November 11, 2024 • 36 mins
Inspired by a recent friend group trip to the northern cities of Tayrona, Barranquilla, and Cartagena, Colombia, Mary Grace and Marco take some time to casually reflect upon and discuss a number of scenes and situations they witnessed of locals and what they learned from them during their short time in this vibrant, biodiverse and multi-faceted country than either of them are used to. Enjoy!
(00:00) Intro
(00:33) Episode overview & catch-up
(03:11) Some takeaways from Colombia
(04:37) Thoughts on Cartagena
(07:35) The police stop in Barranquilla
(08:50) Language barrier & you NEED Spanish
(09:51) Socioeconomics in Colombia
(11:28) Humidity
(13:35) Cash, road tolls, measurements
(17:19) Colombian 9-5 & happiness
(20:55) Shakira statue & Barranquilla
(22:32) Local cuisine, costs, drinks
(25:51) Local chain recommendation: Narcobollo
(26:40) Organized chaos traffic
(28:54) Demographic diversity in Cartagena
(29:46) What we wish we would’ve known before going
(32:24) Recommendations for tourists
(35:34) Episode wrap-up
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Once Upon a Trip podcast, where we dive deep into sharing everything
(00:05):
crazy travel stories, dating adventures, culture fusions, and plenty of takeaways to entertain
and feed your inner curiosity and travel bug.
I'm your host, Mary Grace Crawford, travel enthusiast, content creator, ex-digital nomad,
avid storyteller, and lover of all things Europe, based now in Atlanta, Georgia.
(00:33):
When I say that I didn't script this episode, I really didn't.
I didn't even script the intro that you're listening to right now.
So I hope that this turns out okay.
I want to start off by saying hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever
time of the day it is for you.
Welcome back.
I'm really thrilled that you're here with us today.
(00:56):
Marco and I just got back from a trip with three of our friends to Cartagena, Colombia,
and also to another part of Colombia called Parque Tairona, which is kind of another rainforest
region.
I apologize in advance if I sound a little bit stuffy.
I hope I'm not getting sick.
I think the temperature change between Colombia and Georgia has had some effect on some congestion,
(01:24):
but I hope that you can't hear it too much.
I just celebrated my 29th birthday in Colombia.
It was a great day, and I know that many of you sent some wonderful birthday wishes on
a completely separate note.
Thank you so much for those wonderful wishes because they really, really did mean a huge
(01:44):
deal to me.
It was a really great day.
It rained on the evening of my birthday, which wasn't part of the plan, but I think it's
fine because I'm fortunate in general for many other things.
I will say though that I am really thrilled to be home now.
I have missed the fall weather here in the Southeast.
(02:07):
I'm happy to finally be able to wear a sweater again because in Colombia it was hot and it
was humid.
This was my very, not my very first time, but this was my first time in a very long
time traveling in a group of more than about three people.
There were five of us total, so it was quite an adjustment from my solo traveling slash
(02:32):
traveling with just one or two other people.
I think it's good to travel both with people and on your own.
More on that later.
It was overall a very valuable learning experience before I start rambling on a little bit too
much here.
I am going to go ahead and start opening up this episode.
This is just going to be a combination of thoughts and lessons learned in Colombia by
(02:56):
both me and by Marco.
So without further ado, here we go with the episode ahead.
I hope you enjoy and take something away just like I say every single week.
Okay, so we are rolling and we are literally winging this.
We're just going to talk and have a conversation about some thoughts and some lessons that
(03:20):
we learned in Colombia where we recently were.
Let's start with you, Marco.
What are some things you learned and enjoyed or didn't enjoy about our time in both Cartagena,
Colombia and the rainforest in Tairona, Colombia?
The biggest takeaway was that the disparity as far as development between city and rural
(03:43):
country is quite significant.
Way more significant than you would find that in a nation like the US.
Despite very apparent poverty and lack of resources, people seemed still very happy.
There was loud music, people were dancing.
I feel like there's not a single lonely person in Colombia.
They're just all sitting together and eating and drinking and blasting loud music.
(04:07):
Very, very loud music.
Yeah, I feel like Colombians must be hard of hearing.
I think they really are.
Yeah, that is definitely something that I also noticed.
Colombians love to party.
They love to be social and loud and blast music like your ears have never heard before.
Like a whole other level.
(04:27):
Even for me, their energy was just a lot.
Let's talk more about Cartagena specifically and then we'll go on to talk about our other
experiences.
What are your thoughts on Cartagena?
I found it beautiful, especially the old historic town.
There's a lot of history with the European or the Spanish settlement of South America
(04:48):
that began there.
And the architecture is just beautiful.
What was funny too was that our trip, unbeknownst to us, coincided with their annual independence
festival, or whatever you want to call it.
Cartagena's independence, their 213th year of gaining independence from Spain.
So this was the week that we were there.
(05:10):
And apparently they really party.
Not just like in the US, 4th of July, a couple of fireworks.
No, they are dancing in the streets.
Every community, it doesn't matter if it's students from school or if it's...
Literally everyone is just singing and dancing through the streets.
So that was kind of cool.
Everything's very colorful.
That was really nice.
(05:31):
I enjoyed it.
How about you?
I enjoyed it, but I will say I think that Marco enjoyed it more than I did because,
and apparently this is very common in a lot of Latin American countries, the salespeople
pestering the fuck out of us was horrible.
(05:52):
Like we went to the most beautiful, not beautiful, but we went to the most popular beach in Cartagena
and that is called Boca Grande.
Boca Grande beach was just an experience when it came to the salespeople.
It was so unnecessarily much.
I couldn't stand it.
Like we literally would walk on the beach and constantly there was somebody trying to
(06:16):
get in our faces, sell us something.
One of our friends who was with us actually had a random woman touch her feet and want
to be charged money for it.
So I mean it was like unnecessary pestering and I really was not a fan of that.
But yes, they were pestering, but I personally, I never felt like threatened by them.
(06:39):
It was never sketchy.
Even when we were, well granted, not on many occasions, but when we went outside the historic
old town or even when we were in rural Columbia, I was never afraid to be like pickpocketed
or mugged or whatever.
In that respect, I don't quite understand the State Department's assessment of Columbia,
(07:00):
especially that region because they're like, oh, you know, warning level, I don't know,
warning level, reconsider your travel.
You might not want to go.
And I feel like this was way safer than most US cities.
So I don't know what they were talking about.
It's kind of ironic.
You would think that looking on the streets of some of the Colombian villages, you would
(07:20):
think that it's very poor, very impoverished, but you feel safe.
Yeah, with the State Department, I guess obviously politics are involved in making those decisions
and assessments.
I also didn't feel unsafe, but I do want to talk about the police stop that we had.
Marco was a bit freaked out when we had that.
So do you want to talk about getting stopped by the police on our first night?
(07:45):
I was not driving, but we were, so we were the five of us.
We were in a rental car and we were driving from Catahena to Tijuana, which was a good
four hour drive, four hours east of Catahena.
And it was like six, six in the evening, which this time of year is just night.
It's pitch black.
(08:05):
We were just driving out of, I think, Barranquilla.
There are cops that are just waving us down and pulling us over.
I believe they did that because for one thing, there was not a lot of traffic and our car
kind of stood out because for the average car that you see on the streets, we had a
pretty nice car, pretty nice rental car, pretty new, clean, not beat to crap.
