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Perks of Cartagena

Perks of Cartagena:

  • Vendors selling fresh fruit on the street
  • Colourful Spanish style buildings with flowers overflowing off of balconies
  • Dancing salsa all night long
street vendor selling bags in Cartagena This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item or service, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own. After crossing the border via boat from Panama, our group landed in a small Colombian coastal town called Capurganá. It is a beautiful place and, after living very basically for four days, it was nice to take a real shower and sleep in a bed again. I wish we could have spent more time exploring here but since Sean was leaving Friday we needed to get to Cartagena.
Clean again in Capurganá
Capuganá> 2 hour boat ride to Necoclí> 6 hour bus to Cartagena* *thanks to some protests, this was longer than expected but on the bright side we had many people from our San Blas crew together so it wasn’t so bad!

Cartagena

After wanting to come to Colombia for a long time now, I believe Cartagena was the perfect spot to begin. Filled with colourful buildings, flower covered patios, vendors selling everything from fruit to hats, Cartagena has a energy that makes everyone excited to be here. Music is constantly playing in the streets and the food is fresh and delicious. The weather has been super hot as well, averaging 35 degrees with 80% humidity (my hair looks crazy). I spent four days exploring this great city and here are some of the highlights:
Free Walking Tour
Our guide Becki was a detailed storyteller and explained the history of the city and gave advice around places to go and things to do.
Boobie grab = long love life
Catalina – a badass chic who was taken from her dad by the Spanish, taught to speak Spanish and then was an important interpreter between the Spanish and the Indians
Volcán Totumo 
A half day excursion where you shuttle an hour outside the city to Volcán Totumo and spend some time in a natural mud bath. The mud pit is only 3m x 3m and there are options for a 5 minute massage for 4000 pesos (yes please!). Definitely wear an old bathing suit you don’t care about and don’t dunk your head right in or else you’ll be finding mud in weird places for days!
Fruit Stands
Eat. All. The. Fruit. Passionfruit. Mangoes. Watermelon. Cantaloupe.
Cevicheria
This restaurant is worth the splurge. This was some of the most incredible seafood I’ve eaten ever. Anthony Bourdain thinks so too.
Tomorrow I am off to Santa Marta! Ciao.

Tours in Cartagena

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