It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust as we enter the dimly lit, silent crypt of what was formerly the Santa Clara convent in Cartagena. I'm standing at the spot where Gabriel Garcia Marquez was sent as a young reporter in 1949.
He was there to cover the story of the excavation of a crypt, which unearthed the remains of a young girl who had 22 metres of red hair attached to her skull. Marquez later drew on the event as the inspiration for his novella Of Love and Other Demons, published four decades later. It's a book I first came across as a little girl growing up in Sharjah, where I watched my father, a journalist, translator and writer, spend hours meticulously translating into Arabic the Latin American writer's most famous works.
I'm thrilled to be at the site where Marquez found his literary inspiration, although it has certainly gone through a lot of changes. The convent has been transformed and opened as the luxury Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena hotel in 1995. Our tour guide, Daniel, regales us with facts about the Nobel laureate before we arrive at the convent, which is lined with passages from some of his most famous works. When he mentions that Marquez's posthumously published novel Until August had recently hit local bookstores, I make it my mission to hunt down and buy an English translation, knowing that such a gift would be the perfect souvenir for my father.
Cartagena de Indias, about an hour-long flight from Bogota, is Colombia's fifth-largest city and a Unesco World Heritage site. Nestled on the Caribbean coast, it's a place filled with colour, music, street food, restaurants and an impressive art scene. The city has year-round tropical weather and is a fascinating mix of old and new. The 13km of centuries-old stone walls built by the Spaniards in the mid-17th century to protect against pirates and invaders contrast with the towering skyscrapers of Bocagrande.
After a hearty lunch at the Sofitel's fine-dining restaurant, 1621, a sudden downpour offers a welcome respite from the day's scorching heat as we head towards the village of La Boquilla. Here, we join local fishermen who take us on wooden canoes to explore the mangrove forest, a distinct change of pace. As my red and white canoe gently slices through the water tunnels, the silence is almost meditative after the loud, thumping tempo of the city. The tranquillity is only punctuated by the occasional bird cry and a stray whoop of excitement from a gaggle of teenagers playing football by the shore as the sun's last rays tinge the surface of the swamp with golden ripples.
Much like Colombia itself, which has fought back from a troubled past, the mangrove swamp is a lesson in resilience: the mangroves have adapted to live in the saltwater thanks to their extensive tangled roots, in turn providing habitat for birds, crabs and fish. One of the local fishermen proudly displays how he casts his handmade net across the water – fishing is the main source of income here. Visitors are offered the opportunity to offset emissions generated by their travel by planting a mangrove root in the water.
Returning to the shore, it's time for an African drums workshop, taking place in a beach kiosk where the city's Afro-Caribbean heritage comes alive through music. After a short introduction, the group I'm travelling with is divided into smaller clusters and given instructions on how to play different styles of drums. We practise our beat, before coming together to perform, the rhythmic thumping reverberating in my chest, the music pounding as a collective heartbeat and our laughter rising as we stumble through our initial attempts.
But the performance is about more than just entertainment. The musicians and dancers are young men and women from the community of La Boquilla. They are performing under the umbrella of a social project aimed both at preserving the cultural traditions of their African heritage and keeping disadvantaged children in school. A short stroll away from the frenzied beat of the drums, the shores of the Caribbean beckon me to take in a glorious sunset. The cool waves lapping against the soft sand offer a calming change of pace.
Exotic fruit roulette
The next day, we are whisked away to an exotic fruit and chocolate-tasting experience. It proves to be as delightful as it sounds, despite the protests of a fellow traveller that the two should never be mixed. Arriving at the Casa Santiago Botero, the spread set out before us is a feast for the senses. It is colourful and abundant, with many fruits that I did not yet have a name for and had never seen. Even for my Covid-dulled sense of smell and taste, the spread is a refreshing way to map out every corner of Colombia, with staff providing details on what they were and where they were grown.
Colombia is one of the world's top coffee, flower and fruit producers. This is mapped out in trays before us that symbolises the country's agricultural prowess; its location on the equator; its rich bio-diversity; trade routes; and economic growth. The country is a producer of fine-quality cacao and we're given samples from Sierra Nevada in the north and Tumaco in the south to nibble on. Chocolate bars of varying cacao percentages are then brought to our table to accompany and accentuate the taste of different fruits.
