Cartagena - the walled city

May 4 - 7

After over a week in the Amazonian jungle of Iquitos and Leticia, I flew from Leticia to Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Cartagena (officially Cartagena de Indias, to distinguish it from the Spanish city) was a very contested city for many years, often attacked by various pirates and conquerors, despite the forbidding walls that surround what is now known as the old city. It was also the first Latin American city to declare independence from Spain and was where Simon Bolivar's campaigning for independence was started. These days it is a very popular tourist destination for everyone from backpackers to cruise ship passengers. The central city architecture is very colonial in style, with lots of bright colours, narrow streets and cute balconies - and very photogenic.

Cartagena felt like a very relaxed, laid-back city, and was just as hot and humid as the jungle. I arrived late on a Saturday evening, and after realising I'd left my phone in the taxi from the airport (bugger!), headed around the corner to a small square for dinner from one of the many street stalls. The square was the "place to be", with lots of people sitting around drinking the local beer, Aguila - and also a very serious chess game going on!

The next day I headed into the old city to have a look around. I wandered around a few of the city walls, and spotted a rather unusual place for a baseball game...

A very serious (umpired!) baseball game on a closed off street

The city's colonial buildings were something I quite wanted to see, and I wasn't disappointed - some very gorgeously coloured buildings, with lovely narrow balconies... Well, see for yourself:

Typical street just around from my hostel

Narrow street within the old city

Another street within the old city, with the Cathedral behind

One of the churches had some cool little metal people outside it, set up for art:

Cool little metal artworks

And there were some more impressive city walls:

Looking out over the city walls, up to 12 m high and 18 m thick

Perching atop the walls...

I went back to the same square for dinner that night, to be presented with something quite different - an open-air, free zumba class, with some 100-odd people dancing in the square! Everyone was having a great time, and really getting into the Colombian party spirit. I was semi-tempted to join in - but the thought of exercising in that humidity was too much!

Free open-air zumba classes - probably to Gagnam Style (again - groan!)

The next day I headed up to the Castillo de San Felipe, which was part of the city's defences along with it's walls, situated across a narrow strait from the walled city. It's a huge stone fort built up on a hill with a very commanding view over the old city, with some interesting tunnels and a massive Colombian flag flying from the top.

Castillo de San Felipe from the old city across the strait

Some of the fort's battlements 

The commanding view and the Colombian flag

More flag - when the wind caught it better! 

More battlements with a mock cannon

That afternoon, I headed to the Mercado Bazurto, the locals market about 45 minutes walk out of the main town centre. I was very noticeably the only gringo around, but I always liked wandering through the local markets and just observing everything around me. What was most noticeable, though, was the massive difference to the very Westernized shopping mall that was basically nextdoor - I thought this highlighted the wealth difference that exists very clearly.

I have to mention the British guy that stayed in my dorm room in Cartagena. Probably in his 50s, this was his last stop, having travelled from Ushuaia, on the very southern tip of Argentina, through Chile, Bolovia, Peru and Ecuador by land the whole way - and had finally arrived at the north coast. I thought this was a pretty impressive achievement! He was called Peter - maybe that was trying to tell me something...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were a few noticeable differences about Colombia compared to where I'd spent most of my time, in Peru:

• The ethnic mix was quite different, with a decent proportion of people of African descent, due to slave trading in the Caribbean.
• The Spanish pronunciation was a little bit different - and harder for me to understand being used to Peruvian Spanish - with the end "s" of words often being barely pronounced, more like an "h", and a few different words and mannerisms:
• "Avocado" is palta in Peru, but aguacate in Colombia
• "Pull" (i.e. on a door) is jale in Peru, but hale in Colombia
• In Colombia, shopkeepers, touts etc will say a la orden to you a lot, meaning something like "at your service" - which I never heard in Peru
• The Colombians like to play loud music in the streets - a lot!
• The infrastructure was noticeably more developed - the water is safe to drink, for starters, but also the roads were better quality and better signposted.

People say the Colombians are friendlier than Peruvians too, although I didn't really notice this too much - maybe a bit more willing to help. They also say Colombians have the most beautiful women - but I wouldn't dare comment on that!

After spending almost a month staying no more than 3 nights in the same bed, I was missing the long-term feel of staying in Cusco, staying and spending time with some locals, and doing a bit of good by volunteering. With that in mind, I'd been in contact with an organisation in Santa Marta, a city some 3-4 hours east along the coast. I'd organised to spend a week and a half helping out at one of their little schools, so packed my things again and headed off there.