Feliz Año Nuevo!....Colonial Cartagena
Trip Start
Nov 27, 2008
1
9
10
Trip End
Jan 30, 2009
Cartagena, Colombia
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Cartagena
A fairytale of a romance, legends and sheer beauty, Cartagena de Indias is an addictive place that can be hard to escape.
Founded in 1533, Cartagena swiftly blossomed into the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast and the Gateway to the north of the continente. Treasure plundered from the indigenous people was stored here until the galleons were able tos hip it back to Spain. As such it became a tempting target for pirates and, in the 16th Century alone, it suffered 5 dreadful sieges, the best known of which was that led by Francis Drake in 1586.
In response to pirate attacks, the Spaniards decided to make Cartagena an impregnable port and constructed elaborate walls encircling the town, and a chain of forts. These fortifications helped save Cartagena from subsequent sieges, particularly the fiercest attack of all led by Edward Vernon in 1741. In spite of these attacks, Cartagena continued to flourish. During the colonial period, the city was the key outpost of the Spanish empire and influenced much of Colombiaīs history.
Today Cartagena has expanded dramatically and is surrounded by vast suburbs. It is now Colombiaīs largest port and an important industrial center of 1.1 million inhabitants. Nevertheless, the old walled town has changed very little. Itīs a living museum of 16th- and 17th- century Spanish architecture with narrow winding streets, churches, plazas, and large mansions.
Cartagenaīs climate is hot but a fresh breeze blows in the evening, making this a pleasant time to stroll around the city.
Cartagenaīs old town is its principal attraction, particularly the inner walled town consisting of the historical districts of El Centro and San Diego. Almost every street is worth strolling down. Getsemaní, the outer walled town, is less impressive and not so well preserved, but it is also worth exploring. Be careful - this part of the city may not be safe, especially after dark.
The old town is surrounded by Las Murallas, the thick walls built to Project it. Construction was begun towards the end of the 16th Century, after the attack by Francis Drake; until that time, Cartagena was almost completely unprotected. The Project took two centuries to complete, due to repeated storm damage and pirate attacks.
(The above info was taken from the Lonely Planet South America Guidebook... easy for me to refer to and gives you guys a vague idea of the place...)
Ringing in 2009 here in Cartagena was one of the best last minute decisions Roxy and I have made! I cannot say enough about the city, the people, the country and the celebrations!
Having suffered through 22 hours of being in transit from Buenos Aires to Cartagena, including a tormenting 7 hour layover in the international airport in Bogotā, plus 36 hours without sleep, Rox and I finally made it to Cartagena at around 10:30pm on December 30th. At this point I think I was at the point of delusional and nauseated from all the flying and lack of sleep... haha. Anyways, nothing a good nightīs sleep couldnīt cure. By the next morning, I felt refreshed and excited to see what all the fuss is about Cartagena. I think I fell in love... with the city and very possibly the country already!
We started off our New Years eve day (and first official full day in Colombia), with an official breakfast (1st one iīve had since leaving Canada...yeah!!) at the hostel we were staying at. It was a simple affair at the outdoor communal kitchen table with your choice of crepes or eggs, and toast, along with a glass of fresh pineapple juice. Lovely! The communal table was a great place where we were able to socialize with the other guests (mostly from Europe) and even made a few friends we ran into later on that night and others we may meet up with later on in our trip.
We then spent the next 6 hours or so walking around the city, from the beach areas of Boca Grande, to the inner-walled city consisting of Centro and Santo Domingo. The areas within the walled city are by far the best colonial buildings Iīve seen. Beautiful, bright, colorful and full of colonial buildings and churches. Being as it was New Years Eve, however, many stores were closed and a few major restaurants were setting up outdoor celebration events with dinner tables and stages, sucessfully blocking off street access to vehicles, in preparation for a night of food, music and partying!
Our new friend Eduardo, whom we met through couchsurfing of course, met up with us at 3pm. He is a pleasant 22 year old guy born and raised in Cartagena, who is finishing up his degree in Economics. His dad is an anesthesiologist and his mom, a nurse! He also lived in Quebec for half a year as a part of an exchange program and thus, wore his red "Canada" t-shirt for the occasion... lol. We went for a drink, some food, and he showed us around the old town. After hanging out with him for a few good hours, he walked us back to our hotel as we had to get ready to go out at 8pm for our New Years Eve Chiva bus tour! I was super excited as this was something I wanted to do in Cartagena! Essentially, how a Chiva bus tour works is this large bus drives around and picks up people until it is full, after which, it takes you on a tour around the town. The best part is there is live music courtesy of a few older gentlemen, playing an accordian, percussion, and vocals AND all you can drink rum and coke! They also feed you fresh empanadas and arrepas half way through the night.... what more can you ask for?! After a couple hours of partying on this bus, they take you to a bar and you can get off and stay the rest of the night or alternatively, you can remain on the bus and it would take you back to the beginning of the route. There is no age limit on who is allowed on these Chivas... seriously, the cutest but shyest little 3 year old boy sat next to me on his dadīs lap the whole night and in front of me there was an old lady who literally had to be lifted onto the bus as she was too old to climb the steps to get up. Crazy. Iīm not exaggerating when I say our chiva bus was da bomb! We had wicked guides who talked a lot, got everyone involved, up and shaking their rumps, and cheering! The guys playing the music were sooo good and kept everyone`s energy up! Once everyone found out we were from Canada, we had a group of people swarm us when we got off the bus at the half way point, to talk to us. They were shocked to hear we were from Canada because "we donīt look Canadian" ... haha
At midnight, Roxy and I watched a lovely 15 min display of fireworks around the port area. There were people and families out in large numbers, dancing in the street and doing their thing... the vibe was amazing and it was the best New Years iīve 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 hostel because the one we stayed in for the two nights prior, had some sort of nasty centipede infestation. Donīt need to get into too many details except to say they were long, red, able to climb walls and came out at night....yuck!!!!!!! The new hostel, Hostel El Viajero was in a better location and cheaper to boot as it was located within the city walls. We decided to hit up the beach as everything is closed for the most part on New Years day. The beach was retardedly packed with thousands of people by the time we got there of course. Roxy and I ended up scrapping the idea of finding a place to sit and ended up at a crazy beachside patio party instead. This specific patio was sponsored by one of the local beer companies, Aguila, I assume because the bar girls, chairs, and umbrellas all had the beer logo on it. This is where I also had my very first beer ever... surprised?! I am as well... the only reason I drank one was because this random dude sitting three tables away, bought Roxy and I a beer... how nice! He wasnīt a creepy dude either... just wanted to wish us Happy New Year and help start our year off right. DJ Oliver (who I ended up talking to) played the BEST mix of house, reggae, reggaeton and salsa so the patio was packed with people, drinking and dancing in the middle of the day! Did I mention I love Cartagena?!?!
