The finale to our South American Adventure – The Colourful Caribbean Coast

Cartagena

Cartagena is, quite rightly, famed for being Colombia’s most beautiful city. Around 200 cruise ships visit each summer, making it Colombia’s number one tourist destination. Who knew?! Filled with colourful houses adorned with the most picture perfect balconies covered in greenery and pretty flowers, understandably, I was very excited for our short visit. Given that the main attraction is wandering down the little streets admiring the buildings, and the heat in Cartagena is pretty intense, we only factored in one full day for me to get my fix.

There are two key parts to the city; the historic town surrounded by the protective stone fortress and then trendy Getsemaní, just the other side of the wall where we were staying. Arriving mid afternoon we wanted to make the most of Cartagena so after checking in we set off for the historic centre to meet the afternoon free walking tour. Manuel Bibanca was our English speaking tour guide. After a large proportion of the interesting facts he relayed to us, he would say “Manuel why?” Before explaining further.

As with Paraty, I was shamefully clueless to the extent to which slavery was prevalent in the past here. Manuel why? The “Calamari”, not the delicious squid starter but the indigenous people of Cartagena, with their richness in gold were not built for hard labour. This meant that when it came to building the fort to protect against invasion, the Spaniards turned to African slaves to complete the arduous task. The whole world, it seemed had heard of the gold mine the Spanish had landed upon so were keen to get in on the action. After multiple attacks by sea, the Spanish set about fortifying the port to hold on to what they believed was now “rightfully theirs”. One million African slaves were transported to Cartagena on those ill fated slave ships. They report one million, but the figure is far from accurate as all too often the capacities of the boats were far exceeded, much to the detriment of the poor Africans. Though many tragically perished on the journey, the drastically higher number of slaves meant higher profits despite these fatalities. A large number who made it stayed and served in Cartagena but many were distributed to the rest of South America.

It is this incredible influx of slaves along with the presence of the indigenous people that over time created the culture here in Cartagena. Now the Palanquera’s, are a prime example of this. They are the wonderful fruit ladies dotted around the city with their brightly coloured dresses, carrying a large bowl of fruit balancing on their heads. Historically, they were slaves who had been forced to sell fruit for their masters who, after escaping, fled to the mountains where they built African communities. Once free they continued to sell fruit. Manuel why? It’s what they knew. The difference is that now it’s for themselves, so they make the daily commute, carrying the heavy load to the city where they charge not only for the fruit but also to pose for photos before returning home.

As for the buildings and their stunning doors, we learnt that along with adding to the character of Cartagena’s beautiful homes, their lovely doors gave insight into not only the level of wealth but also the profession of the inhabitants. The number of iron cone shape notches increased with the wealth of the household and the form of the knocker had meaning. For instance, a lion or lions head would be for a military man, a hand open, or closed would be the home of a religious woman or man respectively and anchors, mermaids or fish were for those in the sea trade. Of course there are many new knockers that hold no relevance now but I still like the idea of it! It’s little things like this that really make the walking tour for me. It sets you up to explore by yourself picking up on these little details that otherwise would have gone overlooked.

Just as we finished the tour, the sun was setting so we thanked and tipped Manuel then climbed the steps up to the fortress wall along with most of the other visitors and watched our first Caribbean sunset with its orangey yellow gorgeous tones. At the top of the wall the breeze is quite strong, so as I posed in an attempt to capture the beautiful scene on camera, I had a real Marilyn Monroe moment with my dress being blown up much to my embarrassment. Luckily only one other lady saw so we exchanged funny looks before carrying on with the sunset shots with me being extra cautious of the wind!

