Winding down at the end of the trip

Our last full day in Colombia and with nothing planned we had a later, relaxed breakfast. Then we decided to take a walk to the Mendihuaca beach and the mouth of the river of the same name. We followed the rough track that links the stretch of hotels of which ours, Cayena Beach, is one. After passing the entrances to several simple hotels they petered out and the track was lined to our right by a grove of palm trees (and beyond that the sea) and to our left much denser forest.

We heard, and occasionally saw, lizards scampering in the dry leaves beside our path.

At one point we passed a ruined concrete shell of a building that reminded us of Pablo Escobar’s much grander, but equally ruined, lakeside retreat.

The track ended at a security gate and beyond that we could walk through a car park down to the beach. This is lined with simple restaurants and hostels, plus a couple of surf shops. Although it was a Sunday and plenty of locals were here to enjoy their day off, it wasn’t crowded. There was just enough activity to make it interesting but not enough to detract from the attractiveness of the beach and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Swimming here isn’t recommended, and indeed there were red flags to warn against it.

We strolled along the sand taking photos as we went. After a while we reached the river mouth. The Rio Mendihuaca spills into the sea across the sand, creating a large lagoon which, unlike the sea, is ideal for bathing. Several people were doing just that, relaxing in its calm shallow waters. Further away a couple of men were fishing.

We retraced our steps a little and found a shady table, right on the sands, at one of the cafes. We sat for some time over cold drinks, watching all the activity on the beach and enjoying the sight and sound of the sea.

We considered having lunch here but there were no small items on the menu and with the usual three course dinner to be eaten later at Cayena Beach we didn’t want anything large. So we walked back to the hotel along the by-now rather hot track, stopping to photograph flowers and a butterfly on the way.

Back at the hotel, I had a swim, and we spent some time relaxing by the pool and enjoying our last coca lemonade.

Dinner this evening was very good, especially the delicious piece of salmon and nicely cooked vegetables that I had selected from the limited menu.