No Fixed Plans

We had to get on a bus at 7am to be able to catch our flight from Medellin to Cartagena. The hotel provided us with breakfast before we left to eat on the bus. 

When the flight actually started, notebook got passed around so everyone could sign it (the ceo happened to get automatically placed 6 rows in front of the rest of us- the two in the same row as him I got to sign before). 

We got to the hotel at about 10 but weren’t able to check in. We got given time to change and stow our luggage before heading on a walk around town. We then went to a fancy restaurant as a farewell lunch. Once we finished, our rooms were ready. Upon entering the hotel, we gave him the group tip as the plan for that night was to go drinking so we didn’t want him to have to carry that much cash around. 

We met at 5:30 to go to a rooftop bar. We had a few drinks there and before leaving, two of the guys did speeches and then the notebook was given to him. He got really happy and exited and said no one had ever done something like that for him before. 

We then moved to an empanada place to have some dinner before going to a street bar. We were playing drinking games for a couple hours before heading to a karaoke bar. While most of the group stayed until closing, I went back an hour earlier with the 16 year old and her dad as she had had a lot to drink so I helped him get her back to their room. 

The next morning, no one wanted to get up (breakfast finished at 10:30am and our ceo had to message our group at 10:15am saying that the hotel staff told him they had seen none of us and that it was almost over). Later that day, we took Ubers to a local market to buy fruit and (ideally) to have lunch, however due to the smell (which was caused by the vendors selling unrefrigerated meat) and none of us wanted  to eat there. Instead, the ceo bought some fruit from there while we took an uber to a different restaurant closer to the hotel to all have lunch. 

After this, our CEO said goodbye to us all, let the hotel staff know we were all ok to take the fruit he was leaving in the fridge, and then went home. 

We all then relaxed the rest of the afternoon before 6 of us meet for dinner at 6:15. 

We went to an Italian restaurant and then headed back to the rooms to go back to sleep. 

The next morning most of the group went on an 8 hour boat ride that visited a few islands around. I instead decided to have a chill day, had late breakfast and then went down at 10am to say bye to two of the people leaving. I then chilled in my room for a bit, went out to get coffee and tiramisu, and then went to a coffee tasting tour. The tour went to 3 shops. The first shop I got to taste a honey wash using a pressure brewing method (an espresso machine). The second shop it was a natural bean using a pour over method. The third shop was a washed bean using an immersion brewing method (a French press). 

The tasting lasted about 2 hours. Afterwards I went back to my hotel. Those in my group still in Cartagena informed me they were meeting for dinner at 6:15 so I went to meet them then. We had dinner at a burger place, 4 of them getting burgers and the two of us who don’t eat beef both got something else. They all then went to get drinks after and I went back to the hotel to pack for the early flight the next day.