The Caribbean Sea!!!!!
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2008
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42
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Trip End
Mar 19, 2009
Cartagena,
Colombia
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The hotel we picked is not as luxurious as some of the others....no tv....cold showers (although in this heat very welcome)....paint coming off the walls but it had a great feel about it so we pick up a few beers from the local shop and settled in a well deserved drink. And it was a celebration as we had competed the journey from the very south of South America (Ushuaia) to the very top (Cartagena)
Cartagena
. And just as Ushuaia was a landmark in getting there Cartagena is a highlight we wanted to reach.I know his may sounds corny but one of my favorite movies is Romancing the Stone and Cartagena was one of the top places in South America on my list. A little disappointing was finding out that none of the film was shot here but still we're in Cartagena!!!!
The walled city of the old town is totally fantastic and all the history of pirates...wars...and scandal in the Caribbean gives the place a great feel. The colonial architecture has not been ruined by modern buildings and restoration has not been over done. Just walking around the streets and plazas is amazing......even walking along the fortified wall with the canons pointing towards the sea in case of trouble was like a real life history tour. We had a great time just getting lost in the streets and taking it all it.
The next day we decided to hit the beach as we couldn't came all the way to the Caribbean and not have a swim. A beach recommended in the guidebook was near the fishing village of La Baraquilla. With much help from the locals we eventually found the city bus out there. There is two ways I could write this:
a) The bus followed the sea hugging road along the coast before turning onto the beach itself. We disembarked and walked along the unspoilt beach with wooden thatched shacks and fishing boats the only blot on the beach. The sea was so warm it was like bath water and we had a great stroll until finding a perfect spot where we heading in for a swim and chilled on the beach while local fisherman offered us fresh crabs and oysters before jumping back on the bus home
Cartagena
.b) The bus followed the sea hugging road along the coast before turning onto the beach itself. After driving past a stretch of beach we had to disembarked when the bus terminated. A local tout who jumped on the bus before tried to persuade us to his restaurant using the persistent bothering technique. On the beach we looked both ways and decided on the less dodgy end to walk up. The sea was amazingly warm and felt fantastic. After walking for about 1km, passed abandoned shacks with a few once in a while having a table with chairs and the owner trying to get us to eat there we found a spot that was ok to make base. The swim was great but the guys walking around with buckets of crabs and oysters (not looking the healthiest) didn't what to take no for an answer nor did the necklace, massage or beggars. After a while we gave up and headed back the the city.
On the way back to the hotel and a taxi shot passed us up a small street and stopped about 10 meters up. Jumping out of the car he then had an argument with a guy on a bike....just as we passed in meant back to his taxi and pulled of a knife.....not sure what happened because we just walked as fast as we could away.
That night we headed out for a few drinks and found a bar with 80's and 90's rock music which kept us there for quite a while
Cartagena
. This caused a problem the next morning when the alarm went off to wake us for our island trip and neither of us wanted to get up. We did make it to the boat dock (a bit late) but there were still tickets for sale. Feeling a bit fragile we waited us the earlier boats took off and waited for our boat. In the end there was just 7 of us not in boats and the woman at the counter come over to tell us that there was not enough people and the trip was canceled. God knows how she thought she could fill the boat when she sold us the ticket or why not tell us before the other boats left I don't know. After getting our refund and Leonie giving her a few words of wisdom we still had a hangover and now not sure what to do. Eventually we decided some time at the beach was the best option in our state and took the same bus out but got off at a earlier stretch of beach (this time we hopped off near the resort area). It was a lot better then the day before and the touts and sellers weren't even that annoying. We got the initial pack ascend once leaving the bus but once they knew we were cheap arses they left us alone. Still when a taxi turned up and 4 touts run along it to get there business we found out our treatment wasn't too bad after all!!!!
The next day we headed down to the boat dock again (this time a bit earlier) and finally managed to get on a boat!!! We decided on the cheaper big boat option and on the way out to the first stop had to watch all the smaller boats pass us on route. It was a pleasant trip though but all the locals seemed to be getting stuck into the beers nice and early and I thought we'd stumbled on a booze cruse. Don't get me wrong we enjoy a beer but at 7.30am is a little too early for us.
Cartagena
With the sea breeze in our hair and sun shine in our face it was turning in to a really good day.....then it hit.....a bloody bee stung Leonie on the figure. In the middle of the sea we weren't quite sure what to do. Trying to explain to the crew who spoke no English wasn't the easiest but they were very helpful and the ice applied help but still hurt like hell. While this was happening our fellow cruise guests were now well on their way to a state of drunkenness and I was getting the felling things could get messy later!!!
We arrived at the island where the aquarium is located. We like the majority of the boat opted out going in and instead decided on a quick dip in the sea which was fantastic. There are a number of homes built on small islands around there and some just look like the home is built of the ocean as the island is so small.
Next we arrived at the beach we were looking forward too...Playa Blanca. We disembarked the big boat into a small transport boat that resembled the ones used on the Normandy landings on D-day. Amazing all the passengers managed to fit in which was lucky as there was nowhere to hold on so we could just full on each other. On the island the first tack was lunch that was included in the package. The fish was fantastic but we still not fans of the head and tail still attached when served.
The beach was great but we didn't have nearly enough time there. The water felt amazing and it was good to get away from the various sellers on the beach. But we even got bother in the sea itself!!! Just laying there floating in on the sea suddenly a bloody jet-ski flew passed and then back to see if we wanted to hire it for a time. Then another one...this time offering a banana boat ride. But other then the constant fear of being run over it was all very peaceful and relaxing.
The boat ride back to Cartagena we decided get into the action and have a few beers. As it turned out we were the only ones drinking....morning drinking sessions must be the way to go!!!
Comments
Michael Douglas
I dont see any pics of Michael Douglas:) It looks so cool!!! Miss you guys xoxo
Re: Michael Douglas
We miss you too!!!! All of you.. Hope things are well with you all. Unfortunately we found out that none of Romancing the Stone was actually filmed in Cartagena!!! What a rought. xoxo