Isla Grande

There is several islands off Cartagena and I visited the one with the largest poblation, Isla Grande. Already the boat trip to the island was an experience itself since suddenly dolphins were showing up around the boat! Then, one of the guys on the boat convinced me to go snorkeling with them so I did that and we saw diverse corals and plenty of colourful fish! Afterwards they dropped me off at my hostel with was right next to the sea. The location was wonderful and I spent most of the time hanging out at the hostel alone or with a Swiss couple and another Swiss guy who travelled solo. One night we went together to the plancton bioluminescence activity organized by the hostel, where we went out with canoes to a lagoon. At the lagoon we entered the water with snorkeling masks and when moving the water you could swim and dive between the blue-glowing plancton!
Sometimes I stepped into the small village called Orika where you could buy a few items of food or eat at restaurants. On the path to the town you pass by mangroves and seeing them for the first time was really overwhelming, not least due their high importance for the biodiversity and safety of the islands! The town itself is not too nice though, people live rather poor which is in contrast to the several luxury resorts for tourists at the edge of the island.Read more