Discovering the flavours is a fun game of fruit roulette: mamon, a round fruit that is green on the outside and orange inside, is sour. Bright yellow uchuvas, or gooseberries, are used to make jams and pair particularly well with a 53 per cent chocolate piece. Lulo is orange on the outside with a greenish pulp inside and has a distinct citrus taste. I sink my teeth into a feijoa, which tastes like a cross between pineapple and guava, and pitaya which in Colombia has thick yellow skin and is sweet and refreshing. Cracking open a guama fruit – one that is native to the Amazon forest – I bite off the white cloudlike sweet pulp encasing its black seeds. Since Emirates began flying to Bogota in June, some of these Colombian fruits have started to increasingly appear on Dubai supermarket shelves.
Hip Getsemani
Stepping outside the ancient fortifications of the city walls, I encounter neighbouring Getsemani. A quarter where slaves once lived, it is a historical place of resistance and is now home to hip restaurants and buzzy nightclubs. Cafe Havana offers a fun night of salsa dancing and live music – Hillary Clinton, former first lady and US presidential candidate, was pictured dancing here back in 2012 – while our lunch at Celele, a Caribbean restaurant where each dish is designed to highlight the diversity of the region's ingredients, is highly recommended.
Afterwards, we head to La Bodeguita, the pier at the docks of the Port of Cartagena. A boat is waiting to take us out on a tour around the Bay of Cartagena – and enjoy another of the city's dramatic sunsets.
Getsemani exudes a bohemian air with its street art, large-scale murals and alleyways decorated overhead with colourful umbrellas. I'm delighted to come across a wall depicting Marquez reading One Hundred Years of Solitude amid a swirl of yellow butterflies, a scene described in his novel. Calle de la Sierpe (or Serpent Street), is the centre of street art in this captivating barrio. The Plaza de la Trinidad is the district's popular square where the street musicians are not only talented but also quick-witted. One of my fellow journalists – sporting sunglasses, tattoos and a clean-shaven head – gets his own rap tribute from the performers who dub him “Bin Diesel” in a twist on the actor's name, much to the amusement of our group.
Colombia's second-oldest city
Cartagena's old city is 10 minutes from here. Nestled within ancient fortified walls, it is a place that brings history to life with its cobbled streets and painted houses. Founded in 1533, Cartagena is the country's second oldest city after Santa Marta in the north and a walk around the old town is the best way to take in its history. I start by winding through its twisting streets, admiring colonial mansions where overhanging wooden balconies burst with bougainvillaea, exploring its churches and shopping at its boutiques. My favourite has to be discovering some of the locations mentioned in many of Marquez's novels.
Palanqueras – women dressed in bright colours selling fruit – are a striking sight. Wearing blue, red and yellow ruffled dresses, they portray an important aspect of the city's history. Our guide Fernando explains that many of them hail from San Basilio de Palenque and are descendants of African slaves who were brought to the country under Spanish colonial rule, but who fought for their freedom, escaped slavery and created their own settlement. Today, most of their income comes, not from selling fruit, but from taking photos with tourists.
As my whirlwind stay in Colombia draws to an end, I'm enthralled by all that I've seen but can't help shake the niggle of disappointment that despite an abundance of tropical fruit during my visit, my own search for Marquez's latest work has been less fruitful. This does not feel like the right ending to my story in Gabo's city.
After landing back in Bogota, where my direct flight back to Dubai was due to depart, I strike gold. In a small bookshop in the Usaquen neighbourhood, I finally get my hands on Marquez's posthumously published novel. So while the Spaniards came to Colombia's shores in search of riches – attracted by the promise of El Dorado, a city made of gold and the namesake of the country's international airport – I am delighted to be leaving with my own treasure, rich memories of this incredible country coupled with a memento of Marquez himself. Returning home, I present my father with his gift, and the smile on his face is priceless. Watching him leaf through the pages, I breathe a sigh of contentment. My Colombian treasure hunt is complete.