(08:28):
It was, it was a good car, a Mazda.
Yeah.
I think based on that, they pulled us over since I didn't know how Colombian police act,
you know, they could be, you know, they could be a bunch of crooks.
They could give you a hard time.
They could arrest you or they could seek a bribe or something, but it was none of that.
So that was actually a pretty positive experience.
They were very friendly, very, very chill despite the funny language barrier, but we
(08:50):
managed.
The other thing about being in Colombia, going off of that is the language barrier.
The language, if you don't know Spanish and you go to Colombia, I don't want to say you
will have trouble, but you will have a definitely harder time.
If you don't learn at least basic Spanish, you really, really, really need it in a place
(09:13):
like Colombia.
I think though that this is not exclusive to Colombia.
I think this is not.
I mean, as far as Spanish speak, I think all Spanish speakers.
Spanish speaking countries, including Spain and all Latin American countries are that
way.
I mean, I've only, I've only been to, to Spain and to Mexico and now Colombia and in all
three countries, it was very, especially somewhere outside, not in like a touristy kind of hotel
(09:36):
or something.
Yeah.
A couple of words of Spanish or definitely important because otherwise you're, you create
misunderstandings.
A lot of misunderstandings.
I think the biggest thing that I personally learned in Colombia was just the socioeconomic
difference.
Sort of like Marco was talking about in the beginning, people pester the fuck out of you
(09:59):
for money, but at the same time, they are so desperate and just seeing that everywhere
you go is kind of sad.
Honestly, like, yeah, people pester you, but it's because they have no other choice.
I don't know if they're, if they're, if all of them are necessarily desperate.
I think it's just easy money.
Like any kind of Western tourists, even if one out of 10 gives you money, that is just
(10:24):
easy money.
So I don't, I don't know if really all of them are desperate.
I think it's just easy money for them.
There were hardly any beggars.
It was, they were all selling like something hats and sunglasses and cigars and especially
Cuban cigars and when you, when you, you know, when they tried, many of them, when you, when
you went past them, then they whispered that they also sell cocaine, which was funny.
(10:48):
So yeah, every, like every, it felt like every other sales guy was, was also selling cocaine.
Yeah.
We actually got stopped, I think on at least two occasions by the local police and caught
one.
It was, I thought it was twice.
Well, the first time was a, was the car stop.
Well, that's right.
But we were, we were stopped literally walking on the street by police once and they were
(11:11):
checking for cocaine.
Yeah, they wanted, they wanted, yeah, they checked our bags, wanted our passports and
Columbia, in that, in that regard, I'm, well, I hate to say it's really living up to its
stereotype.
Yeah.
Cocaine is very present.
Widespread.
Yeah.
Very present.
Another thing that I learned and did not like about Columbia, at least compared to the first
(11:34):
time that I went to Medellin almost two years ago is the humidity.
Oh my gosh.
It was horrible.
It felt like walking into this dry sauna every single day, all times of the day, like it
didn't get better in the evenings.
It is horrible.
If you are not used to this, and even if you are, I think it's not a pleasant experience,
(11:57):
but I don't know how Marco feels about the humidity.
It wasn't, wasn't pleasant, but it was still very interesting.
I have never been this close to the equator.
So we were like 10 degrees north latitude.
That's reinforced.
That's in the middle of the rainforest, especially when we went to Parque de Tarrona.
We were in the rainforest, which is beautiful too, because it's just lush.
(12:20):
Everything is just green.
It really is.
Densely grown.
It is, that's very impressive.
And you just see banana trees and just, yeah, like for breakfast, basically you could just
go out and pick a banana or whatever fruit.
So that I found impressive.
Yeah.
The humidity, honestly, it's not that much worse than summer in Atlanta.
But I guess because it was November, it just, I know it's rainy season.
(12:45):
I mean, no matter what time of the year it is, it's not pleasant.
I still think that it does, it felt kind of not worse than Georgia, but it felt pretty
similar.
It was okay.
Also, we were very active.
We were walking a lot and we had the luxury of having air conditioning in our accommodations.
(13:05):
The average Colombian does not have that.
So yeah, we shouldn't whine so much.
That's okay.
No, we shouldn't whine so much, but I'm just saying for me, at least personally, I just
was very uncomfortable.
Well, you sweat more than me.
So I do.
And I also have eczema, which I don't know if anybody listening here has eczema, but
(13:25):
everyone wants to hear that.
Yeah.
No, but I'm saying like it's, it's important.
No, I'm just, I'm justifying my reasons.
Colombia also is extremely cash heavy.
So if you go to Colombia, you better bring cash.
Yeah, but this is, you're exaggerating.
It's not.
I'm not exaggerating.
(13:46):
Yes.
Okay.
Compared to the United States where these days, basically you can get by with just credit
cards and Apple pay and whatever it is.
So there are a couple of places where you absolutely needed cash, but compared to my
trip to Yucatan in Mexico last year, it was nowhere near as bad.
Like Yucatan, Mexico was very, very, very cash heavy.
Whereas in Colombia, pretty much any store we went to, you accepted credit cards.
(14:12):
The only significant time where I think everyone had to pay in cash, even though I don't think
we ever asked if we could have paid by card, were the, the countless road tolls.
Yes.
And that is the next thing that we discovered and really learned from Colombia.
Oh my gosh.
The number of road tolls in Colombia is insane.
(14:32):
Like in a four hour period of driving, we went through seven tolls and paid a total
or the equivalent of 21 US dollars, which on a Colombian salary, that's, that's a lot
in tolls and that's one direction.
I don't, I don't remember exactly how many miles we drove, maybe like 130 miles one way.
(14:55):
So yeah, so we were basically 20 something dollars, 430 miles.
Well I will say that the roads were in good condition.
There were hardly any potholes.
It was actually very smooth.
So I would say the money at least seems to be going to road maintenance.
But I just wonder why there are that many tolls for that distance.
Like I felt like we would drive maybe two miles and then hit another toll and then pay
(15:21):
again and then hit another toll.
Well, the Colombians, I mean, from, from what we've seen, the Colombians don't seem to be
happy with that either because we saw quite a, quite a number of cars that had a kind
of an anti toll movement sticker on the, you know, on their cars.
And if you, when you think about it, I mean, just that having a toll is one thing, but
also that it's for this distance, that it's a $20 one way on a Colombian salary, that
(15:48):
must be quite some financial stress.
I mean, I actually Googled the average Colombian salary and I don't know if it's accurate because
Colombia is a fairly big country and it obviously varies from big city to big city.
But my general consensus is they make between or the average Colombian probably makes between
(16:10):
500 to 800 US dollars a month.
And when you're paying $20 and tolls for one direction, yeah, that is a really huge
burden honestly.
I think I would say that for the average Colombian probably motoring.
So having a car is by far the biggest challenge to finance because groceries, except maybe
(16:35):
dairy because you know, there's not a lot of livestock at least where we were.
Everything is just very fruit based, but yeah, groceries seems quite affordable, but I guess
having a car, putting up with the tolls.
I don't know what they pay in insurance and tax or whatever, but also gasoline costs very
similar to what it costs here in the US.
So it was like $3.30 per gallon, which I found funny by the way, that Colombia, which is
(16:59):
a totally metrified country, using the metric system, sells gasoline in gallons.
That's the most random thing.
Everything else is metric, but then, you know, when they buy gas, it's in gallons.
That's really weird and really funny.
