Cartagena, Colombia

Leaving Santa Marta in a taxi and heading to Cartagena in the early morning was going just as planned and without any belongings precariously bungeed to a rickety roof rack. We should have taken this as foreboding, but rode along with gleeful optimism. Having buses scheduled to leave every hour and on multiple bus lines, we were set for our five-hour journey! Back at the bus station, home to the most of the areas indigent dogs, we discovered, for some unknown reason, that there would be no buses going to Cartagena today on any bus line, thus the world of traveling around Colombia was back to normal. Luckily we managed to find a tiny, dilapidated bus, hidden among luxurious giants, that would in fact be making the one and only journey to Cartagena, via Barranquilla. The co-pilot, of this tenement on wheels, leaned out of the door, yelling “Barranquilla, Barranquilla,” to attract anything with a pulse that could fill a seat throughout the journey. A soothing soundtrack to be sure. A scant six hours later, random bus change on the side of the highway and a ridiculously over-complicated and stressful taxi ride, we arrived at our quaint, bohemian style Airbnb just outside the walled city of Cartagena. Of course, there was a problem with the room we booked, so we were put in a “lovely suite,” obviously occupied by and possibly even on that same day, a teenager who lived there. A story for another time, but at least we were somewhere again, with a historical city to explore for the next three days.

Cartagena is the oldest city in Colombia, originally colonized by the Spanish in the early 1500’s, giving it a very distinctive and old-world European feel. The oldest part of the city and the principal attraction, is surrounded by Las Murallas, a thick wall built to protect the many churches, plazas, monasteries and gorgeous balconies adorned with overhanging flowers, from threats of invasion. The walled city is pressed right up against Caribbean Sea, leaving no room for beaches, but maximizing the environment for defence purposes. Walking around during the day was not the easiest, as the temperatures were completely insane, but the cool evening breezes allowed us to enjoy the European style squares, filled with patios, tapas and music, while being dwarfed by immense cathedrals. On our last night, we dined on the patio of El Baron, Café and Liquor bar, just in front of the cathedral of Santuario San Pedro Claver. Cold cervezas to start, as the sun began to dip and then vino tinto, which complimented our cheese board of fresh buffalo mozzarella, goats cheese, brie and the best olives Colombia had yet to offer. Before heading out through Las Murallas for the night, we found an awesome gelato spot with a really nice girl working. She engaged in Spanish with us and laughed along with Rebecca at the abhorrent expression on my face when trying a shockingly dark gelato that ended up being black liquorish in flavour. Fortunately, the night was rescued by a single scoop of Cappuccino for me and Pralines and Cream for Rebecca. We both later regretted the restraint we showed when denying the second scoop and confusing our server in doing so.

Cartagena, unlike any other Colombian city we visited, suffers from over population by tourists and it plays on this, by offering horse drawn carriage rides and restaurants everywhere. At times the constant bombardment of goods being hacked, can be a bit much, especially when you are sitting on a patio enjoying an intimate meal. Just outside the walled city, the European feel continues and there are still many restaurants and beautiful streets to explore, but ones that remain a little less suffocated by the masses. A few days in Cartagena is all one probably needs, but it also serves as a good midway point to many coastal traveling opportunities, including stunning peninsulas and islands within a few hours by car and/or boat.

View more pictures of Cartagena by clicking the Photography tab at the top of the page.