Colombia🇨🇴

Colombia is our seventh country and the last one we are visiting in South America. We flew from Lima to Bogotá, which took three hours and was pretty straightforward, but very expensive! We ended up booking it last minute, as we realised we couldn’t go over land border from Peru.

We heard that going through immigration into Colombia can take a long time because they sometimes ask for proof of onward travel and a Yellow Fever certificate. Keep this in mind, we got our Yellow Fever before we left the UK in case we were asked for it and then for onward travel, we had booked our San Blas boat trip to Panama. However, as soon as we had landed, we collected our bags, bought SIM cards and had a taxi on the way within twenty minutes, smoothest transition ever!

We then spent nearly four weeks exploring Colombia, and it honestly lived up to the hype. We originally had only two weeks planned as we were trying to save time and money, but everyone we had spoken to said that wouldn't happen and we would love it too much!

Bogotá

Masaya Hostel
We stayed at Masaya Hostel, which was recommended to us even though it is on the pricier side. The hostel itself was lovely and modern, the dorms were pretty good with shared bathrooms, a huge social area, free breakfast if you choose to add it onto your room and a restaurant/bar attached to it.

Before we arrived, we were told to get out of Bogotá straight away, not because it was dangerous or anything, just that it was a pretty boring city with not a lot to do. The latter is true, you realistically only need one full day here, if that, but the city is definitely not boring! We in fact loved it here and if there were more things to do, we could have easily stayed for longer. The incredible artistic, cobbled streets, variety of street food stalls, cafes, restaurants and markets, it is a pretty cool city to relax in, which is why I’m sure a lot of expats stay here to work.

The one thing which amazed me was how many incredible, artistic wall murals there were. Practically every restaurant and cafe had artwork outside of it, giving it some personality and yet none of it was defaced with ugly graffiti words, it was as if everyone respected everyone’s art! We saw some pretty cool pieces as we explored.

Cerro Monserrate Hill Viewpoint
The first thing we did was catch the funicular up to the top of the hill to the Cerro Monserrate viewpoint. This cost us 42,000 COP (£8) for a one way ticket for the both of us and then we walked down on the way back. The panoramic views at the top of Bogotá were pretty spectacular and we walked along the top following different walking paths. They also have a food area at the top, where you can get breakfast or lunch. We would definitely recommend getting either the funicular or the cable car up to the top, however, if you are looking to get your exercise and steps in, you can walk up. As we walked down, loads of people, especially locals were walking and running up the hill, which was insane. The hill is ridiculously steep, with lots of cobbled steps, so running up it is definitely a hard workout. Even going downhill, were found it tough on the knees. The best time to go is early in the morning to avoid having to walk down it in the sunshine. We were at the top by 8am.

Gold Museum
The other thing which was recommended to us, was to visit the Gold Museum. We bought tickets, which were also 42,000 COP (£8), and we spent the morning walking around the different exhibits learning about the history of pre Hispanic Colombia and the sacred value of gold. A very cool museum to go to!

Salento

After one night in Bogotá, we got an eleven hour, overnight bus to Salento. It took us eleven hours because of an accident, but normally it takes around nine hours. You first have to get the bus to Armenia before getting a smaller, public bus to Salento, which was another forty five minutes. The main bus journey from Bogotá to Armenia was ridiculously dangerous, but this could have just been our experience. The drivers were maniacs and drove incredibly fast through the winding roads, to the point that Ned and I were pretty worried of skidding off the edges. We didn't get any sleep on the bus, so both arrived in Salento half asleep in the morning.

🏨Bindi Hostel
We stayed in Salento for two nights at this hostel, which was recommended as one of the best small hostels in South America! It is prettty expensive, but we’ve noticed most accommodation in Colombia is compared to other countries. The dorms here are pretty good, we each got our own cubby, there’s a rooftop bar and lounge area and they organise social activities everyday as well as breakfast and packed lunches for you, at additional cost if you need.

Coffee Tour and Plantation
One of the main things to do in Salento is to do a coffee tour, which we did in the afternoon. We went with Ocaso Coffee Shop Tours, and it lasted just over an hour. The tour starts with meeting at their coffee farm, which you can get to by walking, taking a taxi or a jeep, which you can get from the plaza in Salento. You then get an introduction to coffee, the beans, how to pick them, prepare them for production and notice the difference between good and bad coffee. You then learn to make your own coffee before trying it.