I don't know why they take after gallons like the US, but they do.
So fun fact.
Another funny thing that we experienced in Colombia was when we were driving to Cartagena
(17:24):
from Tairona, so from kind of the, well, all of it is the north of Colombia.
We were driving through these small villages on a, I guess it was a Monday or Tuesday.
And of course it was the work week or work day.
Yeah, it was a Monday morning, like 10 AM.
So yes, it was a Monday morning, 10 AM.
And it was just so interesting to see how people go about their work day compared to
(17:48):
Europe and the US.
Like, it really didn't seem like they were productive at all.
Like they don't have a consistent nine to five, like many of us Americans and Europeans
seem to know.
They were just kind of all over the place.
They were just chilling.
Some of them were on the streets, riding their bikes and riding motorcycles.
(18:09):
It was just so amusing to me.
So just seeing how different their work dynamic was, was quite interesting.
Yeah, no same here.
I mean, it's probably very different between again, between city and kind of rural, but
yeah, we were all kind of flabbergasted thinking, hey, how do they make a living?
Like what?
(18:29):
Yeah, it's like, do they work?
Monday, 10 AM, you should be busy doing something.
And they did not look busy.
Like at all.
They really didn't.
Yeah.
And also I found funny, that was like a car wash.
It said was a big sign car wash, but it was literally an empty parking space with a dude
that had a hose and like a couple of sponges.
(18:50):
That was like car wash.
I was like, oh, the Colombian style car wash.
Not very sophisticated.
No, I mean, a lot of their stuff was not sophisticated.
And again, I don't know if we stated this already, but one thing that I really loved
about the villages when driving through them, at least on our first night was seeing how
happy people really seem to be.
(19:12):
Like they didn't have TVs.
I don't even know if some of them had electricity.
It seemed like, and everybody was just out on their porches talking to each other, blasting
music, having a good time.
And they seemed happier than I think many, many Americans and Europeans do, even though
they have so much less.
(19:33):
So that was just astounding and kind of enlightening, but also kind of sad in a way to see like,
wow, the Western world has a lot, but we don't seem happier.
It puts things in perspective.
I'm sure there are here in the U S there are probably countless miserable millionaires.
Oh yeah.
Whereas in Colombia, there are people that have literally nothing and they're just dancing
(19:57):
and laughing through the day.
Yeah, no, I mean, I think I remember even when we were hiking at the Taitona national
park, I think we even saw children playing in kind of dirty river water and they were
laughing and having fun and they looked happy.
And we were just like, wow, it really does put, it does put it into perspective.
(20:19):
Yeah.
The weather, I guess the weather makes a difference too, I guess.
And they don't know any better.
I mean, that's just how they grow up.
They're very social.
There's no loneliness.
I guess it's a total, totally different way of life.
Now, of course that changes from small villages to big cities.
Because when we were in Cartagena, I think it was a little bit different.
People in the big cities still didn't exactly seem the same.
(20:41):
They seemed more stressed, more desperate for money again, not nearly as carefree as
those in the very poor villages.
True.
It's two different groups of people.
Definitely.
There's something that we saw or that we kind of assumed already, I guess.
But what was pretty much confirmed during the trip is that Shakira really is a big deal
(21:04):
there.
Oh yeah, she is.
Yes.
We actually traveled to Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla.
And I guess it's like an hour, maybe a little bit more outside of Cartagena.
And yeah, there is this massive statue, massive Shakira statue.
She has a statue right off the coast to the, you know, right off the Caribbean coast.
Yeah.
(21:25):
And it's packed with people.
Like, I mean, granted, I don't think there were many American or European tourists, but
we went during a work day and it was just flooded with all sorts of people.
There are buses carting tourists there.
Everyone wants to see that statue.
I mean, we did drive into Barranquilla afterwards and grabbed some lunch.
(21:47):
But as far as sites, also when we did some research, there didn't seem to be a lot of
kind of tourist attractions in Barranquilla.
No, it's a very industrial city, like of a million people.
It's more residential.
It's not really for tourists.
It's just simply where Shakira was born and she just spent a good part of her life there.
(22:07):
Born and raised, I think.
And then when she made it, she left.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think some Colombians call her like a fake Colombian because I mean, she's not
there anymore.
Well, I get it.
I mean, probably some people think she's a sellout or something.
Yeah.
But yeah, she's still like also on billboards and like some on advertising, they like to
(22:28):
use her face.
So it's not completely gone.
Another thing we liked about Barranquilla was the local cuisine experience that we got
to have when we were there.
The cost of traveling in Colombia in general is really a good bang for your buck if you
are American or European traveling there.
(22:49):
So your money goes further.
And I think our cheapest meal for a group of five was in Barranquilla and it was very
good quality.
It was 28 US dollars for five people, like in a sit down restaurant where you eat with
a porcelain plate, porcelain silverware and pretty good food and pretty good service.
(23:12):
Like people seem to really care.
Well, but we have to say though, it was okay.
Well, it was not touristic.
So that's, that's, it was really amongst the, it was very local, the actual people.
So we kind of, we definitely kind of stood out there, but it was kind of a cafeteria
style, like it was over the counter, but still like the seating accommodations were nice.
You still, as you said, you, which is mind boggling for Americans, you actually got a
(23:36):
porcelain plate and metal silverware, not like plastic, not the plastic stuff that you
get here, even in pretty decent hotels where you eat off of paper plates and with plastic
silverware.
So, so as far as like the eating culture, eating like food quality, the portion sizes,
that was really good.
(23:57):
Like I, I don't know about you, but I didn't have a single bad meal throughout the trip.
No, I also didn't have a single bad meal, but there was one time when we had a local
snack food called Pataconis, which is like this plantain smashed circle kind of thing.
I don't know how to describe it.
Anyway, that's a very, it's a very common food in Columbia.
(24:19):
And I had that for one of our meals and one of them was kind of stale.
I was not happy with that, but other than that, it was, yes, it was excellent food.
Very, very heavy on rice, very rich in terms of fruits.
No, very, very good stuff and amazing tacos, or at least the place we went to in Cartagena.
(24:42):
Definitely, definitely a recommendation.
You know, you can get really good lemonades or also alcoholic beverages.
Like, you know, they make good cocktails.
Yeah.
You can definitely tell that the social aspect of life and good food and good drinks are
a very big priority for Colombians.
I really especially love their juices because the thing is their juices were like smoothies.
(25:05):
Like they were very thick whenever, like in the very beginning when we first arrived.
And I think Marco and some other people ordered a mango juice.
I was just expecting, okay, it's probably just like a liquid mango.
It was like a smoothie.
From an actual mango, like especially when we had in our first accommodation in Pocahontas
(25:26):
or close to Pocahontas, which was basically a house in the middle of the rainforest, in
the middle of the jungle.
It was incredible.
And when we had breakfast there, I basically had the feeling that she went back and picked
it from a mango tree, fresh, and squeezed it.
That's how it looked and tasted.
It was very incredible.
(25:48):
Very rich, very authentic.
Yes.
And the place in Barranquilla where we went to, one of our friends found this place on
TikTok and it was very, I think it's something very worth recommending.
It's called Narco Bollo.
So if you're ever in Barranquilla or you're ever in Colombia and you happen to stop by
Barranquilla, definitely stop at Narco Bollo because you will not be disappointed.
