There were a few not-so-nice beaches near Cartagena, but Blanca was a good one. White sand, clear blue water and only one annoying vendor. Beautiful final day in Cartagena.
Happy man, scary man.
Before ordering a drink at the famous sunset bar, Cafe Del Mar and…after.
Clearly there were some late nights in Cartagena. Hide and seek around town…in flower arrangements and canons. Obviously.
The kids in Cartagena were unbelievably cute. This girl in the pink was giving a little ‘tude while she ate her helado at Mila. These 2 little boys were playing hide and seek around a statue in the middle of the plaza.
Panama hats and Colombian specialty sweets in front of Tucandela Bar.
Beautiful blue corner and security at the Teatro.
Cartagena
For the last 5 days of my trip, Socs and I were in Cartagena. Cartagena has to be the most beautiful city in the Caribbean. Within the old city much of the brightly colored buildings are weathered, but have so much character with vines growing up the side, and beautiful tall railings on the windows. We’d get lost on the narrow streets that wind through the town but we sometimes we just walked the surrounding wall that was once a fortress for the city. The people are also beautiful, although I must say the women were much better looking than the men and I don’t know why. There were no shortage of pretty outdoor cafes, restaurants and bars for drinking and salsa. To top it off, the city was just a quick boat ride away from the surrounding islands with nice, palm fringed beaches and clear, turquoise water. Cartagena was a perfectly relaxing way to end my South American journey.
For our last day in Taganga, we relaxed in the sun at our hotel pool. No more crazy boat trips (until Cartagena). At night we watched the sun set over the bay and had an incredible meal at Ouzo in Santa Marta. Tried our hand at Colombian karaoke but apparently they’re not fans of American ballads…at all. At least the Aguila Light beer was only $3. Photos courtesy of Socs tonight.
…at 3:30 we hopped back into the 26 person speed boat and headed into the rough and stormy waters. We white-knuckled it for the entire hour an a half ride as the little boat plowed over the enormous waves. As soon as one wave knocked us out of our fiberglass (hard) seats another would smack right over the boat, fully soaking us. Although everyone was laughing, you could sense the fear as the captain kept shouting “tranquilo!!!”. Here’s a shot of Socs once we pulled into the first port to get a reprieve from the waves. Yup, we thought we might die. But we didn’t! Just needed a wrist massage afterwards from holding on so tight. Won’t forget that day, ever.
