We took our first road trip a couple of hours north-east and hit Barranquilla for the weekend! Driving up the coast was not what I expected, at times, it almost felt like California.   Not as lush and tropical as I anticipated, but beautiful none the less.  The road was well maintained, we passed through a few small towns on the way and a few toll booths but overall an enjoyable drive.

We had some household business to attend to (i.e. Pricesmart/Costco) so after some shopping, we found some treats and the pool! For Christmas, everyone heads to Cartagena, so we basically had the city to ourselves!

By far the highlight of our trip was the Zoologica Barranquilla, especially after being nervous that I would be totally disappointed.  I am sorry for the photo dump that is about to happen, but I pulled out the Nikon after too many months in the Household goods shipment and I forgot how much I loved using it!  So here are my kids super excited about going to the Zoo!

The zoo was clean and well-kept, however, I do feel they have some animals that don’t belong in this urban setting. One of them was a single African Elephant with not nearly enough room to roam and no heard to hang with.  On the other side, we were able to see some animals that we hadn’t ever seen before, including an Anteater and Jaguarundi, both natives to South America.   This is a fine line for me to walk and I don’t always feel good about what I see in zoos, but I’m hoping that educating my kids about animals and captivity is worth it.  The loved going to the zoo and I think it made them feel very “normal,” as it’s something we would do in the States.

Last stop was perhaps the best food I’ve had in Colombia, and that includes the best coffee I’ve had also.  And it was pretty, win-win!  Thank you, Restaurante y Reposteria Nancy Cabrera!

All in all, Barranquilla was good to us, and nice to see more of Colombia.  We will be back.