(26:13):
But only during the day because I wasn't sure how that area was at night because there was
like a security dude in front of the building.
That was the funniest thing.
There was a security guard in front of the restaurant door during the day.
I was like, what is this?
Maybe our safety kind of feeling is a little bit deceiving here.
(26:35):
But yeah, it was.
So just as a disclaimer, don't go there at night.
Let's talk a little bit about the traffic and riding through the roads, especially in
Cartagena.
Well, the rural roads weren't any better.
In Cartagena, I think as one of our friends described it, it's an experience that's defined
(26:56):
by organized chaos.
So you have a lot of motorcycles, a lot of motorbikes, and then you have a lot of cars,
and then you have some flooding in the roads and you drive through it and you have to...
People are constantly going everywhere and it's like not...
You feel like you're going to crash and cause an accident, but I don't think we saw a single
accident when we were there.
(27:17):
Also, the vehicles seem to be in pretty good shape apart from the rust because they're
right next to the ocean.
But they're not dented or...
Especially in Southern Europe, for example, where they show a similar behavior, the cars
are beat to shit.
And there, everything looked okay, which is remarkable given how they drive.
(27:41):
There is no road discipline.
It is all over the place, literally all over the place.
And the most essential feature of every car is the horn.
They're just honking all day long.
You always have to check for bikes because they come...
Out of nowhere.
You have to sit in the car.
I wasn't driving, our friend was driving, but you basically have to be like a lighthouse.
(28:04):
You have to look all around all the time.
But in a way, people are not reckless.
They're still looking after each other.
They're anticipating what other people do.
They are probably the better drivers compared to the average American.
Yes.
Kind of a weird thought, but that's true.
They still manage their...
(28:24):
Nothing ever happened despite them driving totally...
All over the place.
Just all over the place.
Yeah.
Their horn or their constant honking wasn't so much like, get out of my way.
It was more of a sign of, hey, I'm here.
Don't run over me.
It's not hostile.
It's just like, hey, I'm just letting you know.
I'm next to you.
(28:45):
It's really an experience.
But when you see it for the first time, even if you're not driving, you're just like, oh
my God, how are we going to make it?
I guess another thing that I learned about Columbia or at least about Cartagena specifically
was I didn't realize how diverse it was in terms of demographics.
Cartagena is very heavy on Afro-Columbians.
(29:07):
There's a very huge African influence and you can feel that on the streets.
You can feel that in their spirit and in their street parades and in their bars and their
just city landscape.
It's really fascinating.
And I think before I at least went to Cartagena, I didn't know that.
45% of Cartagena, I think of the locals at least have some sort of African roots.
(29:33):
So compared to Medellin and some other places where it's more European and more...
Indigenous too, right?
Yes, and indigenous.
I mean, I don't have that comparison because I haven't been to other...
I haven't been to Medellin like you.
Do you have any other things you'd like to share about Columbia or things that you saw,
things that you learned, things that you witnessed, things that you'd recommend, things you wish
(29:56):
you would have known before going any of those things?
We did a pretty good tour, I think.
We didn't cheap out.
The things that we were interested in, we just did.
The only thing that was a little bit tricky was in Cartagena finding postcards and also
posting them.
That was a bit of a challenge, much more so than I thought it would have been.
(30:17):
I had to Google and Google and Google to find the one store that had a mailbox or that even
sold stamps.
That was a little bit peculiar, but no, everything else worked out really well.
I guess for me again, I've probably been acting like a broken record, at least not in terms
of recording this episode.
I mean, in terms of being outside of it, I really was just so bothered by the constant
(30:42):
pestering.
I think Marco knows that.
Yeah, I've been complaining a lot about it.
I think out of every single place that I have been to up to this point in my life, I just
have never experienced this constant pestering, constant salespeople getting in your face,
constant bothering you.
Even we took a boat tour.
I think even on the boat tour, we were pestered on that too.
(31:06):
It was ridiculous on jet skis.
Somewhere really way into the water, not even close to the shoreline.
There are just people on little kayaks and little boats just coming towards your boat
and trying to sell you stuff, food and whatever, on the water.
(31:27):
That was a lot.
I mean, it was another level.
Basically like an ice cream truck, but just-
On jet skis.
Yeah, just as a boat or a jet ski.
And not only one, but two of them, I think, approached our boat and was, I mean, just
like they were constantly doing stuff.
It was a shark tank of salespeople, but it didn't bother me as much as it bothered you.
(31:49):
No, I mean, it just really took away from the authentic beauty and experience of the
culture and the place.
I think that's something that bothered me the most, but I also really appreciated, again,
I appreciated the dynamic of many of the people, how many of them just seemed happier and warmer
(32:11):
and more focused on community and connecting and making others happy as opposed to many
places in the US and also in Europe, or I would say.
Oh yeah, I think that's fair.
Before we wrap up, what are some recommendations you would give to somebody coming to Colombia
or somebody coming specifically to Cartagena or the surrounding areas?
(32:36):
Definitely get an impression of both city and to nature, because especially if you have
the time, and we only did like a fraction of Colombia there, Colombia is one of the
most diverse countries on the planet as far as nature.
You have the Andes, you have the rainforest.
We didn't even see all that much, but just the fraction that we saw, I found that quite
(32:59):
fascinating.
The colonial history with the old town of Cartagena, but then also Tyrona, that park.
Don't go, but that goes for any country of that kind of sort.
Just don't go to like a hotel or a resort or something.
If you really want to see a country, get out.
Throw yourself in the local culture.
(33:20):
Really learn about the actual culture and the everyday life and what they do, what they
eat, absorb the vibe and I mean, don't be stupid, of course.
Don't make yourself a moving target.
Yeah.
And be sure again that you learn some Spanish.
Learn a little bit.
Yeah.
Really, that is so important.
(33:41):
You need to know some Spanish.
Definitely.
Because I never saw it, but there are places where they have an English menu and then on
the English menu, the prices are higher.
Did you see that in Colombia?
No, I didn't see that.
But many people have said that and I think that's very believable.
We usually got also the Spanish menus and we kind of managed.
(34:02):
Yeah, we would just translate.
Also these days with translation apps on the phone, it is doable.
Bring cash.
No, don't get it in advance.
I wouldn't jump through those hoops to get it in advance.
I would just, I mean, you can just go ATM somewhere in a mall.
They had a really, really nice mall, which may as well have been like America.
(34:23):
There's a very modern mall.
In Cartagena.
In Cartagena, there are ATMs there or even at the airport, you can just get money.
So I don't know about taxes.
We never took a taxi.
I don't know if they accept card or if you have to pay them in cash.
I don't know.
I wouldn't stress out too much about the money.
Unlike Mexico.
Mexico again was quite different in that regard.
(34:45):
I think when you get gas in a car too, you can also pay with card.
Oh yeah, totally.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Be careful.
Don't buy cocaine.
Don't get into trouble.
What the state department says there, take it with a grain of salt.
I mean, it's not any...
That goes for a lot of places.
Yeah.
Well, you don't, you never know.
You never, but with Columbia, I will, I would really say that the state department went
(35:08):
a little bit overboard when they're in their, in their security assessment.
I felt safer than in downtown Atlanta throughout the trip.
Even with more poverty and even with more, with dirtier streets.
Yeah.
I also didn't feel unsafe.
Yeah.
But downtown Atlanta questionably is, arguably is more unsafe.
(35:29):
So yeah.
Safe travels everyone.
