After having made up our mind that we want to go to the Caribbean, we left Salento with a stop in Medellin, just a couple of hours away from Salento. Our 2-night stay changed our view of Medellin, which we thought to be unsafe and troubled. In fact, we didn't feel unsafe at all which surely also was thanks to choosing our hostel in a safe district called El Poblado. What played a big role for this was our guide we got to know during the Communa 13 tour (which has a very troubled history in the late 90s/early 2000s because of the drug cartels) called Esteban. Having grown up there he gave us valuable insights and shed some light its interesting past. 
In a Swiss brunch restaurant (eating a dearly missed schoggi gipfeli) we then decided to take upon a more strenuous bit of travel to get to Isla Fuerte, a small island of the coast in the proximity of Panama. And it did turn out to be strenuous. After a night on the bus from Medellin to Monteria we took a rather shabby bus, with its windows clapping and the only cooling effect was the open bus door. The loud music improved the situation for some, for others it made it worse. Having arrived at our destination on the coast, the bus lad exchanged a couple of quick words with the guys standing next to their motorcycles where the bus stopped, and within seconds our backpacks were loaded onto two bikes and we were told to get on too. Not really having another option in this exciting moment, we hopped on and they brought us to the boat which then took us to the island. 
Having arrived there tired, we found a small, wonderful island with very basic infrastructure. We went diving the following day, and the underwater world was an absolute highlight of our stay on the island! We saw many different species of fish, but the most memorable part was its amazing coral reef that stretches over a long distance along the island. Luckily, this was not the only time we went diving during our stay in Colombia. After being a bit fed up with heaps of mosquitos, we decided not to extend our stay on this little island and move on to Cartagena. 
Cartagena is incredibly interesting, and if you like history and architecture, this city is a treasure. However, the heat and humidity was very difficult for both of us to cope with. In addition to that, we both felt like we were rushing around a bit too much, especially after a couple of strenuous trips like the ones we had. We therefore decided over one of many tasty coffees that we should improve our Spanish and develop a bit of a homebase so we don't rush around. After some quick research we found out about a language school called Hablea in a place called Jardin, up in the mountains. We both felt like this was exactly what we needed, and this decision indeed shaped our experience very positively. 
The week in Jardin went by rapidly, we mostly spent it learning Spanish, either in class or interacting with locals doing activities like cooking over a fire stove, painting next to a waterfall or learning bachata and salsa together. For us, Jardin had the perfect balance of not being too touristic but still having plenty of activities to offer. We very quickly felt welcome and were happy to have come across so many genuine and hospitable people. 

Jardin was our last stop in Colombia before heading to Peru via Medellin. We consider ourselves lucky to be able to travel such a beautiful country and have experienced an incredible amount of exotic and memorable moments. Muchas gracias Colombia!
We now look forward to Peru and even more so to the amazing Amazon jungle!