Saturday, February 13, 2016

Barranquilla. Colombia 28-31/01/16

  • How to get there: We flew from Medellin for £52 each and it took about an hour and a half to get there. A bus takes around 12 hours, probably more since they aren't very often on time.
  • Arriving to Barranquilla: We already had a hotel booked for the three nights, Hotel Casa Ballesteros, which is quite old but it's a comfortable stay with a swimming pool in a good area of Barranquilla, like 2 km away from the centre. The only criticism we have for the hotel is that the housekeeping staff went through our travel notes and books since they were all moved and open.
Church in the centre


Getting to Barranquilla was exciting for Oliver, arriving to Shakira's hometown. We arrived in Barranquilla during the build-up to carnival which also gave us something to do during our time there.
The first day, we decided to rest after the flight and the taxi to the hotel since it was already night time by the time we arrived. We did go to a restaurant next to the hotel to try some Colombian food properly, which we have to say, is not our favourite thing of the country.
The next day we were ready to explore! And due to Oliver's obsession with Shakira, we went to Pies Descalzos foundation which is a school for children in need. There's nothing else there but the school, so we couldn't donate anything by buying a souvenir or something of the sort. We then, headed to the centre of Barranquilla, to do some sightseeing and instead found ourselves looking for carnival t-shirts to watch the "guacherna" (a carnival parade) that night.
The guacherna started at 8pm and everyone was on the streets dancing to the music, watching behind the fence how the groups involved in the parade did the dance routines. Some were balancing bottles of alcohol on their heads while dancing, some were dancing on really high platforms and some inside cages. The costumes were colourful and creative but taking pictures of them could cost a few pesos.
We left early and the next day we only did one thing: we went to see the Shakira statue that is at the Boca stadium. The statue has been vandalized and it doesn't look like it did before, however the powerful message remains for the citizens of Barranquilla.
We couldn't do anymore this day and the reason is the illness that everyone has been talking about, spread by mosquitoes. Yes, Oliver got zika and he felt so bad, that was the end of our sightseeing in Barranquilla.

Pies Descalzos foundation

Carnival market

Stuck in traffic with the trolley

Carnival night market

Carnival night market

Guacherna

Very tall people.

Girls dancing

We don't actually remember why they are glowing.

Shakira statue

Oli happily sat at the Shakira statue

Theatre in Barranquilla

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