Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena is a city on the northern coast of Colombia and the capital of the Bolívar Department. The city has a population of 892.545. It is the fifth largest urban area in Colombia, and a centre of economic activity in the Caribbean region, as well a popular tourist destination.

In 1984, Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cartagena de Indias was founded on 1 June 1533 by Spanish commander Pedro de Heredia, in the former location of the indigenous Caribbean Calamarí village. The town was named after Cartagena, Spain, where most of Heredia's sailors came from.

 The ride from Barranquilla was short, beautiful and it was great to get back on the bikes again, even for a short time.

We didn't realize setting out, how close the two towns are together, another consequence of not really doing much research in advance at this point in the trip.

We rode into Cartagena and were struck by the absolute beauty of this Colonial town.  The walled city is majestic, with narrow cobblestone streets that open into grand squares bracketed by 500 year old churches.

Map of the Old City Area.

We are staying in Getsemaní, which is a short walk from within the old city.  We have been having supper in the  Plaza Santo Domingo, in front of the the Santo Bomingo Church, built in 1570, and not finished for over 200 years.

Santa Domingo Church, started construction in 1570

Within hours of our arrival, we were reunited with Neal and Zane, who sailed from Panama to Colombia instead of flying like we did.  The boats take 4-5 days to arrive, and they stop off at many of the smaller islands that line the coastal area between Central and South America.

The boys are back in town.

Zane fixing his helmet.  :)

Our friends from Barranquilla, Yury, Yudis have come to Cartagena.  So we were able to go our dancing with them on our first night here, and Vanessa came up the next day and has been hanging with us for the last couple days.

My beautiful girl Vanessa.  :)

We've spent a couple days on the beach, which is an experience in itself.  The beaches here are not free, so you have to pay for the right to sit in one of the tents or palapa's which are erected on the beach.  The prices go from reasonable, $15,000 peso's, about $7.00 US, to very expensive at $60,000 peso's, or about $30.00 for the day).  With the price, you get a "runner" who will fetch food or drink for you from nearby restaurants.  They work a lot like the fixers at the borders, so when we ride up in a cab, they surround it until you pick one of them to be your guy for the day.  They are very aggressive and a little off putting, but everyone seems to accept them as a fact of life.

In addition, all day you we were inundated with innumerable people trying to sell gum, cigarettes, jewellery, hats or any number of other items.  They too can be quite aggressive.

I am having trouble finding pictures to post of the last few days, as we've been on the beach, and, well, the bikini's the girls all wear here are shall we say… smallish.  :)

On the beach...

No caption required.

Neal, Vanessa and I went for supper in the Plaza last night.  The staff there are getting quite used to my standard order of Chicken, potatoes and Rice - plain.  In fact, Vanessa is so worried about my allergies, she spends a good 5 minutes admonishing the waiter on my behalf in spanish.  It's nice to know there will be no mis-communication.

Neal and Vanessa in the Santa Domingo Square.

Troy is feeling a little under the weather the last couple days, so he's been holed up in the hotel. I see him a couple times a day, usually waking the poor guy up knocking on his door.  I hope he feels better tomorrow.

We went to the movies tonight… Unstoppable starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.  Fun movie, subtitled in Spanish, but in English, so I was able to enjoy it.