Cartagena & The End of Our Trip

We returned to the mainland Colombia after a wonderful three days on Isla Mucura and walked from the dock to our boutique hotel, Casa Pizarro, in the Getsemani section of historic district.  This is one of the nicest hotels of our trip--hot water, air conditioning, private garden area with hot tub for two, swimming pool, rooftop lounge and great location.  We could walk easily to the walled, old colonial center and to Castle San Felipe in the opposite direction as well.  We spent the first two days walking through and exploring the beautifully preserved small streets and buildings.  Cars and motorcycles are restricted in this area, so pedestrians fill the streets and traffic noise (smells) is much diminished.

There are many cute little shops, ice cream places, restaurants, and bars all confined within the 40 foot thick city walls.    The streets are magical with colonial architecture, flowers and plants, balconies--such a charming mixture in this warm, humid location.  Cartagena is an island.  A wall was built around it to protect its inhabitants from pirates and other nation's navies.  When the population outgrew the original city walls, another island (Getsemani) was added to the city and a second wall was erected.  This is Kathy's favorite city.  Medellín remains Roger's fav.

We also spent a morning exploring a fort built on a hill inland from the walled city.  The fort was built to defend the entrance to the city.  It had great tunnels in the walls to move supplies and soldiers, batteries for the cannons, a hospital and rooms for the men.  It is considered one of the largest forts built by the Spanish in the New World.

We also spent one day in a cooking class.  We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the main public market in Cartagena.  We wandered through the aisles, amazed at the enormous variety of fruits and vegetables are grown in Colombia.  There were many fruits that we did not recognize.  But after six weeks in Colombia, we have tasted many that were previously unknown, such as lolu,  guanabana, mora, zapote--all of which we now have had as drinks in the morning.  Our "chef" Maria
shopped with us for the ingredients for our lunch.  We watched Fanny, the fish vendor, clean and trim

our fish.  Then we left the market for Maria's home.  We helped prepare stuffed tilapia, coconut rice, smashed, fried plantain, and a salad.  Our meal was served with Apple wine and fresh pineapple juice.  We ate with Maria, her son and a translator. Delicious!

We leave tomorrow morning for the States.  We would not mind staying here in Cartagena a few more weeks...studying Spanish, perhaps.  But our return ticket has been purchased and we have spent all our pennies.  We hope you have enjoyed following us on our trip this year.  Hopefully, this blog will encourage you to travel to Colombia yourself.  The landscapes are beautiful.  The people are friendly and happy.  And tourism is slowly developing.  Our experience has been a great one.

A street scene in Getsemani

The pool at our hotel

One of the tunnels at San Felipe Castle

An overview of Cartagena

Inside the Castle of San Felipe 

The Castle (fort) of San Felipe

A Little Fling

After 2 nights in Cartagena (Bocagrande), we hopped a boat to Isla Mucura for a tropical get-away.  We booked 3 nights at a lovely 34 room resort on the tiny island.  The resort encompassed almost half of the island.  It was about as idyllic a tropical paradise as we could imagine.  White sand beaches, crystal clear turquoise water, tropical fish swarming around our legs.  Lush vegetation, thatched roof buildings.  And 3 wonderful meals each day.  But why try to describe it when we have a few pictures.

The beach was beautiful and water temperatures perfect for walking right into the ocean. 

The buildings were constructed of all natural materials and seemed to fit into the environment.  Our. room was lovely with a king bed, tv, and cool shower.  Due to the limited fresh water on the island, only a few of the rooms offer hot water.  You really did not need it to be comfortable.

Dinners were served on the lawn with tables lit by candles.  Food was outstanding.  

Both of us gained weight.

We spent our days biking, swimming, reading, learning about the desalination and electrical generation facilities and getting a massage.  We did not have time for the boat tours, kayaking, diving and other activities available?  Such luxury!

We sadly left this morning to return to a little boutique hotel in Cartagena.  We were surprised at how nice our new place is.  It kind of softened the blow at having to leave Isla Mucura.  

From Palomino to Cartagena

We spent 4 nights in Palomino, using the days to walk the beaches, tube down the Palomino River, and to explore the little towns in the area.

We left Palomino early on our fifth day so that we would have time to hike in Tayrona National Park. The park protects tropical rain forest along the coast between Palomino and Taganga.  We hiked in for two hour, climbing steep trails and then following a boardwalk to the beach.  Gorgeous granite boulders the size of small houses peppered the trails and beaches.  It is a beautiful park.  We shared the walk with hundreds of others, but there seemed to be plenty of space on the beaches and on the trails for everyone.  A very good day.  That night, we stayed at a hostal near the park entrance.

