Playa de Belen

When we were in the Guajira most of the other tourists were foreigners (unlike in Mompox, where SR and I were the only non-Colombians on our river boat outing), but one of the few Colombian tourists we met there was really interested in where we were all traveling during our visits, and ended up (to his own obvious amusement) deciding that on our advice he was going to check out Minca on his way home to Bogota. This guy looked pretty confused at my listing of places we had and were planning to hit, though. It's kind of a strange and eclectic list, I admit. The other day I saw a travel column article about the top 10 things to do in Colombia, and only two of the ten were things on my itinerary. And this next stop kind of fits into that theme...

Playa de Belen is a mountain town in the Norte de Santander district that apparently comes alive during Colombian holidays. But on our Tuesday-Thursday visit, the place was rather...quiet. (Read: we were nervous about finding a place to eat the first night.) It's a tiny town--we walked every street within the first couple hours out and about--and the guidebook says it's a "planned" community...Not sure what that means exactly, but in practice it appears to involve every building in town being the exact same height, style, and color (white). We were the only foreigners around for sure. And SR couldn't shake the feeling that we were trapped in the Twilight Zone. But it was worth the stop for two reasons:

1) For the first time since starting the trip, SR and I were not sweating buckets morning, noon, and night. Cool mountain air: what a relief!!!

2) Colombia's smallest national park abuts the town, and I was suckered in by the descriptions of the cool rock formations in the guidebook.

So here's the photos from the adventure, starting with a shot from one of the buses we took to get to Playa; I've been really excited about seeing mangoes ripen on trees everywhere, and finally had the opportunity to buy some from a roadside stand. I handed over the smallest bill I had, which was the equivalent of about US$0.75, and hoped I'd get 3 or 4 mangoes in exchange. I was a little shocked when I got back this bag full..

Mompox

After two weeks plying the Caribbean coast from Panama nearly to Venezuela, it was definitely time to head inland. There's so much more of Colombia still to explore and so little time!

First inland stop was Mompox, a colonial city built up as a river transport hub on a route on the Magdalena River that has since been forsaken. What's left is a sweet and charming town that sits in the middle of what essentially feels like a swamp the size of Louisiana. The roads surrounding it are wretched to the point that we almost skipped coming but I'm so glad we didn't. I'd read that it feels like a wormhole through time to days past and it kind of does. I'd read that it has a magical vibe that has sparked comparisons with the fictional city of Macombe, setting of (Colombian!) Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude." And again, it kind of does. In any case, I loved walking the riverfront and the town market, as well as taking a motorboat cruise through the swampy 'hood: iguanas in the trees, a ridiculous concentration of birds, and spectacular sunset. Sweet stop.

Guajira Desert

Back in civilization after an amazing (and disconnected from telecommunications) three-day adventure into the Guajira Desert in the far northeastern corner of Colombia. I definitely don't think of desert when I think of Colombia, but this was maybe my favorite part of the trip so far. Even after deleting half of what I took, I have nearly 150 pictures from the adventure, and it is a challenge to choose just a few to recount the trip. But here goes.

From Santa Marta we had a four-hour ride NE to a place called Cuatros Vias, which is literally just a four-way intersection in what is getting close to the middle of nowhere, up near Maicao and the Venezuelan border. From there, it's all 4WD vehicles that take you farther and farther up into the desert...

...and the town of Cabo de la Vela, which is the hub of this corner of the world but can hardly be considered a hub in relation to anything else, really.

Still, it's getting to be a more popular destination for kite surfers, and it's the closest thing the local, indigenous Wayuu people have as a metropolis in which they can get their slice of the tourism pie.

I would have liked to spend two nights in Cabo de la Vela, but a month is really not enough time to see all the variety Colombia has to offer, so in this abbreviated version of a visit, we at least had one overnight, plus the chance to take a tour of the shoreline north of town, with the highlight (other than the petrifying fun of riding shotgun on a motor scooter through the desert scrub) being a visit to the glorious beach at Pilon de Azucar.

Then, at five the next morning, it was time to catch a ride a few more hours north, deeper into the desert...


...until we reached the extremely isolated Wayuu community of Bahia Honditas, where there is a well-oiled tourism machine for getting a dozen or two people/day out here to stay/sleep in hammocks...

...and see the local sights. Which are amazing. First of all, there is Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of the South American continent. An appropriately wind-swept and remote-feeling place, though we were very clearly NOT the first intrepid travelers to pass this way.

Then there was the beach at Taroa dunes. I have never seen anything like it: this massive dune sweeping straight down into a green sea. Could have stayed way longer than we did.

These local (?) kids pushing--with great effort--a bike through the sand gave me a "Where are they coming from and going to?" followed by a "Who thought this was a good idea?" one-two punch. Then I saw them riding the bike down the dune and it all made more sense, though still didn't seem quite worth the effort.

There's also a colony of wild pink flamingoes in the Bahia Honditas area, and we took a boat trip out to several parts of the coastline and lagoon, hiking over the top of one small island but finding no flamingoes on the other side.

Eventually we did find them, though they weren't close enough for any pictures worth posting. Seeing them take flight was an amazing, beautiful sight, though.

