Bizarre Food Tour

If you are a lover of all things weird and wonderful and aren’t averse to putting strange things in your mouth (er, we’re talking about food), this tour is the one for you. They say the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, so for sure, the best way to get immersed in a culture is through its food. Inspired by the gastronomic adventure taken by U.S chef Andrew Zimmern, we are so excited to show you the best of alternative eating in Cartagena. We will take you on a totally non-touristy tour to places many foreigners visiting Cartagena have never even heard of, let alone ventured into. This is your chance to try the truly typical grub that fills the stomachs of the average Costeño.

We start off the day in the bustling madness of Bazurto Market. It’s loud, crowded, sometimes smelly, but it’s the heart of the culinary world in Cartagena…here, you will find the freshest fruits by the ton, fish and seafood caught mere hours before, and a whole bunch of interesting characters. An eclectic mix of flavors from Africa, Spain, and indigenous Colombian cultures awaits you – and we know exactly how to wind our way through the chaos to take you straight to the most authentic and bizarre must-try eats. Sample exotic fruits all the colors of the rainbow (some can only be found locally and aren’t exported anywhere else) and check out what’s bubbling away in the giant pots of prepared food.

Then, hop in your private transport as we make our way to Turbaco, a village on the outskirts of Cartagena where the urgency and noise of the city fades away and life is lived a little slower and more chilled-out. Here, you can try the famous “Chicharrones” – fried pork rind (diet? What diet?). You can also sample some other local delights here – but don’t get too full up yet, because now we’re heading further inland to San Cayetano to get even more bizarre. In San Cayetano, you can get a taste of the “real” Colombia. Here, locals are taught hunting and fishing from a young age and are used to eating whatever they can catch in the dry bushlands –  resulting in some truly unique and traditional dishes. With Hi Cartagena, you will have the opportunity to try a variety of local game and bushmeat – basically whatever is in season or hunted that day. This is a truly unique experience and there is no time to be squeamish with so many delicious new flavors to try.

You will have some time to digest all of this as we head back to Cartagena, where you can’t go without trying the famous fritos – delicious maize or yucca-based fried foods, popular with locals for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, a midnight post-beer snack…well, pretty much anytime. To top it all off, we couldn’t let you leave without dessert – so sample the wonderful local candies, such as the dulce de leche shaped as babies or the sweet yet tangy tamarind balls.

This tour lasts a whopping 4 hours and you definitely get the bite for your buck as you get breakfast, lunch, and will probably be full past dinner too. It’s an amazing experience to open your eyes to a whole new world of flavors, fruits and creatures to be eaten. Well, you didn’t come to Colombia to eat pizza and hamburgers, did you?