Mom and Dad called up one day and said that they were ready to book tickets. We’d been talking about them visiting us again in South America for some time. My Dad is not a very particular guy, but he wanted warm saltwater. Warm saltwater was what we’d heard every time we talked about their visit. For warm saltwater in Colombia you go to the Caribbean coast. They wanted a laid back experience and not interested in too much moving around. With that in mind, we decided that we would split our time between Santa Marta and Cartagena.
We spent 9 nights in an AirBnB apartment about 20 min south of Santa Marta. Far enough to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city and able to enjoy a quiet beach, but close enough to enjoy the amenities of a city. We also had access to the mountain town of Minca and the quintessentially Caribbean beaches around Tayrona National Park. Then we spent 5 nights in Cartagena and got our city/historical experience.
Well, we had a blast with Mom and Dad. They, very kindly, treated us to nice and cool, AirBnB apartments with great views. It was a big change of pace for Alex and I. We both felt like we’d been running to get up to northern Colombia. This is to say nothing of sleeping in real beds, with AC and being able to actually walk to the kitchen.
In Santa Marta we spent about half our time enjoying what the Apartment/Hotel had to offer. A little swimming in the warm saltwater, a little swimming in the pool, a little walking on the beach, a little relaxing around the apartment cooking, reading and chatting. It was rough. The other days we took trips to see the sights.
We headed out to Palomino for our first adventure. This is a little beach village that doesn’t really know what hit it. Still very rustic with dirt streets. The place is full of backpackers looking to escape the crowds of day-trip beaches. We had a really nice lunch and a swim in the rough water. Before we left we snagged a few coconuts off the trees. I got to share the pleasures of fresh coconuts with my folks.
Another day we headed up to Minca. Located just 45 minutes outside of Santa Marta, Minca is a world of a difference from the dry landscape of the coast. The hillsides are covered in coffee plants and lush cloud forests. We checked out La Victoria, a coffee finca. We had a great tour, tasty coffee and lunch. The rough road out there was hard on everyone, but a good example of what traveling around Colombia might have been like 40 years ago.
Mom and Dad also got to experience something else that Colombia has to offer. Something they might not be so proud of, police corruption.
Check points are very common in Latin America. The police use them mostly to let the people know that they are present and out there looking for the bad guys. These stops are usually pretty simple, and have been really easy in Colombia up to this point. The cops had always been really happy, shaking your hand right off the bat, followed by genuine and friendly questions about what we are doing all the way down here with a US vehicle? These cops were of another sort, at least today.
These two cops were looking for a little extra spending money. As I pulled over, Officer #1 immediately asked for my vehicle registration, and started pouring over it, followed by the import paperwork, mandatory vehicle insurance, and finally my license. I could tell from the get go that he was looking for something to get me on. At first he jumped on the title. We hand over the title, because the registration has long since expired. He kept asking why it wasn’t signed and dated. I tried my best to explain to him that this happens when you sell the vehicle. After some searching he eventually found something, my international driver’s license. It was expired. Not my real driver’s license, but the paper you buy so that cops in other counties can interpret your license, just like these guys. It’s only valid for a year. It may be required by law in Latin America, but from what I have gathered from other travels it is rarely checked or cared about.
The officer informed me that immigration required that this be current and that there would be a huge fine, huge, $400 big. He told me that he would have to call them and that they would impound the vehicle and make us leave the country. Each point was layered on through out the conversation, with the hope of intimidating me. I knew for sure that immigration did not care one bit about my international driver’s license, it was the police that cared, if anything. I knew that immigration didn’t care about the vehicle, they cared about me. I knew that a fine of $400 was not likely.
We had dealt with these types of bribery situations before (although not to this severity), and heard about plenty others. We know this was just Officer #1’s way of trying to get us to give him some of our cash to get out of it. I did my best to keep a positive attitude, and to not lead him on and think I was scared. He had probably hoped that I would ask if there was any other way to deal with this; I didn’t. Shortly he brought me over to the side and said that he and his buddy could help me out and that I could just pay a much lower fine right there and go on my way. I told him that I would just wait for the immigration folks and chat with them about the situation. They went so far as to make a fake call on the radio asking for immigration to come out. I calmly said that I would wait and that I preferred to pay the fine at the station.
