Experience Cartagena at Home
While the prospect of visiting Cartagena may be on hold for awhile, I’m bringing Colombia’s Caribbean gem to you. Dance, cook, sing, and sweat your way through the list of virtual experiences below while directly supporting the small businesses and communities in Cartagena that miss you most.
Like many places around the globe, Cartagena was hard hit by the coronavirus. As borders closed and instructions were given to shelter-in-place for most of 2020, a majority of the population watched their source of income go “poof.” Top it off with the fact that 30% of the city’s population works in tourism and 60% belong to the informal economy, thousands need help. Whether you’ve visited Cartagena before, plan to in the future, or simply love the idea of experiencing a foreign land without ever leaving home, this page is one you’ll want to re-visit often as I add more Cartagena-inspired activities to the site each week.
“Travel” and Give Back…Please!
Every activity and experience you see below directly supports the local small business, artist, or foundation that supplied it. For this reason, any donations would be greatly appreciated and will be directed to the person or business behind it. You’ll see a “DONATE” button at the bottom of each activity page.
Take Your Tastebuds on a Trip
In this activity, you’ll catch a glimpse of life in the fishing village of La Boquilla, both in the fishing hole and in the kitchen. Starting with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how the fishermen catch what’s on their plate, you’ll then get the straight-from-the-source recipe for every La Boquilla fisherman’s favorite meal.
The only thing better than the smell of chocolate banana muffins wafting through your home is knowing that it got there by supporting the former staff of this social enterprise cafe in Cartagena. Started by an Australian duo in 2017, Cafe Stepping Stone exclusively employed youth from some of Cartagena’s highly disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Switch up your morning routine for a day with this french press tutorial, breakfast bowl recipe, and funky music playlist to throw on in the background through all of it. It’ll transport you to this cozy cafe in Cartagena’s historic center and put you in the Colombian Caribbean mood wherever you happen to be in the world.
Get Your Body Moving
This 14-minute high energy, feel good dance workout is exactly what your quarantine has been missing. I’ve also thrown in a few behind-the-scenes glimpses into Luis’ life in the seaside village of La Boquilla, one of which may include him playing DJ for his stir crazy block balcony-style.
Learn the basic steps of Cartagena’s endemic dance from a professional dancer and choreographer, instantly catching a whiff of Cartagena’s contagious feel-good Caribbean vibes in the process. Anyerson Bello is the man behind ADCrew in Cartagena, a dance project connecting and transforming the lives of at-risk youth in his neighborhood of San Francisco.
Enrich Your Mind
The next best thing to visiting Cartagena is burying your nose in a book that takes your mind there in the meantime. In this activity, you’ll not only get a hand-picked list of Abaco-approved required reading, but you’ll get access to their bookshop playlist and a few recipes off their cafe menu. The combination will carry you away to Cartagena and the dreamy bookshop cafe that’s waiting for you when you visit.
Feel the Rhythm
Bring the rhythm of the Colombian Caribbean to your home with whatever bucket, bin, or box you have lying around for a lesson in Afro-Colombian drumbeats. Batámbora is the tourism-facing arm of Tambores de Cabildo, a music program for youth in the community of La Boquilla. They’re on a mission to reconnect La Boquilla’s next generation with their African roots and traditions.
Champeta is the music of the Colombian Caribbean and nowhere is it more popular than in Cartagena, its birthplace. In this activity, champeta singer and local legend Charles King introduces you to the genre, imparting a few champeta moves on you in the process, and leaving you with a hand-picked playlist of champeta songs to turn up full volume at home. Click that big blue button for access.