Cartegena

Day 1 – Still the longest day

So still at the airport we were still waiting in the early hours of the morning and we were getting slightly concerned as there still wasn’t any sign of our flight on the board and the airline we were travelling with check-in was still shut, so we had to continue to wait….and hope!

Still waiting and still no sign of our flight we continued to worry until we noticed some people who appeared to be on the same flight as us and looked slightly concerned.  Our flight still wasn’t showing when the general check-in desk came to life, so we just went to the check-in where they promptly gave us boarding cards….our flight did exist.

We boarded the flight around 4am for a shortish flight of around two hours and we were soon arriving in Cartagena, or so we thought.  We waited around for about ½ hour whilst we waited to disembark, but with our limited Spanish we were unsure what the announcements were about and why we were not getting off the plane.  The plane then started up again and started moving, maybe we were moving to a different terminal, no we were back on the runway and taking off again.  Slightly worried about hijacking I looked at the air stewardesses who looked unconcerned, we deduced that for some reason the plane had stopped for refuelling.

Just another 5 minutes later we landed, we hoped, in Cartagena and we were soon getting off the plane into a very hot temperature and it was only 7am.  We passed through customs fairly quickly and soon found a taxi outside to take us to our hostel.

 

 

At the hostel it was too early to check-in so we just dumped our main bags there and headed out for our first proper look at Columbia.  Cartagena is considered to be the Crown Jewel of Columbia and was founded by the Spanish in 1533 and soon became the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast and the major northern gateway to south America.  In the 16^th century the city came under numerous attacks and sieges, one notably by Sir Francis (considered a pirate in these parts) who in exchange for not burning the city to the ground accepted a 10,000,000 Peso’s ransom which he took back to England. 

 

 

In order to help defend these attacks the Spanish built a huge wall around the city, which is now the major attraction in the city which has expanded greatly outside of the wall and is where we decided to head for first.

On passing through the old city wall we could see why this was the number one attraction (and a UNESCO heritage site) in our guidebook.  Inside the walls it was all narrow streets, pastel coloured colonial buildings with wooden balconies, churches, plaza’s and colourful flowers and trees.

 

We wandered around these pretty streets for a while until we found a square that had restaurants that had tables and chairs outside, so we thought we would stop and get some breakfast.  We both opted for a traditional Columbian breakfast which was different (with a plantain type of potato cake) and pretty good too.

 

 

After breakfast it was still too early to check-in to our hostel so we headed for the starting point for the free walking tour we had read about.  At 10am there was no sign of the walking tour so we quickly walked to another square where we believe another tour started, fortunately we found it and joined the group.

 

 

By now it was very hot and the guide made a point of moving from shady spot to shady spot.  We got led around the streets and plaza’s being given information on various subject, however we were a bit disappointed that he seemed to skim over Cartagena’s vast history.  Instead he seemed to give some tit-bit’s and then later turn it into a bit of a pop quiz on what we remembered of Columbia in general (you won a postcard if you got a question right).  It may have been that we had now both been awake for over 24 hours but we found in not as informative as we would have liked and considered it to be one of the poorer city walking tours we had been on to date.

 

 

Once the walking tour had finished and the sun now scorching we headed back to the plaza where we had breakfast to get ourselves a ‘welcome to Columbia beer’!  However the beer price was extortionate here so after one drink we headed out of the walled city and back towards our hostel.

On the way back we saw a café/restaurant with a shaded courtyard in the back and on checking the beer prices we found they were half the price of our previous one.  We took advantage of the shade and stayed there until it was time that we could check into the hostel.

Along the road back to the hostel we noticed that there were a few tour agencies so we took the opportunity to book a trip to the nearby Islas Del Rosario for the following day. It took a while as we talked to three agencies, the first two struggling with the language barrier before booking it with an agency right next to our hostel.  The guy could speak reasonable English and we could finally understand what the trip involved, and it was the cheapest!

Finally, we could check into the hostel, although it looked alright in the common area’s we did find ourselves in a pretty pokey room.  Never mind we were glad to get a refreshing show and into some clean clothes, after which we spent an hour or two relaxing in the common area’s balcony area whilst watching life go by below.

In the early evening we walked around the immediate area in order to get some more cash and find a chemist to get some sunscreen.  Job’s done we headed back down a little street near our hostel where there were lots of restaurants. We found one with a rooftop where we had a couple of drinks whilst watching the vultures on the surrounding rooftops.

 

 

It was then time to find something to eat and wandering up the street we noticed a basic locals roast chicken café, so we decided to try it for some cheap eats.  The food was pretty nice but I was feeling a bit uncomfortable as a beggar we had refused earlier was stood in the doorway watching us eat.  We felt a bit sad as when we had finished he came over and asked for our leftovers and quickly swiped the chicken carcasses and left.

We then headed back to the café with the courtyard for a couple more drinks before finally going back to the hostel and bed after being awake for the last 36 hours!

Day 2 – Bumpy Boat Tour!

Up early again and after a quick coffee we were ready to start our trip.  We were picked up by taxi around 8am and transported to the nearby Marina where we were taken to a ticket booth to register.  We then had coloured stickers affixed to us before being led to another counter to pay the harbour tax and then we were led to a very crowded dockside area where we were told to wait.

