Tolú - Time to Relax



While travelling and adventuring is great fun, sometimes you need a few days of relaxation time in between the hiking, exploring and meeting new people. Cat and I found the perfect place to do that on our first stop on the Caribbean coast, the small town of Tolú, west of Cartagena. Unknown to foreign tourists, this was the ideal spot to leave worries behind for a few days and enjoy ourselves stress-free.

The first thing we had to do was acclimatise. The humid heat is something else; I think I had a harder time adjusting here than in the mountains! The weather here varies wildly. It was sunny when we arrived, but as we ate lunch a massive storm broke. There was torrential rain and constant lightning but it was still warm enough to walk (swim?) through without getting cold as there was no wind at all. After a couple of hours it was blue sky again, all was forgotten.

The next morning, we arranged for a boat trip around the San Bernadino islands. It was supposed to leave at 8am, but as we had breakfast another storm rolled through with even more torrential rain and lightning. Once again it cleared up quickly and we left, slightly soggy, for the islands.
Islote Santa Cruz - the world's most densely populated island
If you had asked me the day before where I would find the most densely populated island in the world, South America would probably be the bottom of the list. In fact, it's right here in Colombia! After skimming past some private islands, we arrived at Islote Santa Cruz. It is a speck at just 0.012 square kilometres in area, but once you are past the outer row of buildings it feels just like a slice of South American city transplanted into the ocean. Most residents work in the nearby island hotels or as fishermen, and there is a small school on the Islote.

The interior of Islote Santa Cruz, believe it or not. You can juuuust see the sea in the background

While we were there we got the chance to swim with sharks!

Two minnows in the Shark Tank - you can juuuust see a fin in the left between the two other people

In a small sea enclosure there was a small school of large fish, a couple of turtles and two large, brown Nurse Sharks which were timid enough during the day to let us pet them. These are bottom feeders, not the usual sleek predators, and their skin was rough like a snake's.

Finally we arrived at our destination for the afternoon, Isla Tintipan. Here we found a gorgeous white sand beach with very few other people, a delicious lunch, a background of mangroves and importantly, a beachside bar. It was everything I imagined the Caribbean to be. After a bit of unwinding from the boat ride, we were also offered the opportunity to go snorkelling on the nearby reef where we saw some amazing tropical fish. All in all, not a bad day for less than $30AUD each!

Did someone say beachside bar?!

Our last day took us to a nearby town for the Volcan de Lodo, a volcanic mud pit that's cool enough to wallow in. It was a great afternoon, sitting in warm mineral mud with thunder from yet another storm booming overhead. The best part was that a natural attraction like this back home would have been part of a ~Natural Health Spa~ or somesuch and would have cost over $100 to visit, but our afternoon cost less than $10 including transport and a tip for the helpful ladies that help you scrub off afterwards.

A great few days of no cares and zero brain activity. Highly recommended!

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