Cartagena - So many experiences!
I'm not quite sure where to begin with Cartagena. We ended up spending 11 days there, a little more than our planned 6 days. We met interesting people, generally felt comfortable and generally enjoyed the feel of it.
We did far too much to fit into just one post so this is a bit of an introduction / summary rather than the full picture.
Cartagena is a city full of contradictions. One of the most popular cities for tourists in Colombia with its stunning old town and vibrant street life, is also, sadly, one of the poorest cities in Colombia. Full of Caribbean culture yet, firmly attached to the mainland on which it sits.
In 11 days here are just some of the things we managed to do:
Spanish lessons with the lovely Gustavo
Street Art walking tour
A night at the pretty Playa Blanca beach
A ride in a horse drawn carriage
Helped out in a village clean-up
Visited 2 international schools
Hours of walking through beautiful streets
Made connections at the newly opened co-work space
A teeny-weeny bit of shopping
Enjoyed yummy local street food and not-so-local pizza & wine!
Some quality pool time at our hostel.
Honestly, we didn't see that, that much of actual Cartagena. We, not surprisingly, stayed within the two main tourist areas of the Old Town and the neighbourhood of Getsemani. We caught glimpses of other areas - shops, restaurants etc but being generally poor, some areas are not safe, so we kept to the areas we knew would be ok.
Just walking around the town is a pleasure and we didn`t seem to get tired of it.
Our first day we met with Gustavo, Spanish teacher. We each had lessons with him, including Taliya. He not only helped us with our Spanish but also put us in touch with a people that we would later do our village clean-up with. He was so welcoming and helpful, much more than just a language teacher!
Cartagena has a couple of beaches, one on the strip known as Bocagrande, site of hotels and nice apartments. Just a very short taxi ride from the old town we went to check it out. The beach was not very clean, but it was fun and we had a nice afternoon.
Being on the Caribbean we had to check it out a little more, so we stored our big bags at our hostel and 45 minute drive later we were at Playa Blanca. It is roughly divided in 2 halves; one side caters more for day trippers, while those that want to stay will find basic huts at the other end. We opted for the latter and had a lovely 24 hours just enjoying beach time.
Hotels really are right on the beach.
We stayed here. Basic but comfortable. Limited fresh water and scoop `showers` but that was fine.
The stunning colours of the Caribbean
Beach huts on Playa Blanca
Not a bad spot!
We stayed at 2 places in Cartagena. The first was an Air BnB with a lovely, friendly host. But the place was very cluttered and with renovations being done was loud, so we moved to another place. Somehow we managed to find the perfect place for us. It ticked all the boxes: had a kitchen (we generally self-cater to keep costs down), a pool (Cartagena is HOT) and was walking distance to the old town and Getsemani. Oh, and Tali got a bunk bed - her particular request. The staff at Casa Escallon were utterly lovely too!! We loved staying here and were very comfortable.
pool
kitchen
Our room. We had a 6 person dorm to ourselves.
That`s a little intro to Cartagena. More to follow on what else we did there for 11 days!
But it stole our heart for sure and we were a little loathe to leave.
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