Torre del Reloj

Like Medellin, we had visited Cartagena on a trip the year before. I don't think the heat hit as hard this time around since we'd already experienced the ridiculous humidity of Santa Marta. Nonetheless, the Yellow Umbrella walking tour (probably one of the best we've been on) handed out cardboard fans as their first item on their list - they definitely knew their crowd. This time, we stayed in Getsemani - an area we hadn't yet visited and it was totally worth it. Lively, colourful, loud and cocktails everywhere you looked - we were left wondering how we'd missed it beforehand.

Colombia's second oldest city, Cartagena's old town is one of the most romantic...and would be more so if it weren't for the most persistent street salespeople/rappers. Luckily we knew what we were in for and had significant practice in other cities already on this trip. As weird as it is, you need to become comfortable ignoring people.

The walking tour and hostel gave birth to some great new friendships, including Johannes the basically professional German salsero, Tim from South Africa who will be moving to Sydney around the same time as us and Valentin who was on a 'work trip' for Airbus. We are now even more confident that planes are safe.

We also had one of the best nights out on a 'traditional party bus' called a Chiva. It's essentially a windowless bus with a dancefloor blasting latin music throughout as you drive throught the city for 2 hours. These days in Cartagena it's mostly touristic..it was just full of South American tourists. The 4 of us on the tour befriended and then stayed for after-Chiva drinks with a group of 3 women who had flown across Colombia to approve a Tinder match (Gassen) who was visiting one of them for the first time. It made for some great conversation.

We departed late at night after some impromptu rooftop farewell drinks with the new crew and definitely weren't ready for the 36 hour non-stop boat trip accross the Caribbean Sea that awaited us...Read more

La belle et animée Carthagène des Indes. Il y a tant à décrire : son passé malmené par les pirates français et anglais, le commerce des esclaves ou encore l’Inquisition avec un 3 des tribunaux d’Amérique du Sud. Elle est aujourd’hui une des destinations les plus prisées de Colombie avec des magasins chics et de superbes hôtels. Le quartier populaire Getsamini est parsemé de graffiti la cette mixité des Caraïbes et la fierté identitaire.Read more