Colombia´s Caribbean Coast

I have now been in Colombia for over 3 months which is the standard length of a tourist visa. However, for 96 mil pesos you can extend the visa by 3 more months with no questions asked or hassles caused. I will use the next 3 months to hopefully see the rest of Colombia away from the Northern Coastline. All of my time in Colombia has been spent between Cartagena and Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of Colombia/South America. The majority of that time has been spent at El Rio Hostel.

I watched the rest of the world cup at El Rio whilst volunteering and was planning to leave 2 days after the final. As the time grew closer, I extended my time due to something happening in the future. This then happened a few more times down to reasons like parties, pool tables arriving, the owners returning from England or friends arriving from elsewhere. I even had some leaving drinks with other volunteers to extend my stay an hour into the night. It got to the point where there wasn’t room for me to volunteer behind the bar anymore so I moved to DIY shifts.

DIY meant I was fixing and building things and doing random jobs and tasks around the hostel. Some of these included taking the guests on activities or running bar activities. Basically, my life got very relaxed and unstructured and very easy at this point. I could choose my days off and do my hours around whatever was happening. I also enjoy building things with wood and there was a lot of scrap wood I could use for building things. In that time, I managed to build a balance board (like the one I made in Playa Venao, Panama), the American game Corn-Hole, a bed for a new receptionist, lots of other small things and some garden furniture from old pallets.

The garden furniture was made with the help of Choco, the resident wizard and making everything work. In fact, I was helping Choco build these chairs. Spending time with Choco in the workshop was really good fun. He is certifiably nuts but extremely good at doing what he does, which is everything. If you need help, he will choose the biggest and most powerful tool for the smallest of precision tasks and have a result that is better than you requested or expected. It was a good learning experience working with him and because of the cultural differences, sometimes I had some English tricks that I could teach him too.

The majority of the time we spent educating each other about other countries music, listening to it too loud and just making noise with whatever tools you had in your hands. I found out that Choco can play 12 different instruments well including guitar, drums, piano, trumpet, saxophone, flute and others that slipped my mind. For the rurality of Buritaca, I was not expecting to come across someone as musically gifted as him. Choco´s dad, Edinson, worked there too and he like Choco did various maintenance jobs there too. Earlier on, Edinson had come up to me and asked me for help with building his house. He had the question written down in English with him and proceeded to ask me in English. I obviously said yes.

Fortunately, I had convinced/tricked 2 other volunteers to come and help me. The idea was to help Edinson in the morning and then play in the volleyball tournament at El Rio in the afternoon. It was lucky the other 2 guys came because we need 4 people to carry one of the walls. Edinson and Choco had built each wall and partition separately in their back garden and then stacked them in a pile. They then built the foundations and base to the house. When we arrived, we had to finish a few small jobs on the base and then transport the 20+ walls and partitions about 100 metres down the track. These walls were made from solid pine so you can imagine the weight of a 2.5m x 3m wall.

Once all the pieces were at the new house site, we had lunch and then it was on to the building phase. Once 2 walls were upright on the base and connected at the corner, they stood freely. Once a third was added, the structure was stable. We pieced together all the pieces and tightly fixed them but in only a few places. It was only when the last piece was to be added that we realised that there was a 2-inch discrepancy in one of the walls. At this point, I had to leave but they managed to fix it and with the help of a temporary roof, the family slept in their new house that night.

Without our help, Edinson would not be able to complete his project of building his house and definitely not this fast. Surprisingly, the cost of the land and the cost of all the materials would have come to less than $5000. Considering the house is made from a lot of very nice pine, that’s very cheap by UK standards. Next to Edinson’s house is a bit of land ready to build his daughters house and next to that is 2 more plots of land for the 2 sons to build their houses. They said there was a bit of land for me if I want their help to build my house. I think it would be a good investment as prices will only go up here as it gets much busier and touristy.

Buritaca is a nice little town with a lot of nice people throughout. A lot of them I have met through El Rio but also at the local Pool and Tejo hall. All the moto-taxi kids ride past the pool place and stop off for a game when there are no rides about. They would come to the hostel and play too because the table there was better. The local guys play a lot and there are a lot of good players here. We would play Colombian billiards and depending on the mood, it could be for fun, beer or money. By the end of the time there, I felt as though I had robbed the local guys of their hard earned cash. But in all honesty, they were trying to hustle me as I have seen them do to other gringos. Just another way for them to earn a little bit of cash on the side.

My time at El Rio was not only spent playing pool, I also used the place as a base to explore. All of the walks around the area were explored at some point and the activities that I wanted to do, I generally got them for free. We had a free rafting trip from way up the river back to the hostel. This was a trial run for a tour that was organised by one of the local guys who provides activities and things around the area. By the time the next rafting tour had taken place, the organiser was arrested and put in jail for some reason. Everyone was showing me pictures that were circulating on the community social media but no one knew why he had been arrested. Some people say it was just a way to solve a crime, which is to blame people who don’t have the resources to defend themselves. Anyway, the rafting was good fun.

