The third leg of the trip was to Cartagena – the Caribbean
Coast – to see a very different part of the country. Away from cool weather and mountains, we headed to steamy
temperatures where the streets are filled with vibrant colors and energy. Very different indeed. We had so much to see, do and learn and
we only had two days!
Wednesday:
On Wednesday, La Juanita provided us with transportation to
the airport (another 1.5 hour drive).
We arrived in Cartagena around noon. The entire atmosphere is different – it is HOT, yes, but
also everything is much more laid back (probably due to the heat). Also, Cartagena is not nearly as large
as Bogotá, so we were the only flight arriving at that time, we quickly grabbed
our bags and were in the van to the hotel within 15 minutes of landing. Sweet. We dropped our bags off at the hotel, situated in the San
Diego neighborhood of the old walled city. All the buildings in this part of the city (well at least
the majority) are Colonial style.
Now this part of the city is UNESCO World Heritage site, so there are
very strict rules for upkeep and maintaining the colonial style. I love it! We had a quick bite to eat and then met our tour guide,
Sergio, for a 3-hour tour of Cartagena.
I learned so much!
After the tour we took a nap and then headed out for
dinner. At 7pm nothing really
seemed ready for business so we headed to a bar that is on top of the wall near
our hotel for a drink. Then we went to dinner. We took the recommendation of the staff
at our hotel and went to El Santisimo.
The recommendation was excellent.
The combinations of flavors, the presentation, everything was excellent. The food was not cheap, but it was
worth every penny.
Thursday:
On Thursday, we woke up early for a snorkel trip. The food and nightlife in Cartagena is
excellent but I wasn’t sure we’d have a whole lot to do during the day so we
decided to plan the snorkel trip while we were in Cartagena and save the
islands for pure relaxation. The
two snorkeling sites were in the island of Barú, one of the Rosario
Islands. Now that I’m certified to
scuba dive, I’ve become a bit of a snob about snorkeling (you just can’t see as
much!), however, the trip was still excellent. The water was clear and warm and we were able to see quite a
bit. Plus we are on a boat in the
Caribbean, can’t really complain about that.
When we got back to our hotel, we still had the afternoon
ahead of us. We showered and hit
up some of the markets for souvenir shopping. Dad bought a traditional white linen shirt, I bought a dress
for the beach. We then shared
arepas con queso. YUM! After
shopping, the family just took a little stroll around the city for a bit then
went our separate ways. Mom and
Dady headed to the wall to enjoy the ocean and relax. Bub and I grabbed a beer from a corner store and caught up
on a bench in the plaza next to our hotel.
For dinner we headed to La Casa de Socorro. This was recommended to us by our
guide. The snorkeling guide then
told us that La Cocina de Socorro is better. We couldn’t find it, so we settled for La Casa. The ambience was great and the food was
decent. I think sometimes people
just get excited because they are eating fresh seafood. Having grown up on the water, just
having seafood isn’t enough.
Still, we enjoyed our meal and then headed off to see La Havana. Mom
wasn’t feeling well and we were all exhausted, we poked into La Havana just to
see but at 9:45pm things still hadn’t quite picked up. I definitely need to
plan a trip back to the city just to enjoy the nightlife.
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