Winging our way to the Caribbean coast

Having been seduced by the sunshine in Mancora we decided that instead of making our way through Colombia via bus, we were going to get to Cali and then fly north. We counted on the last night bus we took and our tally was sitting at 12 night buses so far so we were happy to leave it at that. Instead, we had booked in some $150 flights with Avianca leaving at 5:30pm which gave us half a day more to explore Cali. We didn't end up doing any more sight seeing though as the day got away on us a bit and so ended up just going to lunch at the same spot as the previous day, this time with the Colombian and French couple who worked at our hostel. They gave us a lot of tips of where to stay and what to do up on the coast as they had been there a few months previous so we were happy about that as current tips are always so appreciated.

At 3:30pm we said farewell to our lovely hostel and headed out to the airport. It was a nice change to be in an airport knowing we were cutting out days worth of travel with a one hour plane trip. We were sad to be missing out on Medellin of course but being able to spend our last two weeks at the beach before New York was pretty appealing. We definitely are beach people over big city people. 

As soon as we stepped off the plane at Cartagena it was like diving into a thick hot soup. The air was so hot and thick with humidity, even still at 7 at night so we definitely knew we were really in the tropics now. For Jimmy it's not very comfortable with his mass of bodily hair and high body temperature he has, but still, we knew this meant lots of sun and beach time, exactly what we came for!

Our hostel, El Viajero was the biggest we had stayed in so far and due to the horrendously expensive prices of private rooms, it was our first dormitory stay in our whole trip thus far. We did get "upgraded" to an 8 bed dorm with an ensuite for a 10% discount at least so it wasn't all bad, even if it still cost us as much as it would back home for a hostel - and about half our daily budget for Colombia. After chatting to a Belgian guy at the hostel bar (who invited us to dinner at his house with he and his wife the following night... a tad forward for our liking), he recommended a great pizza place in a plaza 10 minutes walk away so we thought we would give it a whirl. It turned out to be a winner with nice thin crusts and a very vibrant feel to the plaza. 

As our pizza was served to us some kids came up to do a freestyle beatbox and rap duo and so of course Jim couldn't resist joining in for the beatboxing. They weren't quite sure if he was trying to show them up or not but kept it going and were happy to still receive some cash from us in their hat once they finished up. Colombia was definitely giving us a very different vibe to the rest of South America we had seen so far. Not only were there a lot more African Americans but also their style seemed a lot more Americanized, I guess given the much closer proximity to North America and the fact we were in Colombia's version of the Gold Coast. 

In the morning we made a beeline for the beach to try and cool down from the suffocating heat. Once our taxi arrived at the playa we knew our suspicions that Cartagena wasn't for us were confirmed. Sky rises lined the beach and hawkers trying to sell shade, massages, hats, jewelery, ceviche, crabs or drinks were harassing you every 30 seconds for a sale. It's hard to keep saying "no gracias" politely for the third time to the same person! The water was amazing though with bath like temperatures. You could stay in there all day and not get cold I swear.

It was back to the hostel to check out by 11 and then we wandered the beautiful colourful streets in search of a decent lunch spot. And a decent spot we found too, a cevicheria with a taste of home being the daily special, red snapper. That, with some of the hottest hot sauce we have ever had, and a smoked eggplant salad were excellent choices. Accompanied with beer (or a michelada in my case) of course!

After lunch the rain had started (it is meant to be the dryish patch in the middle of the wet season here) so we decided to book in a cab rather than attempt to bus to our next stop, La Bouqilla. We had been recommended to stay there by the couple from the hostel in Cali as they said it was far less crazy than Cartagena. It turned out to only be about 7km from town so wasn't exactly an Ayampe like we expected but the rooms at the 'Camping Hotel' had aircon and a tv, not to mention were a whole lot cheaper than the city so we decided to go with it and use it as our base for a few nights.

An afternoon on the beach swimming and sunbathing followed by a sunset walk was a lovely way to spend our afternoon. Especially enjoying the lack of hawkers at this end of the beach, even if the water and sand were a little grey. Next stop is Playa Blanca though which promises white sands and blue waters so bring it on I say!