Safe travels everyone.
So this now wraps up today's episode.
We hope that you enjoyed it, just like I always say every week.
And if you learned something new and you like to share it with me or you'd like to share
with a friend or family member or whoever else, definitely do so.
(35:50):
And let me know your additional thoughts and feedback on Instagram at onceuponatrip.pc
or on my host account at Mary Grace Crawford.
If you're still listening and you're still here, I want to say thank you so much again
for sticking to the end.
I can't wait to tune in with you again next Tuesday for another fun, adventurous trip
(36:13):
of an episode.
Welcome to the Once Upon a Trip podcast, where we dive deep into sharing everything
(00:05):
crazy travel stories, dating adventures, culture fusions, and plenty of takeaways to entertain
and feed your inner curiosity and travel bug.
I'm your host, Mary Grace Crawford, travel enthusiast, content creator, ex-digital nomad,
avid storyteller, and lover of all things Europe, based now in Atlanta, Georgia.
(00:33):
When I say that I didn't script this episode, I really didn't.
I didn't even script the intro that you're listening to right now.
So I hope that this turns out okay.
I want to start off by saying hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever
time of the day it is for you.
Welcome back.
I'm really thrilled that you're here with us today.
(00:56):
Marco and I just got back from a trip with three of our friends to Cartagena, Colombia,
and also to another part of Colombia called Parque Tairona, which is kind of another rainforest
region.
I apologize in advance if I sound a little bit stuffy.
I hope I'm not getting sick.
I think the temperature change between Colombia and Georgia has had some effect on some congestion,
(01:24):
but I hope that you can't hear it too much.
I just celebrated my 29th birthday in Colombia.
It was a great day, and I know that many of you sent some wonderful birthday wishes on
a completely separate note.
Thank you so much for those wonderful wishes because they really, really did mean a huge
(01:44):
deal to me.
It was a really great day.
It rained on the evening of my birthday, which wasn't part of the plan, but I think it's
fine because I'm fortunate in general for many other things.
I will say though that I am really thrilled to be home now.
I have missed the fall weather here in the Southeast.
(02:07):
I'm happy to finally be able to wear a sweater again because in Colombia it was hot and it
was humid.
This was my very, not my very first time, but this was my first time in a very long
time traveling in a group of more than about three people.
There were five of us total, so it was quite an adjustment from my solo traveling slash
(02:32):
traveling with just one or two other people.
I think it's good to travel both with people and on your own.
More on that later.
It was overall a very valuable learning experience before I start rambling on a little bit too
much here.
I am going to go ahead and start opening up this episode.
This is just going to be a combination of thoughts and lessons learned in Colombia by
(02:56):
both me and by Marco.
So without further ado, here we go with the episode ahead.
I hope you enjoy and take something away just like I say every single week.
Okay, so we are rolling and we are literally winging this.
We're just going to talk and have a conversation about some thoughts and some lessons that
(03:20):
we learned in Colombia where we recently were.
Let's start with you, Marco.
What are some things you learned and enjoyed or didn't enjoy about our time in both Cartagena,
Colombia and the rainforest in Tairona, Colombia?
The biggest takeaway was that the disparity as far as development between city and rural
(03:43):
country is quite significant.
Way more significant than you would find that in a nation like the US.
Despite very apparent poverty and lack of resources, people seemed still very happy.
There was loud music, people were dancing.
I feel like there's not a single lonely person in Colombia.
They're just all sitting together and eating and drinking and blasting loud music.
(04:07):
Very, very loud music.
Yeah, I feel like Colombians must be hard of hearing.
I think they really are.
Yeah, that is definitely something that I also noticed.
Colombians love to party.
They love to be social and loud and blast music like your ears have never heard before.
Like a whole other level.
(04:27):
Even for me, their energy was just a lot.
Let's talk more about Cartagena specifically and then we'll go on to talk about our other
experiences.
What are your thoughts on Cartagena?
I found it beautiful, especially the old historic town.
There's a lot of history with the European or the Spanish settlement of South America
(04:48):
that began there.
And the architecture is just beautiful.
What was funny too was that our trip, unbeknownst to us, coincided with their annual independence
festival, or whatever you want to call it.
Cartagena's independence, their 213th year of gaining independence from Spain.
So this was the week that we were there.
(05:10):
And apparently they really party.
Not just like in the US, 4th of July, a couple of fireworks.
No, they are dancing in the streets.
Every community, it doesn't matter if it's students from school or if it's...
Literally everyone is just singing and dancing through the streets.
So that was kind of cool.
Everything's very colorful.
That was really nice.
(05:31):
I enjoyed it.
How about you?
I enjoyed it, but I will say I think that Marco enjoyed it more than I did because,
and apparently this is very common in a lot of Latin American countries, the salespeople
pestering the fuck out of us was horrible.
(05:52):
Like we went to the most beautiful, not beautiful, but we went to the most popular beach in Cartagena
and that is called Boca Grande.
Boca Grande beach was just an experience when it came to the salespeople.
It was so unnecessarily much.
I couldn't stand it.
Like we literally would walk on the beach and constantly there was somebody trying to
(06:16):
get in our faces, sell us something.
One of our friends who was with us actually had a random woman touch her feet and want
to be charged money for it.
So I mean it was like unnecessary pestering and I really was not a fan of that.
But yes, they were pestering, but I personally, I never felt like threatened by them.
(06:39):
It was never sketchy.
Even when we were, well granted, not on many occasions, but when we went outside the historic
old town or even when we were in rural Columbia, I was never afraid to be like pickpocketed
or mugged or whatever.
In that respect, I don't quite understand the State Department's assessment of Columbia,
(07:00):
especially that region because they're like, oh, you know, warning level, I don't know,
warning level, reconsider your travel.
You might not want to go.
And I feel like this was way safer than most US cities.
So I don't know what they were talking about.
It's kind of ironic.
You would think that looking on the streets of some of the Colombian villages, you would
(07:20):
think that it's very poor, very impoverished, but you feel safe.
Yeah, with the State Department, I guess obviously politics are involved in making those decisions
and assessments.
I also didn't feel unsafe, but I do want to talk about the police stop that we had.
Marco was a bit freaked out when we had that.
So do you want to talk about getting stopped by the police on our first night?
(07:45):
I was not driving, but we were, so we were the five of us.
We were in a rental car and we were driving from Catahena to Tijuana, which was a good
four hour drive, four hours east of Catahena.
And it was like six, six in the evening, which this time of year is just night.
It's pitch black.
(08:05):
We were just driving out of, I think, Barranquilla.
There are cops that are just waving us down and pulling us over.
I believe they did that because for one thing, there was not a lot of traffic and our car
kind of stood out because for the average car that you see on the streets, we had a
pretty nice car, pretty nice rental car, pretty new, clean, not beat to crap.
(08:28):
It was, it was a good car, a Mazda.
Yeah.
I think based on that, they pulled us over since I didn't know how Colombian police act,
you know, they could be, you know, they could be a bunch of crooks.
They could give you a hard time.
They could arrest you or they could seek a bribe or something, but it was none of that.
So that was actually a pretty positive experience.
They were very friendly, very, very chill despite the funny language barrier, but we
(08:50):
managed.
The other thing about being in Colombia, going off of that is the language barrier.
The language, if you don't know Spanish and you go to Colombia, I don't want to say you
will have trouble, but you will have a definitely harder time.
