March 4 - March 20, 2025 Traveled to magical Colombia. Enjoyed it culture, it's beaches, warm people and delicous food. And all was awesome! Cartagena has a population of 1,080,000 and the historic centre was busy with people and tourists everywhere. Many were European and hopefully the American people will visit soon, due the low cost of everything. It was a warm, sunny day when we arrived, 87 degrees and stayed at Casa Torres, in a large a/c room, where breakfast is included in the cost of the room in historic centre. The Walled historic centre is an UNESCO site, went to the Cathedral and did lots of walking. Especially, liked the Getsmani district, art is everywhere, painted on the walls, artists art works are on display colorful flags flying overhead and lots of resaurants and cafes. Did a walk to the nearby city beach and is very windy, but a delightful breeze. Had dinner a few times at a very authentic restaurant that lots of Colombian people are there for dinner, too. Went to Santa Marta by bus which took 4 hours to arrive in historic centre. Stayed at Masaya Santa Marta, which had three plunging pools and a rooftop restaurant. Lovely place with a delicious breakfast, which was selected from their menus, lots of selections from yogurt with granola, fruits and nuts, cheese omelets and coffee throughout the day. It was a short walk to the beach, had a nice breeze and the Caribbean ocean was warm and calm. Very hot, sunny, 90 degree temperature, had to stay under a tree for shade. The population of Santa Marta is 555,030. Liked Santa Marta very much, which has a fantastic restaurant district. Our favorite Ikaro on Calle 19 #3-60, near the Parque de los Novios and is the heart of the eating scene and a nite time scene with Salsa music and dancing. Took the bus from Santa Marta to Palomino, has a populatio of 4,200 where we stayed for five days at Casa Colibri, Carrera 6 #2A, fill up on their delicious breakfast, coffee, tea all day long, along with purified water. A lovely place owned by an English speaking Belgium couple. Joaquim (Joe) is a wonderful host, ask him anything about the area and knows it well, since the couple have been in Palomino since 2019. Palomino is known as the "hippie town"of Colombia with lots of restaurants, individual owned shops and a nearby beach. We always walked the more nature-filled dirt road, quiet and pleasant with indigenous people walking along it, too. The Kogi people are an indigenous group that live in northern Colombia, descendants of pre-Columbian Tairona civilization, who live in the isolated mountains of the Sierra Nevada mountains and along the river. I looked forward seeing them on the dirt road and photographing them. The area where the river meets the ocean, is the quieter part of the beach area and less people, trees are there for shade, along with the breeze. One has to be a surfer or a strong swimmer to venture into the ocean, which has a strong current, but I did make it in, very time I went to the beach! It was a very enriching visit to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, enjoyed it all, loved it all! There are still more towns along the way to visit, so perhaps, we are due for another visit! Viva Colombia!