3 weeks into our Colombian adventures, we headed to the northern coast. Amit, whom we had met up with in Buenos Aires at Christmas time, was waiting for us. We left the warm, sunny days of Medellin and after a winding, sleepless night-bus, arrived at the sweltering coast – first stop, Palomino.
They say having been apart for a while you can expect a warm embrace. We must have really missed each other because this was the warmest of embraces, sweating from head to flip flop. The heat on the coast was immense. After catching up on each other’s past months, we were already planning our coming weeks together. Planning sessions, naturally, took place on the beach, mojito in hand, football played and with occasional dash into the Caribbean ocean. As you can imagine, planning was extremely strenuous and tiresome.
We moved swiftly on from Palomino, spending only a night there before continuing north for a 3 day, round trip adventure to the remote northern tip of Colombia. We set out, catching a bus, a taxi, and finally a 4×4 (roads steadily getting worse with every upgrade in transportation), venturing further and further into the unknown. We arrived at our first place, Cabo de Vela – more a collection of wooden huts than a town, strung along a dusty, tranquil beach. The water was turquoise blue and as still as a lake. It felt like we were in a place that the rest of the world had forgotten. Our beds for the next two nights were hammocks, hung up on a wooden shack, 3 meters from the ocean.
The shack we called home for a blissful couple of days on the beach – 3 hammocks and the sand between our toes
Once we arrived, cue more days filled with cocktails, beach football and swimming in the calm turquoise waters. There was very little to do in town, we were in a slice of paradise, cut off from the world. We were joined by Amit’s friend Robbie and the four of us decided to go on further up coast, venturing all the way to the most northern point of Colombia and the whole of mainland South America. The next morning we set off, destined for Punta Gallinas.
After 4 hours cramped into a jeep, cruising along the desert (there were no roads, no dirt tracks, just desert) then hopping on a small motor boat across a mangrove lagoon, we made it to Punta Gallinas. The end of the road. There was one hostel (also the restaurant) in town (‘town’ meaning 4 small buildings facing each other), everyone who made it this far was sharing together.
Standing on the top of our beloved continent!
Our day in Punta Gallinas was spent touring around, first venturing to the most northerly point of South America mainland and then onto what felt like the end of the world. We drove up to a giant sand dune, jeeps taking us no further and we began to walk. After 5 minutes of climbing the sand dune, we looked down upon the ocean, crashing straight into the wall of sand. Nothing else but desert and sea.
Of course, we ran straight in – sprinting down the near vertical dune and into the waves below. Amit and Cal wanted to go again, feeling the competitive urge to race. Although, second time around was not quite as smooth going. Cal came down the hill, lanky legs flapping about, almost at the waters edge and suddenly takes a tumble. Head first into the sand. Big man, down. This caused great jubilation for the onlookers and a mouth full of sand for Cal. However, he was not the only victim – moments later, with waves getting stronger and stronger, Rosh was completely taken out. Sea water swallowed, sun glasses, and perhaps also some dignity, lost.
Despite the calamities, we were in awe of Punta Gallinas. As the sun set, we drank beer and laughed away the days antics on the beach. Our final night in the hammocks was bitter sweet, we were all in need of a decent shower and a bed, although life in the back and beyond had been amazing. An unforgettable 3 days.
Back to Palomimo, after a dip in the pool and a couple of showers later, we were clean again. We would leave Robbi the following day, as she headed south to Bogotá – meanwhile Amit was tempted in spending some more time with us. Rosh and I had planned to go to a town not far away along the coast, called Targanga. We wanted to pass our PADI diving qualification and this is one of the cheapest places in the world to do it. Amit decided to top up his diving repertoire and join us.
In Targanga, we found dive shops, smoothie stations and not a whole lot else, it was a tiny town, cheap and laid back – you came here to dive and not much else. Our diving experience did not start swimmingly. We had our first lesson in a pool and both felt claustrophobic throughout, it wasn’t a nice feeling and we agreed if our next experience in the sea wasn’t any different, we would stop.
Luckily, the following day, we jumped in the ocean and loved every second of it. Despite mainly focussing on the technical learning elements, we saw colourful coral, fishes, eels and even a big octopus. We were buzzing every time we got out of the water.
After 3 days of scuba training, we became qualified PADIs. Amit also passed his advanced course and we celebrated with a night of mojitos in the beach bars. It was also our final night together as Amit would fly the following day to a Caribbean island and we headed inland. It had been an amazing 10 days with him, with both us heading in different directions for the remainder of our trip, hasta casa (until home) for us all.
In wake of our departure we received an Amit Desai poem, perfectly summing up our time together. Here is the slightly adjusted, PC version…
Croshni and the Handsome Brown Man – A poem by Amit Desai, August 2018.
So once again we did meet,
With Colombia’s golden sand beneath our feet,
After our Argentinian adventure,
Into Colombia’s north coast we would venture,
Palamino was the first place to visit,
The mojitos on the beach were exquisite,
Drinking late on into the night,
Though of course by then Roshni Patel was not in sight,
Up early the next morning we did rise,
The hangover of Cal’s was a surprise,
On to Cabo de la Vela our next destination,
Buying more beers en route with no hesitation,
The bus with AC was cool and breezy,
But fitting in the back of the jeep was not easy,
Cal’s legs so sweaty, dangly and long,
Luckily we all stayed strong,
We were well due a coke and rum,
Not before Cal would cry out for his mum,
Why you ask? I’ll tell you the story,
He fell flat on his face when seeking glory,
His hair full of sand, his mouth also,
Running down sand dudes he tumbled on his torso,
But the northern most point of the continent we had reached,
And news too that Donald Trump may be impeached,
A joyous time therefore for all,
Despite the painful, large and heavy fall,
A fall too for Rosh, from grace I guess,
Great waves, causing bikini undress…,
Back to Palomino we did return,
The opportunity for margaritas and beers we would not spurn,
Nor the opportunity to try and dive,
If in Taganga the small pool we could survive,
Magnificent places – I had seen most before,
But with you two I enjoyed all the more,
But now in Taganga our journey together ends,
Until more adventures in London, my best friends.