Cocora Valley - Tallest Coconut Trees
The other main activity to do in Salento, is visit Cocora Valley, which is where the tallest coconut trees in the world live. We got an arranged jeep from the centre of Salento, which took us to the entrance of Cocora Valley. You can either go just to the viewpoints to see the coconut trees or make a day of it and walk the 12km loop around the National Park. We decided to do the loop, and got to the starting point quite early, at around 8am. From the starting point, it took around three hours to get to the halfway point. We then decided to do a little side quest, and visit the Hummingbird Sanctuary on the way. We spent forty minutes here, seeing some of the most amazing birds and different species of hummingbirds.

After the sanctuary, we continued to the main viewpoint, which overlooked the valley. This was about another hour or so and once we were there, we had a small break having our lunch whilst taking in the views. From the main viewpoint it was another hour back down to the starting point. There are multiple other viewpoints and photo opportunities as you make your way down. Luckily for us, as the day went on, the weather got a lot better. When we started the hike, it was very gloomy and cloudy, but as we got to the middle of the hike, the weather changed drastically, giving us some blue skies when we got to the top.

Try playing Tejo
One activity to try in the evening, is to play Tejo, which is a Colombian game. Tejo involves clay, metal discs and gun powder targets, with the aim of having to hit them so they cause a little explosion. We spent one evening here playing the traditional game and it was pretty fun. The explosions are something to get use to, with how surprisingly loud and scary they were, but it was really fun nonetheless.

Medellín

🏨Los Patios / Viajero (party hostel) / Masaya (more chilled)

From Salento we got another bus to Medellín, which took around five hours. We then spent five days all together in Medellín, splitting the days up by visiting other places in between. For the first three nights, we stayed in Los Patios, which is a pretty insane hostel, very sociable, has a rooftop bar and pool attached to it. It does sociable activities every night and has events for special dates, such as King’s Day. If you are looking for fun, sociable, party hostels, Los Patios and Viajero are well known hostels in Medellín, so definitely recommend both of these.

For the last two nights, we stayed in Masaya, which is just as nice, dorms are pretty decent with their own bathrooms, they also have a rooftop bar and pool. However, the overall vibe of Masaya is a lot more chilled than the other two hostels.

Cable Car
One activity to do is take the Cable Car up to see the panoramic views over Medellín. From the Los Patios Hostel we walked to the Metro, which is the quickest form of transport to explore the city. You have to purchase a travel card, but one card can be used for more that one person. We then gave our card to other travellers we met on the way. From the hostel, we took the metro to the stop Acevedo before catching the Cable Car up. We got off the Cable Car at Santo Domingo before walking to a little viewpoint overlooking the city. Bear in mind, the area is a little dodgy, the Cable Car takes you through a big favella and we were walking down little alleyways carelessly with our camera and phones out, so just be cautious. We were here for about twenty minutes before we got the Cable Cars back down to the main centre of town.

Comuna 13
Spend another morning visiting Comuna 13, a neighbourhood, which use to be one of the world’s most dangerous areas. It has now been transformed into a tourist attraction, a vibrant place of street art, delicious street food, music and community. It is known for its outdoor escalators, which take you up multiple floors of the neighbourhood and gives you incredible panoramic views over Medellín. You can book a tour for this or go there yourself, which is what we did. We got a taxi from our hostel then spent a few hours walking around the Comuna, popping into shops and different food stalls.

Football Match
Another main activity is to watch a football match here. Check your dates and if there are any football matches, big or small, you should definitely go! We ended up going with our hostel, Los Patios. However, for a much cheaper night, you can book tickets yourself and make your own way there. Going with a hostel is a lot more expensive, with the price including transport there and back, and a cheap football t-shirt. The only pro of going with the hostel is you meet a lot of other backpackers, which is the reason why we did this. It was a very fun evening and after the match we all went out drinking together!

Pablo Escobar Tour
Another popular activity is to do a Pablo Escobar Tour. We were recommended this guide Diego. He actually worked for Pablo Escobar transporting drugs and money in America. When he was twenty-five, he was arrested and put in prison for seventeen years and once he was released he moved to Colombia for a fresh start. He then decided that he wanted to do Pablo Escobar Tours, sharing his experience and the true facts of Pablo.

