Angies Magical Travels

Since a long time, I have been thinking about travelling to Mompox – another hidden colonial jewel on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. As it is always much travel time to get there, we took advantage of one of the many Colombian holidays to go for a long weekend to Cartagena. This time I convinced my friends Yicel and Paola to travel back in time with me. We took a flight to Cartagena on Friday afternoon! Here we stayed at the nice hotel Don Pedro Heredia in the historical centre! As our night would be very short, we just went to have dinner in one of my favourite restaurants El Bistro. Then we set our alarm clock to 4am as our collective taxi was going to pick us up at 5am!

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Just in time, our driver picked us up at 5am and we started our long journey. We passed by little Colombian villages and beautiful countrysides. On the way we stopped at a little restaurant to have a typical Caribbean breakfast: “arepas con huevo” and of course a tasty Colombian coffee. Then we continued our trip and just an hour before arriving in Mompox, we took a small ferry to cross the river Rio Magdalena. This so-called ferry was definitely very different from what we had expected as it was only a kind of float that fit 2-3 vehicles. It only took 5 minutes to cross the river with it and then we continued our ride on a more adventurous path to Mompox. After 5 hours we arrived in this beautiful colonial town.

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Here we stayed at the charming hotel Casa Amarilla where everyone welcomed us very friendly. As we started our trip so early in Cartagena, we luckily had the whole day to discover Santa Cruz de Mompox whose historical centre was declared a World Heritage Site by the Unesco in 1995. Its white-washed houses and colonial churches are still very well preserved and walking along the lonesome cobble-stone streets just makes you feel centuries back in time. It is a perfect place to relax – even though the heat in Mompox might make it pretty tough to stroll through the streets and you are just thankful for any gentle breeze from the majestic Magdalena River. During our walk through the narrow streets we could not resist to sneak a view through the impressing huge windows and doors of the colonial buildings and see the locals in their huge backyards relaxing in their rocking chairs.

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Then we visited Filimompox which is one of about 60 workshops in Mompox that are dedicated to the art of gold and silver filigree jewelry. Here we were able to observe the artisans during their fine work with their fingertips. Their working place was simply the backyard of the jewelry shop. All filigree jewelry is still handmade and it was very impressing to see only men bending and shaping mostly silver pieces into these beautiful miniature artworks. They also explained us more about the process of the filigree art and everyone was specialist in a different field – one was forming the silver with a blowtorch to shape the silver and the next one was using his fingertips, pliers and nails to form the miniature circles and figures.

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Of course, we could not resist to buy some earrings, necklaces, rings of this wonderful filigree jewelry which were also very cheap – especially concerning the hard work that the talented artisans put into it.

The Momposinos are renowned for their unique filigree artwork in Colombia – but this is just one reason to travel to this enchanting sleepy little town. In my next blog, I will tell you more about my experiences in Mompox.

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Another weekend in the coffee triangle – one of my favourite corners of Colombia – awaited me! Actually this time the occasion of my trip was the wedding of my boss but travelling in Colombia always means “working” for me – but this part of my work that I love most: getting to know new tours and exploring new destinations!

As the wedding (which by the way was beautiful with about 130 people dancing the wedding night away) was in the pretty hotel Sazagua which is near Pereira, I was given the opportunity to get to know the city of Pereira as well as a new finca with its coffee program! To be honest there is not much to do in Pereira but the surroundings are just beautiful. Nearby you can find the hot springs Santa Rosa de Cabal which is a perfect place to visit if you want to spend a relaxing day. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for it this weekend but surely I will come back for it!

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We went to the Finca del Café which is run by a local family and they have just opened it for travellers as a hotel and designed a great tour through the coffee plantations. Once we arrived they dressed us with the typical clothes of a coffee farmer by giving us a hat, a poncho as well as a basket for collecting coffee beans. Then we went to the first stations where they explained us how they grow the coffee plants, how they dry the coffee beans and which is the difference between good and bad beans. Furthermore we were told that the good ones are exported to the foreign markets and the bad ones are used for the coffee that Colombians buy in the supermarket – unfortunately that is something very usual which happens with all the good stuff – it just gets exported to other countries.

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Then we continued our tour through the coffee plantations and followed the trail through little forests of bamboo trees as well as various other plants and trees crossing little bridges and stairs. The surroundings were just beautiful and there were different sections of coffee plants – some were just newly planted and other ones that had grown a lot and were ready for us to pick some red beans. There was also a viewpoint where we had a break from our walk and our guide told us stories and myths about the place in the coffee region. Furthermore one of the farmers was pulling out his guitar and sang some traditional songs – he really had an amazing voice!