If you don't learn at least basic Spanish, you really, really, really need it in a place
(09:13):
like Colombia.
I think though that this is not exclusive to Colombia.
I think this is not.
I mean, as far as Spanish speak, I think all Spanish speakers.
Spanish speaking countries, including Spain and all Latin American countries are that
way.
I mean, I've only, I've only been to, to Spain and to Mexico and now Colombia and in all
three countries, it was very, especially somewhere outside, not in like a touristy kind of hotel
(09:36):
or something.
Yeah.
A couple of words of Spanish or definitely important because otherwise you're, you create
misunderstandings.
A lot of misunderstandings.
I think the biggest thing that I personally learned in Colombia was just the socioeconomic
difference.
Sort of like Marco was talking about in the beginning, people pester the fuck out of you
(09:59):
for money, but at the same time, they are so desperate and just seeing that everywhere
you go is kind of sad.
Honestly, like, yeah, people pester you, but it's because they have no other choice.
I don't know if they're, if they're, if all of them are necessarily desperate.
I think it's just easy money.
Like any kind of Western tourists, even if one out of 10 gives you money, that is just
(10:24):
easy money.
So I don't, I don't know if really all of them are desperate.
I think it's just easy money for them.
There were hardly any beggars.
It was, they were all selling like something hats and sunglasses and cigars and especially
Cuban cigars and when you, when you, you know, when they tried, many of them, when you, when
you went past them, then they whispered that they also sell cocaine, which was funny.
(10:48):
So yeah, every, like every, it felt like every other sales guy was, was also selling cocaine.
Yeah.
We actually got stopped, I think on at least two occasions by the local police and caught
one.
It was, I thought it was twice.
Well, the first time was a, was the car stop.
Well, that's right.
But we were, we were stopped literally walking on the street by police once and they were
(11:11):
checking for cocaine.
Yeah, they wanted, they wanted, yeah, they checked our bags, wanted our passports and
Columbia, in that, in that regard, I'm, well, I hate to say it's really living up to its
stereotype.
Yeah.
Cocaine is very present.
Widespread.
Yeah.
Very present.
Another thing that I learned and did not like about Columbia, at least compared to the first
(11:34):
time that I went to Medellin almost two years ago is the humidity.
Oh my gosh.
It was horrible.
It felt like walking into this dry sauna every single day, all times of the day, like it
didn't get better in the evenings.
It is horrible.
If you are not used to this, and even if you are, I think it's not a pleasant experience,
(11:57):
but I don't know how Marco feels about the humidity.
It wasn't, wasn't pleasant, but it was still very interesting.
I have never been this close to the equator.
So we were like 10 degrees north latitude.
That's reinforced.
That's in the middle of the rainforest, especially when we went to Parque de Tarrona.
We were in the rainforest, which is beautiful too, because it's just lush.
(12:20):
Everything is just green.
It really is.
Densely grown.
It is, that's very impressive.
And you just see banana trees and just, yeah, like for breakfast, basically you could just
go out and pick a banana or whatever fruit.
So that I found impressive.
Yeah.
The humidity, honestly, it's not that much worse than summer in Atlanta.
But I guess because it was November, it just, I know it's rainy season.
(12:45):
I mean, no matter what time of the year it is, it's not pleasant.
I still think that it does, it felt kind of not worse than Georgia, but it felt pretty
similar.
It was okay.
Also, we were very active.
We were walking a lot and we had the luxury of having air conditioning in our accommodations.
(13:05):
The average Colombian does not have that.
So yeah, we shouldn't whine so much.
That's okay.
No, we shouldn't whine so much, but I'm just saying for me, at least personally, I just
was very uncomfortable.
Well, you sweat more than me.
So I do.
And I also have eczema, which I don't know if anybody listening here has eczema, but
(13:25):
everyone wants to hear that.
Yeah.
No, but I'm saying like it's, it's important.
No, I'm just, I'm justifying my reasons.
Colombia also is extremely cash heavy.
So if you go to Colombia, you better bring cash.
Yeah, but this is, you're exaggerating.
It's not.
I'm not exaggerating.
(13:46):
Yes.
Okay.
Compared to the United States where these days, basically you can get by with just credit
cards and Apple pay and whatever it is.
So there are a couple of places where you absolutely needed cash, but compared to my
trip to Yucatan in Mexico last year, it was nowhere near as bad.
Like Yucatan, Mexico was very, very, very cash heavy.
Whereas in Colombia, pretty much any store we went to, you accepted credit cards.
(14:12):
The only significant time where I think everyone had to pay in cash, even though I don't think
we ever asked if we could have paid by card, were the, the countless road tolls.
Yes.
And that is the next thing that we discovered and really learned from Colombia.
Oh my gosh.
The number of road tolls in Colombia is insane.
(14:32):
Like in a four hour period of driving, we went through seven tolls and paid a total
or the equivalent of 21 US dollars, which on a Colombian salary, that's, that's a lot
in tolls and that's one direction.
I don't, I don't remember exactly how many miles we drove, maybe like 130 miles one way.
(14:55):
So yeah, so we were basically 20 something dollars, 430 miles.
Well I will say that the roads were in good condition.
There were hardly any potholes.
It was actually very smooth.
So I would say the money at least seems to be going to road maintenance.
But I just wonder why there are that many tolls for that distance.
Like I felt like we would drive maybe two miles and then hit another toll and then pay
(15:21):
again and then hit another toll.
Well, the Colombians, I mean, from, from what we've seen, the Colombians don't seem to be
happy with that either because we saw quite a, quite a number of cars that had a kind
of an anti toll movement sticker on the, you know, on their cars.
And if you, when you think about it, I mean, just that having a toll is one thing, but
also that it's for this distance, that it's a $20 one way on a Colombian salary, that
(15:48):
must be quite some financial stress.
I mean, I actually Googled the average Colombian salary and I don't know if it's accurate because
Colombia is a fairly big country and it obviously varies from big city to big city.
But my general consensus is they make between or the average Colombian probably makes between
(16:10):
500 to 800 US dollars a month.
And when you're paying $20 and tolls for one direction, yeah, that is a really huge
burden honestly.
I think I would say that for the average Colombian probably motoring.
So having a car is by far the biggest challenge to finance because groceries, except maybe
(16:35):
dairy because you know, there's not a lot of livestock at least where we were.
Everything is just very fruit based, but yeah, groceries seems quite affordable, but I guess
having a car, putting up with the tolls.
I don't know what they pay in insurance and tax or whatever, but also gasoline costs very
similar to what it costs here in the US.
So it was like $3.30 per gallon, which I found funny by the way, that Colombia, which is
(16:59):
a totally metrified country, using the metric system, sells gasoline in gallons.
That's the most random thing.
Everything else is metric, but then, you know, when they buy gas, it's in gallons.
That's really weird and really funny.
I don't know why they take after gallons like the US, but they do.
So fun fact.
Another funny thing that we experienced in Colombia was when we were driving to Cartagena
(17:24):
from Tairona, so from kind of the, well, all of it is the north of Colombia.
We were driving through these small villages on a, I guess it was a Monday or Tuesday.
And of course it was the work week or work day.
Yeah, it was a Monday morning, like 10 AM.
So yes, it was a Monday morning, 10 AM.
And it was just so interesting to see how people go about their work day compared to
(17:48):
Europe and the US.
Like, it really didn't seem like they were productive at all.