The tour as a whole was really good, we went to four different stops, Parque Conmemorativo Inflexión memorial outlining important dates in history, went to the burial grounds of Pablo Escobar and his family and the famous rooftop where Pablo died. We ended the tour visiting the Comuna that Pablo completely built up from the ground, which had a small Pablo museum and gorgeous views of Medellín. If you want to go with Diego, his instagram account is sat_tours.

Food
There are loads of different food spots in Medellín. Some spots we went to were:

• Mercado de la Playa - Biggest share portion of meats, chichorron (first pic).
• Hija Mia Nomada - Cute brunch and coffee spot next to Los Patios (middle pic).
• Comuna 13 - Huge variety of street food stalls to choose from. We of course going some Arepas!
• Ichiraku Ramen - Incredible place for ramen and sushi!

Jardín

🏨Candileja Origen Hostel

We spent two days in Jardín, but we wish we had at least four days here. The bus journey here was pretty incredible and the views of the surrounding green hills were insane. Jardín is known to be a very chilled, vibrant town, full of wildlife, so Ned was extremely excited. As soon as we got here we wish we could have extended. There is a lot to do here and the plaza has so many different restaurants, bars, cafes and shops all painted different colours.

Cueva del Esplendor
One of the main sights is to go to this natural, unique waterfall, which flows through a hole in the roof of the cave. You can either hike to the top, take a tuktuk or book a tour. Even though the hike would have been fun, it can take an all round trip of five hours. As we only had two days, we ended up booking a tour and it was definitely worth the price. It included all transport, morning snacks, drinks and then afternoon cake and tea after you had finished the hike.

Reserva Natural Jardín Rocas - Cock-of-the-rock
Go to the Natural Reserva and see Cock-of-the-rock birds in the wild. The entrance for the park costs 25,000 COP each and then we spent an hour or so walking around the incredible garden spotting all these beautiful birds.

Food Spots:

• La Argelia Trout Farm - Recommended to us by our hostel, if you love fish, you have to try the freshest fish in the town (third pic).
• Cafe Jardin - For a view overlooking Jardin, hike or take a tuktuk to this cafe (middle pic).
• Bon Appetít- Incredible restaurant offering all kinds of dishes from pasta to Asian food, we had such a delicious meal (first pic).

Guatapé

🏨Lake View Hostel

Spend one day in Guatapé, however, if you are short on time, you can easily miss this stop! The main two things to do here are:

• Plazoleta de los Zócalos - explore the vibrant town with its different shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants.
• Pedra de Peñol - hike 740 steps to the top of the observatory platform to see gorgeous panoramic views over Guatapé.

Minka

From Medellín, we got a very cheap flight straight to Santa Marta. At the time, we were told there were a few roads blocked so to avoid this, we decided to get a flight. Our first stop was to Minka, we decided to skip a night in Santa Marta and go straight there, as there isn’t a lot to do in Santa Marta. From the airport, we got a public bus to Bonda, which cost 3,000 COP each and took just over an hour. From Bonda we then got motor-taxis, which took us directly to our hostel. We had to get three bikes as our bags had to have its own, and overall it cost us 75,000 COP. Instead of staying in the town of Minka, we decided to stay in a Jungle Hostel, our first of three in Colombia and we absolutely loved it!

🏨Finca Carpe Diem
This hostel was incredible, from our dorm room, we had our own pool, one of three in the hostel, which overlooked the surrounding green hills. We were treated with a gorgeous rainbow on our first night. The dorms are pretty standard, had aircon, mosquito nets and there was a restaurant where you could have all your meals. They also had family dinner and arranged different activities every day for everyone, which was a great way to meet other travellers.

Hostel Sunrise/Sunset Viewpoint
One recommended activity, was the sunrise and sunset viewpoint from the hostel. The route takes around thirty minutes, but is surprisingly quite steep! We decided to go for sunrise but it is probably better to go for sunset, as you can actually see the sun whereas at sunrise you only see the surrounding sky as the hills cover the sunrise. The start is from reception, where you follow the signs until you see a blue Viewpoint sign. The path from then on is pretty easy to follow. When we went for sunrise, the hostel dog decided to keep us company and went with us all the way to the top. Was such a lovely way to start the morning!

