6 nights in Minca, instead of the 2 that I had intended // Minca, 30 June - 5 July

5 reasons

1. My airbnb and the host - it was nice to have a proper home to relax in, a kitchen to cook in (not that I did much), to stay as long as I want, in a quiet neighbourhood. David also cooked us breakfast every morning - arepas (with his secret ingredient - honey) with scrambled eggs and brewed good coffee from local farms. And we’d sit at his little gazebo in the garden watching the dog chase the butterflies, looking at the fruit trees blossoming in the sunshine, and talking about our travels and food with the other guests.

By the end of the week my host and I became such good friends he (attempted) to teach me how to drive a motorbike. His manual motorbike. I managed to drive it...but only once he put it in the right gear :P

We get all sorts of visitors at the Airbnb

Colombia: football and grafitti nation // Cartagena and Santa Marta, 26-30 June

Beers on the seawall, deserted beach hostels and an unbelievable discovery…

The sun feels closer here on the coast in Colombia. It is sizzzzzzzling hot. A couple hours of walking around already got me a watch-tan.

After the iphone debacle in the morning and a nice lunch of ceviche tostada to tame my mind and cool my body, I venture out in the afternoon-day sun for a 4pm walking tour. A free walking tour is my must-do whenever I visit a new place (usually a city), without fail, and is almost always the very first thing I google and then go and do when I arrive. It’s the most effective way to get to know a place, the people, and meet fellow travellers.

Camilo from Free Tour Cartagena was excellent - his story-telling of the history of Cartagena was informative and entertaining, gave us pop-quizzes, was really patient with us, and gave us lots of great recommendations for food, bars and salsa clubs. Charlie, one of the guys in my tour ended up going to one of those recommended restaurants 3 days in a row for lunch!

Cartagena