Cities of the coast: Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia

Puerto Colombia beach

Barranquilla is a town on the Caribbean coast of Colombia between the popular destinations of Santa Marta and Cartagena. Sadly, although this city is undergoing a construction boom of apartments on its fringes, the city itself is a disappointment. The historic centre is dirty and dangerous (the only place in South America that I've felt unsafe during the day) and all of its "attractions" are either closed or damaged and vandalised.

The Cathedral built in the modernist style would be beautiful if it wasn't so heavily vandalised (hence the photo from distance)

Thankfully a 30 minute bus ride brings you to the little coastal town of Puerto Colombia (which is still part of Barranquilla city). This town is a fishing village that has the potential to be a destination in itself, but needs some investment in something other than the apartments on the way to the town.
The Malecon is a tired and broken street with nothing on it until you reach a set of wooden walkways through the mangroves which are a nice way to reach the main restaurants and bars near the beach.

Puerto Colombia beach through the mangroves

The town also has an impressive pier, which like many things in the city of Barranquilla is broken and under repair, which is a pity since it would add greatly to the natural beauty if this town.

Puerto Colombia pier

From the section of the Malecon near the pier you can watch the fishermen taking in the afternoon catch on the beach and enjoy a quiet beer in one of the many bars on the beach.

Bringing in the nets

The town centre of Puerto Colombia has several buildings from the 1800's which give the town a historic feel, much more so than Barranquilla itself whose historic buildings are in disrepair.

Puerto Colombia church

Puerto Colombia town hall

Puerto Colombia has real potential to become a tourist attraction for both local and foreign visitors but sadly lacks the serious investment that it needs, much like the city of Barranquilla itself. Considering the huge concrete jungle of soulless (unsold) gated apartment developments that are occurring on the outskirts of the city, it makes one wonder about the priorities and interests of the Barranquilla government.

Cali - the capital of Salsa

Cali city

Cali city is known mainly for being the centre of salsa dancing in Colombia and, due to my two left feet, I was unable to indulge to heavily in the city's favourite pastime. And thankfully no video exists of my horrendous attempts to salsa.

However, the city also has a lot to offer for sightseeing as well. There is a teleferico from which you can see all of the city.

Cali from the teleferico

As well as beautiful views from the statue of Christo Rey.

Christo Rey

Cali city

Another view of the city

And a beautiful place for sunset too

Sunset over the hills behind Cali

The city itself is fairly modern, without the historic centre of many other cities, however it's main boulevard is an excellent place for a quiet beer at night - many of the locals come down to the boulevard to socialise.

The boulevard

Cali Cathedral

Also worth seeing in Cali is the park of cats - a park filled with interesting cat sculptures.

The entrance to the cat park

A cat sculpture

Just outside of Cali is the Museo de caña, a museum documenting the areas sugar growing history. The colonial house was also the setting for a Colombian telenovela - so there's lots of information about that too :/

A carriage in the stables of the mansion

The mansion gardens

The weather in Cali is often very hot and humid and unfortunately the coastal area is somewhat dangerous - so locals often go to the river in the little town of San Cipriano to cool off on the weekend. You can take a bus to Córdoba and from there you use the very innovative transport system to San Cipriano.

My transport to San Cipriano

Basically there are no roads to San Cipriano, so the locals use an abandoned train line to drive platforms hooked up to motorbikes to transport people to San Cipriano.

Traveling to San Cipriano

The town itself is tiny, but there are several restaurants with excellent cheap seafood dishes to eat (it's quite close to the coast)

The Main (and only) street of San Cipriano

and many trails to the river where you can swim to escape the heat

Swimming in the river

before heading back to Cali for a night of dancing - or in my case, watching others dance and trying to avoid being a total gringo on the dancefloor.

The Ecuadorian Capital - Quito

El Panecillo

Quito is a city sandwiched between volcanoes on its outskirts and so the city stretches along these valleys - 70km in fact, making it a long, thin and very hilly city.

The city is dominated at one end by the Virgen del Panecillo a giant statue in top a a hill overlooking the city.

Virgen del Panecillo

Sadly it is impossible to climb the hill on foot owing to the dangerous suburbs on its slopes, however a taxi is only $US6 there and back (with the driver waiting). From the hill you get great views of Quito.

Quito from El Panecillo

Another view of Quito

Below  the hill is Quito's historic centre with many examples of colonial architecture - such as the famous Calle Ronda filled with restaurants.

Calle Ronda

San Francisco church and convent

San Francisco church

And Plaza Independencia

Plaza Independencia

Just outside of the historic centre is the Basilica de Voto Nacional - a grand church completed in the 1800's.

The Basilica

Inside the Basilica

A stained glass window

For $US4 you can climb the towers, which give a nice view of the city.

Quito from the tower

Another view of Quito

From here you can climb the spire.

The Spire

Which basically consists of a vertical metal ladder - so not good for my dislike of heights, but excellent for city views.

The church tower from the bottom of the spire

Quito from the spire

Centro Historico, Quito from the spire

A little further afield is the Mitad del mundo monument. This monument marks the point at which the equator was surveyed in 1736 and although it supposedly marks the exact equator - it's actually off by about 200m.

Mitad del Mundo monument

Despite this, there are many foto opportunities to straddle the northern and southern hemispheres.

The line marking the Northern and Southern hemispheres from the top of the monument

There are lots of touristy restaurants, a museum and planetarium. Nearby is the building where UNASUR meet, but unfortunately you can't enter the building.

UNASUR building

Also close to Quito is a teleferico which takes you up to the Pinchincha Volcano.

From the lookout you can see most of Quito.

Quito from Pinchincha

And you can continue up the trail to the top of the volcano.

Mountain trail

The trail is very steep and difficult - and the weather can make things even harder with cloud frequently descending over the summit.

Steep trail with the summit in the background

Mist descending over the trail

The last part of the trail is vertical rock climbing and sadly the mist had descended over the mountain so I was unable to take any decent photos. However, the mist cleared on the descent giving views of Quito and the surrounding mountains.

Snow capped mountains in the distance

Quito from the trail

Further afield is the Cotopaxi national park. The Cotopaxi volcano erupted in 2015 and unfortunately the trails were damaged and it was impossible to climb. However, there is an easy trail around the lagoon.

Cotopaxi Lagoon

On the trail are many unique species of plants and many animals.

Lizard amongst the mosses

Some of whom were very much enjoying the nice weather.

Lizard lovin'

The park also has a large herd of wild horses that can be seen grazing around the lagoon.

Horses grazing

And of course you can see the Cotopaxi volcano itself.

Clouds rolling over Cotopaxi volcano

Quito was my last stop in Ecuador before heading to my final South American country: Colombia.