On days off, I have been to Palomino, a town 30 minutes up the coast with a local and hippie vibe going on. I also went to Costeño beach which is just down the road and has a few hostels, salsa nights and good beach parties at weekends. There are walks through banana plantations that end up on the beach where you can catch a colourful sunset. There is a good spot down the road called Country Club to the locals but Isla Bella Resort is its true name I think. It’s just the other side of Guachaca River and is an old resort that is now abandoned and I think no longer open. A friend went before and he said it was completely empty but when we went, there were people around.

It is a large area with a communal area as you enter with building for restaurants and bars and a pool hall. There is also a swimming pool which was being filled up as we were there. Then around this area there are houses and apartments and then rows of like holiday rentals. One of these rows overlooks the lake created at low tide by the river and also the sea in the near distance. It was on the balcony of one of these houses that we watched the sunset. It appeared as if you could just squat in one of the empty houses, maybe renovate it and claim it as your own. That was what was appearing to happen. The people that were here looked like they were living there as well as cleaning the place up.

After the resort had closed down and was left to stand, someone very important in the Colombian underworld threw a massive party there. They decorated the resort and painted the buildings and houses in various random bright colours. The party was apparently very large and with large amounts of alcohol and drugs present meant there was also a lot of money. The police raided this party, shutting it down and confiscating all of the contraband and the money. Since then it has supposedly been left as a ghost town but now it appears to be coming back to life.

Amongst other cool places to visit around the area, Parque Tayrona stands out as one to see. At around 50 mil, it is expensive to enter the national park but it is definitely worth the money, especially if someone pays for you (Cheers Fred!). There are a few ways to see Parque Tayrona depending on the type of person you are and what option suits you best. The main entrance is about an hour and a half walking to the beach which is very popular and busy. There is another entrance in Calabazo which involves a 2 and a half hour walk but when you arrive at this beach it is much quieter and more secluded. Inbetween the busy Cabo San Juan and the quiet Playa Brava is another beach called Playa Nudista. You can guess what that is by yourselves.

We went through the Calabazo entrance early in the morning after getting a bus from El Rio hostal. I was woken up at 8am by the guys after 3 hours sleep and apparently I was ready to go in seconds. I don’t remember this part of the morning so it’s all hearsay to me.  Once at Calabazo we started the hike which was predominantly uphill for the first 2 hours. We were only on a day trip so we didn’t have enough time to walk via the pueblito that is little village along one of the paths. The path we took was beautiful though, winding through the jungle and hills with varying degrees of path quality and steepness. Once you started to get higher up, the views began to appear through the gaps in the vegetation. Occasionally you would get epic shots of the sea and the golden beaches in the distance.

Once we arrived at the beach, it was a mad rush to get into the sea and cool off from the hike we just completed. We spent a few hours frolicking around in the sea before we had to start the hike back to make sure we caught the last bus back towards El Rio. In hindsight, it would have been beter to have stayed the night on the beach. It would have given us more time to relax and enjoy the beach and surrounding areas. They have hut and cabañas on the beaches which have hammocks and mosquito nets to sleep in. If there is a next time, I will definitely stay the night but I couldn’t on this occasion.

A little bit further away is Minca but it is still possible to get there and back on your days off. Towards the end when a group of volunteers were all leaving, we all headed to Minca to stay for a couple of nights and say goodbye to each other. Minca is really relaxed so you can just chill and take in the scenery or walk to a different place and take in the scenery from there. We stayed at Oscar´s Place, which is a beautiful house on the ridge of a mountain. Oscar is a Colombian dude who is happy to potter by with what he gets and doesn’t really advertise or put his property on booking sites. But his place is so peaceful and entertaining to be around. I slept under a palm roof on the edge of the mountain so when the sun rose, I awoke to the epic views to the coast.

One morning, I woke up to these views then went to join a friend who was also awake. We made coffee and went back to the viewing point below. When I returned back, 2 large blue Macaws were playing with my camera, or so I thought. They had taken the camera out of the protective case and then removed the lens cover. When I saw this, it was no longer funny and I shooed them away. The Macaws had actually dissected the lens of my camera and separated it into 3 parts. What they destroyed in 5 minutes took me well over an hour to put back together due to the tricky nature of the parts. So unfortunately, the photos of the birds on my arms are a little out of focus due to pesky nature of the big blue birds and my poor fixing job. I did manage to properly fix the focus on my camera later on so no harm done, but these birds were around daily and were often causing trouble so you had to keep your wits about you.

