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Published: December 7th 2022
Ceviche !!
Oh our taste buds were dancing. A relatively short flight took us to Santa Marta, the first Spanish settlement in Columbia and the second oldest in South America, where we were met by our guide for the hour plus drive to our next stop, a lodge just outside Tayrona National Park. Colombia has some 59 national parks, which makes up about 14%!<(MISSING)b> of the total area in this diverse country, which is impressive. Of course, you are going to need a fair amount of space to support all the flora and fauna this country has to offer. We arrived after dark and after checking in, made our way across a small pedestrian suspension bridge to our room. Luckily, we had someone take our luggage as the first time you traverse the swinging bridge, it can challenge your sense of balance. The lodge was cute and well spread out, so naturally we had a room that was quite far from the restaurant and of course, we had to walk up more than a few steps after eating to get back to the room….par for the course.
When you are stopping at a location for only a couple of days, it does not allow for a lot of
exploration and we quickly realized that Tayrona National Park was a place you could spend many days hiking and exploring and still not see that much of it. We had one full day and did not plan anything specifically, so off we went to the park entrance, courtesy of a local driver the hotel provided. His well-seasoned truck got us there and back and we were somewhat grateful as the park entrance was fairly close. We also paid him in advance for the ride back and this turned out to be a genius move….more on that a little later. So…off we went for a little walk in the park….
On arrival to the park with almost no pre-planning, we first had to que up to pay for insurance while in the park. Being nurses, we quickly divined that this was to cover costs associated with people dropping over from either heat exhaustion of simply injuring themselves on the trail. After that, we paid for the park entrance fee and then proceeded to climb into a van that would take us what seemed like a couple of miles to the actual trail head. You could walk to the trail head,
Vibrant birds all around
This one was a pet at the hotel. but we were told there wasn’t much to see. With the temperature and humidity guiding our decision, the van was the plan. Upon being dropped off, we discovered that in order to reach the beach, there were several options: a hike of about one hour each way, a much further walk of about 1 ½ hours each way, or the mother of all hikes, which would take at least five hours round trip. Our supposition about the insurance was correct. Near the trail head, there were tents and ambulances. They also had horses you could take, but we declined that and off on foot we went. We took the shortest trail….the best decision we made all day.
We quickly realized that given all the rain they had in the past few days, the condition of the trail ,our age and lack of being in great shape, this trail would be a challenge…and it was. Muddy from recent rains along with very hilly terrain, we carefully navigated, stopping often to wipe the sweat from our foreheads and take a drink of water. After about an hour, we arrived at a lookout and saw a small beach below us. We looked
at one another, observed the rain clouds above and said “that’s nice” and promptly decided we were not going the few more minutes to the beach, but rather heading back the way we came. The uneven trail, tree roots and boulders you needed to navigate around didn't interest us in the rain. We made it back safely, but quite exhausted and extremely sweaty. We live in Florida and generally not bothered by heat and humidity but this day was a bit much for us. We each drank an additional two liters of water waiting for our transport back to the lodge. After arriving back at the lodge, we headed for the swimming pool to just sit and chill for a spell.
The next morning, it was time to head west to Cartagena. Our driver and guide picked up for the four-hour plus transfer, which allow plenty of time to sit back and look at a huge marshland on a highway that cuts through 4000 square miles of marshland..simply huge. We passed a mammoth lagoon named Ciénaga de Santa Marta.
Our arrival in Cartagena found us delivered to our accommodations right in the heart of old town Cartagena. We
Suspension Bridge at our Hotel
It swings a lot as you cross the gully. often enjoy staying in locations such as these as you’re able to walk out of the hotel door and be right there, in the middle of it all. We stayed in a smaller hotel, which had somewhat of an Arabic/Moorish feel with a balcony that overlooked the street in Old Town Cartagena. This part of the city is walled-in to protect it in centuries past. It is an extremely charming area with colonial architecture and we enjoyed our strolls throughout this lovely city.
As there is much to do in Cartagena, we stayed quite busy. Our first day there, we took an afternoon tour. Our guide took us on a general tour of the walled city and provided great historical information. The narrow cobblestone streets, squares and churches we charming. At the conclusion of our tour, we headed to a dance studio. What? Yes, you read that right. It was time to learn some dance moves related to Champeta. Hard to imagine Dave dancing, but there he was, embracing the moment and doing his best to keep up. Champeta is quite the musical phenomenon in Colombia. Its roots are African and while it used to be viewed perhaps as
the music of those of a lower economic status, it has gained tremendous popularity.
By learning some Champeta dance moves, little did we realize what was in store for us the following morning, when we toured the Basurto market with Charles King, who we soon found out is a cultural icon. He is the rock star of Champeta. Word spread quickly through the market that he was in the market and people constantly came up to greet him and take pictures with him. We learned that as a youth, he worked in the market, so the vendors had a special connection with him. We were part of a superstar entourage! We even shared a cold beer with him and danced our way through the central market.
We weren’t done yet, though as we had the pleasure of taking a cooking class. This has become a staple of our travels as we love food and love to cook. These classes expose us to popular local dishes and expands our knowledge of cooking in the process. We prepared ceviche along with a seafood and rice dish that made our taste buds come alive. Embracing the history of a region through
touring, cooking and dancing is a distinct pleasure for us.
Once again we sought out a restaurant made famous by Anthony Bourdain. La Cevicheria was a delight. We sat at a table inside for a bit and were able to take our photo with a photo of Anthony once some people left the table. While we were waiting on our food we realized the restaurant was stuffy so we moved to an outside table that had become available. It was great people watching. Several street musicians came and went. We ordered a shrimp wet rice that was listed in the paella section. It was so flavorful. Thank you Anthony!
Our last day saw us headed to the archipelago of El Rosario for a day of relaxation at a beach resort. We found a nice place away from the music to recline and enjoy the views of the Caribbean. Lovely way to spend our last day, topped off with dinner on the rooftop overlooking a vibrant square with the Cartagena skyline in the distance.
Cartagena is frequented by many cruise ships annually due to its location on the Caribbean coast. We are told as many as four a
day can arrive, so we were ecstatic during our time visiting when no cruise ships arrived. If you come to Cartagena via cruise ship and leave you would not leave with an accurate picture of Colombia. Don’t get us wrong we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this tourist town, but it is certainly not representative of the rest of the country in our opinion.
Where we stayed:
La Passion Boutique Hotel
Restaurants we recommend:
La Ceviheria
Alma
La Kero Gastrobar
Sierpe
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alex waring
Alexander Waring
Cartagena and the Jungle
Ah, your blog brings back many memories of my own visit to the area for my very first Travel Blog journey 12 years ago. Beautiful places. Cartagena is a wonderful city, rich in colour and culture. I remember those Tayrona hiking trails. I can only wonder at how the first arrivals in this great continent must have felt when seeing the jungle and mountains spreading out before them. The swimming pool must have felt like paradise after the hike in the heat and humidity. And I imagine you must also have been in seafood heaven amongst the markets and restaurants of Cartagena. Beautiful part of the world, and great blog 😊