When we arrived in Santa Marta from Medellín five days ago, we rented a small car.  Roger drove the hundred miles north to Palomino and back (about 4 hours of driving), and also gave us our tours of the small communities around Palomino and the Park.  It was quite a challenge with the narrow, two lane roads chock full of motos (motorcycles), trucks, buses, bicycles, horse carts, pedestrians and the occasional other private car.  No one stops at stop signs.  Vehicles pass over double lines, around corners and cresting hills.  It is seriously crazy.  Speed limits are just suggestions.  We were happy to turn the car into the rental desk when we returned to the airport in Santa Marta.

From the airport, we took a taxi to a bus stop and grabbed the next bus to Cartagena--about 5 hours away.  The bus terminal in Cartagena was a long way from our hotel.  So we got a taxi.  It was a difficult, trafficky trip from the terminal to our hotel with our cranky driver.  But we arrived safely and settled in to our room.  Later that evening, we walked along the beach.  It is quite humid here and in the 80s.  This is quite a change from Palomino.  Very touristy...and expensive.

Our hotel

The bay

The Caribbean

Ahh, the Beach!

Our room, part of a two story, thatched roofed cottage.  There are 4 such cottages on the property, with two families in each (one upstairs and one downstairs).  There is a swimming pool on the premises, a bar (which serves very nice piñata coladas) and a restaurant.  We are absolutely loving it!

Here is Roger in the hammock outside our front door.

The beach to the left of our boutique hotel.

And again, here is Roger, with a place for Kathy, watching the waves crash on the beach.  We did get into a vertical position for the walk into Palomino earlier today.  We trekked down the beach for an hour or so, then we waded across the Palomino River where it enters the ocean.  Wading may not be the best word, since the water was up to our necks.  But we made it across, hiked up a dirt road into town, explored the Main Street, then reversed our steps back to the hotel.  Currently enjoying a piñata colada on our porch...waiting for dinner.  Life could be worse.

Manizales, Medellín and Finally to the Beach!

We spent the next two days exploring Manizales on foot and by bus.  It is a large city (400,000) and we just touched the surface.  Highlights included:
1. Coffee (flat whites) at the cooperative Juan Valdez Cafe, a chain of coffee houses like Starbucks that are supposed to benefit the coffee growers,
2. A walk about in a fancy mall,
3. Exploration of the historic district with a unique concrete cathedral
4. Dinner at a 50s restaurant
Then we took a harrowing, early morning taxi ride to the main bus terminal for the trip to Medellín.  Our driver set a new speed record on curvy, steep downhill, narrow roads -- and we had not even mentioned being in a hurry.  Not stopping at stop signs, passing in the face of oncoming traffic and demanding the center of the road are all the norm here.  All that said, we made it safely to the terminal and caught a bus that was leaving immediately.

The road between Manizales and Medellín has been described as one of the prettiest routes in Colombia.  It did not disappoint. Lovely cloud forest, coffee and banana plantations, rivers, little towns...all beautiful and bucolic after 4 days in the city.

We arrived in Medellín about 5 hours later and took a taxi directly to our hotel in the Poblado district.  Medellín is enormous, about 4 million...about the size of L.A....and in a valley surrounded by mountains.  The Poblado district, however, is small and manageable with its tree-lined streets, many restaurants and shops.  We had planned to take a "free" city tour the next day (as we did in Bogota), but we were concerned about making the tour early in the morning, so we opted to explore on our own.

The top trip advisor recommendation for Medellín is to take a ride on the metro cable.  So that is what we did.  We took a bus to the metro station, hopped on the light rail train (really nice, new and safe--better than BART in the Bay Area), rode it to the Cable Station and then hopped on a gondola and rode it up the side of the mountain, passing over neighborhoods that defied gravity as they clung to the side of the mountain.  San Francisco needs one of these systems to help walkers up and down its hills.  When we got to the top of this hair raising journey, Roger wanted more.  So we took another gondola ride to the top of the mountain and into Arvi park, a national forest park at the top.  Once there, we grabbed a guided 3 hour tour, the only way people are allowed to explore the park.  There was a viewpoint of the entire Medellín valley, and a part of the walk was on an ancient colonial road paved with stones.  Pablo Escobar used this road to bring weapons into Medellín.

The next day we took the metro downtown to the Museo Antioquia which has an eclectic mix of Colombian art.  Most stunning was a collection of Botero's art and his personal collection by other artists.  Another room had a collection of personal effects encased in resin (about 1 foot square) of victims of the violence that has smothered this country for so many years.  The cases with the effects of babies or children were the most heart wrenching.  