There were many more little activities and excursions happening whilst at El Rio all of which lend into making my time there such a great experience. With that said, I couldn’t live there for the rest of my life so I had to move on eventually. I extended one last time and coincided my departure with the arrival of my friend and a big party that I think I instigated. I used to work with my friend Kim at the Hippodrome Casino in London. I left 2 years ago and went to Mexico and Kim left 8 months ago and went to Argentina. Our paths were crossing around this area so we decided to meet at El Rio and then we could leave after the party and head to the desert and travel around the area. As it turned out, Kim really liked the hostel and offered to volunteer there in a couple of weeks.

The big parties thrown at El Rio have a reputation and are generally House and Techno music. There are a few resident Dj´s, including the owner, and for this party they got local people from Santa Marta and also a famous English DJ who happened to be touring the area. With this said, lots of people arrived and the music played from 8pm until 9:15am the next morning. Having had a big farewell night, there was never any chance of leaving the next day. But the following day it was time to leave and Kim and I decided to go to Punta Gallinas which is the northernmost point of South America.

To get to Punta Gallinas you need to go 412km northeast until its only sea in front of you. This can be achieved by booking a tour from lots of places and paying 400-500 mil pesos for the experience. The same experience can be achieved for 200-300 mil pesos if you go about doing it yourself. This was obviously the option we took and it was by far the better option. People who had booked through tour companies were put together with people who were winging it so there was no difference between the experiences. The price we paid did depend on how much you get the people to lower their prices. When you include all the food, accommodation, transport and everything else, 250 mil pesos isn’t too bad a price for 3 days and 2 nights in the desert.

Our first night was spent in Cabo de la Vela which is a small town located on a cape in the desert. Cabo is a place with a lot of wind and a very flat sea so you find a lot of people kite surfing here. Whilst walking along the beach, I chatted with people and checked out the prices to see if it was an option. Categorically no on that front. It was ridiculously expensive and unfortunately well out of our price range. Even with the high winds, you sleep in hammocks in open structures overlooking the beach and sea. It is a very chilled little village with not too much going on. It is more of a place to kite surf or just to pass through on your way to the northern tip.

We went out for dinner having had barbequed fish and all the usual trimmings from the place we were sleeping. They have a dish around these parts which is very traditional and is called Chivu. I’m not sure if it always is but I think that it is not just goat but baby goat. I thought that it was a good idea to try it as it would be good cultural culinary research. I think they had to go outside and catch it and kill it first. We were waiting a while then someone walked in with the back legs and lower spine of a baby goat minus all the skin. A little bit later, these legs were on the plate in front of me. It might have been the place or the goat but the meat was almost inedible down to its chewiness and toughness. It had really strong flavours, it just wasn’t that enjoyable sucking on a piece of meat rather than actually eating it.

The next morning we were being picked up at 5am Colombian time (so 5:30am then) and being driven through the desert, past Uribia and towards a boat that was waiting for us at the end of the drive. It was only possible to make this journey by 4×4 as a normal car would have fallen apart before it even made it to the parts of the road it wouldn’t be able to pass. The scenery and contrast between the colours of the sand and sky was incredible to see although very hard to capture on camera. The journey was fairly long, very bumpy and there was 10 of us squeezed relatively comfortably into a 4×4.

 

As you pass through the desert, the track often bottle-necks through cacti or rocks. At this point, there will usually be a rope across the road manned by a few local children preventing you from passing. The kid’s ages can range from 4 or 5 up to 10 or 11 and sometimes there were older people selling bags they had made or other crafts. I had heard that you should take biscuits and sweets for the children but when in the shop, that didn’t seem right. I’m guessing the nearest dentist isn’t near at all so sugary things don’t really help them. Instead, I bought lots of pencils to give to them so maybe they can write or draw something but after passing through, maybe water would have been a better gift.

When we arrived at the end of the road there were some people and boats waiting for us. It appeared everyone waiting was from Hospedaje Alejandra, a hostel on the other side of the water. So without any choice, we got onto a boat and were taken to their place which was a very slow ride 10 minutes or 200m down the coast. The other side of the water was a stone throw away and we could have swum it if needed but they provided a boat to make sure we went to their hostel. There are 2 other hostels or places to stay in this area but they weren’t offered. If you wanted to go to the other places, you had to pay the boat to take you or pre-book and arrange a pickup.

Once we were there we were shown our hammocks and then had a little time to chill. We were then stuffed 12 fold into the 4x4s and taken out on the tour which involved going to 4 different spots including the lighthouse that is at the northernmost point. This took a few hours and gave us the opportunity to take a few photos and go for a swim. The beach was at the bottom of a giant sand dune that ran parallel to the coastline in this area. After the energy exerted in climbing up the giant sand dune in the scorching desert sunshine, I didn’t have the energy to walk down the dune to the sea. So I tucked my head in and roly-poly’d my way all the way down and straight into the sea. As fun and refreshing as it was, after 20 forward rolls, I was completely unable to stand up. This meant I was washed around by the waves for the next few minutes until I could regain my balance.

