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.