And stopping on another beach for sunset afforded it's own beauties.

The next morning I found myself awake at 5am so decided to take a walk outside the tourist compound to watch the sunrise...

...and see some of the local dwellings and people started stirring for another day.

These vultures were at sharp attention for whatever the harsh life up here would offer them today.

And I was just basically overwhelmed by the beauty of this stark landscape and its colors and so grateful that we made it all the way up here. And now, nowhere to go but south!

Minca

A bit farther east along the Colombian coast, and then a half-hour inland from Santa Marta--which means steeply uphill into the Sierra Nevada mountains--there's a lovely little town called Minca. It's become a backpacker haven thanks to lots of local waterfalls, coffee and cocoa plantations, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, temperatures a good ten degrees cooler than down on the coast. So we stayed for a couple nights. This involved lots of food, daily mocha frappuchinos that left me crazy wired on sugar and caffeine...

...enjoying the quiet loveliness of the town...

...and a hike to a waterfall that was really lovely to swim in and wash off the sweat from the walking.

Beautiful!

Cartagena

Had a too-brief visit (partly because our time is limited, partly because it's so dang hot here we didn't want to linger) to Colombia's Caribbean coastal port and walled city of Cartagena. There is some serious history here--reminders of Spanish colonialism and the era of slave trade abound. These days, though, it's pretty easy to wander in simple appreciation of the beauty of the place and charm of the old town and city walls (as long as you don't forget to bring a towel to mop up the prolific sweat you will be sporting along the way).

I particularly loved the graffiti found pretty much everywhere, which was more art than vandalism.

And the narrow streets made for pretty pictures, aside from their intended purpose of providing the maximum amount of shade--which I also very much appreciated.

Our tour of town was actually a mini-party, as SR and I stayed with a very kind, enthusiastic Airbnb host who spent an entire afternoon/evening giving us a tour, and along the way we ran into a friend of his who joined the adventure. Good times!

Landing in Colombia / Continent #7!

Our San Blas boat trip ended in the isolated Colombian Caribbean coastal town of Sapzurro. Stepping foot onto solid ground there was a momentous occasion for me, as it meant that I've officially been to all seven continents. Woot! (There are pictures, but I'd just gotten off the second of two bumpy and wet boat rides and I look like a drowned rat, so I'll spare you.)

First order of business in Colombia: peanut ice cream! (Much better than it sounds.)

It's Easter Week in a very Catholic country, and Sapzurro as well as nearby Capurgana--where we planted for a couple of nights to regroup after the boat trip--were overrun with more vacationing Colombians than there could possibly be room for in these sleepy little towns. It was crazy to see so many people after our four days of boating through such quiet islands.

Our arrival involved an extended wait at an immigration office that reminded me in its tone and length of my Africa days.

But once that business was taken care of, we got to enjoy the area, in particular a hike from Capurgana over a high hill ridge back to Sapzurro, along the way enjoying this very helpful picture of our process...

...and an amazing breeze at the top of the ridge, where we could look ahead to Sapzurro...

...as well as behind us to where we started in Capurgana.

Sweet little corner of Sapzurro:

Then we climbed a smaller ridge, the top of which was just wide enough for this little immigration hut and the flags marking the border between Panama and Colombia. Such a little spot that has such big significance: in this picture, I've got my right foot on one continent (Panama/North America) and my left on another (Colombia/South America)! So fun.

By that time we were insanely overheated and sweaty so enjoyed a cooling dip in the ocean at the beach in La Miel, just across the border in Panama...

...before walking back up over the border to return to Sapzurro and then catch a boat the rest of the way back to Capurgana.

From here, we're leaving the Darien to head farther into Colombia. Next stop: Cartagena!

San Blas / Guna Yala

This trip has been planned for the most part in order to get me to South America (my 7th & final continent!) before I turn 40 next month. I've been hearing amazing things about Colombia since it's now safe for international travelers, AND I've long had my eye on a Panamanian island group called the San Blas. And THEN (isn't this exciting?) learned that there are organized boat trips running from Panama to Colombia via the San Blas. Too perfect.

So in the wee hours of the morning after our last day in Panama City, we joined a group of 25 for the 4WD ride across Panama to Carti (technically passing into the beginning of the forbidding, impassable jungle of the Darien Gap) and set out on our four-day voyage through the San Blas to Colombia. The first island we stopped at (for lunch on the first day) looked like this:

And no, I'm not kidding with this. It just kept going like that. Pristine white sands, amazing blue waters, paradise islands everywhere.

Each day we traveled 2-3 hours further south in fiberglass boats among waves that left us all pretty sopping wet and perhaps in need of a chiropractor...but it was still kind of fun, especially since sea sickness didn't haunt me. On the first night we stayed on this island...

...and slept (surprisingly well) in hammocks.

The two following nights we also slept in hammocks, but in island villages of the indigenous Guna tribe, which is a totally fascinating, strong, independent culture that I knew nothing about before this and loved learning about.

A toilet, islands-style; they just build a platform over the water and your stuff drops straight down. The fish take care of the cleaning up!

One of the two boats our group of 25 rode in.

SUCH a cool experience!

Next stop: Colombia!!!