Colombia 2012: Adventures on the Coast: Part 2 Santa Marta and Cartagena

Checking back into our hostel still sticky with sweat and layers of dirt built up over the sunscreen and bug spray our only thoughts were of a clean shower and dry clothes. Only moments after the best shower ever we decided to delay our trip to Cartagena due to our inability to move around with any ease. We booked the hostel for an additional 2 nights and it was the best decision. We spent the entire next day just laying around at the hostel. We enjoyed watching movies, swimming in the pool, drinking, eating and meeting great people. Two San Francisco guys run the hostel and being there made me miss the USA a little. They made it a point to bring some things from the states to Colombia; like they had real Heinz ketchup, English television, and the bar was decked out in traditional USA gear. However, I think that the most familiar aspect of the La Brisa Loca was that everyone spoke English; in fact some of the staff didn’t even speak Spanish at all. It was so nice to be surrounded by people that you can understand not only their language but their culture as well. I did not realize how isolating it can be to live in a culture that you weren’t raised in and how even the small things can be very uncomfortable and unfamiliar.

Other then just being incredibly lazy we also made it to Tayrona Park, which is the beach about 40 minutes outside of the city. We only had a couple hours to enjoy the beach but it was wonderful. We had the entire strip of beach to ourselves and we had a great time. It was the first beach that we have seen in 6 months and as we both have not lived far from a coast in our entire lives it was so comforting to listen to the waves crashing against the shore and to feel the sand between our toes.

The next morning we took a bus to Cartagena to spend the reminder of our trip.

When we arrived to Cartagena the beauty of every detail of the streets overwhelmed me. Colorful balconies hung over finely decorated doors as horse drawn carriages galloped through the streets. The first thing we did was just soak up this fairytale city. Later that night we met up with a few of the volunteers that work in the nearby island of Baru. We enjoyed swapping stories and catching up. We had not seen each other since orientation so we had a lot to talk about and their experiences are far different from my own.

The next day we took a short 10 minute boat ride to Tierra Bomba Island where we planned to spend the night. The beach was nothing to speak about and although we tried to spend time in the sand it was impossible with all the bugs. We made the most of the pool and sunbathed all day. After 4pm we were the only guests at the hotel as the other people spent the day there and then returned back to Cartagena. It was very weird to be at a large hotel all alone but again we made the most of it and the owner was very nice and friendly. We had a private dinner on the beach and it was very romantic (private because we were the only ones eating but private just the same). We were on the boat back to the city after a morning of collecting seashells on the beach.

We were very excited to return to Cartagena but noticed immediately that we did not return to the same city that we had left. In the afternoon it seems like the streets closed down and none of the stores and restaurants were open. It was smoldering hot so I don’t blame them for shutting their doors during the hottest hours of the day but it left of with not much to do. During the evenings the city was jammed packed full of venders selling everything and anything. Tourist swarmed the streets weaving through peddlers and traffic. You could not move 2 inches without being bombarded with people shoving their products into your face. Even sitting at the nicest restaurant venders had no problem interrupting your dinner to jingle their trinkets at you.

Even the police were troublesome in Cartagena. We were walking along a main street in the early evening when we were stopped by two young police officers. We were the only gringos on the street we were definitely the most sober and least suspicious. However the cops drove by everyone else and stopped us. They spoke to us very abrasively and did not even try to help us understand what was going on. Feeling helpless we tried to go with their requests as they began to pat down every inch of Dale’s body. They pulled my purse apart unzipping each and every compartment. The more intensely they searched the more uncomfortable I became until they pulled out Dale’s wallet and started taking out his money. At this point I was certain that we were being robbed and this is when I started to talk back, in retrospect probably not the best idea. Fortunately, perhaps at my protests or perhaps for other reasons, they just gave us everything back and left. Later we found out that they were trying to get a bribe from us; common practice in Colombia is for the police to try to find something to pin on tourists and then to ask for a bribe to let them off the hook. Either way it was incredibly disheartening to be treated so poorly particularly since we have only had good experiences with police in Medellin.

Despite the obvious problems we had with the city we still had a good time. We rented a two-person bike to ride around the city. We loved peddling around the beautiful old city swerving around people and cars. We enjoyed a romantic horse drawn carriage ride around the city at night. Cartagena also had some great restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream parlors. I am so glad that we took a trip to the coast, as it was so very different from everything in Medellin. However seeing the Medellin city lights as we returned home almost made me tear up because Medellin is truly the best city and I was so happy to return to paradise.