Columbian Diversions

We’ve had an interesting start to our time in Columbia, with a couple of things going wrong. Being in South America is quite the contrast to anything I’ve experienced so far, and it’s very eye opening. 

I was already running a tight schedule to get to Cartagena in Columbia on time. My tour officially started at 6pm on 2nd October, and I was due to arrive at 2pm, all being well. 

After two flights that were bang on time to Miami, we had one final flight to Cartagena. I even had a whole row on the plane. 

As we started our descent into Cartagena, it was clear that something was wrong as we kept circling. We were then told we couldn’t land due to weather, which was then pretty visible out of the window. 

After half an hour of circling, we were then told the bad news that we needed to divert to another airport. Not ideal. 

After landing at another airport, I had no clue where I was. I didn’t have any internet, and had no idea where the place was. 

The pilot was intent that he would fly us to our final destination, but it would take time as there’s no standard flight path between the two airports. After two hours of waiting for a flight path, we were eventually off to Cartagena, arriving over three hours late.

From the air, it was unsettling how much litter was dumped on the streets and in the waterways. Something I’ve not seen on this level. 

I of course landed with no internet, fully expecting the taxi I had booked to have been long gone. It was still waiting for me!

I managed to get to the hostel I was staying at with less than an hour to spare. I managed to fit in a much needed shower, reunite with Julie who I’d met in Australia, and meet the others in my group. 

We then had our introduction chat, and were informed of the next bad news, our transportation was stuck at the port and we didn’t know when we would be getting it. For now, they were sorting out private transport, which would still get us where we needed to go, but we couldn’t get our stuff unpacked and locked up, and we had no cooking gear, so it wasn’t ideal. 

After that though, we toured the streets of Cartagena, had some street food, and went for some drinks. It’s a very vibrant place, with people dancing in the streets. It’s incredibly difficult to get anything here if you don’t speak Spanish like me. One of the reasons for doing an organised tour. 

The next day we headed for the town of Santa Marta, not for the town, but for the national park that’s nearby. The national park was very pretty, with beaches and some cool wildlife. 

I can’t get over how hot and humid it is here, by far the most humid place I’ve ever been. As you can see, my t shirt just turned into a complete wet patch. We have been advised to take electrolytes while we’re here, as it’s difficult to stay hydrated. 

We had a lovely surprise when we arrived back at the hostel, the transport had arrived, a converted tipper lorry with 38 seats, ready to drive us all the way to Rio. 

I joined the tour with another 18 people, whereas the others have been on the truck since Alaska, four months ago. The hostel provided us ample opportunity to get to know each other, because we’re going to be with each other until mid February.