After the museum, we visited the botanical gardens and the butterfly house.  A great day of exploring the city by metro.  Our first night in town, we had Colombian pizza--not bad.  The next night wake had a vegetarian meal of rice, stir fried veggies, salad, and yucca with guacamole.  It was served with an horchada type drink.

We had only two full days in Medellín.  While it is a gorgeous and interesting city, clean, lots of trees, surrounded by mountains, we had had enough of cities.  On Monday, we caught a taxi to the airport--about 45 minutes away, over a mountain range and in the next valley--for Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast.

More of the Coffee Country - Salento to Manizales

After a week in Salento, we were ready for more adventure.

Filandia

We took a Willy's Jeep ride to Filandia, about 40 minutes away.  We had heard that it was a more "authentic," less touristy small town.  Indeed that was true.  We found a hostel near the main square, explored town, and found a restaurant serving (overpriced) paella.  As with all our other experiences in Colombia, the people in this pueblo were very friendly and warm to us. 

The next morning, we caught a bus to Pereira with the express purpose of visiting the nearby hot springs in Santa Rosa.  Upon arrival at the Pereira bus terminal, we checked our luggage and caught a bus to Santa Rosa.  As we stepped off the bus, a young Colombian couple invited us to share a taxi up to the hot springs.  They refused to let us pay our share of the taxi ride.  We will have to pay that forward.   The hot springs are a UNESCO heritage site.  They eminate from a hillside next to a

beautiful waterfall.  There are 3 large pools and you could swim under the waterfall itself.  The setting is exquisitely beautiful.  But it was a mite crowded.  We were joined by hundreds of others, primarily Colombians on vacation.  It was a holiday weekend.  The pools were so full of people that it was difficult to find a place to squeeze in.  After soaking for an hour or so, it started to rain, thunder and lightening.  We stayed in the water for awhile, but finally decided to leave.  

We caught an unusual bus back to Santa Rosa.  Roger has pictures on his camera...but we are unable to add them to the iPad photos.  The bus was gaily painted and had six rows of benches each holding about 6 people.  It's width made it difficult for it to negotiate the narrow road with oncoming traffic.  It was fun, though.  Despite the continuing rain, we immediately caught a return bus to Pereira...claimed our luggage and grabbed a taxi to our hotel, the Don Alfonso.  This is a lovely old home with 11 rooms surrounding a courtyard and a truly gracious host, Jorge. 

After a good dinner at a nearby restaurant, we settled in for a great night's sleep.  The next day, we returned to the bus terminal for the trip to Manizales, the next town in our coffee region exploration. The countryside between Pereira and Manizales is  mountainous with cloud forests and coffee plantations.  

Upon arrival at the bus terminal in Manizales, we boarded an aerial tram to the center of town...I did mention that the area is mountainous and steep...even in town. We  packed into a gondola with 4 Colombian women and 2 kids, all of whom were eager to learn about us.  Such a fun conversation with our broken Spanish.  After leaving the tram, we caught a taxi to our 6 room boutique hotel (Hotel Belen).  We settled in and then took a walk to find a restaurant for dinner.  We ended up at a French bistro, owned by a Frenchman who had lived in New Zealand for several years (so we could share stories) and now lives in Colombia.  The food was so-so, but the conversation was great.  The next day we set out on another coffee plantation tour.  

We were picked up in town by a van and driven to Hacienda Venecia.  This time, we learned how a large plantation works.  I've always laughed a little when the ad shows Juan Valdez and his donkey, and claims that the coffee beans are picked "one by one."  How is that even possible when we all drink so much coffee?  But in fact, coffee in mountainous coffee growing region IS picked by hand.  About every 20 days throughout the year,  the ripe cherries are removed from the branches.  The process from cherry to green beans (ready to roast) is extremely complicated and labor-intensive.  Packers earn only $2-$3/day for a full day of hard labor.  Both of us have gained a lot of  respect for the cup of coffee we drink.  We will no longer take it for granted.  

Green beans ready for export and roasting  (top), parchment beans (easy to store before the "parchment" is removed to create green bean ) (right), dried cherries (left) and just picked cherries (bottom) 

Ripe red cherries and un ripe (green and yellow) on a coffee plant. 

Part of Hacienda Venecia's 500 acres

More Adventures in Salento

After a day relaxing in town and tuning up our Spanish, we spent the last two days on adventures.

Adventure 1: We had learned from Trip Advisor about a nearby private Andean cloud forest nature reserve, so we arranged for an English-speaking tour (our Spanish is improving, but we get a lot more out of a tour in English).  We hiked 1-1/2 miles out of town on a dirt road and met Carlos at the entrance to the reserve.  Nine other visitors joined us.

