Antioquia Colombia: Rock Climbing in  Guatapé
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Adventures in Antioquia Colombia: Rock Climbing in Guatapé

Thanks to Spanish Adventure’s excellent location in San Carlos, the school offers great insight into the area’s hidden gems. Guatapé, just two hours from San Carlos, is famous for her 200-meter tall, granite rock: El Peñol. Most tourists take the stairs to reach the top—but Spanish Adventurers aren’t “most tourists”, so we tied in to harnesses and ropes for incredible, adrenaline-enhanced views of the area.

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