The best (and worst) of Cartagena de las Indias

On Friday, July 20th my friend Maggie and I traveled to the Caribbean coast where we enjoyed three days of exploring the city of Cartagena. Aside from a few inopportune rain storms, we had a great time basking under the Caribbean sun, wandering around Cartagena's charming colonial streets, dining at top-notch restaurants, and taking day trips to nearby tourist destinations. We especially enjoyed our excursions to the nearby "Islas del Rosario" and the very unusual "mud volcano."

We arrived to sunny Cartagena on Friday morning and spent the rest of the day exploring the Popa Convent, San Felipe Castle, and the fortress-like "old city" of Cartagena . In the afternoon we had an incredible meal at an authentic Spanish-style restaurant called "El Burlador de Sevilla" and had dinner at an Argentinian pizza place later that evening. We wrapped up our first night in Cartagena with cocktails at the posh Santa Clara Hotel.

A visit to the "mud volcano"
On Saturday morning we woke up early and took a tour of a nearby "mud volcano." There we covered ourselves from head to toe in thick, gray mud and enjoyed the "services" of local "massage therapists." Following our massages, we were instructed to walk down a dirt path to a smelly lagoon where local women washed the mud off our mud-caked bodies and swimsuits. Sounds weird, right? Well, it was! It was certainly one of the most unusual (and unforgettable) experiences that I have ever had. Later that night we treated ourselves to "arequipe" ice cream and had a delicious meal at the super-chic Santísimo Restaurant.

Islas del Rosario
On Sunday morning we went to the Cartagena harbor and took a boat to the Cocoliso Resort, located about two hours southwest of Cartagena on one of the 27 Rosario Islands (Islas del Rosario). Unfortunately, it stormed during the 2-hour trip there and cleared up only a couple of hours before we had to return to Cartagena. However, before leaving the island I was able to enjoy a quick swim in the Caribbean and snap a few pictures of flowers, coconuts, and of me and Maggie dressed as pirates! And fortunately, clear blue skies made for an absolutely beautiful trip back to Cartagena.

On Sunday night, Maggie and I were having dinner and decided to make a list of the some of the most memorable aspects of our trip to Cartagena. Just for fun we included both the best and the worst of our trip.

The best (and worst) of Cartagena

Best Meal
+Appetizers of cured ham (jamón serrano) and manchego cheese followed by a grilled seafood platter. The restaurant was an authentic Spanish restaurant that reminded me of the time that I spent living in Spain. The entire experience, including the décor, the music, the smells emanating from the kitchen, and the perfectly prepared portions of shrimp, octopus, squid, clams, oysters, and lobster brought back fond memories of the food that I loved to eat when I was studying in Santiago de Compostela.

Worst Meal
+Deep-fried chicken leg accompanied by a so-called salad of onions prepared in a hygienically "questionable" hut on the beach. (Maggie)

+Fried fish (shown in picture) from the same hygienically-challenged hut. (Aaron)

Disclaimer: The rice served with our chicken and fish was actually quite delicious. It is called "arroz con coco" or coconut rice and is a specialty of northern Colombia. The rice is prepared with shredded coconut and is cooked in coconut milk rather than water. I liked the fish (mojarra) too, but in comparison to the other five-star meals that we enjoyed in Cartagena, this one won the prize as the "worst meal."

Best Dressed
+Maggie in her "slimming" red dress.

Worst Dressed
+The plump woman wearing a thong bikini at the pool.

+Honorable mention: The plump elderly man wearing a thong bikini at the pool.

Note to readers: "Spandex is a privilege, not a right." - Camille

Best Picture
+Maggie (again) in her red dress (she likes this picture so that's why it gets two nods).

Worst Picture
+The image that I have burned into my head of that man wearing a thong bikini. (Aaron)

Disclaimer: I made this part up. The guy was actually wearing a speedo, but I thought that it would be more funny if he were in a thong.

Best Deal
+Once I had made the trek from the mud volcano down the dirt trail to the edge of the stinky lagoon, a friendly woman named Graciela took me by the hand and led me out into knee-deep water and told me to sit down. There my toothless helper washed my hair, face, ears, torso, legs, and feet. She then told me to take off my swimsuit. I was quite surprise and confused. "¿Qué? What is it that you want me to do?" Once I was sure that I had understood her correctly, I reluctantly did as she asked. Fortunately, she simply wanted to wash off my swimsuit. After a few minutes, Graciela finished scrubbing my suit and told me that I was completely clean and ready to go. Price: $1.00 (Aaron)

+Honorable Mention: One of our taxi drivers insisted on taking us around the old city of Cartagena and showing us the major sites. We thanked him for the offer but declined since we were already quite tired from a full day of sightseeing. Honestly, we just wanted to get back to our air-conditioned hotel to rest. Then he lowered his asking price from 5 to 3 dollars and continued to insist that we take him up on this once-in-a-lifetime offer. However, we were still unconvinced. After several minutes our driver finally gave up. In the end it turned out that the destinations that he was planning on taking us to were on the route to our hotel so we ended up getting the tour anyway! Price: Free

And finally,

Worst Deal
+The 15-minute taxi ride to the Popa Convent. I think we got the "special" price for foreigners. Price: $20.00!

That's all for now. Be sure to check out the rest of my pictures from Cartagena!