Cartagena, 15th Nov

I knew, I knew it. It was always in my mind that I was going to like Cartagena (pronounced 'cart ah hay nah' - I'm learning). After the smog and bustle of Bogota and Medellin (good fun though it was), I was looking forward to some all-day sunshine, clean air, and the breeze off the Caribbean Sea.
The bus from Medellin got me in at a sensible hour, in good time to find the local bus into the city centre and my digs for the next week, at least. It's not a bad place, scruffy but really well located.
Looking around Cartagena for the first few hours, it looks just my kind've place. There are almost as many 50 ft catamarans to be seen in the harbour/marina areas as in Tivat, so I feel right at home. The people are. friendly, the air is clean-ish, and apart from the predictable rubbish in the water the city seems to be more comfortable and generally prosperous than the average Colombian city. It's great and I'm enjoying it already.
I took a stroll down to the ticket booths for the boat trips to Islas de Rosario for the palm-fringed Caribbean beaches etc etc. These islands get so 'hyped' I just had to find out the options. Sadly, the reviews on Trustpilot are almost universally negative - the most common word used was 'ripoff'. But I might have a cunning plan B. The manager in my hostel is organising a small trip to one of the other beaches, and I might get out to the other islands even yet.Read more