Cartagena, Minca + Magdalena, Colombia
Cartegena:
Anything with a *, I highly recommend.
Where we stayed:
Casa La Factoria* - Super cute boutique hotel located in Old Town. Great location, two pools (one in the courtyard and one on the roof), breakfast included (which was delicious), cute little bar and nice rooms.
Where we ate:
Cafe Ficci - We had shrimp ceviche and a pizza.
El Kilo* - We had Black Pearl cocktail, eli kilo salad, salmon and Thai rice.
Casa La Factoria* - Breakfast at the hotel which was included.
Be - Cute little lunch spot and we had ceviche, tuna (salad) sandwich, and the veggie sandwich.
Azulejos - Came here for dinner and it was just ok. We shared a salad and also had the risotto w shrimp and the dijon steak (but was definitely a pork chop).
Where we drank:
Casa La Factoria* - Had a midday drink at the cute bar within our hotel.
Cafe Central* - Coffee shop where we were introduced to Chemex.
Epoca* - All day café that serves food, coffee and cocktails. Great vibe. I had an amazing gin + tonic and Scott had the Tequila Bee.
Alquímico* - If you’re into mixology, then you MUST come here. Three floors and each floor is a unique experience. We were on the first floor where the walls were lined with glass jars filled with their own infused spirits. Very chill vibe on the first floor. Third floor had a tiki bar feel. Drinks were incredible. We had the Cali and the Medellin.
What we did:
Old Town* - We wandered through the streets of Old Town that are full of colorful buildings (with amazing doors!) on narrow streets with bougainvillea cascading over balconies, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques. Old Town is a walled city and you are able to walk many portions of the wall.
Getsamani* - Think East Village in NYC from back in the day. A little rough around the edges, but really cool with lots of places to stay and eat. Super cute, colorful and funky. There’s a street that has a canopy of umbrellas and another that has canopy of colorful banners. Great area!
Minca:
Getting there:
We booked everything through MarSol, which was super easy. Shuttle to Santa Marta (about 3.5 hours) and then a 45 minute cab ride to Minca. Minca feels very local and backpacker-y with a lot of hostels and eco-lodges. There’s a lot of hiking, waterfalls and birdwatching.
Where we stayed:
Sweet Harmony* - Loved this place. It’s off the road a bit, but don’t let that turn you off. We splurged on a suite which was only like $75/night - the room was great and had a deck with two GIANT built in hammocks. It’s right on a river and there’s access to swim, which was lovely. They offer Happy Hour, but it was not fast. Town is totally walkable.
Where we ate:
Lazy Cat - Cute spot for lunch. We had a burger, a veggie burger and a much needed Aguila (beer).
Restaurante Tagua Bar - DISGUSTING! I got the fish and it was filled with bones and Scott got the veggie burrito with was basically hot lettuce. It was so bad we left and went somewhere else.
Santisabella - Found this spot after the above experience. We were so excited that they had pizza. We got the Nepalitano Pizza, which was really good, and drank a lot of wine.
Sweet Harmony* - Had both breakfasts at our hotel and they were good. Had the Colombian: scrambled eggs w tomato/onion, arepa, tomato, oj, coffee, bread basket. And the Espana: fried egg w chorizo.
Finca Victoria* - Finca Victoria is a coffee farm that was built in 1892 (more on that in the section below). There’s a little restaurant that had incredible club sandwiches and we also both had a well deserved beer.
Casa Antonio - Came here for dinner and it was quite good. Felt very local and authentic. We had the veggie paella and the shrimp a la pimpil. We were the only ones in the restaurant and that made us a little sad.
What we did:
Swam in the Rio Minca - Sweet Harmony is on the river and there’s a path down to the river and we had a lovely dip.
Trek to Finca La Victoria* - Looking back, we should have gotten a ride but we hiked about 3 hours, mostly uphill and it was HOT. As I mentioned above, Finca La Victoria is a coffee plantation that is all water powered. The tour was really cool and very informative. We did buy some coffee. The trek home was much better because of it being downhill, cooler and in the shade. We were so dirty and sweaty by the time we made it back to our hotel.
Magdalena:
Getting there:
We took a cab that took about 1:15. Magdalena is a town just east of Tayrona National Park. After our two nights here, we took a cab back to Cartagena which was a few hours.
Where we stayed:
Finca Barlovento* -This place was so cool! However, the first night we stayed in the Cabaña, which is a beach house consisting of one suite and three rooms completely unhindered by walls, communal bathrooms and overlooks Playa Los Naranjos. Our room was completely open on the ocean side and it was loud AF at night from the ocean. The current is really intense so the waves were crashing against the rocks and made it difficult to sleep. We moved into the main building, Maloka, which feels much more like a motel and was much quieter. Something cool this place does is a communal dinner (included in the price) for all guests at 7pm. We met some really cool people from all over the world and still keep in touch with a few of them on Facebook. They also do an “honesty bar” - several fridges in both buildings filled with water, soda and beer and you write down how much you drank in a ledger and pay at the end.
Where we ate:
Casa Tayrona* - This was the hotel next door (felt a little more upscale from ours - had a pool, etc.). We both had the shrimp sandwich (which was delicious) and margaritas.
Finca Barlovento* - Dinner the first night was chicken, rice, plantains and MANY beers. Dinner the second night was shrimp rice, fried plantains and squash…and more beer.
Beachfront Restaurant at Playa La Piscina - There were a few little spots here. Both got the veggie rice (to be safe).
What we did:
Playa Los Ángeles Beach - Private beach which you need a key to access. Water was a little rough to swim in but the beach was lovely.
Beach at Finca Barlovento - With there only being two places to stay, the beaches here are very quiet, in fact we were the only ones on the beach for a while.
Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona* - We took a short cab ride to the park. Took a lovely hike to Playa La Piscina, which is one of the few beaches where you can swim more peacefully as it’s surrounded by a barrier of rocks. Was LOVELY.