Our full day of travelling was amplified by a horrific hangover and the pressure to find accommodation in Cartagena, Colombia before sunset.
We never intended to visit Colombia, but as we met travellers who had visited the country, we were convinced to change our plans. Travellers had only wonderful things to say about the people and the natural beauty of this supposedly “dangerous” country.
We found a family run hotel, in the more colourful and edgy part of Cartagena called Getsanami. Oscar, the owner, took pity on us after seeing Rich limping (consequence of too much drunken dancing). When we went out to dinner we were surprised at how safe it was, relative to our expectations and how much the people and the architecture in this area reminded us of Cuba.
Within the old town of Cartagena, which is a walled city, the colonial buildings were beautiful and brightly coloured with a strong Caribbean influence. It was wonderful to walk around and do some people watching as the city was inundated with local and international tourists, before we sat down to a delicious seafood dinner.
The next day we decided to make a trip to the local hospital, trying badly to translate words with a Spanish dictionary! A few hours later...... we found out that Richard had a torn ligament and he’d need a crutch for the next 10 days (3.5 weeks later the crutch is still in use!). Finding one was another story involving taxi drivers with whistles, waiting rooms and plenty of Spanglish!
The next couple of days were relatively quiet as Richard was told to keep off his feet but we decided to hire bikes on one of the days and rode right around the town. After a few hours of toughing it out we treated ourselves to a drink at the Cafe del Mar, whilst overlooking the ocean. Spectacular!
Whilst we enjoyed our time in Cartagena, we knew from the cost of travelling that it wasn’t a good reflection of the rest of Colombia .... and so we set off for the next two weeks exploring what else the country had to offer.
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