For our final Colombian destination, we chose Cartagena. After two months of calling Colombia home, a much shorter time than anticipated due to some very unexpected changes in our plans, we were down to our last couple of days.
Cartagena oozes old world colonial charm. Buildings,
facades crumbling and faded, repainted in vibrant hues, wind along narrow
streets throughout the old quarter of town, a UNESCO World Heritage gem. The walled old city, surrounded by the coralstone protection of once-great fortress walls, maintains an air of Spanish colonialism infused with a taste of the Caribbean.
We roamed the city, took in the sights and the history. We indulged in our final Colombian arepas, corn-flour pancakes essential in the local diet, piled high with cheese and eggs. We sipped on juice made from local fruits.
We roamed the city, took in the sights and the history. We indulged in our final Colombian arepas, corn-flour pancakes essential in the local diet, piled high with cheese and eggs. We sipped on juice made from local fruits.
Church-studded, flavored with diverse history, Cartagena
makes for a beautiful place to laze about, stroll around, and generally take in
bit by bit. Scorching heat, high humidity, and a perplexing lack of water (of
our three days in Cartagena, we only had water for a day), and heavy afternoon
showers drove us into the hostel’s shady patio for much of the time.
Maybe not ideal by most postcard holiday standards (I certainly could have used another shower or two), but
Cartagena served as a lovely sendoff in its own right, a beautiful goodbye to
Colombia. And it gave us a bit of calm before our Central American whirlwind tour
