English
Español 
7 hours
Private Tour
$$$
English, Spanish
The best way of knowing a region is by seeing its contrasts. In this full-day tour, you will go outside Cartagena to visit San Basilio de Palenque, a place founded by African Americans who escaped from slavery and have tried to live freely ever since. In this place, you will take a tour to know the history of these people, their traditions and customs and how do they live now. Besides you will taste the best of their typical cuisine. Get to know both sides of Cartagena with us!
Colombia preserves intact the first free town in America, founded by maroons who fled from slavery in colonial times. A unique place in the world, stopped in time; famous for its culture, its language, its gastronomy, and its history. It was actually declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
So if you are interested in Colombian history and want to have the most complete cultural experience of Cartagena: this is a place you should definitely visit!
Our guide will pick you up in your hotel and drive for an hour and half to San Basilio de Palenque. Once there, you will meet the local guide, who will take you around the small colorful houses of the town, as well as introduce you to the inhabitants that will explain you everything about their traditions.
You will hear directly from them why and how in San Basilio de Palenque, they still maintain their African roots and culture as well as the creole language. Besides, you will have a glimpse of their music, dances, medicine and more, and you will visit Kid Pambele and Benkos Bioho monuments: both important characters of their history.
Then, at midday, you will taste a delicious and homemade lunch with fish, coconut rice, salad and green plantains, and you will taste some of the typical sweets of this place.
In the afternoon, once you have visited the town and interacted with locals, you will head back to Cartagena and then to your hotel. Explore the less known side of Cartagena and yet probably one of the most important ones for our heritage. Let us show you where do we come from!
The most advisable thing is that you wear clothes that keep you fresh as well as protect you from the sun. Sunglasses, hats and sunscreen, and comfortable sneakers are the most used pieces of clothing.
The weather in Cartagena is usually warm (above 27 C°). However, the tour operates in all weather conditions.
From Cartagena City, it takes around 1 hour to get to San Basilio.
Being the first official free town in America, San Basilio de Palenque preserves its history of how they escaped from slavery and founded their own place and turned into a unique cultural space of resistance, resilience and freedom that all should know about.
Member Since 2023
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