Cartagena Plaza Hotel

... sitting in the shade for a while you had to go in. Our first swim in the Carribbean! The boys built sandcastles and drank beer and we passed a very pleasant afternoon. The two boys cooked dinner that night for everyone back at the hostel, a guilty dinner or not I don't know. It was very enjoyable anyway.

The next day we decided to head to Taganga which is east of Cartagena, for some beach time. The couple ...

... walls of the old town. It was certainly very pretty, and the cool evening breeze mad a big difference to the hot humid daytime. A few couples were out making the most of the horse drawn carriages, I guess it is quite a romantic place. As we headed back to our apartment cutting across the city we passed by the big church. It was open for a service and there was a wonderful choir in full song as we passed by. After a poor start, Cartagena was kind of growing on us.

... Christie opted to sit on the beach. The reef here was basically just rocks, although I did see that there was some living coral in places. We sighted some colourful fish too. Suprising since it was so close to the shore and obviously was overwhelmed by tourists everyday. I could see Christie being inundated with locals trying to sell their wares, some very pushy. She discovered that some of them had walked over 2 hours to get here in order to sell what ...

... with a church and found a nice little bar. The was a lot of activity and exra lighting up for the filming of a pop video just up another street heading into the square. We didn´t see that much but a beat up old taxi kept driving into the square at each take and there were quite a few. It was complete chaos as cycles, taxis and street vendors with their carts wandered onto the scene.

... be another day just spent admiring the general splendor of Cartagena. I am going to take a city tour on a chiva (special Colombian traditional bus). It is a good deal because it gets me to a few tough to reach places that would cost me a lot more without the tour. Tuesday will be Mud Volcano day. And I think Wednesday I shall head out to the islands and spend a few quiet nights on Playa Blanca. We'll see what actually happens...

I have made some personal ...

... stay here. The owners are from the USA and have lived here just over 6 years and could not be more helpful. You can stay for free on the beach but we decided to get some electric and so are parked over the road, about 50 m from the sea. As we had some time we have even managed to catch up with our laundry. 28th - Staying around the camping area catching up on some chores and relaxing. 29th - Same again. 30th - Almost the same but it is pouring with rain so staying inside

... 2 fingered and 3 fingered types which are different species...no interbreeding; fingered not toed is the correct term; 2 fingered are omnivores while 3 toed are herbivores; they sleep for 18-20 hours a day; they are solitary animals only getting together to mate; they are clumsy on land but are good swimmers; they can live too about 30 years; they have great self-healing powers; they come down trees one a week to do the toilet; they don't ...

From Tortoguero, we set off for a 3 hour boat ride along the river and canals heading south to the beach towns of Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. The ride was long and the engine was loud, but it was fun to go such a long way on the water with beautiful scenery all around us and to be serenaded by the group of Italians on our boat singing extra loud to be heard over the engine noise. When we got in to the port at Moin, some taxis were waiting to take us to Cahuita and Puerto ...

My Austrian friend from Tortuguero made it down here and we´ve been hanging out along with another guy I met from Germany. This here are really slow moving which is great but there not a whole lot to do down here. The hostel we are staying at has a big room full of hammocks you can rent instead of a bed. My friend from Austria stayed in there last night. HE said he actually got a ...

When I vacationed in Costa Rica 5 years ago I was a little underwhelmed, as I found it to be beautiful but a bit culturally bland. But this time around, on the camping circuit, Costa Rica (July 13-30) was a little taste of paradise, especially after the austere conditions in Nicaragua. Pretty much everything about it worked for us from the low-cost ($4 to $6) but good quality places to camp, to the well-stocked grocery stores, to the good roads, to the ...