The best part about travel for me is going off the beaten path. There are many beautiful places in the world- we can all think of a bunch of them that all of our friends and family have visited– and there are many, many more that are far less published about. Over the next few ‘On Location’ posts, I am going to introduce you to one of my most favorite countries in the world; Colombia.
Starting this series is beautiful Cartagena, nestled on the white beaches of the Caribbean Sea.
I am a big fan of renting cars when I arrive in new places. This allows me the freedom to come and go as I please, and go anywhere and everywhere. I recommend researching local laws, policies, street sign images, and thoroughly memorizing maps and carrying them with you. Depending on where you live, you may be able to use your current driving license, or you may have to obtain an international driver’s license. In order for me to drive in South America and rent a car, I had to obtain an international drivers license. Another thing to keep in mind when renting and driving in different countries is that many countries around the world still drive vehicles with manual transmission, so keep that in mind when looking at your options if you can’t drive stick.
In flying from the USA to Colombia, I find it is cheaper to fly into Bogota and then either drive to where I want to travel or take a local Colombian airline to travel region to region within the country. For this trip, there was direct flights from Bogota to Cartagena, but I chose to fly into Santa Marta instead, which I used as a hub city for my 2.5 week trip. I always have my routine when arriving in Colombia, get off the plane, collect my luggage and then head to the closest Juan Valdez cafe I can find for a café con leche y bocadillo.
So to find the rental cars at the Santa Marta airport you’ll wind around the outside perimeter of the airport and head to where the taxis are and you will find Avis rental car. I spent quite a long time and did quite a few laps of the inside of the airport trying to find the rental car agency. I was asking left and right for the carros de renta and the coches de renta with no avail. I finally showed my rental agreement to airport staff and they were like oh, you need a “rental car”- and I was like, ‘yes, I need a rental car’. It never ceases to amaze me which words or phrases never translate into local language.
You should always have a paper map on you always!
I was able to snag this cute little silver VW Voyage, and we were on our way. This VW was a manual vehicle, which in all honestly I do prefer and my everyday car is a manual- but again, just make sure you know what type of transmission you are receiving before you sign the rental agreements . Now word to the wise on the whole map thing. I’m sure some of you laughed when I wrote above ‘study a map, and bring maps’, but your phone will not necessary acclimate, and if your phone can’t figure out where you are, you’re not getting GPS- period. My phone did not work for a whole 24 hour-, the entire first day I was in Colombia. I did however have my map and I studied the map and the route. The highway I was to travel, highway 90, curved around the coast of Colombia to Cienaga, round Barranquilla, and then down to Cartagna. For most of the trip I knew I should have been able to see the sea on my right and the land on my left- and that was how we navigated.
For this trip I took my father with me. I always like to take him whenever I go to a location that I know he would never had thought of going to on his own. And well, he’s my dad, so he’s the best travel companion and we always have fun no matter what we do! For the first hour of our road trip we were taking in the scenes, sounds and smells of a new country. We also joked many times about if my Spanish was god enough to get myself out of a traffic violation or anything else if I happened to get pulled over by the military. (All joking aside this is a very possible thing that can happen). We arrived in the city of Cienaga right on time according to my plan of how long the drive should take us, and then proceeded to head over the portion of 90 that is called the Salamanca highway. This is a very thin strip of highway that runs through the ocean to create a shortcut to the other side of the coast of Colombia. This piece of highway is not for the faint of heart.
Heading down the Salamanca Highway this day was beautiful and peaceful adn we really enjoyed the drive and the ocean. On the other side and we saw a gas station on the side of the road and signs to Barranquilla. I looked at my dad and we decided it was time for a bathroom break. When I got into the bathroom- no toilet seat, no toilet paper, no running water at the sink. Yeah- note to self bring your own TP- this hold true for pretty much all of South America. I headed back to the car and dug out the hand sanitizer brought- good to do. As we entered the city of Barranquilla, it seemed that the city was made up of round-a-bouts sprinkled with a couple lights and stop signs. As we got further into the city, the world became under construction, the roads became dirt and we were continually detoured into the city further. No lanes, no road signs, and just a mass of cars, trucks and 5 million motorcycles in a free for all trying to get somewhere. There were numerous times that I had wanted to pull over and cry on the side of the road, but I had my dad with me and I had to be a big girl. After all, it was MY IDEA TO DRIVE….
