The Caribbean Coast of Colombia

We spent the first part of our time in Colombia on the Northern Caribbean Coast relaxing on the beaches and enjoying the night life. Despite it currently being rainy season, we still found some sun and got to rekindle some travelling friendships, partying into the night.

Familiar faces in Cartagena

Our first destination in Colombia was Cartagena. Cartagena is host to the UNESCO-listed walled city and was filled with bright and colourful buildings and people.

Despite a bit of rain during our time (currently rainy season), we spent most of our time just wandering the streets and eating the street food. The buildings were incredibly bright and colourful and there was always a lot going on. Once the sun went down though, the city really came to life. The streets were packed, there were often people dancing in the squares and everyone was out and about enjoying the local cuisine.

We ended up extending a night in Cartagena in the hope that I could recover a bit more (still battling ongoing gastro issues for 2+ weeks now). The recovery was okay and the extra night didn't do too much for me, but it did mean we got to overlap with our hometown heroes Kenzie and Lucas. Kenzie and Lucas left NZ back in December 2024 and have been travelling South America for the last 6-months. We have taken a lot of inspiration from their travels and borrowed a lot of ideas and advice along the way so it was great to finally catch up. We sourced some arepas from a street vendor and washed it back with gelato.

Sleeping in hammocks in Minca

We took a 5-hour bus east along the Caribbean coast and then inland to the small town of Minca tucked away in the mountains. Looking back on it, Minca was one of our favourite stops along the coast. It was nice to get out of the big city and the town was very intimate, sleepy and hosted beautiful views.

We stayed at a hostel atop the hill which required a 15min walk up a narrow pathway from the town centre, but had incredibly beautiful views. We slept in hammocks, which actually turned out to be very comfortable once you figured out your balance and body positioning. Just like a cocoon.

We went to a Mexican restaurant that came highly recommended to us from Bella and Toby as "the best Mexican they've had" two nights in a row. We agreed; the Mexican was "banging" (as Toby would say), but we reserve our final judgement until after our time in Mexico City.

We spent a day walking to the local waterfalls which were 'highly recommended' and had 'stunning crystal clear water' to swim in. After 90min walking in incredible humid heat and rain, we arrived to very underwhelming waterfalls and brown water. Nonetheless, we took a dip to relieve ourselves from the humidity. It was good to our bodies moving again after a lot of travel and sedentary time.

We also bumped into three Kiwis at a cafe in town; Lys, Leah and Bridget. In classic Kiwi fashion, we quickly established our mutual friends and shared in some Kiwi humour, banter and counselling of various South American travel woes and icks.

Beach time on the Caribbean coast

We left Minca behind and headed further east along the Caribbean coast eager to spend some time relaxing on the highly anticipated beaches and finally get our tan on. We spent a few days in the beachside town of Palomino before hopping our way back along the coast staying at another hostel and partying at the infamous El Rio hostel.

Ironically, our tanning and beach time was nonexistent due to the rainy season. During entire time in Palomino it poured with torrential rain, so we never even really ventured from the hostel. Laura spent her time teaching herself the Rubix cube, which is now her favourite hobby. We also met some fun Irish folk.

Sunday nights on the Caribbean coast of Colombia are party nights. With little partying recently, we took it upon ourselves to head along to the infamous El Rio hostel Sunday-night rave. After hoping aboard moto-taxis and racing through the night along the main road and down bumpy 4WD tracks, we arrived at the El Rio party, tucked away off the beaten track; next to a river and into the jungle. This turned out to be a really fun night, and we got to hang out with a bunch of people we had met on our travels in various countries, including Jo and Sophie who we climbed Huayna Potosi with in Bolivia!

Story time: top-bunk antics in Palomino

Our first night in Palomino was very eventful. After getting back from a local bar about 2am, we were woken about 430am with a loud crashing sound in our dorm room. After finding the light switch, we came across two naked tangled bodies lying on the dorm-room floor (we reserve judgement as to what they were up to).

Turns out they had fallen from the top bunk above me and crashed hard down onto the tiled surface. Both still incredibly drunk, they were quite disorientated and in a lot of pain. I quickly noticed the guy had broken his collarbone, with the bone looking like it was about to pierce his skin. The girl was in a lot of pain, complaining especially about her hip. Both had lacerations to their heads and were clearly concussed.

We called upon the hostel staff who insisted on getting a tuk tuk. However, we persisted in getting an ambulance. It took over 4-hours for the ambulance to finally arrive, during which time the sorry-souls had to remain on the dorm-room floor. They were finally loaded into the ambulance after 930am.

We later found out that the guy did indeed break his collarbone and that the girl fractured her hip. Both had concussions and were being monitored for head trauma. A quick way to end their trips.

Finally - sun in Tayrona National Park

In the hopes of finally finding the sun and escaping the rain, we headed into the Tayrona National Park to spend a couple of nights in the hammocks. We did indeed find the sun, and our time in the national park was bliss. The Colombian government strictly control entry into the national park, so there was no rubbish, few vendors, no car noise or traffic and lovely golden beaches and warm water to swim in. We even got to finally use our vaccine passports (which Laura of course, forgot)! Proving that we did indeed have the yellow fever vaccine to permit our entry.

We did nothing more than lounge on the beach during our time in Tayrona, trying to get a head start on our tans for the upcoming Euro-summer. We regrouped with fellow Kiwis who we met in Minca; Lys, Leah and Bridget.

We also managed to stumble across an awesome bakery that served freshly baked bread filled with whatever you wish. We indulged in plenty of ham and cheese and chocolate hot bread rolls.

Feeling relaxed and slightly more tanned, we left the Caribbean coast behind us and started our journey south through the rest of Colombia. This entailed our longest night bus yet of 19-hours from Santa Marta to Medellin.