This fishing community to the south of Bahía Solano is authentic if grubby, with wooden houses lining dirt (often muddy) streets. However, just outside of town, about a 15-minute walk north is the Playa Almejal, a broad beach with hotels set back against the jungle. The beach is home to thousands of nervous little cangrejos fantasmas (ghost crabs) scurrying about. The gray sandy beaches are often covered with driftwood and other debris. But during the nearly always spectacular sunsets, the pastels of the sky are perfectly reflected on the wet sands. It’s a magical scene. The water is great for swimming, jumping in the waves, and surfing.
On Playa Almejal, the Posada Don Ai (Playa Almejal, cell tel. 314/651-1160, COP$120,000 pp incl. meals) is a relaxed place with nine small cabins each with a porch and requisite hammock. Meals, usually fried fish, patacones, rice, and salad, are included in the price of your stay and are served under a breezy thatched roof dining area overlooking the Pacific. It’s quite a good value. Even if you are not staying there, you can stop by for a meal. Just beyond Don Ai’s on the beach is El Almejal (tel. 4/412-5050, COP$170,000 pp). This eco-conscious lodge, with tastefully done and airy cabins, is a consistent favorite for those who want a little more comfort. Above in the jungle are the very top-end cabins. These are situated along a bird-watching trail (they organize early morning bird-watching walks here). El Amejal has its own organic garden and sea turtle hatchery program.
Hang loose and kick back at the Humpback Turtle hostel in Playa Almejal. Photo © Andrew Dier.
The third option is the most economical, and by far the funkiest. When you first walk up from the beach, barefoot and backpack on, you’ll pass through several enormous boulders, and then the Humpback Turtle (Playa Almejal, cell tel. 312/756-3439, COP$15,000 camping pp, COP$25,000 dorm bed, COP$80,000 d) suddenly appears. Nestled at the edge of the jungle, this very colorful and rather primitive hostel, often called Donde Tyler, Donde Taylor, or Donde el Gringo Ese after the American owner Tyler, has a dorm room with six beds and four private rooms as well as a campsite. With an organic garden, composting, water conservation measures such as the use of dry toilets, and using plastic water bottles for construction materials, this is by far the most environmentally minded option in the area.
Between Playa Almejal and the town of El Valle are other options, including Villa Maga and El Nativo. Just across from the Almejal beach, these are both run by nativos, as local Afro-Colombians identify themselves. El Nativo (cell tel. 311/639-1015, COP$60,000 d incl. meals) has two simple cabins (four rooms in total) made from natural materials such as guadua (bamboo) and palm leaves. They can organize day-trip excursions for you. Nearby is Villa Maga (cell tel. 320/777-4767, COP$45,000 pp), with a similar setup as El Nativo, although with more natural light in the A-framed cabins and little more comfortable.
Doña Rosalía (El Valle, past Internet café, no phone) is the only real restaurant in El Valle, and it’s a good one. Here you are served in the dining room of Doña Rosalía’s small, but immaculate, house. If you can’t find it, just ask anybody around. Everybody knows Rosalía! If you have a special request—if you’d like lentils or beans instead of fish, for instance—let her know by dropping by beforehand. The hotels on Playa Almejal (Cabañas Punta Roca/Doña Betty, Don Ai, and El Almejal) all serve good seafood meals.
Tiendas (shops) in El Valle sell snacks and usually have seating if you want a cold drink or beer. A couple of bakeries offer freshly baked bread.
As for drinking spots, besides tiendas in El Valle where you can drink beer with the locals, the best option by far is El Mirador. Hard to miss, it’s the only multicolored bar set on a boulder on the beach. It’s between Humpback Turtle and El Almejal. It’s only open on Sunday afternoons, when it gets packed with mostly locals, but visitors are more than welcome.
Excerpted from the First Edition of Moon Colombia.
