Casa Sol Baru Island Islas de Rosario

... warned me that there was a lot of poverty around Cartagena. She was right. The bus terminal is situated far outside the city. The taxi drove through extremely poor neighborhoods, some where houses were little more than shacks. There was also an abundance of trash all around, especially in areas that looked as though they should be parks or waterways. Houses without doors. Kids without shoes in filthy clothes. I have seen poverty here, but it never felt as ever-present ...

Met een dag vertraging (door verdorie alweer mijn tweede migraine-aanval in Zuid-Amerika) ben ik dan toch goed aangekomen in Cartagena.

Eerste indrukken zijn dat het een verpletterend mooi stadje is (het oude gedeelte dan). Ik heb besloten dat Buenos Aires de lijst qua mooiste steden nog steeds aanvoert, maar Cartagena zit er dicht bij!! Daarnaast is Cartagena verstikkend warm. Ik trek de warmte gelukkig aardig ...

We arrived to Cartagena and as we got off the bus I started chatting with an old lady who offered to rent our group an apartament. For less than the price of a hostel (and hanging out with the hostel crowd) we got a big two bedroom place in a highrise just outside the city's historic center. We cooked, drank, hung out at the beach by day and drank, danced, and went out by night. You'll all have to wait till I see you in person to hear all the gonzo details and sheer madness of the past ...

Well needless to say flying in two hours to Cartagena which would have taken otherwise two days on the bus was a wise and more comfortable was a wise decision, landing by plane gave us an oversight of the city and what stood out (we realise later) was called La Boca, a long stretch of thin land which lots of high rise buildings along it, then we landed the first thing we noticed arriving mid day was the HEAT.... wow intensive, strong and lovely!

We headed ...

After a nightmare trip that was extended from 6 hours (two flights and one stopover) to 18 hours (three stopovers on two different airlines) due to bad weather we finally arrived in Cartagena - and it was definitely worth the wait! We had planned to do all the right things and arrive in Cartagena around midday but due to the delays we arrived at midnight - not recommended by any of the guide books!

Cartagena ...

... heat and watching ´Friends´ in our hostel room. On our penultimate day, I decided to wander a little further afield out of sheer boredom. To my horror, I realised that the beautiful old town was a five minute walk from our place and had been completely ignored. So I spent the last day with Robin and Minty (Alex had caught a boat to Panama) sitting in restaurants and in the squares of the beautiful colonial centre. It was a perfect spot. Old ...

... pickups. I've never sworn so loudly in a hotel lobby in my life. Making up for all this was surely one of the highlights of the entire trip. That night, our Bolivian Sectionmate Rodrigo and his wife Lorena invited us to join them at the national stadium for the World Cup Qualifying match between Bolivia and Colombia. With seats right at midfield and about ten rows from the pitch, we were in perfect position to watch Colombia manhandle their guests. Adding to the adventure ...

... roads that are surfaced smooth as billiard tables with all manner of obese American SUV's belting along them. The irony being that this surprise wealth is from 2 opposing means. The tourism income from the most diverse and vibrant ecosystem in the world (The Galapagos Islands) and the revenues from recently exploited oil and natural gas reserves. One can't help but feel with these opposite forces funding the "progress", the party will soon be over for the locals.


Machala is ...

... auf meinem Ruecken... Mann ist mein Rucksack unausstehlich schweeer...=( Aber ja, wer Designerin werden will muss wohl oder uebel da durch...;) Cartagena ist eine wunderschoene Kolonialstadt. Also das heisst, die Altstadt und ein paar Viertel drum herum sind wirklich wunderschoen und suess. Doch dann gibt es da noch den neuen Teil, der ist einfach nur haesslich... Riesen Hochhaeuser, alles top modern und ein Hilton Hotel nach dem anderen... Naja, das ist halt wie so oft der Preis ...

... thing... the vibe was amazing and it was the best New Years i´ve ever had bar none! Colombians are super friendly, just as I heard and read about. There are friendly police everywhere who are helpful if you need assistance. Despite the fact that Roxy and I still receive a lot of unnecessary attention, cat-calls, whistles, remarks, and stares from locals, we`ve yet to feel threatened or unsafe in the least bit since arriving. New Years day we checked into a different ...