Cartagena in all its beauty

Megan:
I think we can safely say that Colombia has been the most pleasant surprise of our trip thus far. Cartagena, a history-rich town on the Caribbean Sea, is absolutely gorgeous. The historic center of town where we stayed for six days has narrow streets winding through charming and brightly-colored colonial buildings, parks, plazas and churches. Because Colombia has not experienced an overwhelming number of foreigners in its recent past, the people do not seem to be jaded by the idea of tourism. Instead they are very welcoming and quick to ask what we think of their country or where we are visiting from.

We enjoyed exploring Catagena on our own and meeting up with friends from our sailboat trip at museums, outdoor cafes or even just bumping into them around town. One afternoon was spent wandering though an old stone fortress, Castillo de San Filipe de Barajas, and its complex system of underground tunnels that were built to facilitate the supply and evacuation of the fort. Jon and I really enjoyed exploring the dark and sometimes spooky maze of tunnels. This castle, along with a thick stone wall that encompasses the city center, was built in the 1600's to protect the city from pirate invasions.

We also visited a small volcano, Volcán de Lodo El Totumo, 30 miles outside of the city where lukewarm mud bubbles out of the earth. This 'mud bath' is supposed to have therapeutic qualities - it very well may have been good for the skin, but I could not get past how weird the whole sensation was. There was no bottom to the pit of mud, and everyone was just suspended, neutrally buoyant, neither sinking nor floating. I have never felt anything like it - weightless and incredibly heavy all at the same time. And, let me tell you, it's tough to get clean after an experience like that... we are still finding surprise deposits of mud.

From Cartagena, we flew to Bogotá - our first flight since we arrived in Mexico over five months ago - surprisingly, this is the longest Jon has gone without taking a flight in the past six years. It's amazing how quickly you can get from one part of a country to the next when you aren't riding on a chicken bus. We will be posting our experiences and photos of the refreshing and stylish capital city of Bogotá soon, so stay tuned.