El Fin: Coastal Colombia

We enjoyed our vaca-esque time in Salento so much, that we decided to keep the [non] party going as we headed to the Caribbean coast of Colombia. We did some last minute itinerary adjustments to maximize beach time, and attempt to minimize bug bites [a tall order] for our last week of our trip.

We ended up booking a little beach hopping tour, and jumping from one tiny beach town to another, working our way east. First stop: Chayrama; population: unincorporated. We picked this place because it's super close to the Tayrona National Park entrance, allowing us to start early. The Eco Hotel Chayrama was full of our favorite things: coffee, lounging in the pool, reading books, and hammock naps. After a long bus ride, and a relaxing evening, we started our hike to Tayrona.

Tayrona is awesome. Gorgeous waters, great hiking, and locals with coolers full of beer for sale along the way. 100% recommend.

After our awesome day in Tayrona, we picked up our bags, jumped on the back of a couple of motorcycles, and headed 40 minutes up the road to another small pueblo: Guachaca. This place was gorgeous. Walkable to a few coffee shops and bars along the beach, but largely untouched by tourists. No WiFi or air conditioning seemed like no big deal just to find one of the few white sandy beaches that haven't been overrun with giant corporations.

Pueblo number three: Palomino. Palomino is actually more like a town than our other two beach destinations-roughly between 4,000-6,000 people. It has delicious food options, friendly locals, nice beaches, and cheap beer. We commented often how Palomino was exactly what we pictured when we would daydream about our upcoming trip: dirt roads, cold showers, tropical climate, friendly locals, and enough nightlife to be entertained.

We stayed at Tribe, which turned out to be one of our favorite spots on the trip: an awesome pool to cool off throughout the day, a swinging bed, an outdoor shower, and -best of all- Eva the lifeguard dog. Alejandro and Yvonne, the owners, also run a free school out of their place, which was so much fun to see. If you head to Palomino (which you should), definitely stay with them.

After 4 days in Palamino, we were on to our LAST STOP! Cartagena! Cartagena is hard to describe. It's vibrant, and colorful, with friendly locals, and expensive, mediocre food (with the exception of Saint Roque Cafe, which we stumbled on by accident. This is a do-not-miss in Cartagena). Also, huge win: they do zumba in the church square on the reg. The whole town comes. It was amazing.

We've been back now for just over 2 weeks, and we hit the ground running so fast with lease signing, car buying, and cross-country road trips that we haven't really had chance to process the fact that after years of planning, and months of traveling, this crazy around the world adventure is over! The funny thing about travel is it's a lot like your favorite food: once you get a little taste, you always want more. So, up next: Belize this January!

Stay tuned for some upcoming posts, like FAQs (what's your favorite place? ...), and a money post where Ben lays out all of his genius accounting work, once we get a bit more settled (ha) here in Madison.