I pulled in to about 3 different gas stations asking for direction, and finally we made it back onto highway 90, about an hour later. We could then see the sea on our right side, and I could take a breath of air and pry my knuckles off the steering wheel. All we saw now were the signs saying Cartagena and I was READY TO GET OUT OF THE CAR! After what we just went through in Barranquilla, Cartagena was easy to navigate with straight streets, stop signs and lights and we easily found our hotel. We parked and checked in (I was told I parked on the wrong side of the garage, so I had to go around the block again..) BUT NOW- I was officially done with driving for at least the next nights.
Exploring Cartagena and the Rosario Islands
My goal of heading to Cartagena was to make sure my dad and I got the full Caribbean / ocean experience- including drinking cocktails out of a coconut, which my dad kept saying he wanted to do! I had booked a boat tour of the Rosario Islands for our first full day and we were up at 7am and headed downstairs for our coffee and a piece of bread and were out on the curb ay 8am for the tour to collect us. When I went to bed the previous night, I had powered off my cell phone, and thank goodness when I powered it back on it the morning I had service (including GPS!!). The Rosario Islands, which are just off the coast of Cartagena are an amazing vacation destination and are worth spending at least a day visiting if you are in the city of Cartagena- you could also just book the islands as your entire vacation and you would not be disappointed either. It was about a 30 minute drive down to the beach where we would catch our boat to go island hopping and snorkeling.
The first part of the morning was spent boating out to the location in the Caribbean Sea where we could go snorkeling. We all had a little bit of instruction on what to do and what to not do, and then we were left to our own to explore. I put my cell phone in a waterproof bag around my neck and took what I could for photos as I swam around and tried not to panic. I am not a big water fan as I almost drowned in the ocean when I was 8, so it took me a good 20 minutes to calm down and enjoy myself. The coral wasn’t all that colorful, and we really didn’t see any sea creatures or pretty fish when we were there, but it was still a good experience overall. The sun was shining high, the water was nice and warm and there was just a slight blob of the waves in the ocean. We got back in the boat, returned the equipment and then we were off to Isla Grand for some lunch, drinks and a swim in the pool.
We enjoyed Isla Grand, where we were allowed to lounge around the grounds of the Hotel Coco Lisa. This hotel had amazing amenities, grounds, views and drinks!. Depending on what you are looking for, you could plan your trip just to this island and be completely happy. From the pool, bar, food, beach areas, views and ability to enjoy the flora and fauna around you- you could just plan a week at this resort and be completely happy and relaxed. Don’t forget to order yourself a Coco Liso drink and sip while overlooking the scenic views- you won’t be disappointed.
From the Isla Grand we hopped back on the boat and headed to ‘The Cholon Party Island’. When we pulled up on the island we were met with a landscape of covered hut bars, boats, Dj’s and people- lots of people. We hopped off the boat and were greeted by some people who took us to our own grass hut that was reserved for the people on our boat and our belongings. Just based on the sheer amount of people everywhere I kept my backpack on me. When I travel to areas with water, I will keep all of my important things in a waterproof bag, put inside a smaller backpack that I wear 100% of the time. Depending on what is in your backpack and where you are, it may be advisable to wear your backpack backwards. Better to look like a dork than to have your personal items stolen from you.
There were a couple different places to purchase local food, including an oyster stand. Pretty much anywhere you roam along the beaches in Colombia, someone is there selling oysters raw in the 1/2 shell with hot sauce. I have a hard pass on raw things from the sea when traveling. The general rule when traveling is to consume no ice, peel your fruit, and drink beverages out of containers. For me, that only lasts so long- but I won’t spoil that until the next part in our series. Our tour was going to serve us an early dinner when we arrived back at the mainland, so we decided to hold off on eating anythinguntil later.
We all hopped back on the boat, and headed back to the mainland. It was now approx 4:00pm by this time and it was about a 40 minute boat ride to get back. Remember my previous comment on alcohol consumption? Although my dad and I enjoyed the boat ride back, others were not so lucky, and spent a good 15 minutes wrenching off the side of the boat.
We returned to the mainland on a different beach than we left from, and were escorted up to a restaurant on the beach that consisted of a large open air hut where we were served dinner. When we first got on the bus in the morning they had asked if we had wanted chicken or fish for dinner, my dad chose fish and I chose chicken. The meal was excellent and we were greeted by vendors riding bikes up to the hut selling fresh avocados. My dad and I split an avocado, which was huge, perhaps a little smaller than a football. After dinner we got back on the bus and were dropped off at the hotel, where we pretty much changed, got comfy, and watched TV and passed out for the rest of the evening. Successful first day!
See you soon in part 2 as we travel roam the streets of Cartagena and back up the coat of Colombia…
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