Trip Overview (Author: J)
(Photo: Cartagena)
This is a belated trip report for our March 10-19 trip to Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. I will do a day-by-day report of the trip. But I have learned that starting with a summary is the way to go, given how long it takes me to write up each trip.
About the Trip
We first considered a trip to Colombia in 2021 because it was one of the few South American countries open to international travel at that time. We ultimately decided to visit Ecuador instead, which turned out to be a good choice because Colombia went into a lockdown during the time we would have visited. D was really enamored with the videos of Cartagena we watched when planning our 2021 trip and selected it as our spring break destination this year. (Spring break for two forty-somethings? Why yes. I was fortunate to make a career change last year and I am now a law professor – a job with benefits that include taking spring break along with hordes of college students).
I planned an itinerary that combined Cartagena with some nearby locations that would allow ample relaxation and monkeys. I booked the Cartagena portion of the trip myself and used Wild About Colombia, a wildlife tour company, to arrange the rest of the trip. This was my first time using this type of service; I did so because I had trouble finding English language information about tour guides and drivers. Using Wild About Colombia was significantly more expensive than booking on our own, but it did result in a seamless travel experience. They did a really nice job of carrying out my vague directive to combine monkeys and relaxation.
(Photo: views from San Lorenzo Ridge)
Our itinerary was:
- March 10 – JetBlue flight from Boston to Cartagena with layover at JFK; stay at Hotel Bantu, Cartagena
- March 11 & 12 – explore Cartagena (staying at Hotel Bantu)
- March 13 – transfer to Casa Tayrona los Naranjos
- March 14 – Tayrona National Park
- March 15– tubing on Don Diego river
- March 16 – transfer to El Dorado Lodge at Pro Aves Reserve
- March 17 – birdwatching at reserve
- March 18 – transfer back to Cartagena; stay at Hilton Bocagrande
- March 19 – JetBlue flight to NY; drive to Boston (because JetBlue cancelled our connecting flight, as will be complained about later in report).
(Photo: Sunset Los Naranjos)
General Impressions
Overall, we enjoyed Colombia and would recommend it. My favorite location was Los Naranjos. It was as beautiful and relaxing a place as I have been. Cartagena was quite charming with some excellent food choices. El Dorado Lodge was also lovely, although I think it is of limited interest to anyone who isn’t a hardcore birder.
- Food – Food was generally very good to excellent (though it requires research to find good places in Cartagena). P and I are vegetarians and we found lots of tasty meals that used produce in creative ways. I read a lot about how expensive the food in Cartagena was before our trip. While that may be true compared to other places in Colombia, the prices are a bargain when compared to US prices. For example, we paid between $70 and $80 US for fancy multicourse meals for three with cocktails for the adults. The same meal in the US would set us back more than twice that.
- Safety – Every write up of a Colombia vacation must touch on safety. And every mention of safety must include the following two things. First, your risk of running into members of the FARC is now pretty low. So, take comfort in knowing that if you are mugged, it is unlikely to be by a member of an organized guerilla group. Second, you should not “dar papaya.” This is Spanish for don’t give papaya. This is good advice; papaya is delicious. If I am in a place that has good papaya, I don’t share. But why are you relying on my advice about safety in Colombia? I spent a total of 10 days in Colombia and was not mugged, pickpocketed, or otherwise bothered during that time. That is the sum total of my knowledge on this subject.
- Vendors, Beggars, Rappers and Touts of all Kinds – Lots of people will try to sell you stuff in Cartagena. It did not bother us as much as I thought it might. We found that saying no and continuing to walk was effective. I will note that I have the type of face that has people constantly asking me, “What’s wrong? Are you angry about something?” Your mileage may vary.
- Money – We found that credit cards were widely accepted at higher end restaurants and shops and that cash was preferred elsewhere. We did not bring Colombian pesos with us and instead used ATMs to get cash as needed. We did have problems with our ATM card as I will discuss in more detail, but I was able to use credit card cash advances as a workaround. (Note that if you pay the advances off in full when they post to your account, you will not incur interest. You will still need to pay the cash advance fee).
Travel Monkeys 