January 25, 2025 to January 31, 2025: Colombia Part 2 (Caribbean region)

Our flights to Cartagena were really smooth and we met Elis right after getting our bags and were then shuttled to our hotel. Elis gave us an hour before we were to meet in the lobby to head to dinner. We had been promised a true Cartagena meal. 

We were dropped on a narrow street in Getsemaní, one of the more lively neighborhoods just outside of the walled city. It was super crowded and loud, lots of partying.  

We went up to the rooftop of Mulatos Gastro Bar for drinks and dinner. Elis told us there is no healthy food in Cartegena, just good food. But we ordered ceviche and a curry sea bass thinking it would be somewhat healthy. We were successful on the ceviche- it was as expected, but the sea bass was unexpectedly deep fried (but tasty). The atmosphere was really raucous and college-like. 

After dinned we walked the narrow streets of Getsemaní weaving through the masses of partiers.  

On Sunday we met at 8am for our city tour of Cartegeña, starting with the Castillo de San Filipe.

Filip in front of Castillo de San Filipe

From the top of Castillo de San Filipe

Street art in Getsemani

Monkey in El Centernario Plaza (Park in Getsemaní) 

Clock tower at the entrance to the walled city

Square just inside the walls

Lunch was at a restaurant called San Nicolas with live music, reminding both of us that we prefer quiet restaurants and we were happy when it was time to head back to the hotel. 

Lunch at San Nicolas - we are all pretty exhausted 

We had the afternoon off, which we spent relaxing by the pool, before meeting again at 7pm for the farewell dinner. 

Ready for dinner; from the left: Tove, Elis, Micki, Mona, Filip, Kristen

Fortunately dinner was in a quiet restaurant and the meal was delicious.

After dinner we said our goodbyes to the group as tomorrow we all separate ways.

Monday:  Our pick-up was at 9am for our 4 hour drive to Tayrona National Park where we had a private extension to our Norrøna adventure. Our driver was pretty aggressive and the ride pretty uncomfortable, although the views were good and it was neat to drive through Barranquilla as Micki's uncle Hank is from there.  

Our hotel for the next few nights is the Senda Watapuy- which was a really nice surprise. The expansive lobby had an ambiance similar to the Africa safari resorts and our room was private and peaceful with a plunge pool. 

Stream just behind our bungalow.

Tuesday: We met Cristian, our guide for the day at 9:30. We were supposed to go on a long hike today, but Micki's knee was still hurting from the last hike so we asked for an alternative plan. We drove to the Don Diego river and met Mr. Robinson who was our river guide. After sitting beside the river for about an hour talking to Cristian, Mr. Robinson brought us a 2-person kayak and two SUPs for him and Christian.

Rio Don Diego with the boats that ferry back from the ocean

Filip on the shore of Rio Don Diego

View behind us- Santa Marta has the highest mountain in Colombia

The kayak didn't require a lot of paddling, as the current was pretty strong - but it was a very serene float down the river. The river water was very clear- you could see the bottom easily and we saw many birds as well as howler monkeys hanging from trees. The final destination was the Atlantic ocean, although the red flags were out so no swimming allowed.

A sun halo- similar to the moon halo we saw in Panama

After walking along the beach we jumped into one of the green boats and went back to our starting point. From there Cristian took us to a small, local restaurant for lunch. The food was very good - a pumpkin soup followed by seafood rice as well as a unique coconut and papaya treat for dessert.

After lunch we went back to the Senda and spent the afternoon our deck by the pool.