The Travelling Teacher: Colombia - Paddling around Palomino

April 22-24

Hello everyone!

Following our gruelling four day hike to Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City) Following our escape into the hills in Minca, we headed to our final destination on our Panama and Colombia adventure. Back to sea level. Back to the heat.

Our beach, just outside Palomino

A ghost crab - I love their eyes!

Vibes

We headed east. This involved:

Hauling suitcases up a steep, rocky path from our Minca guesthouse to the road;
Taking a rickety taxi, complete with Bukele-loving driver, from here to the edge of Santa Marta;
Getting on a small bus, which blasted reggaeton almost the whole way, to the town of Palomino;
Shoving suitcases and ourselves into a tuk tuk to take us 5 kilometres from town to a building that looks like something from the old game show Blockbusters.

Possible in an hour in a car, but almost two hours on a bus

The bus from Santa Marta to Palomino was about $3

I'll have a P, please, Bob

Or a honeycomb. Either way, a funky eco hotel with its own private beach, with a strange name - Uuttaaka - that apparently means ‘mangrove’ in the indigenous Arhuaco tongue.

View from our honeycomb

No other hotels around and rocky outcrops at each end of the
beach meant the only people ever on the beach were guests

Those mangroves mean we had to cross a bridge. From that bridge,
we saw a long, bright yellow snake. Not my favourite thing, that.

This was very much a place to unwind, switch off and do little. It was thus a shame that you can’t swim in the enticing Caribbean Sea, owing to strong currents and waves. I channeled my inner King Canute to try to tame them, but to no avail. Not that he really thought he could do that, anyway…

Red flags were on display across the coast

Those of you who know me will be aware that I can’t do a sitting-around-doing-nothing holiday for very long. Probably two days maximum. Lucky for me then that nearby Palomino is a bit of a backpacker haven, albeit one that felt eerily quiet at times.

Barely a soul to be seen

Irish-ish bar on Palomino's main street

One thing that broke the strange silence was the presence of some birds, like this delightful creature that we found in a tree above a hostel near Palomino’s excuse of a beach. I think it’s a red-and-green macaw. It was difficult to get a picture with the lighting and its constant movement, but it was lovely to see.

Red-and-green macaws are monogamous

These are larger than scarlet macaws

The beach at Palomino is almost non-existent. As for the town, I think it’s a common stopping point for people doing a more in-depth trip around Colombia, or for people who have completed the Lost City trek. People who have finished that hike will probably want to do nothing more than lie in a plastic tube, drinking a beer as they float down a river towards the sea. That is what is advertised as Palomino’s main ‘activity’.

Not much space to lie down!

Tubers are on the right. To be clear,
Hannah was not drinking and paddling.

We decided to be a little more active, opting for kayaks and paddle boards. The current allowed us to paddle leisurely down the Palomino River. After a rocky drive up in a 4x4, we were dropped off at the entry point of the river. After making sure that we actually could kayak and paddle, our guide seemed content to let us enjoy the sights and sounds of peace.

Somewhere behind the clouds are the Sierra
Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range

The river's mouth is at the Caribbean Sea

He did occasionally intervene, for good reason. He spotted one turtle and a few birds on our way down. There were also a few early tubers. Quite a few of them were enjoying a beer at 10am. No judgment.

The area is a major nesting ground for Hawksbill turtles, but this is
more likely a Red-Eared Slider, an invasive species often kept as a pet

Flamingos can be found on an island further east -
Google Lens has suggested that this is a Roseate Spoonbill

The river run was a chilled way to spend an hour, and spending a few days at Uuttaaka Lodge a chilled way of ending our trip through Panama and Colombia.