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Afterwards we kept walk through the coffee plantations and arrived at a traditional house where the coffee beans were grinded and roasted! At the end of this very interesting tour around the coffee farm, a woman in a typical dress prepared a delicious cup of coffee of the Finca del Café for us and of course we also bought some coffee to enjoy at home – and to bring the tasty Colombian coffee for my family next time I visit them in Germany.

Get an impression of our Finca del Café Coffee Tour !

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The natural paradise of Caño Cristales has been given many names ranging from the most beautiful river of the world, river of the five colors until Colombia’s liquid rainbow – and I would say all of these words describe it perfectly.

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Since I arrived in Colombia, Caño Cristales had always been on the top of my travel list. So with my friends Adriana and Yicel we decided that it would be time to discover this unique destination of Colombia. We actually began our trip in the middle of the night as we took a car to Villavicencio which is about 3 hours from Bogota to catch our flight at 8am. After a delicious breakfast we checked in our luggage – it was just a small house where a guy was handwriting our boarding passes and luckily we didn’t need to pay overweight with each of us carrying only 5kg ;)!

Then we were ready to take off! A small airplane with only 6 seats awaited us to bring us in an hour to La Macarena – Caño Cristales. What an amazing adventurous ride! During our flight we were able to observe the great landscapes and passed from the flatlands of Los Llanos to complete jungle and also overflew the river of Caño Cristales. We were impressed that we were already able to see the red plants in the river from this distance in the air!

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After a smooth flight and landing, we knew right away that we have landed in a very small village or should I say “in the middle of nowhere”?! A farmer sitting on its “waggon” led by a donkey were responsible for our luggage which they took to the “terminal”. Here our guide welcomed us and the police man wrote down our names and origin in a notebook for the statistics to skeep track of the development of tourism in this beautiful place.

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Then our “taxi” in form of a “threecicle” took us to the office of the National Parks where a short presentation with information of the area as well as some important rules were given to us. One of the most important thing is that you are not allowed to use sunscreen or mosquito spray during the walks along Caño Cristales if you want to take a bath in the natural pools because this damages the beautiful plants. Furthermore they explained to us that the access is restricted to 200 people a day and one guide always accompanies 7 persons. This is necessary in order to protect this natural paradise. Furthermore they recommended us to wear shoes which could get wet as there would be some small parts where we would need to cross small rivers. After the presentation we headed on through the bumpy roads to the hotel which was also just a couple blocks away. The hotel Cascada lies in the middle of the town and provides everything one needs – we were actually surprised as we were expecting an accommodation more basic!

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Then we started our first excursion and headed to the river. Here we took a small boat for about 10 minutes to the other side of the river. From here we took a jeep for another 40 minutes and then started walking. After 2 minutes we already saw the first red plants in a river that we needed to cross. Then we walked another 30-40 minutes and arrived at the “piscina del turista” where we were amazed by the stunning landscape of beautiful red plants in the river! To be honest I have always thought that the pictures I have seen of Caño Cristales have been edited very well by photoshop but now I saw this natural paradise with my own eyes and was even more impressed as these colors are for real!!! As it was pretty hot, it was just the best place to go for a swim in the refreshing river! Then we continued walking along the branch of the river and discovered more plants as visiting places like “paso de la danta”, “las tablas de ley” or “el tapete”.

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Then another highlight awaited us – “la cascada de los cuarzos“. We were able to walk behind the waterfall and sit down right under it to get the best shower ever…what an amazing feeling! In the natural pool we went for another swim and got a massage sitting below other small waterfalls before we enjoyed our delicious lunch wrapped into a banana leaf. Then we continued our walk back and passed through different landscapes ending with a bath at “los ochos”. From here we returned to the meeting point where we took the jeep to the river and from there went back to town by boat. After a well deserved shower we had dinner in a typical local restaurant.

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The following day we discovered another branch of the river passing by different sites with the bright red plants and taking a refreshing bath in different natural pools! Bright sunshine and blue sky let the red plants in the river shine even more – we really couldn’t believe the beauty of this place!

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At night a cultural highlight awaited us: We were served a delicious dinner with fresh grilled meat from Los Llanos while listening to the typical traditional music of the region. Then some dancers also presented the typical dance Joropo which was quite impressing! Afterwards we were taught the basic steps of this traditional dance and the pro’s stepped with us across the dance floor!

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The next morning we went to a view point and “Cristalitos”. From the view point we got a great impression of the surroundings and after a 30 minutes walk we reached “Cristalitos” which was just a small part of the river where the red plants could be discovered.

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Then it was time to head back to town because we took the direct flight from La Macarena to Bogota operated by Satena! We entered the plane with our handwritten boarding pass and after an hour landed safely in the capital city! Caño Cristales definitely belongs to one of the natural treasures of Colombia and is a place that nature lovers should not miss to visit! Please be aware that the season to go to this beautiful destination is from June to November!