For dinner we headed out in Getsemani, exploring a few of the main streets, admiring the street art and earmarking pretty spots I thought I would like to photograph in daylight. The two restaurants we had read about in the Lonely Planet were both shut, one because of the day of the week and the other appeared to be mid complete refurb so we ended up trying out a tiny restaurant called Peru Ceviche that had good reviews on Tripadvisor. We sat out on our road side table as the poor chef, in her tiny kitchen, struggled to cook two courses for the group of 7 Americans waiting before getting started on our dishes. Luckily we weren’t starving or in a rush,as it wasn’t until over an hour and a bit after ordering that our meal was served. The waitress and chef were very apologetic as we paid so I felt slightly guilty about having told Tim we wouldn’t pay service. We dropped a few notes in to their tip jar and made our way back to settle in for Netflix and an early night so we could get started bright and early on our only full day in Cartagena.

Now I mentioned the expected heat earlier but we were still slightly shocked by the extremity of it the next morning! We were sat having breakfast by 8:30am in 28 degree heat. Lovely change from the daily rain in Medellin but maybe a little too much to handle?? This made meandering around Cartagena slightly more challenging. Tim point blank refused to be in any photos so our collection of snaps from this part of the trip make me seem extremely narcissistic (much to my dismay).

House after house, door after door, we stopped as we wandered the pretty streets. Each time we found a picture perfect balcony or gorgeous door framed beautifully by its colourful walls, Tim would oblige me and take a few photos. You would be surprised how long it takes to grow tired of standing or sitting in front of other people’s homes…I never did! The only reason we stopped was that the heat became almost unbearable and I felt bad for Tim traipsing around, this was really not his thing! We retreated to Getsemani stopping only to buy some fruit from a Palanquera before searching for a lunch spot.

We stopped in the square to eat and cool off before roaming Getsemani in the afternoon once the heat of the day had done its worst! This part of town has a very different feel to it but is beautiful in its own right. Gorgeous street art merging in perfectly with the colourful houses and bringing added character to it all. As with Valparaiso, there is a clear distinction between graffiti and street art, this was most certainly art!

For the final stop we were heading to Palomino where there is limited access to ATMs so we headed back into the historic town to find a cash point. Frustratingly the bank in Getsemani didn’t have an ATM?! Secretly I’m quite glad though as the route back led us past the mango biche stand. Now having spent a couple of years of my childhood in Guatemala, I was lucky enough to grow up buying green mango with lemon, salt and pepitoria (a special kind of pepper) at the school tuck shop instead of sweets. Mango biche, much to my delight, is exactly this, so tangy and delicious! I was only sorry we hadn’t bought it earlier as I could have had a few portions before leaving Cartagena!

The next morning we were collected bright and early in our pre booked coach and we set off for Santa Marta via multiple hostels to pick up the other passengers. We had explored the different options on getting to Palomino and whilst there was a direct coach, by the same company, the price was much higher than paying for two stints; Cartagena to Santa Marta then Santa Marta to Palomino. In the end it didn’t matter though as whilst at the snack stop, the drivers of all the coaches liaised with each other and swapped passengers left right and centre, pocketing the additional charge and making things more straight forward for everyone. This way we avoided having to stop and wait for the next coach in Santa Marta yet paid a reduced price. Win win.

Palomino

Palomino was the part of the trip we had booked from the get go, before we even set off for the start of our adventure in December. The number one hostel here, known to most backpackers in S.A. is the Dreamers Hostel. Naturally, it gets pretty booked up and given that the end of our trip was around Easter, it was definitely the right decision to get it sorted far in advance. The hostel is right by the beach but also has its own pool (which is a big plus for me!). Tim grew up by the seaside in Kent so loves beach chilling whereas I much prefer lying poolside dipping in and out whenever I get too hot! Yes I know I could get in and out of the sea just as easily but frustratingly I often get a slight allergy to the salt so I am left feeling itchy all over after. Not that that stops me when we are by the beach!

This was the only real chill time we had scheduled in for this stint of the trip as until now it’s pretty much been non stop action, always exploring different sites or traveling to the next. Here we had 4/5 days to relax, which we both welcomed plus the added bonus of topping up our tans as we were headed home for 15 days shortly and would have been ridiculed for having been travelling yet not caught much sun! The down time also helped us get started on all the itinerary planning for the second half of our adventure; South-East Asia. We had a rough plan of timelines for both the Philippines and Bali but only had the first 4 days (in Hong Kong) and last 4 (in Bangkok) booked. So many decisions on where to go, where to avoid and that’s before even getting started on the temples, sites and beaches!