Like they don't have a consistent nine to five, like many of us Americans and Europeans
seem to know.
They were just kind of all over the place.
They were just chilling.
Some of them were on the streets, riding their bikes and riding motorcycles.
(18:09):
It was just so amusing to me.
So just seeing how different their work dynamic was, was quite interesting.
Yeah, no same here.
I mean, it's probably very different between again, between city and kind of rural, but
yeah, we were all kind of flabbergasted thinking, hey, how do they make a living?
Like what?
(18:29):
Yeah, it's like, do they work?
Monday, 10 AM, you should be busy doing something.
And they did not look busy.
Like at all.
They really didn't.
Yeah.
And also I found funny, that was like a car wash.
It said was a big sign car wash, but it was literally an empty parking space with a dude
that had a hose and like a couple of sponges.
(18:50):
That was like car wash.
I was like, oh, the Colombian style car wash.
Not very sophisticated.
No, I mean, a lot of their stuff was not sophisticated.
And again, I don't know if we stated this already, but one thing that I really loved
about the villages when driving through them, at least on our first night was seeing how
happy people really seem to be.
(19:12):
Like they didn't have TVs.
I don't even know if some of them had electricity.
It seemed like, and everybody was just out on their porches talking to each other, blasting
music, having a good time.
And they seemed happier than I think many, many Americans and Europeans do, even though
they have so much less.
(19:33):
So that was just astounding and kind of enlightening, but also kind of sad in a way to see like,
wow, the Western world has a lot, but we don't seem happier.
It puts things in perspective.
I'm sure there are here in the U S there are probably countless miserable millionaires.
Oh yeah.
Whereas in Colombia, there are people that have literally nothing and they're just dancing
(19:57):
and laughing through the day.
Yeah, no, I mean, I think I remember even when we were hiking at the Taitona national
park, I think we even saw children playing in kind of dirty river water and they were
laughing and having fun and they looked happy.
And we were just like, wow, it really does put, it does put it into perspective.
(20:19):
Yeah.
The weather, I guess the weather makes a difference too, I guess.
And they don't know any better.
I mean, that's just how they grow up.
They're very social.
There's no loneliness.
I guess it's a total, totally different way of life.
Now, of course that changes from small villages to big cities.
Because when we were in Cartagena, I think it was a little bit different.
People in the big cities still didn't exactly seem the same.
(20:41):
They seemed more stressed, more desperate for money again, not nearly as carefree as
those in the very poor villages.
True.
It's two different groups of people.
Definitely.
There's something that we saw or that we kind of assumed already, I guess.
But what was pretty much confirmed during the trip is that Shakira really is a big deal
(21:04):
there.
Oh yeah, she is.
Yes.
We actually traveled to Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla.
And I guess it's like an hour, maybe a little bit more outside of Cartagena.
And yeah, there is this massive statue, massive Shakira statue.
She has a statue right off the coast to the, you know, right off the Caribbean coast.
Yeah.
(21:25):
And it's packed with people.
Like, I mean, granted, I don't think there were many American or European tourists, but
we went during a work day and it was just flooded with all sorts of people.
There are buses carting tourists there.
Everyone wants to see that statue.
I mean, we did drive into Barranquilla afterwards and grabbed some lunch.
(21:47):
But as far as sites, also when we did some research, there didn't seem to be a lot of
kind of tourist attractions in Barranquilla.
No, it's a very industrial city, like of a million people.
It's more residential.
It's not really for tourists.
It's just simply where Shakira was born and she just spent a good part of her life there.
(22:07):
Born and raised, I think.
And then when she made it, she left.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think some Colombians call her like a fake Colombian because I mean, she's not
there anymore.
Well, I get it.
I mean, probably some people think she's a sellout or something.
Yeah.
But yeah, she's still like also on billboards and like some on advertising, they like to
(22:28):
use her face.
So it's not completely gone.
Another thing we liked about Barranquilla was the local cuisine experience that we got
to have when we were there.
The cost of traveling in Colombia in general is really a good bang for your buck if you
are American or European traveling there.
(22:49):
So your money goes further.
And I think our cheapest meal for a group of five was in Barranquilla and it was very
good quality.
It was 28 US dollars for five people, like in a sit down restaurant where you eat with
a porcelain plate, porcelain silverware and pretty good food and pretty good service.
(23:12):
Like people seem to really care.
Well, but we have to say though, it was okay.
Well, it was not touristic.
So that's, that's, it was really amongst the, it was very local, the actual people.
So we kind of, we definitely kind of stood out there, but it was kind of a cafeteria
style, like it was over the counter, but still like the seating accommodations were nice.
You still, as you said, you, which is mind boggling for Americans, you actually got a
(23:36):
porcelain plate and metal silverware, not like plastic, not the plastic stuff that you
get here, even in pretty decent hotels where you eat off of paper plates and with plastic
silverware.
So, so as far as like the eating culture, eating like food quality, the portion sizes,
that was really good.
(23:57):
Like I, I don't know about you, but I didn't have a single bad meal throughout the trip.
No, I also didn't have a single bad meal, but there was one time when we had a local
snack food called Pataconis, which is like this plantain smashed circle kind of thing.
I don't know how to describe it.
Anyway, that's a very, it's a very common food in Columbia.
(24:19):
And I had that for one of our meals and one of them was kind of stale.
I was not happy with that, but other than that, it was, yes, it was excellent food.
Very, very heavy on rice, very rich in terms of fruits.
No, very, very good stuff and amazing tacos, or at least the place we went to in Cartagena.
(24:42):
Definitely, definitely a recommendation.
You know, you can get really good lemonades or also alcoholic beverages.
Like, you know, they make good cocktails.
Yeah.
You can definitely tell that the social aspect of life and good food and good drinks are
a very big priority for Colombians.
I really especially love their juices because the thing is their juices were like smoothies.
(25:05):
Like they were very thick whenever, like in the very beginning when we first arrived.
And I think Marco and some other people ordered a mango juice.
I was just expecting, okay, it's probably just like a liquid mango.
It was like a smoothie.
From an actual mango, like especially when we had in our first accommodation in Pocahontas
(25:26):
or close to Pocahontas, which was basically a house in the middle of the rainforest, in
the middle of the jungle.
It was incredible.
And when we had breakfast there, I basically had the feeling that she went back and picked
it from a mango tree, fresh, and squeezed it.
That's how it looked and tasted.
It was very incredible.
(25:48):
Very rich, very authentic.
Yes.
And the place in Barranquilla where we went to, one of our friends found this place on
TikTok and it was very, I think it's something very worth recommending.
It's called Narco Bollo.
So if you're ever in Barranquilla or you're ever in Colombia and you happen to stop by
Barranquilla, definitely stop at Narco Bollo because you will not be disappointed.
(26:13):
But only during the day because I wasn't sure how that area was at night because there was
like a security dude in front of the building.
That was the funniest thing.
There was a security guard in front of the restaurant door during the day.
I was like, what is this?
Maybe our safety kind of feeling is a little bit deceiving here.
(26:35):
But yeah, it was.
So just as a disclaimer, don't go there at night.
Let's talk a little bit about the traffic and riding through the roads, especially in
Cartagena.
Well, the rural roads weren't any better.
In Cartagena, I think as one of our friends described it, it's an experience that's defined
(26:56):
by organized chaos.
