Wending its way through the jungles of northern Colombia to the Caribbean Sea, the Magdalena river is “preposterously beautiful”, says Laura Jackson in The Times – and among the most relaxing ways to discover it is on a cruise.
AmaWaterways launched two river boats last year, and they are the first big passenger vessels to ply the Magdalena since 1961, when the David Arango paddle steamer was accidentally destroyed by fire.
From 1964 to 2016, Colombia's “narcotic-fuelled” armed conflict made tourism here “unfeasible”. Since then, the region has been much safer but preparing the river for the cruises required years of work, including dredging a canal and building new docks.
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I spent two days exploring the historic port of Cartagena before boarding the AmaMelodia for a seven-night, 360-mile cruise. It’s a “soothing” ship, with a good restaurant and 32 spacious cabins across three decks, all decorated in “neutral” greens and browns. Our route took us southeast along canals to join the river, and then north to the city of Barranquilla, where the Magdalena reaches the sea.
Along the way, we visited villages and colonial towns reminiscent of those evoked by the Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, who was influenced by a childhood journey on the David Arango. They included San Basilio de Palenque, a village founded by runaway slaves in the 18th century – the first of its kind in the Americas – and Mompox. Its historic centre is a Unesco World Heritage Site, with a “stopped-clock feel”.
The cruise included “excellent” lecture and wellness programmes, and activities including a class in cumbia – a local dance – and a jewellery-making workshop. We also went on speedboat trips to areas the ship couldn’t reach, including the Ciénaga del Pijiño wetlands, where we saw howler monkeys, alligators, and a great array of birds, from russet-throated puffbirds to savanna hawks and snail kites.
A nine-night trip with AmaWaterwayscosts from £5,699pp, including flights.
