Last minute change of plans.
My original plan was to head to the Middle East after the yoga retreat and spend a week in Cyprus, an island just north of Israel, before meeting my mother for a 10-day tour in Israel. When I got to Colombia, I realized there was more to see than just Palomino and I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I met someone in Ecuador who mentioned how great the city of Cartagena was and it was only about six hours west of Palomino by bus, which is South America terms is pretty close! Soooo I decided to change my flight to a week later (and take a bit of a hit with change fees) to explore this new city in Colombia. Now let me tell you about the journey to get there. The shittle was supposed to pick us up at 11am Monday to take us to Santa Marta (about a two-hour drive) and arrived around 12:30pm. This is known as costeño time. People on the coast are usually a bit tardy to the party. The good news is the driver took me and another retreater also named Jennifer (Jenn spelled with two Ns) straight to the bus station and the bus was leaving in 10 minutes, so that worked out (praise Jesus). It was supposed to be a 4.5-hour ride to Cartagena…but as you and I both know, that didn’t happen. What I didn’t know is that in Colombia they stop about every hour to document via video and paper who is on the bus. Apparently, previously they had a problem with people getting taken on buses, so better safe than sorry. There was also a horrible accident on the one road from Santa Marta to Cartagena, so we were legit parked for 1.5 hours waiting for everything to be cleared. It took about 6.5 hours to arrive (two hours more than it should have), we got there a bit after dark, hungry and exhausted. Not to mention the bus driver had a very heavy foot for the break and gas pedal and I felt quite sick. We made it nonetheless. We ubered to the hotel and I had a few beers before heading to sleep. Another long day of travel. Standard.
A lively city.
Cartagena is full of life! It is loud, colorful, diverse, unique, with so much to do! It is also extremely hot. Each day was about 90 degrees before 8am. I think I saw three clouds the entire time I was there and there was very little breeze unless you were on the coast where the wind could blow a small child away (take it from me and don’t wear a short skirt to watch the sunset at the pier). Sunscreen, sweat, and body odor are a given. Cartagena is a major port city with tons of smaller white sand islands with turquoise waters and hidden coral only a short boat ride away. The city is broken up into two main parts, the old and new parts of town. The old city is walled all the way around with old cobblestone streets, huge plazas, expensive shops and lots of fancy restaurants. There is live music everywhere, with traditional Colombian dancing around 5pm everyday and women in colorful clothing walking around with baskets of fruit on their head. For a non-optional tip you can take a photo with them. Obviously, I did. The newer part of the city has a small neighborhood called Getsemani, where my hotel was located. The streets are narrow with flags, umbrellas, and lights hanging above; the bars are loud and open late; and the people are from all over the world who came for a good time. I must admit, I did too. I wanted to see it all. The food was a blend of Latin, Caribbean, plantains (or patacones – they come with every meal), and pizza. I swear Colombians love pizza, there were pizza shops on every corner. Fair warning, it is not as good as New York or Chicago, but I am a bit of a pizza snob. I was excited to try it all. If you go to Cartagena, for the local and cheap food, try Coroncoro and for the Caribe style try Calle Adentro. Both were delightful. Order fish. It will be whole, so be prepared for the occasional It is worth it.
Island vibes.
Gabriel, whom I met in Quito, was also going to be in Cartagena when I was so I had a companion to explore with! He got in the day after me and we mapped out the next few days of activities. First stop, Isla Grande based on a recommendation from a local Colombiana. Which, turns out, is quite small (grande means large in Spanish) contrary to belief. What we didn’t know was that there is no public ferry or boat to take you to the island. There are only different travel groups outside the boat terminal offering day trips to different islands. Most include multiple different stops and a full day affair and will try to upsell you to get more money. We just wanted to go to Isla Grande for the day. So after about an hour of trying to find a company that could do this, we got on a small boat that was jammed packed. It was so disorganized we couldn’t help but laugh (although frustrated from the difficulty of it all). You would think that as the #1 money maker of tourism that they would have it down pat. NOPE. Welcome to Colombia! Regardless, we made it to the island by about 10:30am. They dropped us off at a dock with no instructions or signs telling us where the public beach was. The island is made up of mostly expensive private resorts that people spend top dollar to stay at with BEAUTIFUL private beaches. There is only about a football field length of public beaches and one restaurant. If you are planning a trip to Isla Grande, I would recommend staying one night (while expensive) it is likely worth the trouble of getting there and back in the same day and the hassle of transportation. We spent the next four hours laying in the sun, wading in the bath warm water, drinking cheap Colombian beer, and enjoying the surrounding beauty. The boat was to leave at 2:30pm to head back to the mainland, which felt early, but we quickly found out why…the water is SO ROUGH in the afternoon. The boat was basically floating in the air in between waves. It was like the log ride at Disney World and most people were soaked due to the waves hitting the boat from every angle. If you have any motion sickness, this is not for you. We hadn’t eaten all day, so got a cheese and ham arepa (corn bread type sandwich) on the walk back to the hotel to hold us over until dinner. I love salt (not as much as my father) and typically add it on everything I eat, but this was so SALTY I couldn’t even finish it. While it was a journey of a day, the pristine beach and turquoise water made up for it.
