I have been trying to get here for about 5 years. Things that have held me up are work/PTO, children’s extracurricular, hurricanes, other events, lack of resources due to my shopping addiction. Yes, it’s a thing. However, I was adulting when I skipped FAMU’s Homecoming to pay for this trip. I will say 1. I’ll never miss another homecoming. 2. The culture, laughs, and experiences I had here with some amazing people was worth the wait! This trip was leisure focused and not full of adrenaline rush.

PreTravel Information

As far as entry into Colombia, as of January 2023, no vaccines are needed except for certain places where you are required to have yellow fever vaccine at least 10 days prior to the trip. Fortunately, you do not need that vaccine for Cartagena! You will however need a completed an entry form as early as 3 days prior to arrival to the airport for the first leg of your flight if you have a connecting flight like we did. The form link is located here: https://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/check-mig Switch to English and type away! American dollars go far over there. I took one hundred one-dollar bills over for tipping and minor street shopping. Credit cards are accepted there but in general, cash speaks louder in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

We Made It!

Our stay was booked in a bundle with round trip flights, an all-inclusive resort stay, and airport transfers included for $1090. We arrived in Colombia via a nonstop flight (for some of us) with Spirit. The airport/customs/entry line was disgustingly long! We were in it for about 3 hours. If we paid an agent, I’m sure we would’ve skipped the line. We saw people do it. Because of that our transfer turned into a taxi. We finally made it to Dreams at Karibana Cartagena Luxury Golf All Inclusive Resort.

Transportation:

Due to the high alert orange level of the country, (and also the new Nia Long movie, Missing) we only used the taxis and tour guides registered with the hotel. We paid $240 cash for our group tour and it was a round trip from the hotel, in an air-conditioned van. It was a hop on and off tour and was able to visit popular attractions that oozed color, and culture. We are at a local restaurant where all of a sudden, I like soup.

For other restaurants we used the taxis the hotel called. It probably was pricey (in their eyes) but I prefer to be with people the resort trusts to get us back there.

The Munchies:

Every time I travel out of the country to the Caribbean, I choose an all-inclusive. I prefer to not “look for meals” during a trip. I'd definitely go out and explore meals cooked by the natives in their restaurants, but if an excursion made me exhausted and I don’t feel like moving, my friends, my kids, or I can go downstairs and eat at one of 3-5 places on the resort. This was the first time I stayed at a popular Dreams chain and was told Hyatt recently acquired them. I’m going to go easy as they transition with new changes. Breakfast was at the resort every morning. It was full of a variety of items and a mimosa station. My friends and I enjoyed the little coffee shop attached to it and visited it often for coffee and desserts. We had a birthday dinner that was supposed to be arranged/decorated for us but due to a language barrier it was not. We still enjoyed ourselves and also went to a second restaurant afterwards.