While visiting Marisol’s sister in Cali, we had an opportunity to attend a football game between Deportivo Cali and Envigado in what would be my very first game in Colombia.
Being on the Pacific coast of Colombia, the food in Ladrilleros is mostly fish and seafood dishes as expected, but there are some local specialties that should be tried before leaving.
One of the popular tours to take in Ladrilleros is to the nearby mangroves and natural swimming pools, part of Uramba Bahía Málaga National Park. The tours run in the afternoons and can be booked at a reasonable price through your accommodation.
Everyone heading between Buenaventura and Ladrilleros has to pass through Juanchaco. The long pier is where all of the boats to and from Buenaventura dock, and it’ll be the first thing you see as you arrive in the town.
Between the months of June and October, people head to Colombia’s Pacific coast to get a glimpse of the humpback whale. After a long migration, the whales raise their calves in the area, making whale watching tours a popular activity. The best place to do this is in the protected waters of Uramba Bahía Málaga National Park.
Ladrilleros is a laid-back Pacific coast beach popular with Colombians but well off the beaten path for foreigners. It’s got a decent beach that sits underneath tall cliffs. The entire settlement is surrounded by Uramba Bahía Málaga National Park.
You won’t find any 5 star resorts or anything luxurious in Ladrilleros, to be honest, but there are a multitude of hotels to choose from. Most of them are very simple and do the trick for a few days. Some have cabañas while others are normal hotel rooms. Many offer meal plans with two or three meals a day. If you don’t have reservations, you can find a hotel easily after arriving in Juanchaco.
Getting to Ladrilleros can be a bit of an adventure. The only way to get there is with a one hour boat trip from Buenaventura to Juanchaco.
Buenaventura is not a place you want to stick around in for too long. It’s a loud, dirty, ugly, dangerous port city on Colombia’s Pacific coast.
After a night of heavy rain, the only road in and out of the village of Columbia collapsed in a landslide. Columbia is just outside of the town I live in – Belén de Umbría. This small agricultural community will be without road access for at least six months. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and no cars or motorcycles were traveling on the road as it collapsed.