After mini-lockdowns kept us home most weekends during the first half of the year, Sandra and I wanted to escape to somewhere nice for our anniversary. We discussed going somewhere like Jamaica, but the idea of going to such a place and having to wear a mask all the time didn’t appeal. Nor did the restrictions on where we could and couldn’t go. After much investigation, we settled on the Carribean coast.

Our trip began in Minca, in the mountains above Santa Marta. It’s a very small town that draws tourists because of the cooler climate, jungle setting and its coffee and chocolate plantations. The idea was to spend some time walking through the jungle, enjoying the nature, but the rain had caused a landslide on the track to the river and made walking less appealing, but that didn’t matter because the hotel was stunning. We happily spent three days by the pool, playing games in the restaurant and lazing in hammocks. In the few hours we spent in town, we discovered a bakery run by a Swiss guy who made a small selection of delicious products that were flavoursome rather than sweet. Highly recommended.

We then spent 5 days in Palomino, a two-minute walk from the beach. Again, our plans to spend time in Park Tayrona, but that didn’t work out. We looked at the activities available around the hotel and decided that 2 hours was too long for tubing, and that visiting indigenous communities would be intrusive, so we mostly stayed around the hotel. Aside from a frog beside the basin scaring Sandra, our bungalo was very comfortable. the pool fresh and the hammock as good as always. We celebrated the actual anniversary with a horse ride through the jungle and pina coladas in the pool. It turned out to be the best horse ride I’ve had in many years and Sandra enjoyed her second experience on horseback.

We came home very relaxed.