I often compare my travels to Ulysses's journey in the Odyssey, except without the Penelope and way more Calypsos (you're damn right I just made an Odyssey sex joke). For those who filled their brains with slightly more useful information than epic Greek poems, the land of the lotus eaters is one of the islands where Ulysses and his men stopped to resupply. On this island grew a special kind of lotus flower, which, upon ingestion, caused the consumer to forget all cares, worries, and every other preoccupation except the desire to eat more. Because Ulysses wanted to get the fuck home he promptly ordered his men back on the boat and bounced. Costeño Beach is the land of the lotus eaters.
First let me be clear, Costeño Beach is awesome. Had I gone straight there after arriving in Colombia I almost certainly would have stayed for over a month. Instead, I discovered this grotto after two months of punishment on the Gringo trail, which while indescribably fun is the antithesis of productivity. After a week I would crack and spontaneously buy a plane ticket to Salento just to escape.
It started innocently enough. Eric, our Colombian friend Keysha, and I took a shuttle to Santa Marta, a reasonably sized, more touristy beach city a few hours east of Barranquilla. Santa Marta itself is a rather forgettable city with mediocre beaches, but it is right next to Tacanga (dusty town with nicer beaches) and serves as the jumping off point for treks to the Lost City (essentially a jungle Machu Picchu). The day after we arrived I decided to explore the mountain town of Minca, a 30 minute jeep ride into the Sierra Nevadas, while Eric and Keysha headed to the beach. In Minca I met another Australian who was also driving a van from Canada to Argentina, and it was he who told me of Costeño. If traveling has taught me any life lessons, it is that you can't go wrong with Australians driving vans down South America.
To get there you take an hour bus ride past the famous Tayrona National Park and get dropped off in what appears to be a random dirt road. Hike a good 30 minutes hike down the road parallel to the ocean and you have arrived.
At Costeño there are no worries. The lifestyle was very similar to Kamala hostel in Montanita except here there was no reason to leave. There is a set menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the beers are cheap and served 24/7, and everything is paid for via tab. Surf lessons are offered twice a day in the morning and early afternoon, although I was never ambitious enough to wake up anytime near 8:30am and by the afternoon any serious movement seemed way too aggressive. Essentially life consists of waking up and having fun... that's about it.
I did do at least one organized activity there and it was without a doubt the best afternoon I have had on this trip. About twenty of us piled into the back of a truck and rode 45 minutes to a jungle trail. After picking up the necessary supplies (and inner tubes) at the nearby shop we trekked through a very mountainous jungle until arriving at the river. I never would have guessed such a simple act of sitting in an inner tube and floating down a river could be so much fun, but it truly was amazing. You slowly meander through lush forest, the crisp water a perfect complement to the radiant sunshine, hearing no other sound besides the laughter of friends. There might have been one or two beers as well. We unfortunately learned an invaluable life lesson in the most miserable of ways possible: full bottles of rum do not float. But the loss of a dear friend only brought the group closer together and we finished the journey all smiles.
Look, I have nothing really bad to say about Costeño; it is an amazing place and I truly enjoyed my time there. Clearly the lotus flower is delicious. But after a week of that place in addition to Carnival and the rest of my Colombian adventures I just needed a change. Back in Santa Marta we bought tickets to fly to the coffee country for some refreshing mountain air. My time on the Colombian coast had come to an end.
First let me be clear, Costeño Beach is awesome. Had I gone straight there after arriving in Colombia I almost certainly would have stayed for over a month. Instead, I discovered this grotto after two months of punishment on the Gringo trail, which while indescribably fun is the antithesis of productivity. After a week I would crack and spontaneously buy a plane ticket to Salento just to escape.
It started innocently enough. Eric, our Colombian friend Keysha, and I took a shuttle to Santa Marta, a reasonably sized, more touristy beach city a few hours east of Barranquilla. Santa Marta itself is a rather forgettable city with mediocre beaches, but it is right next to Tacanga (dusty town with nicer beaches) and serves as the jumping off point for treks to the Lost City (essentially a jungle Machu Picchu). The day after we arrived I decided to explore the mountain town of Minca, a 30 minute jeep ride into the Sierra Nevadas, while Eric and Keysha headed to the beach. In Minca I met another Australian who was also driving a van from Canada to Argentina, and it was he who told me of Costeño. If traveling has taught me any life lessons, it is that you can't go wrong with Australians driving vans down South America.
To get there you take an hour bus ride past the famous Tayrona National Park and get dropped off in what appears to be a random dirt road. Hike a good 30 minutes hike down the road parallel to the ocean and you have arrived.
At Costeño there are no worries. The lifestyle was very similar to Kamala hostel in Montanita except here there was no reason to leave. There is a set menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the beers are cheap and served 24/7, and everything is paid for via tab. Surf lessons are offered twice a day in the morning and early afternoon, although I was never ambitious enough to wake up anytime near 8:30am and by the afternoon any serious movement seemed way too aggressive. Essentially life consists of waking up and having fun... that's about it.
I did do at least one organized activity there and it was without a doubt the best afternoon I have had on this trip. About twenty of us piled into the back of a truck and rode 45 minutes to a jungle trail. After picking up the necessary supplies (and inner tubes) at the nearby shop we trekked through a very mountainous jungle until arriving at the river. I never would have guessed such a simple act of sitting in an inner tube and floating down a river could be so much fun, but it truly was amazing. You slowly meander through lush forest, the crisp water a perfect complement to the radiant sunshine, hearing no other sound besides the laughter of friends. There might have been one or two beers as well. We unfortunately learned an invaluable life lesson in the most miserable of ways possible: full bottles of rum do not float. But the loss of a dear friend only brought the group closer together and we finished the journey all smiles.
Look, I have nothing really bad to say about Costeño; it is an amazing place and I truly enjoyed my time there. Clearly the lotus flower is delicious. But after a week of that place in addition to Carnival and the rest of my Colombian adventures I just needed a change. Back in Santa Marta we bought tickets to fly to the coffee country for some refreshing mountain air. My time on the Colombian coast had come to an end.
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