After about an hour of these conversations, they recognized that I was not willing to give them any of my money. Officer #1, who was doing most of the grilling, changed in a second, a smile spread across his face and he stuck his hand out for a handshake. Meaning “Nothing personal, you beat us, now get the hell out of here.” It was an hour of wasted time for us and them, but a good experience for us to look back on. On one hand these guys make very little money and could use a bit more to support their families. In fact the government probably keeps their salaries low because they know they they are corrupt. But on the other, how can the police be effective if the people don’t trust them? I would have been very happy to pay a fine if I did something wrong, but I won’t pay it to a cop on the street.
The following day we made it out to Santa Marta, to a nice beach called Playa Concha. It was a bit of a drive getting there, but really nice once we were. We thought about going into Parque Tayrona proper, but decided that it was more than what we were looking for. Maybe next time.
We also took a day in the city of Santa Marta. Aside from a few shopping trips for groceries this was our first time in the city proper. It is busy with lots of people trying to sell you stuff, but it is a really cool place. Well not cool, it’s actually really really hot. We visited the Museo de Oro (Museum of Gold) which is a really well done museum with lots of interesting stuff and descriptions, not as much gold as you’d expect from the name. We then had a nice lunch, in an air conditioned space, and wandered around the city a bit more. Santa Marta is a nice old city, with a great colonial charm.
If you want to read about Mom’s take on the Museo de Oro, check out her blog post (CLICK HERE).
Then it was on towards Cartagena. On the way we stopped at the famed mud volcano. The volcano provided a pretty unique experience. Nothing geothermic about it, but it behaves like a volcano. Instead of magma being pushed up to the earths surface, it’s mud. At the top of this modest volcano, about 40 feet tall, is a pool of mud in the “crater”. Nice smooth mud that you can get into. The experience is incredible, you feel weightless. It’s impossible to sink! It’s hard to move and a bit disorientating. I am sure the mud has incredible benefits for your skin. The experience was awesome and well worth the stop, but it was a bit of a pain because all of the ‘helpers’. They are just trying to earn a tip by giving you a hand, but it is a bit much. There were even ladies waiting in the near by lake to help wash us off. Still very cool.
In Cartagena we found our AirBnB in the upper-class neighborhood of Manga. Close to old town, but not too close to the crazy old town. We have some special needs when it comes to a location. Namely a place to put Lola. This place was great for the first half of our stay in that respect. We could park out front in their parking lot that is watched by guards 24/7.
Unfortunately when Monday rolled around, an administrator showed up and saw Lola. Despite the fact that Lola fits fine in a normal parking spot she felt the need to enforce the regulations on commercial vehicles and not permit her to stay. We had to scramble and find a new spot. Luckily we found a sympathetic police station that allowed us to keep Lola in their lot right next door. As a thank you we gave them a few dollars for beer all around.
We all really enjoyed Cartagena. It is a very old and unique city. The hulking coral city walls that still surround the old town make you appreciate the place and its history. Between walking the walls and wandering the narrow colonial streets we had a really good time. We had several very nice meals out.
One morning we went exploring in the old town, loosely following a walking tour detailed in our guide book. As the day drew on we were starting to get hotter and were ready for a break. We all knew that the only thing that would solve this issue was ice-cream, in an air-condition space. After travelling through much of South America, I was sure that this ideal environment would not just materialize. Ice-cream, sure, but AC too, No Way. But they always say that if you put it out there the universe will provide. And, what do you know, on the next block we found exactly what we had in mind. I suppose Cartagena is not your typical S.A. city. They know what the tourists need.
