This September, I had the chance to join Chidi Ashley Travels for an awesome group trip to the beautiful, colorful, and culturally rich city of Cartagena, Colombia. The great thing about joining a pre-planned group trip was that I got to take the back seat while someone else did all the research and planned the itinerary. All I did was show up and have fun! But for those of you wanting to plan a trip on your own, here is an overview of what we did.
Itinerary Highlights
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival, Dinner at Restaurante Candé
We arrived in Cartagena around 3pm and got settled into our hotel at Bastion Luxury Hotel where we stayed for the duration of our trip. We started off our trip with a ride on a Chiva Party Bus. Chiva buses are colorfully painted buses that blare music as they drive around the city. Chiva tours are iconic in Cartagena so it was only right we get in on the action. We rode the Chiva bus to Restaurante Candé where we had dinner and a show. I had ceviche as my appetizer, seafood rice as the main course, and I'm honestly not sure what they gave us for dessert (it was a couple of different things on the plate).
Day 2: Palenque Tour, Dinner at Andrés
On our first full day in Cartagena, we drove about an hour and a half to the town of San Basilio de Palenque for a history tour with Black Legacy Experiences. San Basilio de Palenque is the first ‘free town’ in the Americas, founded by former slaves, and well preserved in Colombia to this day. The African traditions are still present in the culture, dance, food, medicine, language, etc. During our tour, we watched a dance performance from some local students, learned the history of the area, experienced a local medicine doctor, visited an old house-turned museum, and ate lunch at a local restaurant. This was one of my favorite activities while in Cartagena. We had something else planned for the day so we had to leave early but the full Airbnb experience includes a few more activities before you head back to Cartagena. After the Palenque tour, a small group of us had dinner at Andrés. I had their fried shrimp, fries, an arepa, and a mojito literally served in a bowl.
Day 3: City Photoshoot, Cooking Class, Mud Volcano, Salsa Class/Dinner at The Clock Pub
We started day 3 with a group photoshoot in the city with our personal photographers, Coco Visuals (stationed in Costa Rica). After our photoshoot, the group split up between the El Tutumo Mud Volcano and a cooking class with Caffe Lunatico. I really enjoyed the cooking class with Chef Maria! We made seabass ceviche, mote de queso, beef, coconut rice, and tree tomato for dessert. This was my other favorite activity on the trip. I didn't go to the mud volcano but I heard it was a great experience and the participants even got massages while in the mud. We ended the night with salsa lessons and dinner at The Clock Pub. I had their coconut breaded chicken tenders.
Day 4: Yacht Day, Dinner at Mirador Gastro Bar
We spent most of our last full day on a private yacht living our best lives. We ate, drank, danced, slept, had a mini-photoshoot, jumped into the ocean, and overall had a great time. We returned around 5:30 pm to enjoy a farewell dinner on the rooftop of Mirador Gastro Bar. I had a loin pasta there. The rooftop has a really nice view!
Day 5: Walking the City, Departure
The last morning, I walked around for a bit just to see some of the city during the daytime before heading to the airport for our flight home. We had no specific goal in mind. It was nice to just wander for a bit.
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