The next day, Roxy, me and this other guy named Jeff (from San Diego) whoīs staying in the same hostel as us, went back to Boca Grande and walked around the beach. It was way less crowded though still busy. The water though was absolutely perfect in temperature! We ended up hanging out at the same patio beach bar, chillin with the music and, of course Aguila Cerveza... When in Rome! Lol.
The fruit juices are sooooooo delicious and I canīt seem to get enough.. in fact thatīs pretty much all I order as beverages when we eat.... forget the liquor! My two favourite new types of local fruit drinks are zapotč and lulo so far... the former being a sweet kind of reddish fruit and the latter yellow and tasting very similar to kiwi in my opinion. But even the mandarina juice I had was super refreshing, like an Orange Julius, only 10 times better!
Later that evening, 6 of us from the hostel, including two more Canadians, an Israeli, and Jeff, decided to wander around the streets as we also heard there was some sort of concert going on a few blocks away near the entrance and clock tower to the old city. Turns out the party was in full swing when we got closer as there were lots of people of all ages drinking and dancing on the street outside the concert barricades- some famous singer from Bogotā was playing. Eventually we ended up leaving the city walls and walked a couple blocks away to a local bar with a salsa club upstairs. We intended to go upstairs, and after haggling the cover price by half with the doorman, we ended up not going because a couple of the guys were still working on their beers and werenīt ready to go up just yet so the doorman changed his mind. Boo!! But itīs all good as we ended up hanging out outside the busy bar downstairs and I even salsa danced with a local who asked me! The crazy thing, however, was noticing people making drug transactions right next to us and using a bit of the white stuff...something I didnīt expect to see go down so openly. But not to be concerned =)
Volcán de Lodo El Totumo
About 50km NE of Cartagena, on the bank of the shallow Ciénaga del Totumo, is an intriguing 15m mound, looking like a miniature volcano. Itīs indeed a volcano but instead of lava and ashes it spews mud, a phenomenon caused by the pressure of gases emitted by decaying organic matter underground.
El Totumo is the highest mud volcano in Colombia. Lukewarm mud with the consistency of cream fills its crater. You can climb to the top by specially built stairs, then go down into the crater and have a refreshing mud bath (US50cents). Itīs a unique experience. The mud contains minerals acclaimed for their therapeutic properties. Once youīve 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 open square at the top. You walk single file up a set of steep creaky uneven wooden stairs to get to the top. Once there, tons of male workers are around the platform holding peopleīs cameras and taking photos with them, along with the dudes who work inside the mud giving mud massages! It was the coolest sensation getting into the large vat of mud to find myself floating in what feels like warm dark gelatin! Lol.. literally you get in and float and it is very difficult to stand upright without the assistance of a rail or another person whoīs already standing. Once I got in and was on my back floating, one of the guys tilts your head back a bit to cover your hair with mud and rubs mud over your forehead, nose and cheeks and pushes you to an open spot for a massage next in line (felt like a sardine floating there in line). The massage wa sooo relaxing and I thought I might relax so much as to sink into the mud but alas it didnīt happen...=) After frolicking in the mud for about half an hour, our tour group got out and walked back down another set of dangerous steep uneven stairs with a very low railing and down a path to the nearby lagoon where the female workers help clean you up. They are very efficient at their jobs.. you walk deep enough to armpit level where they pour bowls-full of river water over you while rubbing you down - hair, face, ears, shoulders, back...-and as talented as they are, they even have you stripped down in the process cleaning your bathing suits as you stand naked in the now muddy brown lake water... very interesting experience! After the mud volcano, we were taken to a small beach along the way back to have lunch at a beachside restaurant... I chose the fish and was not disappointed... it was delicious... grilled whole and accompanied with carribean style coconut rice, salad, and deep fried plantains... ahhh.. this is the life!
Did I mention I love it here?! =)