Waterfall Tour
We booked the waterfall tour with the hostel, which included a four hour walk through the jungle to five different waterfalls, three of which you can swim in. The price of the tour was 160,000 COP for the both of us, which is kind of expensive for what you got, you could easily do it yourself. I think it has to be done by a tour as you go through a couple of local private properties. The tour also includes a couple snacks for the walk and overall, it was a fun way to start the day!

Cacao Farm
After the waterfall tour, we stopped off at the Cacao Farm, which was a fifteen minute walk away from the hostel. We were recommended to go here and it did not disappoint, the best chocolate farm we have been to. The tour lasts between forty minutes to an hour and costs 30,000 COP each. We were shown the cacao farm, the meaning of each of the different colours, such as dark, milk and white chocolate. We tried cacao fruit, saw the roasted beans, tried the chocolate, before making our own. We got to peel, grind and make our own chocolate paste, which we then got to use for a hot chocolate and a chocolate face mask! My skin definitely felt smoother afterwards. We then bought some chocolate from the farm as the owner was so nice and did his best to translate the whole tour into English. Overall the tour cost less that 100,000 COP, which is roughly £20 so for everything we did, learnt and tried, the tour is so cheap!

Tayrona National Park

One of the main things to do in Northern Colombia is to go to Tayrona National Park! There are two main ways to visit, either a day trip or stay the night. We only did a day trip, but would recommend staying a night if you can as it gives you more time to explore.

For us we stayed at the Journey Hostel, which is probably the best, sociable and closest hostel to the entrance of the park. However, you can also go from any other hostel, such as El Rio Hostel, which is also another incredible hostel to stay at. For us, we did a day trip from the Journey. We got motor-taxis which took us to the entrance of the Park for 5,000 COP. You can easily walk there from the hostel, but because we wanted to go early and it was pretty hot, we decided to just pay. From the entrance, you then have to pay for your ticket and day insurance, which was pretty expensive. Afterwards, you have to get a shuttle bus to the start of the hike. You can walk from the entrance but it is 5k and uphill and because we were only doing a day trip, we wanted to make the most of our time at the beach. If you end up staying the night, you can hike the whole way which would be a pretty cool experience to do. All in all, the whole day cost us 232,000 COP, which is pretty expensive, but worth it!

From the shuttle bus drop off point it is then roughly a two hour hike to the main beach, Cabo San Juan. It is a gorgeous walk through the jungle where you can see all kinds of wildlife, we saw a few white-headed Capuchin monkeys on the way and a small snake. There are also a few other beaches and viewpoints along the way that you can stop off at, to break up the walking! Once you are at the beach you can then spend however long you want as long as you are back at the entrance for around 5-6pm, which is when the shuttle buses stop. At Cabo San Juan, you can see the hut where there are hammocks that people rent out for the night. Here as well as at different beaches there are huts that you can book to spend the night in the National Park!

🏨The Journey Hostel

The Journey Hostel is one place that was highly recommended to me. A raised hostel overlooking the jungle and river, it is one of the most booked places and I can completely see why. It has huge dorms, private huts, an infinity pool, which overlooks the views and is so sociable. We booked our rooms a month in advance because it had a special deal on which booked out very quickly. We also got the free breakfast included in our price, we had scrambled eggs and avocado toast both mornings and it was delicious. The food overall, was amazing and we were really impressed with it. They had family dinners every night which was only 35,000 COP each and the portions were huge. It was also a really fun way to meet everyone else and we spent most nights chatting and getting to know others. It is perceived as a party hostel, but it’s not really, at least it wasn’t when we were there. It’s more sociable drinks rather than a huge event. They had different evening activities, such as musical chairs or beer pong tournament but apart from that it wasn’t a 3am finish kind of place.

The place works with wristband tabs, which is dangerous! You don’t realise how much money you spend until you check out, which was what I was dreading. We didn’t do too much damage but it was worth it completely! We also met a lot of lovely people who we ended up meeting back up with.

🏨El Rio Buritaca

El Rio was the second hostel that was highly recommended to us. This place is definitely a party hostel. It is known to have three big party days Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, with some days ending at 8am! We were only meant to stay one night but were convinced to extend so we could have a big party on the Sunday. It was such a fun evening but we were definitely feeling it for the couple days after with catching up on our sleep. The hostel itself is amazing, and reminded us of Australia, with the whole set up! It had different dorm rooms, glamping tends, normal tents and hammocks that you could stay in.

