Casa Del Arzobispado Cartagena

... at a hostel with a couple of cool guys off the boat.

Today we walked around the city which is absolutely incredible and cant wait to go out tonight. Its worked out really sweet that our first night in Colombia is a Saturday so looking forward to some fiesta's with the beautiful people here..

Will add the pics of here when I leave but have put up the ones from the boat ride in the mean time.

Anyway i'm off to make party

Adios amigos

x

... by walls that were built to protect the city from pirate invasions hundreds of years ago. The architecture is just incredible and I spent the morning gazing from building to building, head in the air. We ended up on the local beach, Boca Grande for the afternoon. We had initially got into a cab which was to take us to another beach a little bit further out of the city but when we got there withing twenty seconds the ...

... pool waiting to provide a sumptuous massage. Christie got one first, then the rest of us piled in. There was also someone to take care of your camera, and once we were all in he must have had a dozen camera’s around his neck or hanging off his arm. He seemed to know which camera was owned by who, or at least he knew which one was ours. He took a few pics and even worked out how to use the cam, I guess he must be know many cameras by now if he does this ...

A group of us from the school ventured out this afternoon about 50k north of Cartagena to wallow around like hippos in mud!

Itīs the bizarrest of things... a volcano about 250m deep full of sulphuric mud that you can bathe in! Because the mud is so deep you donīt sink and itīs even difficult to get yourself upright or move around without losing balance.

Apparently itīs good for your skin too but Iīm not sure bathing in it after everyone else has ...

I feel that this is one of the most beautiful city's in the world, or atleast from the cities I have seen. The old city, where we spent most of our time, has streets upon streets of brightly coloured buildings with bouganvillia spilling out over every verandah . . . just stunning. What makes the old city much more interesting is the fact that it was built with a surrounding fortress armed with guard and ...

... during the visit. Guy and Francoise treated us to Spanish and Argentinian cuisine although they didn't seem to mind the local fare as well. We also enjoyed an evening in a club complete with drinks and live Cuban music (samba and something else). Fantastic! Geeky note: I also thought that this place was great, as this 5 Star Hotel was constructed after a hospital was torn down, which used to be a convent. During this transformation from hospital to ...

... ever after. What is different here is to be shown around by a guide with a genuine fascination in what she is showing us. Whereas in other places a tourist guide is something of a strategic career choice, in the less touristy places such as here the guides tend to be those with a genuine interest in the subject matter. All around the site, teams of archaeologists are sifting and brushing away at the all encompassing sand one grain at a time, in a bid to help unearth further treasures ...

... San Gil, where we spent a pleasant day at El Pescaderito swimming hole, with crystal river pools and natural rock water slides. We also explored the Parque El Gallineral Botanical Gardens, filled with enormous trees dripping in silvery moss and home to a giant natural swimming pool. Finally we arrived at the Caribbean coast. We spent a phenomenal 3 days in ...

... a particularly long time in because there was a group of the most amazing dancers and a band in the park. We literally watched them for hours...they had so much energy and were constantly smiling. We also got chatting with some more ridiculously friendly Colombians. The Colombians weīve met so far have all been so friendly itīs untrue...the couple we met in the park were offering to pay for a taxi for us back to their hotel ...

After my stay in Taganga I took a taxi to Santa Marta and from there a bus with the Brasilia company to Cartagena. Supposedly, under normal circumstances the trip should take 4 hours, but even though the bus driver was driving like a total maniac, the trip still took 5 hours.

In Cartagena, I went to a hostel called Casa Viena where the night cost me around $5 USD for a bed. The first day I hardly did anything at all, except out to eat, but the ONLY place open ...