Colombia

Cartagena & Barichara

Countryside, Beach + Coast, and City Family Trip March 2020
Colombia

Cartagena bookends the trip, but this route belongs to Colombia's interior. Barichara is the base for five nights: a whitewashed colonial town of steep cobblestone streets and terracotta roofs. The days bring downhill mountain biking into the valley, hair-raising class IV-V rapids and a rappel down a waterfall of over 500 feet. A morning at a family coffee farm ends with lunch in the owners' home, and the afternoon with cooking and eating the region's famous ants. Evenings are a walk through the old streets to good, surprisingly affordable restaurants.

 
Behind the Route

The family wanted somewhere off the usual March break list, with character and adventure close at hand. Unsure what to expect, given the country's history, they found an upscale Colombian agency through a friend to plan it.

Best For Families with teens needing activity, and anyone drawn to a Colombia few visitors have found.
  

We were supposed to be in Asia for March break. COVID was getting a little more prevalent, and we made a last-minute call not to go. Colombia wasn't on the radar until I started looking for an adventurous substitute that was far from any documented cases and therefore unlikely to be reached by the virus or become a concern for a while. A friend happened to know someone who ran a luxury travel agency in Colombia, and after a conversation with the owner we booked the trip. We flew out with no idea the WHO was about to assess COVID as a global pandemic.

Everything felt normal as we arrived. It naturally changed as the week went on and the back half of our trip was cancelled. Isla Barú never happened, and we ended the trip stuck in a hotel room in Cartagena. A short walk through the city on our first night was all we saw of it.

Ages in group: Adults (30-65), Older Teens and 20s, and Young Teenagers (12-15)

 

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