Review of Cartagena - longish

First of all, Cartagena is freaking hot. That's a no brainer because it's a jungle rain forest on one side, and on the Caribbean on the other. But still, hawwt.  The whole place is somewhat worn and closer to 3rd world levels that Medellin was. There are a lot of nice-looking beaches, but most of them are for locals; it seems like tourists are welcome only on a few beaches near the tourist hotels.  The historical sites of the city are really interesting and beautiful, if a bit worn. The city/port is a World Historical Site for good reason, the bay and views are beautiful.  The locals are really aggressive in trying to sell everything from "locally made" hats, jewelry, coco frio (cold fresh coconut water), and all manner of touristy tchochkies on the sidewalks. You learn to just hold your purse tight and say "No, gracias, no hablo espanol". Even my DH started to say that at the end!

We were sharing a condo with DH's great-uncle and aunt, MIL & BIL. We got the privilege of sleeping on the pull-out twin love-seats in the living room. 

DH's BF from college lives in Cartagena, and on Monday, we went to his "vacation" condo's beach and pool. Unfortunately, the friend (Javier) didn't show up until 4pm, when we were all pretty tired, hot and hungry, so we left and went for some food and sight seeing.  BIL left early and took the Great A & U for lunch and back to the condo earlier. 

When we got back to the condo, poor GU was super sick from bad fish soup he had for lunch. It got so bad that the next day, BIL had to give him an IV for fluids (which he is trained and qualified to do), and then GU & GA had to fly back to Medellin on Wednesday and check GU into the hospital.

Tuesday, DH, MIL and I were scheduled to have lunch at Javier's condo, but he didn't pick us up until 3pm, so it the whole day was wasted. (This guy is well off and makes his own schedule, he's just inconsiderate)  After lunch, Javier goes back to work (it's now 4:30 ) and we decide to go to the port to look at the docked cruise ships. Javier's mom, who is crazy, invited herself along, and then told us the port entry was only a little way up the road, so let's walk! 45 hot dusty minutes later, we were still several blocks from the dock, and in a not good part of town. The sidewalks all over Cartagena are pretty treacherous, and I tripped and fell forward full length. I did mange to keep my head up, so my face escaped the pavement, but my knees were pretty fvcked up.  Fortunately I had hand sanitizer and tissues in my purse, so we were able to clean my knees a bit at the site.  That put an end to the days activities, so we flagged down a taxi (fortunately they are everywhere) and went home. Crazy lady did try to invite herself back to the condo with us, but she realized it was almost time for evening mass, so she got her own taxi.  Between my over-preparedness and BIL's First Aid kit, we had the supplies to clean and bandage my knees. I spent the rest of the night icing my knees and taking ibuprofen. 

The next day, (Wednesday), MIL and BIL stayed at the condo so they could help GA & U to the airport, so DH and I planned to spend the day going to the historical sites (La Popa, Castillo de Cartagena, Old City). But as soon as we into the taxi to start, I somehow sliced my big toe and took a chunk of toenail off as well. Back up to the condo to clean and bandage my toe, and we finally got underway.  DH was super sweet and helped me up and down the stairs, and made me sit and rest frequently. Mostly the sights were beautiful, but the Palace of the Inquisition was super disturbing to me. The Inquisition went on until the 1820's in Cartagena, and the displays of the actual torture machines and devices really freaked me out. The memory of 200+ years of torture cannot be erased that easily. 

Thursday was the best day. MIL, BIL, DH and I took a day trip to one of the island resorts not far off the coast.  The resort was nice, and super private; the only guests there were the 20 of us that took the same boat from Cartagena.  We were there for about 5 hours, and then it was about a hour and 15 minute speed boat ride back to the main land.

Friday we came home. Speaking of airport security (XP from the post last week), we went through the regular metal detectors, were wanded and patted down twice (regular, not "thorough"), and had every single item in our luggage and carry-ons removed and inspected. They even unzipped the lining in the suitcase and looked in every nook and cranny of the bag.  We were bringing back some store-bought, prepackaged snacks/sweets in our checked luggage, and the Cartagena security (Colombian Army) guy took clean bamboo skewers and poked holes in pretty much everything and tested the residue for drugs. They did tape the holes shut afterward, but holy crap! Apparently Cartagena is a much bigger hub for drug smuggling than Medellin is these days.

Overall, I was glad to go and had a mostly good time. It was just one of those bad-luck trips. However, I don't have any desire to go to Cartagena again for several years. Maybe it was all our bad luck, but the city just didn't have a good vibe to me. There are many other places in Colombia (and the world) I still want to visit, so Cartagena's off the list for many years.