Other than planning and pool time we had only one activity earmarked in Palomino, and that was tubing down the river. As you walk down the shadeless, dirt track from the main street to the beach, it is lined with countless hostels, restaurants, little souvenir shops and tubing stalls. After lunch on one of the days we went bought a few bottles of coke for me and cans of beer for Tim and gave the go ahead to one of the tubing stalls. He promptly whistled down a couple of moto-taxi’s and a young boy to join us. To get to the start point for tubing, the motorbikes take you some 10 minutes and then walk for 15 more. The challenge is that you need to carry your rubber tube (just the inflated inner tube of a tyre) whilst also clinging on for the duration of the ride. This time, unlike at Rocinha favela, it was my motorbike that sped off, leaving Tim behind with both hands full as he had all our drinks. Once we both arrived safely, our tubing guide, a young boy that was maybe 15 years old led the way up and over a big hill that eventually ended at a point in the river.

I’m not really sure what I expected from the experience but it was certainly that, an experience! The young boy tied our tubes together with string and then attached a much smaller one for himself with some slack in the string. After encouraging us to get in, he kicked off and we started floating down the river, bottoms submerged. The current wasn’t too strong so he would paddle intermittently whilst keeping us away from the banks either side. Every now and then when the river bed was shallower, we would feel ourselves getting slightly beached or something brush up against us under the water and he would get to work again. It was definitely in line with the chill we had signed up for but I had thought there would be a little more action, think a rumba rapids ride at Thorpe Park for instance.

So we gently floated downstream for about two hours, occasionally adjusting our positions trying to raise ourselves slightly to stop running aground, sipping our drinks, chatting and laughing at the randomness. Not quite how Tim remembered it from years ago but definitely worth doing. After all, we had little else planned for our few days here! As we reached the end of the river and the start of the beach, we thanked our guide and made our way along the shore back to Dreamers. To end the day, we were persuaded to join in on the killer pool competition. Tim played and I watched and cheered him on at every shot. As it turns out, Tim’s many hours of playing pool on this exact table 4 years ago were not in vain. One by one the other players were eliminated, but not him! Victorious we were awarded two strong but tasty cocktails which we took back to our balcony and enjoyed from the comfort of our hammock.

As for the rest of our time in Palomino, to say we relaxed wouldn’t quite do it justice! We lazed by the cool blue pool soaking up the sun and ordered brownies to be brought to us where we lay, I swear we have eaten more brownies on this trip than in the last year altogether! We swung in our hammock, always being careful that whichever of us climbed in second didn’t knock the other out of it! Then the cherry on the cake, we enjoyed a full body massage in the Dreamers treatment room. Admittedly the masseuse was over an hour late, but when you have nothing but time, it’s not as big an issue. We had asked to split a one hour massage in two so we could both have half an hour (we have a budget we are trying to come in under!) but as an apology for being late she gave us both 45mins each. Heaven. I think I could get used to this kind of lifestyle!

On our final night, we collected the bottle of dulce de leche liquor we had bought back in Buenos Aires and headed back to watch the stunning sunset on the beach. As in Cartagena, the sunsets in Palomino are unbelievably pretty. The whole sky turns shades of pinks and purples that you just can’t take your eyes of! As we sat in the sand, watching the glorious sky turn to night we once again reflected on what an incredible 3 and a half months we have had exploring South America. What an incredible adventure, and as Tim keeps pointing out to me, we are only half way through! Now we return home via Santa Marta and Bogotá to catch up with family and friends and for for Tim to carry out his best man duties at his friends wedding in Scotland!

After our brief stop back in the UK, it’s time to see what the second half of our adventure brings…South-East Asia!

Dominique