Taganga and Cartagena Colombia

This is a photo taken in Taganga Colombia
It is mighty hot now. I feel sometimes like I am melting it is so warm. The cloths I have with me are not for this type of muggy hot weather so today I chose to wear my bathing suit and shorts to walk around town. It did the job. I am currently in Cartagena which is a lovely town. It is large 1.1 million people living here. I am staying in the Old Town which dates back to the 1600’s and is walled by a huge stone wall. It is full of lovely balconies, nice flowers and cobble stone streets, a great place to roam around in this heat.

I spent four nights in Taganga a little fishing village of 5000 people prior to this and hung out on the beach. It rained one day I was there so I spent two and half hours swimming in the sea as it was warmer to stay in the water and really what else was there to do. I had a $2.50 massage on the beach the nice day and had a great shrimp cocktail delivered to my towel by a guy selling shrimp snacks from a cooler for $5. These Colombian girls befriended me and were having them so they let me try their “beach meat” instead of “street meat” and I liked it so I got my own Styrofoam cup full of shrimp and sauce and two soda crackers to go with it and presto. I didn’t get sick either.

In transit between Taganga and Cartagena the minivan/bus I was on had a little bit of a drama and the four hour road trip turned into six hours. It was a tourist minivan that cost $21 and was supposed to be locked at all times. It wasn’t however and when we were driving slowly through some flooded streets from all the rain we heard the back door open and shut and in that split second a bag was stolen from the back of the van. An older Colombian couple had their bag taken and it contained all of their documents. They were not pleased. We stopped two police officers that were close by but basically they said it was gone. The people were really mad because like I said they had basically paid a huge price for the security of a locked vehicle and didn’t get it.

Cartagena has the reputation of being the prettiest city in Colombia or South America and it sure is. It is a lovely place to stay. There are huge all inclusive places on the coast and hostels the like. The Old City and the wall are incredible. It is interesting to see the poverty and wealth right next door to each other.

Last night I went out with a few people from the hostel and we ended up at a pub on top of the wall looking out at the sea on two sides, big hotels on the other and the Old City on the other side. It was magical and as we came upon it the one guy had an interesting comment. There is corruption at work here with a pub being placed right on top of the wall. I thought it was interesting. You have to remember this wall is centuries old and then to place a bar on top of it just doesn’t seem right. But like I said a magical setting.

Here is the link for photos from Taganga and Cartagena Colombia. PS Cartagena was a port stop for those fans of the Love Boat.

Click on this link for photos from Taganga and Cartagena Colombia