They also had activities every day, with Tipsy Tubing being their most popular. Tipsy Tubing happens everyday at around 1:30pm and cost 75,000 COP, which is quite expensive for what we did, but fun nonetheless. We also met so many other backpackers so it was a really fun afternoon. You are given rubber rings and crocs as you have to walk twenty-five minutes to the starting point first before floating down the river for two hours or so, stopping off at a cliff jump and rope swing!

From 4pm there are group activities. On our first day there was Beer Olympics, which included different teams of four competing in beer tasks, from downing a pint to flip cup to holding a pint of water the longest. It was such a fun afternoon and set up the evening perfectly. The second day included a Volley Ball tournament, which was just as fun and competitive! In between activities you had multiple spots to relax and chill, you could swim in the river, lounge in the hammocks or beach.

In the evenings, on non-party days there are sociable drinks with music, which normally last till 1am and then on party days nights can end pretty late. On Sunday our night ended at 2:30am but then had an after party till 6am. Was a very heavy couple of days but so much fun!

Palomino

🏨Huku Beach Hostel

From The Journey or El Rio Hostel, the next stop is Palomino. After a few days of non stop fun and partying, it was nice to have a couple days of relaxing. We booked a dorm room at Huku Beach Hostel, which was incredibly cheap, even though the whole grounds is like a 5* resort. It is a short drive from the centre of Palomino so you would need to grab a tuktuk for 20,000 COP. The facilities there were also pretty amazing, we had our own pool, beach where we could watch the sunset and a bar and restaurant. The main things to do in Palomino are visit the variety of incredible beaches, we ended up not leaving our hostel because it was that good! We spent the two days lounging by the pool, having some Limonada de Coco drinks and enjoying the quiet. The only downside is the dorms didn’t have any aircon, only small fans, which annoyingly didn’t work very well, so sleeping was pretty uncomfortable. However, our overall experience trumped that, so would definitely recommend staying here.

Cartagena

🏨Casa Del Puerto Hostel

We spent three days in Cartagena before leaving Colombia. There’s not a lot of sight seeing to do, but its a gorgeous city with lots of amazing shops, boutiques and restaurants to try. We stayed at Casa Del Puerto, which is only a twenty minute walk from the main square of Cartagena. It’s a pretty decent hostel, with good aircon, a pool and cooking area. We also chose this hostel because it is a two minute walk from the port, which is where we had to go to for our San Blas tour.

Ciudad Amurallada
Spend the day exploring the colourful cobblestone streets, plaza and city of Cartagena.

Getsemani
One main neighbourhood to explore in Cartagena is Getsemani. There are multiple colourful, artistic streets for you to walk down, with loads of shops and restaurants to stop at along the way.

El Baluarte San Francisco Javier Restaurant and Bar
End the evening going here for a drink whilst watching the sunset. It’s a gorgeous, open air bar and restaurant with a perfect view of the sunset and town.

Other things to do in Cartagena

• Convento de la Popa: Another amazing viewpoint, where you can see incredible, panoramic views of Cartagena from the highest point of the city.
• Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas: explore the 17th-century fortress, in the heart of Cartagena.

Rosario Islands

🏨Echo Hostel Las Palmeras

Spend a couple of days visiting the Rosario Islands. You can either do a day trip from Cartagena or stay on one of the islands. We chose to book two nights on Isla Grande, a more chilled but just as beautiful island. If you prefer for a more party vibe you can choose another island, called Isla Cholón. We spent the two days relaxing, sunbathing, snorkelling and eating good food.

The boat to the island leaves around 9am every day and cost us 435,000 COP for the both of us with return travel included. To get back to Cartagena the boat leaves around 2pm every afternoon. However, it is a very rough journey back, so don’t sit at the front of the boat. We had the worst return journey ever, there were moments where if we weren’t careful, there was a chance we could have easily been thrown off the boat!

San Blas Islands Tour (Colombia to Panama)

We did the six day, five night San Blas boat tour from Colombia to Panama and it was honestly incredible, another highlight of the trip! We booked our tour with Blue Sailing and we had the best few days. A blog going into details on the tour and company we went with will be here.