Carlos is absolutely passionate about his land--we estimate about 35 acres-- of Andean cloud forest.  About half of his steeply sloped land has not been altered.  It has the original vegetation.  Other than researchers, no one is allowed to enter.  The remainder of the land had been a coffee plantation.  Carlos and Nicolas are allowing this part of their property to return to its natural state, using their knowledge of forest succession.  They built a structure for guests where the original farmhouse was, as well as a few other geodesic structures on stilts in natural clearings (so as not to remove trees and other vegetation).  They capture spring and rain water for drinking, bathing and cooking, and purify waste water on site, returning it to the land.

We walked the property on trails for about 3 hours. We were impressed with Carlos' knowledge of the cloud forest, how it works and how everything is connected.  He senses a change in climate during the 10 years he has owned the property.  The property is part of a system of private reserves now encouraged by the Colombian government.  It would be a great idea to incorporate in the States.  This was the highlight of our trip to Salento.

Adventure 2:  Yesterday, we hopped a Willy's jeep (the local form of transportation) along with 10 other people and a driver for the 20 minute ride into the valley of cocora.  Admittedly 2 of the people
were standing on the bumper and holding onto the roof frame.  The valley is the number 1
recommendation in the area on Trip Advisor.  The valley of cocora is famous for the wax palm, the
tallest palms in the world...up to 200 feet...and the intact cloud forest. We arrived before 10 a.m. with the intention of returning to Salento before the daily 2 p.m. rainstorm. With the help of two cute 20-somethings, found the start of the trail.  (Colombians are not the best at signage.)  We walked up and up and up for the next 1-1/2 hours.  Let me emphasize that there were no level or downhill stretches the entire time...only up.  Finally, we reached the "mountain house" which had a beautiful view of the cloud forest.  Then we started down a steep path into the cloud forest and along the river.  We passed a few of the people we had met on the coffee plantation and the nature reserve tours.  We crossed the river several times on rickety suspension bridges.

After leaving the forest, we passed through pastureland on a trail shared with horses.  This trail was muddy, full of rocks, and difficult to walk while avoiding the horses.  We made it back to the Willy's parking lot and caught a ride back to Salento with 11 others.  The young people find it adventurous to stand on the back bumper and hang onto the frame.  We have seen Willy's packed with 16, so we had a light load.  Willy's jeeps are such an integral part of rural Colombian culture that a "yipao"  (or jeep full) is a legitimate measure of agricultural goods.  As the Willy's entered Salento, the heavens opened up and a torrential downpour began.  We stood under cover for 15 minutes or so, grateful that we were not still on the trail.  When the rain subsided a bit, we walked back to our hotel.  Later that night, we walked to a restaurant for yet another delicious trout dinner.  They do serve other things here.  We are simply addicted to the trout dishes.  

Salento in the Zona Cafetera

Our last post was written in Villa de Leyva.  We loved Villa, but it wasn't as warm as Kathy needed.  So after a week in that area, we left on Dec. 30 by bus (this time a regular size bus without a bathroom) for the 3-1/2 hour trip back to Bogota.  Once there, we returned to the same boutique hotel (Hotel Santa Lucia) in Candelaria, had a wonderful dinner at El Gato Gris (The Grey Cat)--sitting on a tiny balcony for two overlooking a quaint and colorful alley (very romantic), and had a great night's sleep.

Early the next morning, we hopped a one hour flight to Pereira  in the coffee growing area.  Pereira is a city of 450,000 plus, so we immediately grabbed a taxi to Salento, the oldest town in the area with only 7,000 souls, an hour into the countryside.  This is holiday season in Colombia, so there are a few more people here now than usual.  Still, it has a small town feel. And our accommodations are outstanding!

Our room overlooks Valle de Cocora--a full wall of glass.

This is the breath -taking view that greets us each morning.  We have breakfast on a terrace just below our room, sharing this view with fellow travelers.

The only picture I have on the iPad of downtown.

 The first two days, we prowled the streets, just to get to know the town.  The specialty here is trout.  We have had two trout meals already.  Today we settled for chicken, rice and beans.  Everyone is  very festive since it was New Years Eve and then New Year's Day--lots of music, dancing and singing.  

Today, we took a tour of an organic  coffee plantation with 9 other English-speakers.  We trekked down a muddy, narrow road to Don Eduardo's Plantation, learned about the major types of coffee, tasted two of the types he grows, and learned a little about how the coffee industry works in Colombia. Interestingly, Brazil produces most of the world's coffee.  Colombia is the 4th largest producer.  Another wonderful day.  

Oh, I forgot to say that we are now enjoying temperatures in the 70s with some humidity.  We can wear chaos and short-sleeve shirts. Obviously, we are muy contentos (very content).