The first thing I felt in Cartagena was the heat. It’s very hot there, probably Colombia’s hottest region. So much so that even the marathon, which was taking place in the city at the time, took place at night! It’s not only the first Spanish colony on the American continent but also Colombia’s biggest tourist destination as it receives a lot of cruise ship tourists, stopping for the day. This is very visible within the city walls. Everything caters to tourism and everything is priced accordingly. The city’s clock tower decorates the main gate of the very colorful walled city, which is also the gateway to the more alternative neighborhood of Getsemani. A lot of backpacker hostels and more alternative restaurants have found their home in this graffiti filled neighborhood, which has forced a lot of people to move out as the rent has also increased. I guess it’s quite a common scenario, tourism brings in jobs and money but also forces prices to go up and locals out of their homes. They still come to the neighborhood’s main square though to demonstrate, spend the evening, practice dance choreographies and even hold the Miss Cartagena pageant. Although there are many parks in and outside the walls, they remained empty most of the time. Besides the walled city, Cartagena also has the Castillo de San Felipe, which was built to protect the city against pirates and features A LOT of underground tunnels (it was very confusing down there!).
The beaches in Cartagena are not the most scenic or appealing, so most of the tourists and locals go to beaches outside the city. Playa Blanca is probably the most popular one of those beaches and it gets quite crowded on the weekends.
Another cool attraction there is a mud bath on top of a mud volcano. Basically you climb up a ladder to the top of this mud volcano and on top you see the mud bath inside the crater. You then have wait for your turn to get in since it’s quite busy. Once you get in, there are guys offering massages and scrubs in the mud bath. The hardest part was actually standing still, since the mud is so dense, you end up floating on top very quickly. So you have to make an effort to get your legs down below you. This high density also makes jumping up and down feel like you are on a trampoline, which is really cool. Leaving the mud wasn’t so simple either, especially for the girls, as the heavy mud filled their bikinis and made them sag and slip when they tried to leave. Afterwards, you’re guided to the lake, where again you find women this time with plastic bowls offering to wash the mud off your body and they are definitely experts at it. They use the bowls to splash water on the people with one hand and scrub the mud off with the other hand. Within 2 minutes, there was almost no more mud to be seen!
As most seaside cities, Cartagena also has a lot of sea food in the restaurants and on the streets along with cheese Arepas (like pancakes). But the best discovery for me by far was the “Limonada de Coco”, which is lemonade mixed with coconut milk. It was the perfect drink after a day in the heat.
Most of the building inside the wall are painted in rich vivid or pastel colors.
The yellow tape marked the way for the marathon runners that night.
And here they come now!
The infamous clock tower, where almost everyone meets up and all tours start.
And just outside the clock tower you can start to see Getsemani’s colored walls. Different style, but still colored.
Being on the sea, preserving underwater sea life is an important topic.
It’s all in a hard day’s work.
Kids playing tic-tac-toe in the square just after a demonstration.
The castle overlooked the water and had to be quite high to spot approaching pirates early.
Here you can see how organized the souvenir sellers were. All in a straight line with Cartagena in the backdrop.
Cartagena’s beach…
… vs. Playa Blanca.
Most people chose Playa Blanca!
It turns out that they also celebrate the 11th of November as the start of Karneval season here.