 

 

Waiting around with hundreds of other tourists it was very confusing to work out what was going on.  Occasionally someone would come around shouting names but not very forcefully, some people were boarding boats, but we couldn’t see one with our name on.  All we could do was to check for people with the same coloured stickers as ours or the same boat ticket in their hands.

After sitting around anxiously for about an hour we noticed the lady that had led us through to the dock with a list, so hanging close to her we were relieved when she called out our names and we were led to a nearby boat that we boarded.

 

 

Although on board it seemed like another 30-45 minutes until we were finally on our way.  The journey started off quite calmly as we travel down the large river estuary.  At the entrance to the sea we stopped for a bit to have a look at a scenic fortress that protected the city in days gone by. 

 

 Whilst stopped, we noticed a couple of entrepreneurial youngsters who were knocking around in a nearby canoe who were paddling up to any stopped tourist boat and seeing if they could get a few coins from the passengers.

 

 

We then continued out of the estuary into the Caribbean, the water changing from a muddy brown to a crystal blue.  Also the water had started to get a bit more choppy with the boat banging up and down.  Half an hour later we were pulling into Playa Blanca which confused us as we thought we were going there later.  It turned out that we were just dropping people off there, literally! As there was no jetty here the boat just pulled into the beach and people had to take their chances, jumping from the side whilst the boat rocked around in the surf with some assistance from the boat crew.

Leaving Playa Blanca we then headed towards the Islas del Rosario but the water was getting choppier and choppier with the boat coming down hard off the waves and jarring our backs (and my knees against the seat in front).  People were starting to scream and get scared in general, I must admit to being a bit nervous when a wave came towards the boat that I thought might swamp it.

About an hour of bumpy crossing and then we found ourselves motoring between some very pretty Islands with crystal blue water surrounding them.  Eventually we stopped just next to one of these islands where the guide discussed the activity options we had, this was totally in Spanish and seemed to go on forever but boiled down to snorkelling or visiting an aquarium with a dolphin show.

 

 

We had been prepared for the snorkelling,  bringing our own mask and snorkels with us and were disappointed when we were asked for an entrance fee for the snorkelling (I think we got £4 off for having our own kit).  After dropping off people for the aquarium island we then pulled up alongside another island to begin the snorkelling.

 

 

Jumping over the side of the boat we were joined by some of the other passengers and were told we had to swim around in a group.  It wasn’t great as some of them had problems just swimming with a life jacket on, whilst others were towed round with the aid of a rubber ring, so we tried to keep some distance from them.  In honesty the coral was not that great and was fairly bleached and we did not see anything we had not seen in other places we had been, except one blue fish with neon blue spots.

 

 

Forty five minutes later and we were back at the boat but it was a bit of an effort getting back on-board as the crew just slung a rubber ring over the side and you had to use this as a sort of ladder, Shell struggled on-board with no help from thee crew (those gym sessions came in handy).  Once back on board we headed over to the other island to pick up the aquarium party before heading off again.

Once again, the journey was very bumpy with people not exactly enjoying it.  We returned to Playa Blanca where we thought we were going to spent the rest of the day, this time we all had to do our best to jump off the boat in very wavy conditions.

Off the boat, we were pretty disappointed with the beach as it was pretty much jam packed with people, tents, unbrella’s and full of beach traders.  The guide then took us to some tents where we were given lunch which was OK, some local grilled fish and salad.

During lunch, we learned we were only going to be here for about an hour and a half.  We also learned that there was another option to go back which was to pay extra to get a bus back and give us another 1 ½ there, some of the group took this option as they very nervous about getting back on the boat.  We opted to get the boat back as we did not want to pay the extra and the beach did not exactly live up to the hype/paradise shown in the picture.

We had a quick paddle and headed back to the boat as it was pretty un-organised and we weren’t sure when it was leaving.  Ten minutes later and we were asked to get back on the boat which was a pretty un-glamorous affair as you had to haul/be pulled over the side of the boat as it rocked up and down in the surf.

Having learnt from the previous crossing we managed to get some padding for the seat and I wedged a spare life jacket in front of my knees.  The rest of the journey to the estuary was fairly bumpy but not quite as bad as before, the extra padding coming in handy.  Once back in the estuary it calmed down again and another half an hour and we were pulling into the dock.  In all we did not think the trip had been that great.

 

On the way back to the hostel we popped back into the courtyard café where we had a couple of beers before heading back to the hostel for a shower and freshen up.

In the evening, we decided to head back to the walled city as we thought it would be very pretty lit up at night.  As we walked along the streets were a lot more busy and alive to the sound of salsa music, we wandered around the streets taking in the sounds and smells of the city. 

 

 

It was quite lively and it was nice as when we entered one of the plazas, there was a troupe of traditional Caribbean musicians and dancers putting on a very lively show.  One of the drummers could only have been around 7 or 8 and he was bashing away like Animal from the Muppets.

 

 

As we knew it was expensive in the old town, after wandering around for a bit we headed back to near our hostel where we found another hostel with a courtyard in the rear. So we stopped there for a couple of drinks before heading back to ours to go to bed.