Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [122]
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LA BOQUILLA
A small fishing village and kitesurfing haven, La Boquilla is 7km north of Cartagena and sits at the northern tip of a narrow peninsula, bordered by the sea on one side and the Ciénaga de Tesca on the other. If you get up at 4am, you can catch locals at the ciénaga (lake/lagoon) working with their famous atarrayas (round fishing nets) that are common in Colombia, particularly on the Caribbean coast.
There’s a pleasant place known as El Paraíso, a five-minute walk from the bus terminus, where you can enjoy a day on the beach. You can also arrange a boat trip with the locals along the narrow water channels cutting through the mangrove woods to the north of the village. Negotiate the price, and pay upon return.
There is a collection of palm-thatched shack restaurants on the beach, which attract people from Cartagena on weekends; most are closed at other times. Fish is usually accompanied by arroz con coco (coconut rice) and patacones (fried plantains).
Frequent city buses run to La Boquilla from India Catalina in Cartagena (COP$1100, 30 minutes).
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VOLCÁN DE LODO EL TOTUMO
No, it’s not the world’s largest termite mound. About 50km northeast of Cartagena, a few kilometers off the coast, is an intriguing 15m mound, looking like a miniature volcano. It is indeed a volcano, but instead of lava and ashes it spews forth mud.
Legend has it that the volcano once belched fire but the local priest, seeing it as the work of the devil, frequently sprinkled it with holy water. He not only succeeded in extinguishing the fire, but also in turning the insides into mud to drown the devil.
The crater is filled with lukewarm mud with the consistency of cream. You can climb down into the crater and frolic around in a refreshing mud bath. It certainly is a unique experience. The mud contains minerals acclaimed for their therapeutic properties. Most folks spend the time laughing as they try their darndest to sink further than buoyancy will allow. Once you’ve finished your session, go and wash the mud off in the lagoon, just 50m away.
The volcano is open from dawn to dusk and you pay a COP$5000 fee to have a bath. Bring plenty of small bills to tip the various locals pampering you during your time here, who will massage you (though they certainly aren’t carrying degrees from a massage course), rinse you off (yes, your bathing suit comes off) and hold your camera and take photos (they didn’t go to photography school, either). All in all, it’s loads of fun.
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Getting There & Away
El Totumo is on the border of the Atlántico and Bolívar departments, roughly equidistant between Barranquilla and Cartagena, but Cartagena is a far more popular jumping-off point for the volcano and has better public transport and numerous tours.
The volcano is about 50km northeast of Cartagena by the highway, plus 1km by a dirt side road branching off inland. To get to the volcano, grab a taxi to the main bus terminal (COP$1100), and take an hourly bus bound for Galerazamba. Get off before Galerazamba at Lomita Arena (COP$2500, 1½ hours). Ask the driver to let you off by the petrol station and walk along the highway 2.5km toward Barranquilla (30 minutes), then to the right 1km to the volcano (another 15 minutes). Alternatively, you can grab a moto-taxi for COP$3000. The last direct bus from Lomita Arena back to Cartagena departs at around 3pm.
A tour is a far more convenient and faster way of visiting El Totumo, and not much more expensive than doing it on your own. Several tour operators in Cartagena organize minibus trips to the volcano (COP$25,000 transport only, COP$33,300 with lunch included in Manzanilla del Mar, a small fishing village with an average