Volcano mud bath.
I admit when I was younger I didn’t take good care of my skin like I should have. I was stupid and worked at a tanning salon in college. WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA AS A SWEDISH BLONDE THAT DOESN’T TAN (all caps for emphasis)? Now I am trying to reverse that, which feels similar to the ratio of gaining weight verses losing it. So I have that going for me. When a friend told me about the volcan de lodo (mud volcano) tour close to Cartagena, I was there. For $25, a bus picks you up at your hotel, drives an hour north of the city to take you to this tourist trap. Important to note they also serve you an empanada and take you back home. It was an experience! I think the volcano is man made (however, this is not proven to be true) but the mud is natural. After about 45 minutes of waiting, you enter the volcano pit for no more than 10 minutes to be scrubbed down by complete strangers and float in this dense mud. It is hard to stand up or even sit, you almost feel weightless. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced. But so cool! After, I waited about 15 minutes for the mud to dry and REALLY soak in there (as well as take some fashion photos displayed in the photo album: Click here) and try to reverse the skin damage I did in my 20’s. Not sure if that is actually a thing, but that I what I tell myself. When you are ready to rinse off, you walk to the water lagoon to try to get all the mud out of every crevice in your body. I think I had mud in my ears for three days. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I would 100% recommend it! I used GetYourGuide to book the excursion so download the app if you haven’t already.
Barú, Barú, Barú.
Where do I even start? After four days in Cartagena, I wanted to spend some real time on the beach. After all, I was on the coast of Colombia with white sand beaches and crystal clear water. So on a whim I booked a hostel right on the water in Barú, another island (but semi attached) close to Cartagena AKA an hour drive or 30 minute boat ride. Gabriel and I decided to check it out and took an uber there (for $25 I may add – SO CHEAP). Bad news, the uber did not have a seat belt. For those of you that know I’ve been in ten accidents, my anxiety was through the roof in cars. Especially with the driving in Colombia, it’s wild. All the hostels/hotels are only reachable by beach, so we trekked about 15 minutes on the beach with our packs and finally found it (after a few detours). While the location and view from the rooms were incredible, the hostel itself was less than desirable. No running water, staff was less than friendly, no wifi as mentioned on the website, and electricity was only from about 6pm to 11pm! The hostels were less than 10 feet from the water, not sure how long they will be there with the way global warming is going, and restaurants were few and far between anytime after 7pm. The beaches are also full of locals selling things. Every three to six minutes you are approached by someone selling either beer, necklaces, massages, tours to different islands, ice cream, or anything else you can think of. It was too much. I think I was asked 267 times if I wanted a massage, I got a back and a foot massage because I am a sucker for massages, but it was endless. Those salespeople are hustlers. They will stand there for minutes after you say no in hopes you change your mind. At the end of the day, I was no longer making eye contact and ignoring them (very unlike me). We ended up checking out early from the hostel because I couldn’t do the loud music until 3:30am, the constant interruptions of hustlers on the beach, the poor conditions of the lodging that I will not get in to, and lack of food options. My advice to anyone traveling to Barú, go for the day on a boat, but don’t stay overnight. Unless, you are willing to pay good money to stay in a nicer hotel (which there are only a few on the beach). It was an experience I will never forget but never repeat.
The jen essentials for Cartagena and surrounding areas.
- Sunscreen (I don’t think there is a South American country or city that I will not have this on the list)
- The least amount of clothing to wear in public (it is SO HOT, that you need to be wear as little as possible that is still publicly appropriate)
- Ability to deal with a massive amount of people (both tourists and street vendors)
- Good company (Thank you Jenn and Gabriel for keeping me company in both Cartagena and Barú!)
- The word NO for all street vendors (it gets old after a while)
- Air-conditioned hotel (don’t ask questions)
- Motion sickness medicine (if you don’t do well on boats, you’re going to need this)
- Comida Paisa (the local dish of Colombia – full of meat, rice, beans and plantains – you have to try it when in the country)
- Cold liquidiation (this will help to keep you from overheating and stressing about the little things)
- Ear plugs (it’s loud, EVERYWHERE around Cartagena and the islands)
Wrap it up jen.
Colombia has so much to offer – like a la carte from a menu – you can pick and choose what you want to experience and it is available. From great food, to rich culture, to pristine beaches, to busy streets, I could have spent more time there. I can’t say I’ll go back, but I rarely go to a place twice because there are too many amazing places to see in the world. Regardless, I am so glad I extended my stay in south America to see Cartagena and the beautiful beaches of Barú and Isla Grande. And my tan, I may add, is pretty good, even with 100 SPF (because I am careful these days about my skin as mentioned above). While I had an amazing time, all good things must come to an end. However, for me, the adventures continue and the good things will keep coming just in a different shape and form.
Next up: After six weeks in South America, it is time to move on and explore the Mediterranean. I am headed first to Israel to meet my beautiful mother for a 10-day tour of the holy land. This has been on her bucket list for decades and I am so excited to fulfill her wish and experience it with her.
Signing off for now,
Jennifer