So you have a lot of motorcycles, a lot of motorbikes, and then you have a lot of cars,
and then you have some flooding in the roads and you drive through it and you have to...
People are constantly going everywhere and it's like not...
You feel like you're going to crash and cause an accident, but I don't think we saw a single
accident when we were there.
(27:17):
Also, the vehicles seem to be in pretty good shape apart from the rust because they're
right next to the ocean.
But they're not dented or...
Especially in Southern Europe, for example, where they show a similar behavior, the cars
are beat to shit.
And there, everything looked okay, which is remarkable given how they drive.
(27:41):
There is no road discipline.
It is all over the place, literally all over the place.
And the most essential feature of every car is the horn.
They're just honking all day long.
You always have to check for bikes because they come...
Out of nowhere.
You have to sit in the car.
I wasn't driving, our friend was driving, but you basically have to be like a lighthouse.
(28:04):
You have to look all around all the time.
But in a way, people are not reckless.
They're still looking after each other.
They're anticipating what other people do.
They are probably the better drivers compared to the average American.
Yes.
Kind of a weird thought, but that's true.
They still manage their...
(28:24):
Nothing ever happened despite them driving totally...
All over the place.
Just all over the place.
Yeah.
Their horn or their constant honking wasn't so much like, get out of my way.
It was more of a sign of, hey, I'm here.
Don't run over me.
It's not hostile.
It's just like, hey, I'm just letting you know.
I'm next to you.
(28:45):
It's really an experience.
But when you see it for the first time, even if you're not driving, you're just like, oh
my God, how are we going to make it?
I guess another thing that I learned about Columbia or at least about Cartagena specifically
was I didn't realize how diverse it was in terms of demographics.
Cartagena is very heavy on Afro-Columbians.
(29:07):
There's a very huge African influence and you can feel that on the streets.
You can feel that in their spirit and in their street parades and in their bars and their
just city landscape.
It's really fascinating.
And I think before I at least went to Cartagena, I didn't know that.
45% of Cartagena, I think of the locals at least have some sort of African roots.
(29:33):
So compared to Medellin and some other places where it's more European and more...
Indigenous too, right?
Yes, and indigenous.
I mean, I don't have that comparison because I haven't been to other...
I haven't been to Medellin like you.
Do you have any other things you'd like to share about Columbia or things that you saw,
things that you learned, things that you witnessed, things that you'd recommend, things you wish
(29:56):
you would have known before going any of those things?
We did a pretty good tour, I think.
We didn't cheap out.
The things that we were interested in, we just did.
The only thing that was a little bit tricky was in Cartagena finding postcards and also
posting them.
That was a bit of a challenge, much more so than I thought it would have been.
(30:17):
I had to Google and Google and Google to find the one store that had a mailbox or that even
sold stamps.
That was a little bit peculiar, but no, everything else worked out really well.
I guess for me again, I've probably been acting like a broken record, at least not in terms
of recording this episode.
I mean, in terms of being outside of it, I really was just so bothered by the constant
(30:42):
pestering.
I think Marco knows that.
Yeah, I've been complaining a lot about it.
I think out of every single place that I have been to up to this point in my life, I just
have never experienced this constant pestering, constant salespeople getting in your face,
constant bothering you.
Even we took a boat tour.
I think even on the boat tour, we were pestered on that too.
(31:06):
It was ridiculous on jet skis.
Somewhere really way into the water, not even close to the shoreline.
There are just people on little kayaks and little boats just coming towards your boat
and trying to sell you stuff, food and whatever, on the water.
(31:27):
That was a lot.
I mean, it was another level.
Basically like an ice cream truck, but just-
On jet skis.
Yeah, just as a boat or a jet ski.
And not only one, but two of them, I think, approached our boat and was, I mean, just
like they were constantly doing stuff.
It was a shark tank of salespeople, but it didn't bother me as much as it bothered you.
(31:49):
No, I mean, it just really took away from the authentic beauty and experience of the
culture and the place.
I think that's something that bothered me the most, but I also really appreciated, again,
I appreciated the dynamic of many of the people, how many of them just seemed happier and warmer
(32:11):
and more focused on community and connecting and making others happy as opposed to many
places in the US and also in Europe, or I would say.
Oh yeah, I think that's fair.
Before we wrap up, what are some recommendations you would give to somebody coming to Colombia
or somebody coming specifically to Cartagena or the surrounding areas?
(32:36):
Definitely get an impression of both city and to nature, because especially if you have
the time, and we only did like a fraction of Colombia there, Colombia is one of the
most diverse countries on the planet as far as nature.
You have the Andes, you have the rainforest.
We didn't even see all that much, but just the fraction that we saw, I found that quite
(32:59):
fascinating.
The colonial history with the old town of Cartagena, but then also Tyrona, that park.
Don't go, but that goes for any country of that kind of sort.
Just don't go to like a hotel or a resort or something.
If you really want to see a country, get out.
Throw yourself in the local culture.
(33:20):
Really learn about the actual culture and the everyday life and what they do, what they
eat, absorb the vibe and I mean, don't be stupid, of course.
Don't make yourself a moving target.
Yeah.
And be sure again that you learn some Spanish.
Learn a little bit.
Yeah.
Really, that is so important.
(33:41):
You need to know some Spanish.
Definitely.
Because I never saw it, but there are places where they have an English menu and then on
the English menu, the prices are higher.
Did you see that in Colombia?
No, I didn't see that.
But many people have said that and I think that's very believable.
We usually got also the Spanish menus and we kind of managed.
(34:02):
Yeah, we would just translate.
Also these days with translation apps on the phone, it is doable.
Bring cash.
No, don't get it in advance.
I wouldn't jump through those hoops to get it in advance.
I would just, I mean, you can just go ATM somewhere in a mall.
They had a really, really nice mall, which may as well have been like America.
(34:23):
There's a very modern mall.
In Cartagena.
In Cartagena, there are ATMs there or even at the airport, you can just get money.
So I don't know about taxes.
We never took a taxi.
I don't know if they accept card or if you have to pay them in cash.
I don't know.
I wouldn't stress out too much about the money.
Unlike Mexico.
Mexico again was quite different in that regard.
(34:45):
I think when you get gas in a car too, you can also pay with card.
Oh yeah, totally.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Be careful.
Don't buy cocaine.
Don't get into trouble.
What the state department says there, take it with a grain of salt.
I mean, it's not any...
That goes for a lot of places.
Yeah.
Well, you don't, you never know.
You never, but with Columbia, I will, I would really say that the state department went
(35:08):
a little bit overboard when they're in their, in their security assessment.
I felt safer than in downtown Atlanta throughout the trip.
Even with more poverty and even with more, with dirtier streets.
Yeah.
I also didn't feel unsafe.
Yeah.
But downtown Atlanta questionably is, arguably is more unsafe.
(35:29):
So yeah.
Safe travels everyone.
Safe travels everyone.
So this now wraps up today's episode.
We hope that you enjoyed it, just like I always say every week.
And if you learned something new and you like to share it with me or you'd like to share
with a friend or family member or whoever else, definitely do so.
(35:50):
And let me know your additional thoughts and feedback on Instagram at onceuponatrip.pc
or on my host account at Mary Grace Crawford.
If you're still listening and you're still here, I want to say thank you so much again
for sticking to the end.
I can't wait to tune in with you again next Tuesday for another fun, adventurous trip
(36:13):
of an episode.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!