Cartagena – not my wildest dream but I will shake it off

It is my last night in Cartagena and I was on the fence upon writing a blog for 2 reasons. First, I did not love Cartagena and I feel bad about it because a) I’m a woman and it is my default to be nice; b) many people do like Cartagena and I don’t want to insult them; c) some of the people I have met here have been very friendly and kind, and I feel bad not liking their city. And my second reason for not wanting to write a post is that there is so much going on right now in the world that is devastating and tragic and so much more important. It actually seems silly and almost disrespectful to not only write about my travels but to not write something positive and uplifting. But then I remembered how many subscribers I have… I am honestly shocked and really, truly appreciate the people that do read my little blog – thank you so much!! But just to say I am not making a huge impact on the world whether I do or do not post. And so I decided it might be therapeutic for myself and also it may be educational or helpful for one of the 32 people that read my blog, so here it is.

I was so excited about Cartagena, truthfully much more excited about Cartagena than Bogota, which is maybe a lesson in and of itself. Many places that I have travelled this past year, I have not had any expectations, other than Rome (which was also not a favourite of mine) and Cartagena. And I think that may be a key in travelling happily is to not have too many expectations and then just revel in the delight in all of the new experiences regardless of what they may be. With Cartegena, I thought I had found the most delightful Airbnb, where I would happily teach every morning and then explore the Historic Center, the ‘new city’ and the beaches every afternoon, and soak in beautiful Caribbean sunsets every night. Alas, my Airbnb was not delightful although the host was very sweet and I ended up moving halfway through my stay. I did explore the Historic Center and the ‘new city,’ and I did go to the beach twice but the sunsets were the only things that lived up to my expectations.

I did enjoy wandering around the Historic Center and especially Getsemani, the cool artistic neighborhood closest to Manga. However, I feel that tourism has maybe caused the Historic Center to lose some of its old world charm that made Cartagena famous. There are a lot of great old buildings, and I loved especially the building that housed the Museo de Arte Moderno, and it is very cool to walk the perimeter of the old walls. And at the same time, there is litter everywhere, there are less local artisans than I imagined, less music both in the streets and in the cafes, and so many vendors on every corner and in every plaza. I normally love the vendors at the markets and I generally am happy to interact with street vendors or at least politely say no, thank you but I honestly found the vendors in Cartagena, especially at the plazas and on the beaches, to be relentless and sometimes aggressive. And the ‘new city’ is quite crowded and not that different from other larger cities in my opinion. There does seem to be a thriving party bus scene so if you enjoy that, then Cartagena might be for you, but I am not really a party bus person anymore.

And sometimes, when you’re travelling you have some unexpected adventures or challenging circumstances. Now sometimes, they are just a little scary and kind of funny, and you think ‘well, I will always remember this day’ (I have been blessed to have many ‘a little scary but really funny’ adventures this past year). But sometimes (just like regular life) they take a toll and it is harder to find the silver lining. My first day here, my taxi driver got hit by another taxi and then they both got out and they started yelling at each other and it was both a little scary and a little funny (thankfully we were not going fast and no one was hurt). But then my driver got lost (this has happened to me before so not scary yet) but when I tried to direct him (thank you google maps) he would not listen and went the other way. I kept trying to show him the location and explain that the little blue dot (us) was moving away from the location. But then he started yelling at me, really loud, and then I tried to get him to stop and get out and he kept yelling and wouldn’t let me… so not funny anymore, just scary. Finally he did stop and he let me get my suitcase out of the trunk and I walked the rest of the way. By then, it was just scary and nerve racking and not really funny. The other unexpected challenge that Cartagena presented to me was some wicked Travelers’ Diarrhea, which happened to be the day of my one booked excursion. I was supposed to go on a guided hike in the jungle to see monkeys but instead I spent most of the day curled up on the floor outside of the bathroom. Thankfully, I was fine by the following day, and while I won’t forget that day, I will also not remember it fondly. But both of these challenges did teach me something. First, I will always keep my suitcase in the back seat with me from now on whenever I am in a taxi. This may never be an issue again but just in case, I will be prepared. And second, when people tell you not to get ice in your drink, even if it is 35 degrees and you are really, really hot and and you think I have travelled everywhere and I have an excellent immune system…blah, blah, blah. When people say do not get ice in your drink, probably you should NOT get ice in your drink.

But I did see some great sunsets, I made friends with the most amazing old man playing the saxophone in the Parque Centenario, had a lovely hour at the Museo de Arte Moderno, ate the best potatoes bravas and I finally saw a sloth! So while Cartagena was not my favourite, I do have some things on my gratitude list. I leave for Peru in 8 hours and I am reflecting on how badly I am at planning my travelling….still! It is really quite funny how poorly I plan sometimes. Cusco is 3,400m above sea level, Bogota was 2,625m above sea level and Cartagena is only 2m above sea level….it would have made much more sense for me to have come to Cartagena first, then go to Bogota and then Cusco. I should spend less time researching what museums I want to visit and the best coffee shops, and more time checking weather, currency exchange, sim cards and altitude levels. Maybe one day 🙂