After taking an entire year off traveling 😱, Ryan and I were ready for some adventure.  Usually this means a surf trip somewhere tropical- in fact we were about to pull the trigger on some plane tickets to Ecuador right before a heavy dose of life intervened.  Unfortunately Ryan’s shoulders were not quite recovered enough for surf, so we looked for alternatives and found our perfect match in Colombia- cheap flights, hiking, waterfalls, jungles, beaches, plus amazing food, architecture, culture, and a new continent we’d yet to visit.  Here we come South America!

We had 12 days in Colombia so we wanted to cover some ground but not spread ourselves too thin.  We decided to start the trip with Santa Marta as our home base, and then backtrack to Cartagena for the second half.  Santa Marta is not a particularly enchanting city on its own, but it is the gateway to so much adventure – Tayrona National park and Minca in particular.

We started with 2 nights in a “hostel” in Rodadero, just outside Santa Marta.  I used the term “hostel” lightly because Calle 11 Hostel was literally the dopest hostel I’ve ever seen.  Although modestly tucked away from the street life and beach, it looked more like a mansion in Mykonos than Colombia, and was rumored to have been a cartel vacation home once upon a time.  The staff was incredible, we met the most fantastic travelers while staying there, and obviously made fast friends with the house cat, Felix.

We chose a private room with an ensuite bathroom, although they do have bunk beds / shared rooms.  There was a poolside happy hour each night from 6-8:00 pm, which featured 2 fresh juice cocktails for $10,000 Colombian pesos or approximately $1.50 each.  Our first night we were travel weary and actually came back from dinner in time to catch happy hour still in full swing.  We retired early to be ready for a full day of exploring the next morning.

On our first full day, we set out to find Playa Inka Inka, a beach recommended by Alejandro at the front desk.  We parked our rental car at the end of a road and set to hiking up a dirt trail that scaled a small coastal mountain that separated Rodadero from Santa Marta.  From the top, we could see beautiful views of the skyscraper hotels lining the crowded beaches of Rodadero on our left, and had access to a completely deserted private beach on our right.

Afterwards, we explored the beaches in town (SO crowded!) and had a lunch of sizzling grilled meats served on hot platters with beans, rice and salad.  It was here that we were introduced to the magic that is Limonada de Coco -the most refreshingly delicious non-alcoholic coconut limeade smoothie.  This drink would be our savior of the trip as if was an icy refreshing way to combat the heat, and we often did not feel like drinking cocktails after sweating it out on a hike.  It is Ryan’s new favorite beverage!

Back at the hostel, we enjoyed a swim and poolside massages (a whopping $20 for an hour+), arranged by the staff.  We met several guests preparing to hike to Ciudad Perdida, which is an ancient city even older than Machu Picchu.  Though it was tempting to visit these incredible ruins, we’d decided after much research that we were not quite adventurous enough for the 3-4 nights in the jungle required to get there.

After a relaxing afternoon, we attempted to get sunset cocktails at the clifftop restaurant Burukuka, but as it was Sunday, we had to settle for non-alcoholic juices and were kicked out shortly after 6:00 pm as they were closing.  Worth it– the views were INCREDIBLE.

After a surprisingly good dinner at Italian spot Isola Sarda, we headed back to Calle 11 to find the hostel in full swing.  We settled in poolside and shared drinks and travel stories with the other guests who were visiting from England and Australia. The next morning we packed up and headed to our next hotel in downtown Santa Marta…

Must Dos: Calle 11 Hostel, Limonada de Cocos, poolside massage, inexpensive cocktails, hike to Playa Inka Inka, Isola Sarda, Burukuka cocktails

Watch Out for: the sun (pack your sunscreen and Life Straw water bottle), the tap water (don’t drink it!), the shower water (it will be lukewarm at best), pushy street vendors and pick pockets

If you’re feeling adventurous: Ciudad Perdida