1. Explore inside the city walls of Cartagena's Old Town.
One of the oldest cities in the Americas, Cartagena was founded in 1533 and its city walls still stand, enclosing what looks like a beautiful (usually termed "romantic", little use I'll have of that while there!) old town on the city's peninsula. The Spanish founded the city - though its location had been inhabited by indigenous people for centuries prior - and erected the walls to keep out invading Englishmen (read: pirates). Cartagena was Spain's main link to the goldfields of South America, and as such ships departing Cartagena were perfect pirate fodder. The city, however, could not be overrun by the English owing to the perfect construction of the city walls, and so gold could be stored within the city until an armada was able to safely scurry the gold across the Atlantic. Anyway, stoked to ramble around the city and beach and snap lots of pictures. 2. Taganga
Just past the bustling city of Santa Marta, further up along the Caribbean coast, sits the small fishing/beach village of Taganga. It's apparently a backpacker haven, though according to Hostelworld's hostel reviews, none of its lodgings are especially good, so I may stay at one ranked highly in Santa Marta. The plan at this point is to do my SCUBA certification dive there, and spend a day in the water making like a fish. Of course, that will require me to find the time in the States to do the proper coursework beforehand, which I am sorely in need of scheduling on one of my off weekends.
The diving is not world class, but the water is certainly clear enough for what I'll be attempting
Sort of reminds me of my ex's parents winter home location in Chacala, Mexico along the Pacific Coast - mountains right up to the curvature of a small bay dotted with fishing boats, though Chacala was completely off the beaten path of backpackers and independent travelers and hopefully remains so today!
3. Exploring Tayrona National Park
About an hour taxi ride from Santa Marta is this wondrous looking place, full of beautiful coves and beaches with hammocks galore.
The adventure is partly in getting there. After taking the taxi to the drop-off point, you have to catch a bus to the first beach, then start walking...and after about 3-4 hours of hiking, you reach beachfront lodging.
The park is also full of howler and titi monkeys, lizards, snakes, thousands of types of bird, and other wildlife. I'm especially looking forward to having a chance to seeing monkeys in the wild!
4. San Gil
After my time along the Caribbean coast, my plan is to take an overnight bus from Santa Marta to San Gil, deep in the mountains of central Colombia. San Gil is known as the adventure capital of Colombia, and is chock-full of highly rated hostels that will help you plan and book adventurous outing in the area. Some of these include:
Caving, with underground rivers and waterfalls to explore. One of the tours even claims that at one point, everyone turns their lights out and under pitch darkness, a blind jump into an underground grotto is an option. Plus, underground waterfalls. Sounds fun.
Rafting. San Gil has access to class 3-4 rapids, which I've never attempted before but certainly plan to!
Paragliding. Never done this, either, but if the weather conditions cooperate, I think I'll give it a go!
Mountain biking. Never really done this, like this, either. Bring you to the top of the mountain and let you bike down a thousand meters or so of elevation. I'm in!
Swimming in waterfall pools/absailing. There are a lot of waterfalls in the area, some perfect for swimming in their pools, and one which gives you the option to rappel down the waterfall, like the guy in red.
Exploring Parque Gallineral. The central park in San Gil is a nature preserve full of hanging vines and gushing streams, beer vendors and snack shops, and is a definite must.
Eat hormigas. Chocolate covered ants are a specialty in this part of Colombia, so when in Rome...
Barichara. A perfectly preserved colonial town set in the mountains just outside San Gil, the entire city has been declared a historic site by the Colombian government.
5. Bogota
The 3rd largest city in South America, and 5th largest on the American continent, Bogota was not too long ago a pretty unsafe and unpopular destination for tourists of any sort. That's changed a lot in the past 10 years, and now offers up such delights as the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), described as a must-see; Andres des Carnes, a steakhouse-cum-nightclub that every blog seems to rave about; and a few quaint cobblestone neighborhoods ripe for rambling. I'm excited to compare Bogota to Mexico City, my other experience in a Latin American megacity.
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