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NOTE: If you are interested in voluntary work in Colombia (including homestay with a local family), in Caño Cristales you will have the possibility to support the development of this beautiful tourist destination by teaching English to guides and also kids in school. Just drop me a line, if this sounds like an amazing experience to you (and I can tell you, it will be!) and I will connect you with the school director & tour operator there!

After enjoying the ocean breeze of the most northern point of Colombia, we headed about 15 minutes to the rancheria Luzmila – our accommodation in Punta Gallinas for the last night. The surroundings were beautiful and just perfect to spend some relaxing hours. We enjoyed a delicious lunch – fresh fish just caught from the ocean!

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Actually we planned to relax and just enjoy the beautiful countryside in the afternoon but a little experience awaited us. First we visited a community project where 34 Wayúu women get together and work part time on handicrafts – mainly the mochila bags and chinchorros (hammocks). Next to it there is also a school where they teach the Wayúu children. We learned that if they work about 2 hours a day on the mochilla, they will need 4-6 weeks to finish it. A chinchorro will be finished in about 2 weeks but only if they work full time on it. To be honest I was pretty surprised how much work and time they need to invest in these handicrafts. So the next time I will surely respect this while bargaining the price!

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Another project in the community is the rescueing of turtles. Here they are taking care of turtles who got stranded to give them their freedom again afterwards. Furthermore they are protecting the turtles during the incubation period which means that many volunteers walk along the beach at night to put a protection around the eggs that they do not get damaged by anyone. Once the turtles are born, they get the Wayúu kids involved to give freedom to the turtles. That way they learn to respect these animals and not kill or eat them as they used to. We were lucky enough to take part in the event of giving the freedom to a turtle which they had been taking care of the last couple of weeks. So we went to the ocean and watched the little turtle crawling slowly into the sea until it was finally caught by a big wave to be brought back to its family. It actually was a wonderful and very touching experience. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean before we went back to our rancheria where we spend the night in small cabins.

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The next day it was time to say goodbye to la Guajira. In the morning we took a boat ride through Bahia Hondita for about 40 minutes. Once again we enjoyed the beautiful landscapes and observed flamingos. With this boat ride we were saving us a 2 hours drive by car. Our driver had left early today in order to meet us after our boat ride and take us to Riohacha. On our way back we passed again Uribia and Manaure and took a short cut driving along the beach entering Riohacha. Of course, we also needed to refill the tank of the car after this long journey which is a very cheap “treat” in La Guajira as gasoline is brought from Venezuela. Actually gas stations do not exist here because people get tanks over the border from Venezuela and sell it like that very cheap along the streets.

On the local market in Riohacha we bought the last souvenirs and gifts for a very good price before we enjoyed our last lunch of the typical delicious goat meat!

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Get more insights into La Guajira by reading my other blogs (Cabo de la Vela & Punta Gallinas).

Today a long drive through the desert land of La Guajira awaited us. For about 5 hours we were crossing various landscapes with pure desert, many different kinds of huge cactus, lagoons of blue and green tones, even small woods and we observed flamingos. Only some Wayúu kids stopped us on the way asking for water and sweets.

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On a rancheria we stopped to have lunch and continued our way to Nazareth near the Macuira National Park. This town really was in the middle of nowhere and getting there on a Sunday probably did not help much. We almost did not see anyone and everything was “dead”. We were lucky enough to get some beers and enjoyed the evening by listening to the music from our car radio and danced a little bit in the middle of the town! Tonight we spent in a typical chinchorro (hammock). Actually I would have slept wonderfully but as it got pretty cold at night, I was more busy with tucking me in tightly!

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Early the next morning we continued our journey to Punta Gallinas. Today we would reach the most morthern point of not only Colombia but also South America! After 3 hours we reached the impressing dunes “las dunas de Taroa”. We parked the jeep just in front of the huge sand dunes and once we got out of the car the tremendous wind was blowing the grains of sand in our face. But we really didn’t care – this amazing landscape just caught our complete attention and we climbed up the dunes. It actually felt we just arrived in the middle of the sahara! Once we reached the top, we could not believe our eyes but there was a huge emerald lagoon in the middle of the dunes – and there was no one else – just us! I would have just loved to stay the rest of our trip at this amazingly beautiful place in the middle of nowhere!

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But there were some more places on our travel list and so we continued to the faro “lighthouse” of Punta Gallinas. After about 30 minutes drive we reached the most northern point of Colombia and South America which was marked by little stone pyramids of travellers that have made their way here in front of the big ocean! Of course, we also built our own stone pyramid and took some time to breathe in this fresh ocean breeze just thinking about having reached this fascinating peaceful place – or should I call it Colombia’s version of the end of the world?!

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Have a look at my other experiences exploring Cabo de la Vela & Punta Gallinas!