Isla Arena Beach Club Cartagena

... br>We get back to the pier around 11:30 and get back on board. Grabbed a short nap after all the excitement and heat and landed up sleeping right through sail-away at 2:00PM. Went down to eat and update the last two days of blogs. Then relaxed on deck as the sun set.<br><br>Met up with Martian and Susan (they were late today) and talked about our day&#8217;s adventures. They had a better day then us as they got to see ...

... br>V: Hey Sarah -- theres a bull in here!!<br> me: WHat? where is it?<br>V: Its right by your feet!!<br>Me: Ah! what do we do?<br>V: I don´t know, its eating all of our food!!<br><br>This was one of many moments when I could have really used Calvin or Jorge´s expertise. How do you approach a hungry bull when youre suspended off the ground in a hammock, armed with a camera and a novel, and arent that big to begin with? It was such a ...

... round the Old Town, through lanes with beautiful old houses and classic bougainvillea filled plazas, all surrounded by an enormous fortified stone wall 13km long. Our nearest description of the place would be a colonial Venice with horse and cart transport instead of gondolas. We arranged to meet Sanjima and Leon that night for a night on a "Chiva Bus". These are the old traditional local open side buses with bench seats, painted up with bright ...

A bit of a quiet day, a last mooch around the old city. A couple of good thunder storms certainly restricted movement.<br>Whilst not being complacent, I have been surprised by how safe it generally feels in these countries, you hear all the third and fourth hand scare stories. <br>At the hostel I was talking to a guy from Israel who was in Panama City 3 days before and an armed gang had taken over his hostel, tied everybody up ...

... age well here. The men are nice looking as well, but I think they are inferior in looks to their female compatriots. <br><br>I went to the hostel I had hoped to stay at, Casa Viena. It was full, so they sent me around the corner to Hostal Real. Hostal Real turned out to be a real treat (said with some sarcasm). I asked immediately about a private room as I am tiring of the whole dorm room scene. $10/night with fan and private bathroom. YES! Sign me up! And then I got ...

There were a couple of sites I wanted to see that were too far to walk to so I decided to take a tour in a Chiva. The Chiva is was the main type of public transportation in Columbia until fairly recently although I did see a few in very rural places that were definitely vintage and barely hanging in there although still in service. These days, the Chivas in Cartagena are used solely ...

... was supposed to take us in the direction of the island. When we got there we waited about 30 min for a bus, thinking we were in the wrong spot. After asking several people what bus to take (and receiving several different answers) the bus arrived after being caught across the bridge because of some sort of accident or police block. In the middle of a bustling marketplace in an extreme area (you would have to see to understand ...

... 400 kilometres today but the variation in geography along the way has made it a journey of extremes. We are knackered, and fall into bed without so much as a whimper.<br><br><br><br>Wednesday March 10th<br><br><br>REST DAY: Banos (ECU)<br><br><br>Banos should be a haven for university students and the unemployed. Where else on earth can you say with a straight face your great achievement for the day was having a bath and some lunch?<br><br><br>The town is famous for its thermal springs ...

... were meant to go to las islas hung out by the pool at a posh hotel in town and got sunburnt. The sun is VERY hot here, still a bit pink now! c) On Monday went to the Castillo in Cartagena. Very big with thick walls and excellent tunnels for exploring. d) Can´t remember what I did on Tuesday! Went to the beach yesterday, the beaches near the city aren´t great, but was fun ...

... can climb to the top by specially built stairs, then go down into the crater and have a refreshing mud bath (US50cents). It´s a unique experience. The mud contains minerals acclaimed for their therapeutic properties. Once you´ve finished your session, go down and wash the mud off in the ciénaga (lagoon). One of the highlights of the week was taking a tour to the mud volcano about an hour away by bus. The volcano itself is more like a large pile of mud with a small ...