After the tour, we headed back to the hostel place for lunch which was followed by a moment to relax. When I asked, I was told about a flamingo tour in the afternoon and also a baby turtle tour at night. Neither of these was advertised publically and subsequently, none of them took place because not enough people were interested or aware. That afternoon we went to the western tip of the coast to a beach where we could catch the sunset. Once it was dark, there wasn’t really much to do other than chat or sleep. The next morning, we all headed out on the short boat ride and waited for our ride to arrive. This took us to Uribia by 4×4 where we shared a taxi to Riohacha. In Riohacha we could then get a bus back to Palomino and then El Rio where we left our big backpacks.

All in all, it was a beautiful place to go to and not too expensive as everyone makes out. But it wasn’t cheap and the tours that we supposedly went on could not really be classed as tours though. We paid for a taxi driver really and the petrol needed. The guys who took us around couldn’t answer basic questions about the area and wildlife and just gave generic or confusing answers about other things. They were just drivers taking us to spots for photos and swimming and that’s what made it a little overpriced. But I´m glad I went as it will now encourage me to head to the southern tip of the continent having been to Punta Gallinas.

After a night back at El Rio, I said my final farewells and took all my stuff to be back on the road again. Still with Kim, we headed to Minca, a village 14km up in the jungle mountains above Santa Marta and the coastline. We arrived in Minca by bus and arrived in a downpour of rain that went on for a bit. A lot of the hostels in Minca, including the one we were heading to, are further up in the mountains only accessible by dirt tracks and paths. We waited around for one extra person to make the jeep taxi roughly the same price as the moto taxi. Walking wasn’t an option as it was over 6kms up the hill and it was getting late. Nobody arrived by the time we had finished eating so we took a moto-taxi and made our way up to Casa Elementos.

The hostel was a long way up a road that soon turned into a rock and mud track with rivers flowing down the middle carving gorges in the road. It was good fun and worth the entrance fee if not a little bit sketchy at some points. I had been to Minca before whilst on days off so knew a little bit about the area although not explored much of it. Minca is best described as a lazy mountain cloud village with epic views through the mountains and down to the coast with the city lights of Santa Marta in view maybe. On our second night in Minca, we moved down to another hostel near the town centre. It had a better location as a base to walk to different sights to see.

Minca has quite a few visitors, especially on the weekends. We were there on a Sunday so this was something we had to deal with at the places of interests. It was bizarre to walk through the jungles on narrow tracks for hours to then come out to a wider track and come across traffic and people. There were motorbikes everywhere going in all directions as were families and large groups of people walking. We went to Pozo Azul which is a waterfall with lots of staggered pools going up the mountain. It was meant to be a much shorter walk but for some reason, I always take a longer route when hiking in jungles. When we arrived we decided to walk as high up as possible because the higher you go the more peaceful it is. Having swum there for a bit, we continued hiking further up the hill to a brewery and coffee farm. We stopped for a sandwich at the café and I tried a Minca brewed beer but then we had to head back. Due to the detours, we had not much time to make it all the way back before sunset.

We spent a few nights in Minca with the majority of the time spent relaxing, yet walking 14km around the mountains on some days. I’m sure we could have both stayed there longer but Kim had to return to El Rio to start volunteering. We both headed back to Santa Marta and I stayed there whilst Kim went back to Buritaca. It was really good to catch up with Kim and spend some time moving around with her. I never would have guessed that would have happened whilst we were working in London. I´m sure she will enjoy herself volunteering and once she has finished, maybe we will bump into each other again.

After a couple of days in Santa Marta, I went back to Minca to meet some friends who were there and ended up staying 3 more nights. This time we stayed in Mundo Nuevo which is 2.5km up a different hill with a slightly worse road. This time I walked the hill and arrived a sweaty mess after a couple of hours including an accidental detour again. One of my friends I was meeting didn’t actually arrive that night because she was getting a tattoo elsewhere and she missed the last bus. The next day when she arrived she chatted for a bit and then fell asleep, missed dinner and then we didn’t see her until the next day. This was when she left so it was nice to see her even if it was a brief encounter.

I left Minca a day later and headed back to Santa Marta to abuse the cities internet and try and sort out a plan of action for the next few weeks. I feel like I am heading towards Medellin now although the route I will take is still undecided. But that brings me to now, currently resting in Santa Marta and trying to figure out my next move. Where ever I end up, I´m sure it will be fun and I will let you know how I get along when I get the chance.