Cartagena, Isla Baru, Minca and Tayrona

Cartagena

October 2023

We spent two weeks on the north coast of Colombia, which ended up being our favourite part of the country! It was so beautiful, and the people were so welcoming and warm.

We flew from Medellin to Cartagena (1 hour) and made our way to Getsemani, a colourful part of the city next to the old town, which used to be run down but is now vibrant and full of hostels and restaurants. We loved wandering around the streets of Getsemani and the old, walled town, drinking coffee and shopping in the boutiques. We had some really hot weather, and then some really wet weather. Unknowingly, we visited Cartagena in the wettest month, when it rains on average 30 out of 31 days! There were daily storms, and the streets would quickly flood, making the city look like Venice. Locals would build makeshift bridges out of pallets for people to walk over the flood waters and ask for a small tip. We got caught out one day in a park trying to find a sloth, when the heavens opened in biblical fashion. A local street vendor gifted us his cardboard box to put over our heads, but by the time we reached the shelter of a shop veranda, we were absolutely soaked. His mate appeared with an umbrella to sell us, which was a lifesaver!

We loved the food in Cartagena, a particular favourite being the crab gratin at a restaurant called Sierpe Caribe Fusion, which we went back for twice! We will tell ourselves that it was because of all the rain that we had to find indoor activities, but we lived quite a boujee lifestyle in Cartagena, taking advantage of the cheap massages and nail salons (Justin got his first ever pedicure and was very confused for the whole thing!).

Isla Baru

With the sea between the mainland and the Caribbean islands being known for being choppy (sea-sick Em's worst nightmare), we opted for a closer alternative. We took a taxi to Playa Blanca on Isla Baru, which is technically an island as it is separated from the mainland by a river, and was only 1 hour's drive from Cartagena. Once there, we got a small boat transfer up to the 'quiet part' of the beach, where we were staying at a boutique hotel called Cristal Baru Blue for 2 nights. It was beautiful, with a private beach and a gorgeous, turquoise blue sea. There were some snorkelling excursions you could do, but we had planned to do as little as possible. After all the rain in Cartagena, unbelievably, we were treated to 2 beautiful sunny days, where we moved from our bed, to breakfast, to a sun lounger, to the sea, to dinner, and back to bed. A dream!

On the day we left, we took a combination of boats, taxis and buses 7 hours to Santa Marta/Taganga where we stayed for a one-night stopover on our way to Minca cloud forest.

Minca Cloud Forest

We got a taxi from Taganga to Minca, the closest town to the cloud forest. Where the road stopped, we got out with our backpacks and walked through the forest to our hostel, Jungle Joe's Ecolodge. The views over the forest were incredible and they had loads of hammocks overlooking the landscape, and hummingbird feeders so you could watch the tiny birds fleeting and fighting around your head!

Here, we had a mammoth storm. We had walked about 5 minutes down a path in the forest to the neighbours' restaurant and ordered coffee. We ended up stranded there for an hour as a huge storm rolled in, rumbling the ground below us and turning the view to sheet white. Even the frogs were coming into the restaurant to shelter from the rain! One night, the storm was so bad, we couldn't leave our room and had to skip dinner! We did a few short walks in between the rains; and just enjoyed being immersed in the forest.

Tayrona National Park

Tayrona was peak Colombia. The landscape looks like something out of Disney or Jurassic Park and it's difficult to get your head around the fact it's real. It's probably the most stunning coastline we've ever seen. We spent one night inside the park, at a hostel near the entrance, and then 2 nights just outside the park. We got the shuttle service as far as the road goes and then walked 12km to Cabo San Juan, where the beaches appear mirrored! It was absolutely boiling (our weather app said it was 'real feel' 43 degrees C! We spent some time at the beach and had a swim to cool off before going for lunch and walking back. We ended up walking about 20km, all in crocs! You can stay at the end of the beach in hammocks, but you would probably get bitten to death by mosquitos.

Unfortunately, our room in the hostel, was ridden with bed bugs so we had to leave early and find somewhere else to stay. We ended up at a place we found on booking.com, that was up a steep hill that had succumbed to a huge landslide after heavy rain, and was nearly impossible to reach! After one night there, we moved to Journey Hostel, with a big infinity pool, some funny irish people, and a lot of bugs (a different kind) in our open-air dorm room. Thankfully, we were safely behind a mosquito net when we went to bed.

It had been either scorching and humid, or torrentially raining, so after 2 weeks we were ready for a bit more mild weather in Bogota...