Where to Eat in Cartagena Now

We love Cartagena! It’s fun, scenic, and the food is delicious. While Colombians complain that Cartagena is expensive, we found the prices reasonable compared to most other parts of the world, demonstrating how affordable the rest of Colombia is! In our five months in Cartagena, with side trips here and there, we ate out a lot. Why not? Cartagena’s restaurant scene is vibrant, varied, and affordable. I did a lot of research before coming, but many acclaimed restaurants closed during the pandemic, so my list is where to eat in Cartagena now.

When we first got to Cartagena, there was a curfew in effect and the town was empty. We ate a lot of lunches rather than have to rush through dinner at 6PM. Now hours are back to normal, and tourists are back, so I recommend reservations.

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Rafting Down The Rio Palomino

We spent a weekend in Palomino with a group of cruiser friends and it was my favorite of our adventurous getaways from Santa Marta. A laid-back beach town with a weekend tradition of rafting down the Rio Palomino, Palomino is a blast!

About Palomino

Palomino is a small town on the north Caribbean coast of Colombia, near the Venezuela border. An agrarian community, it is now seeing tourism due to its beautiful white sand beaches and chill vibe. The town consists of one main paved road, the road from Santa Marta, and dirt road offshoots to the beach, the river, and farmlands.

bird mural Palomino Colombia
Bird mural in Palomino. It’s got a mask!

We walked around the town a bit and it’s rustic and charming, with lots of restaurants, hostels, artisan shops and some cool street art. And, one of the top attractions is tubing down the river. No wonder backpackers are flocking to Palomino.

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Day Trip to Parque Tayrona

Santa Marta is an ideal base for a Colombia vacation. Santa Marta is a city with a good selection of restaurants, shops and museums, and is a great jumping off point for Colombian adventures, and we are taking part. From Santa Marta, we took a day trip to Parque Tayrona.

What is Parque Tayrona?

Parque Tayrona, or Tayrona Park, is a large protected area on the Caribbean coastline in northern Colombia. Just over an hour drive from Santa Marta, it covers 150 square kilometers of rainforest, coastal lagoons, archaeological sites, and remote beaches.

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Food and Drink of Dominican Republic

In our few weeks in the friendly and wild Dominican Republic, we had a lot of good meals. Here’s some of the highlights of the food and drink of Dominican Republic.

Rum

The rum in the Dominican Republic is plentiful and inexpensive. The main local brand is Brugal and it’s fine. The base rum is less than $10, and there are a few varieties. But we were introduced to something we like better in Luperón. It’s called Columbus – his name is all over the place here since he claimed to “discover” the island – and it’s delicious.

Columbus rum is smooth and good for sipping. And the bottles we bought in Luperon cost $275 pesos, about $6 US so its good for mixing too.

Columbus rum bottle
Columbus Rum

The rum drinks here varied: my favorite so far has been the piña coladas served in pineapples. One at a time though, of course.

 

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Down Time on the South Side

We are in Provo, Turks and Caicos for a few more days, hanging out and getting ready for our next big jump. While we are here, we’re exploring our surroundings and taking down time on the South Side.

Moving South

We moved from the north side, Turtle Cove, to the south side, Sapodilla Bay, on Friday. Though only a 30 minute car ride from here to there, the sail took most of a day.

Turtle Cove to Sapodilla Bay Providencia Turks and Caicos Map
Quick drive from Turtle Cove to Sapodilla Bay
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