Sweat and Sloths

We had a 10 o'clock walking tour today, so we had an easy morning before beginning our walk toward the historical centre of town. Although only about 20 minutes, I was already dripping in sweat. It's not a good start when you are going to spend the next 3 hours walking around the sun. The tour was good but nothing amazing, we learnt a bit about Cartegena and its origins, the slave trade, and the fight for independence. It's quite funny that the full name of the town is Cartegena de Indias. Dating back to when the Spanish had thought they had travelled to India before discovering the America's. We explored some of the plazas, the parks, and the historical monuments. Toward the end of the tour, we ventured toward Getsemani, the historically poor suburb for those who count afford to live in the walled city of Cartegena (historical centre). On our way, we wandered through a park that is known to house a sloth family of 8, and we were lucky to spot one. It was super cute and a bucket list item of mine to see one in the wild. Though it's barely the wild. Getsemani was beautiful too, with lots of artwork and colourful graffiti, it made the city so nice to walk through. This is where the tour ended, and Sarah and I quickly had to find some aircon to cool down. We headed back to the historical centre and found an Irish pub. Yet because it was Saint Patty's Day (without us knowing), it was hard to get a table. Even when we got one, though, the meals looked average and were expensive. We made a great choice by heading to an Asian place for some sushi. It was amazing. We got a lychee lemonade and plenty of sushi, and it was all so incredibly nice and refreshing. After this, we walked around the city walls that encapsulate the old town and explored the old streets. After some more time, we found a very busy but cute little street where locals were drinking cocktails. Each was very strong and equivalent to about 4 AUD. They tasted good enough for the price, and we were very drunk by the time we left. We explored the streets a bit at night and took in the atmosphere. The city is even more beautiful by night as the lights lit up the colourful buildings and show off the vibrancy of Cartegena.Læs mere