Having spent a couple of weeks on the sweltering coast, we headed inland to the hilly town of Minca, only 1 hour away from the beaches by bus but remarkably cooler. It felt like a very refreshing change of scenery. Similar to Baños in Ecuador, we were surrounded by green hills and plenty of waterfalls. We spent an afternoon at Poco Azul – a series of waterfalls, nestled in the dense jungle. The water was freezing cold! You could just about manage 5 minutes in the water before you really missed the sweltering heat that we were supposed to be escaping. Nevertheless, we swam, jumped of rocks into the crashing water, perched ourselves on ledge and gaped at how beautiful a place it was.
Again, similar to Baños, we had the luxury of coffee and chocolate farms on our doorstep. As we had already tested the best of the coffee in Salento, we headed to a finca which housed a chocolate farm and took a tour along with several other keen observers, learning the wonders of chocolates and the cocoa nib (food of the gods, apparently). It was divine.
Good for your skin, good for your tastebuds. We think every tour should end this way. 
The finca also has its own pet toucan, Tuki. Cal had been wanting of seeing a toucan since visiting the Pantanal in Brazil and it was a dream come true.
Loving the views from the higher in Minca, we moved to a remote, hilltop location, taking a moto taxi up and up, right into the mountains. The views from the hostel were amazing – despite feeling a little under the weather (may or may not have to do with too much chocolate being consumed), we loved gazing out down the green hills, all the way to the sea. Minca was a lovely, a cool breather from the scorching coast and after 5 days in the hills, we were ready for the sea again.
Next stop in our coastal adventures was Cartagena. The throbbing heart of all things glitz and glam in Colombia. There are countless expensive hotels, shops, restaurants and equally as many flash-cash Americans to soak up the expensive prices. However, it is a beautiful town and cheap neighbourhoods, sheltered from the waves of wealth, are full of vibrant places – niche bars, great cheap-eats – this of course was the backpacker’s hangout.
We explored the old, colonial city for a couple of days, ducking into coffee houses to escape the heat and splurged on iced-coffees. While the city was very picturesque, it lacked many beach options so after a couple of days we ventured out into the open sea. We were heading towards Casa En Agua, a hostel that had been built in the middle of sea, surrounded by mangrove islands and a small island settlement.
This place was the postcard picture paradise. The sea surrounding the hostel was turquoise blue, warm and calm – all within 2 meters of the on-site bar. For the next three nights (swinging in hammocks again), we relaxed, swam in the beautiful waters and dabbled in a drinking game or two. We also took a nighttime tour to swim amongst luminescent plankton – this was something we both had always dreamed of doing and it was incredible. Like a thousand tiny fireflies lighting up whenever you moved in the water, it was an unforgettable experience.
Feeling thoroughly relaxed, we left our house in the ocean, sadly this also meant our time on the Caribbean coast had come to an end. It had been the first really hot, tropical place we had been since Brazil and we were pretty sad to wave goodbye to the heat. Time was also closing in on our South America adventures. This left an uneasy feeling, it had been our home for 8 months and we were feeling sentimental.
But we had two more South American places to see and we were excited for our penultimate stop, San Gil, the home of Colombian adventure and adrenaline. Daredevil day one was spent paragliding over the valleys of San Gil. Rosh was a little nervous about this – back to that old chestnut of heights and movement being THE nervy combination. However, she conquered all fears, not showing any signs of fear and even opting in for some extra adrenaline moves (although her sunglasses were on so we can’t confirm if her eyes were closed or not for some of the flight).
Cal’s flight was undramatic, until the landing… He was last to go of our group and therefore everyone else flying that day had gone, this left one guide (flying with Cal) and one support guide on the landing spot. Normally this would be no problem, except Cal couldn’t land. In a bizarre moment, Cal and guide were left hovering 1 meter above the ground, unable to fall to earth. Cue the support guide desperately trying to grab Cal’s dangling foot for 5-10 secs before, finally, coming back to earth. Elegant landing indeed.
Daredevil day two only featured Cal, who in a moment of foolish bravery, decided to take on a bungee jump – this is despite an intense fear of heights. What occurred after the guide shouted “3, 2, 1, BUNGEEEEE”, was a blur – a mixture of sweat, milliseconds of blackout and then relief. Huge relief. Fears conquered.
Bogotá was our final stop in South America and we celebrated the end in style – a fancy hotel, hot tub, swimming pool, room service – we had it all. It was a fitting place to end our South American travels. Many months before we had flown into Bogotá airport before taking a connecting flight to Buenos Aires. It had been the place where we had taken our first steps (nervy and desperately struggling to communicate) in South America, but it felt right to be leaving from the same spot. We have had so many fantastic moments on this continent and it will always have a special place in our hearts. Hasta siguiente vez Sur America, nos ha sido bien (until the next time South America, you’ve been good to us).
What we’re listening to: Life on the Caribbean wouldn’t be, well Caribbean, without the wonderful Bob Marley. Amit and ourselves swung in our hammocks, watching the calm waters of Cabo de Vela whilst playing Buffalo Soldier, we sang No Woman, No Cry to our hearts content in the bars of Targanga and had hearts full of warm feelings singing along to Is This Love. You don’t get it better than Bob Marley.
Love & hugs,
Cal & Rosh xxx
The Los Vagans 