The north of Colombia

Uñt’ayata: 03.09.2019

Cartagena

At 7:00 am local time, we arrived in Cartagena and spent the morning with an initial walk in the old town. We didn't have to deal with sweat stains for too long, because at 34 degrees Celsius and 90% humidity, every t-shirt was completely soaked within a few minutes. It's not surprising that shortly after our arrival, we started craving our first beer. It's understandable, considering it was already early afternoon back home and we had been regularly enjoying our afternoon beer for the past few months. After a quick comparison of our watches (it was actually only 8:00 am), we fought our dehydration with water.

Cartagena immediately impressed us with the incredible colors of the houses and the many colorful flags and graffiti. We were particularly taken with the old town (El Centro) and the hippie district (Getsemani). If, like us, you book accommodation on one of the liveliest streets in Getsemani, you'd better reduce your sleeping time to a few hours - peace from drum rhythms and songs only arrived around 3 am.

The neighborhood Bocagrande offered an interesting contrast to the colorful colonial buildings of the old town. Here, skyscrapers are piled up one after the other, as if you were in a completely different city. However, all neighborhoods had one thing in common - the hectic driving style and the constant honking of all road users - welcome to South America :)

The Caribbean Islands around Cartagena

To escape the colorful bustle of the city, we spent a few days on the beautiful beaches of the nearby islands - Isla Tierra Bomba, Islas del Rosario, and Isla Baru.

On Isla Baru, we slept for 3 nights directly on the beach (3 meters from the water) in a 'treehouse' made of wood and bamboo. Especially when the day tourists left, Playa Blanca showed its most beautiful side. The white sandy beach and turquoise water made us overlook the lack of water supplies and sometimes electricity. All utensils and food (including water) had to be brought to the restaurants and hostels by boat or with a transport sled over the entire beach. Due to the limited storage space because of the shallow beach, the daily deliveries lead to higher prices, which we unfortunately underestimated. Since it wasn't possible to pay with a card, we had to go on a forced diet in order to afford the boat ride back. In the end, our dollar reserve saved us and we were able to leave the island - with 0 Colombian Pesos in our pockets.

Hiking in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

After relaxing on the beach, we continued with a minibus to Minca, a small village in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park, which is 5 hours away. There, we explored the beautiful flora and fauna that the rainforest had to offer. Due to Martina's lack of orientation skills and Jürgen's convincing directions, we took the wrong turn and got to know the creepy side of the jungle at dusk. Eventually, we turned around in time and found our way back before darkness fell. We went on some small hikes to waterfalls to prepare ourselves for the upcoming 4-day trek to the lost city.

The lost city - La Ciudad Perdida

One day earlier than planned, we started our journey to Santa Marta. The reason for the early start of our hike was that the lost city closes its doors to visitors in September, allowing the indigenous peoples living there to hold their meetings and ceremonies undisturbed.

In retrospect, the early and non-refundable night in Minca wasn't the actual obstacle. Halfway there, our jeep broke down and a new one had to be requested. Since such things are almost part of daily life in these countries, we didn't pay much attention to this event. We finally reached the starting point of the trek in the middle of the rainforest as the last group. However, the most unpleasant part was yet to come... Martina's stomach had recovered just in time for the hike, when Jürgen's digestive system unpleasantly and vehemently demanded attention. These were great conditions for a 4-day jungle trek with around 1000 meters of elevation and nearly 50 kilometers to cover. Including countless mosquito bites, mud, wetness, and feeling like it was 40 degrees Celsius, this hike was no piece of cake. But when you compare all these inconveniences to the sight of the lost city, it was more than worth every effort, pain, and drop of sweat. The photos speak for themselves...

Chilling at the Beach - Los Naranjos

Wisely, we had planned a strategy in advance to be able to enjoy the best relaxation during the days after the trek (we really have missed our calling as managers ;)). So we spent 5 wonderful days at probably the most deserted beach we have ever been to. The only challenge during these days was not to get hit by a falling coconut (almost happened). We watched impressive beaches and incredibly high waves relaxed from our hammock - this is the life!