So I arrived to Cartegena feeling like I´m starting my trip again, not knowing anyone and looking to find out what this romantic city has to offer. Cartegena is a walled city, with tiny streets, with lots of pretty flowers and a fort. Its on the coast and is beautiful.
I found an amazing hostel, a fabulous pool with 2 x fountains, a bar, an island kitchen and whitewashed dorms with a big enough space to swing a few cats (I was top bunk so it was a climbing adventure too.)
To explore Cartegena the best thing to do is to wonder around the city, which I was quite happy doing lots of. Lots of textile shops, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and everything else one might want. One highlight has to be Cafe Del Mar, with great views across the sea and along the coast, at sunset.
On the Friday night a chef was cooking dinner, cerviche (fish with lime, chilli and maybe a few other things, served cold) and thai chicken curry...mmm...so much food, so delicious!
On Saturday we heard that Shakira was playing a concert in Bogota and they had screens up in Cartegena. After watching the sunset at cafe del mar, we headed for the concert. It was outside the clocktower and the local media were there. Some friends I was with were filmed for television and I, along with some of our merry group ended up in the local newspaper:
We did have a merry group, Irish, English, Australian, Swedish and American.
After the excitement of Shakira it was a late night...not the best preperation for Playa Blanca on Sunday but at 7.30am we all (well 6 out of 8 of us) got up and headed for the port. We took the boat as we were told this was the quickest way. Our engine broke on the way there and it took much longer than planned.
When we arrived it was like paradise on earth, the beach white, the sea blue. Diving straight into the sea, the cool fresh water was amazing and they heating up again on the white sand with the sun beating down.
Lunch was included and those selling their wares were few and not too invasive. We treated ourselves to a Pina Colada, served in a coconut and made infront of us from coconut water this was fabulous! Like nothing I´d tasted before...like when I tasted real coffee and realised the difference between that and instant.
We had the craziest journey back, because our boat broke on the way there, the boat men picked us up later, although the waves were much rougher. It was like a rollercoaster rie crossed with a grand canyon, rapids ride!! So much fun, we laughed all the way, although the other people on our boat weren´t as happy about the ride as us!! Haha!!
I also went to a mud volano whilst at Cartegena. This was 2300m deep and although you couldn´t touch the bottom, you also couldn´t sink either!! You were like a cartoon, suspended in space! It was hard to move around in the mud, but between us all we managed it. The mud is apparently good for the skin too!
