A week in and around Cartagena
Cartagena is a colonial town on the carribean coast, rich in history and culture. We really enjoyed wandering the streets of the old town and Getsemani, and learning about the inidgenous Calamari people, the Spanish invasion and inquest, and the pirates! The streets are colourful and vibrant, and we loved the street art and buzz of the place.
We stayed in a nice hostel with a rooftop bar, very close to the Plaza de la Trinidad - the epicentre of nightlife, where locals converge every night for music, street performers, street food and drinks. We enjoyed hanging out here and soaking up the atmosphere!
We visited the Castillo San Felipe - a huge fortress built in the 1500’s to protect the city. In fact, it is the largest fortress in South America, built by the Spanish to protect the wealth of Cartagena after a series of lootings by pirates, and famously by Sir Francis Drake. The fortress is huge and we spent a few hours wandering around, enjoying the views of the city and coastline, and exploring the network of underground tunnels.
We also went on a sunset boat trip to get a good view of the city (and because we love a boat trip!). The trip we booked was on a pirate ship - which we thought would be a bit cheesy, but actually was super fun (the unlimited rum punch probably had an influence!). And we got to see a beautiful sunset over Cartagena.
After 3 nights in Cartagena, we decided to stay on Isla Grande - a small island in the Rosario island archipelago, which was famously once the playground of rich and influential Colombians who had holiday homes and mansions here (including Pablo Escobar). We got a boat to the island, and stayed for 3 nights in a lovely eco-resort, with it’s own private beach. The island is very small, there isn’t too much to see and do, and there aren’t any cars or roads. We walked around the paths to explore the island and some of it’s beaches. We also did some sunbathing, snorkelling and relaxing! We also had some really great seafood at our hotel restaurant, and the ladies in the kitchen really made our stay.
When we returned to Cartagena we decided to stay another night to spend some more time exploring the old town. We went on a walking tour of the old town, but found it very boring and not at all informative, so we ended up sneaking off after an hour! We also visited the museum of gold to learn about the indigenous people of the area, and the gold handicrafts which were stolen by the Spanish. And we went to the museum of the Spanish Inquision, which was very interesting and sad to learn more about.
Overall we had a great week in and around Cartagena. It was very touristy, and very hot and humid! But we enjoyed learning about the history, and wandering around the beautiful old town and colourful Getsemani.
Next stop: en route to Santa Marta
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