On our last full day in Cartagena we decided to take a boat trip out to a nice beach, Playa Blanca. This is a pretty popular thing to do, but there are tons of stories online of trips that were not up to snuff. To reduce this potential I thought it would be a good idea to avoid the tours that take you to three locations, feed you lunch, and are a pain because they control your schedule. We would just take a taxi boat and go home when we wanted. Well, regardless of our planning, our trip somehow managed to turn into an adventure.
We showed up at the place you catch the boats at around 7:45 am, thinking that the boat would leave around 8 am. Nope, they leave when they are full, and that day was not too busy. We hung around until 10 am until the boat filled up! This is the typical procedure in South America for buses, colectivos (shared taxis that work like buses) and I suppose taxi boats. Once it was time to go, we didn’t just head out there, we needed to gas up! That’s right, the captain doesn’t gas up until he knows he has some money coming in. What the hell? The trip out was great and gave us great views of the harbor. We got dropped off at the very busy beach and found a nice place to hang out for the day. This of course required some negotiations.
It was a nice relaxing afternoon; swimming when we got hot, enjoying the sand, and watching the endless progression of people walking by. I expected the trip home to go smoothly, but this captain wasn’t able to get his second engine started. It took 45 minutes of floating in the middle of the bay, and a few borrowed tools from passing boats to get it going again. I like to think that this experience gave Mom and Dad a good real-life experience of what Colombia is all about. Laid back, not in a rush and hand to mouth.
We had a blast exploring the coast with Mom and Dad, and showing them a little of our world. We don’t get to see them as much as we we used to, but I like to think it’s about the quality of time spent together rather than the quantity. I think these two weeks were some the highest quality of time we’ve shared together. Mom and Dad, I know it was a long way down, but thank you for coming to see us.
A big THANK YOU to Mom for sharing her photos from this trip, most of the photos featured here are from her! Check out more of her photos here.
Next up, Alex will share more about our time in Colombia, specifically Medellin and the coffee region.
Mom and Dad were in Colombia from February 28th to March 14th, 2018.
Don’t worry we haven’t forgotten about Peru. We’ll get back to it soon enough.
As always, great post. I’m going to fly into Cartagena a week before my campervan arrives so I can hang out. When you talk about moving Lola, it makes me wonder how I’ll part my 23′ class c motorhome, but I’ll figure out something. I may just have to find places were I can stay in it to make sure it’s secure.
Good for you in standing your ground at the check point. Piss on those guys!
I got my international licenses a couple months ago, then delayed the trip, so I’m planning on “refreshing” them right before I leave. I reall that only Brazil “required” them, but may be wrong. Of course, Brazil is last on my route, so they will probably be expired. I have no idea what the implications of trying to get into Brazil with an expired international driver license. If it is, I’ll just skip this country I guess.
Thanks for reading John. You’ll figure out how to make your motor home work. We are always worried about leaving Lola. But there is always some lot or someone around to look after it. Just get use to paying someone to look after it. You’ll get a feel for it. Small towns are usually just fine.
I know a lot of folks down here do not have an international DL. I wouldn’t worry about it, and, for sure, wouldn’t let it stop me from going to Brazil. The IDL is really just a translation to help a cop who doesn’t speak the language translate.
Last time we communicated you asked about a bike. I think the best option is one that doesn’t cost too much, because unless you are a hardcore mountain biker you’ll only really use it to ride into town. And if it’s a nice bike you won’t risk it. So if anything bring a beater.
Thank you Todd and Alex for a lovely vacation. You made everything easy. And best of all, we got to spend some laid back time together.
Love,
Mom
I’m glad you had such a nice time. Thanks for coming.
Hi Alex and Todd, I’m so enjoying your travelogue. My son and his girlfriend, also in S.A. (since February) are also watching your Instagram. They did a Galapagos week also, but a different boat, the Anahi was in dry dock for part of that week, but they saw it in a Bay at the end! Anyway, keep having a grand adventure! Suzie
Suzie, thanks for reading and following. It’s been an awesome trip, I’m glad your son is doing it.
What a good time! Beautiful beaches and lovely little towns. We may consider this for a holiday. Loved the mud baths!
Yeah the mud was awesome! It was a lot of fun.