PLAYA BLANCA, COLOMBIA

Marketed with having whiter sand, the better beaches surrounding Cartagena, Colombia, defines a staggering human scene on the weekends. A good 35 to 45 minute drive south of Cartagena, on the near island of Barú that is separated from the Rio Magdalena delta, these beaches swelter in the tropical heat. For every visitor to the beach there are two locals offering to sell something or to be a guide, to make some money from the tourists. The entire beach is lined by rows of plastic chairs, half with umbrellas, the others with A-shape wooden roofs, then behind this are covered informal dining and drinking areas. They serve coconut-rice, fried pork, and cold beers.

Farther back from the beach are the dark shanty shacks housing numerous side by side kitchens operated by women in the shadows, cooking on wood fires. Older women sit in the shade with graters shaving the coconuts. Dutch style ovens are boiling on the fires, making the hot white broth of coconut-rice. Men wander along the rows of chairs with armfuls of beaded necklaces while older Colombian women offer to give massages. The Colombian locals flock here on the weekends in buses, taxis, and motorcycles. Aguila and Club Colombia beers are readily handy for the lounging men while watching their kids play in the sand, splash in the water, and the women sunbathing while the younger girls take selfies on the cell phones.

The turquoise water is Caribbean warm, the sand is kept reasonably clean by workers with rakes, and the police have a wooden shack suggesting some security. The parking-lots are jammed, and packs of teenagers banging on the car windows asking to be guides or to watch after the parked cars points to the desperate poverty of the region. One has to take a short hike down from the parking lots to reach the beach. First going down well-trodden trails, through the trees and thatched huts offering bathing suits and t-shirts, through the restaurants, the rows of chairs, and then find a strip of sand before the water that is only about five metres wide. This beach experience is not for the timid and comes with its own distinguished vibe. We collected a sample of beach sand from Playa Blanca- its colour is similar to Copacabana beach of Brazil or to Punta del Este in Uruguay, and all of these are shaded darker, or more beige, than the white sands of Miami. Calling the beach Playa Beige would not have the same marketing zing.

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