Category: 2019-02 US Colombia

Once again it was time to say goodbye after a nice stay.

We moved on and took a boat to the Caribbean archipelago “Islas del Rosario”, about 40km away. Our hotel is located on the largest of the 28 small islands.

After arriving, we went swimming and explored the hotel.

Reiner

Directly opposite our accommodation is the residence of the former president Rafael Nunez (1825-1894) which can be visited as a museum. It is very beautiful and very imposing. The house is built in Caribbean style, over 2 floors, with a wooden balcony all around and a large pavilion in the middle. It certainly lived quite pleasantly in it. After that we had a look at the beach. Small bays with shade roofs for rent ( 10-15000 COP/day) beautiful fine sand, on the roadside somewhat littered. Probably because it was Sunday, it was pretty crowded . Then we walked along the city wall to the port. We booked tickets for the crossing to Isla Grande / Islas del Rosari. We stay there for 3 nights. It could be that the internet connection is not so exhilarating.

Back in the old town we enjoyed the ambiance, had a drink and bought mosquito repellent.

The colorful alleys are really wonderful. In the evening we had pizza from the pizza bakery in front of our apartment block. We had a long and very nice chat with Martha.

Silke

First we have to let the 33 degrees and the samba music take effect on us. One is quite overwhelmed by the first impressions. Cartagena has a very lively, touristy old town. Samba sounds resound everywhere, live and from the loudspeaker, street vendors talk to you constantly and offer their goods for sale, bingo halls, horse-drawn carriages, sultry smells of flowers but also car exhaust hang in the air.

Very interesting was the historical museum of the Inquisation. For more than 200 years this system ruled here. In the name of the Catholic Church, people of other faiths, suspected of witchcraft and many others were cruelly punished. Fortunately, those times are over. Everyone is celebrating together.

Silke

Not far from our accommodation is the Sound Bay beach. Since here are probably usually very high waves and today quite calm sea, we have been swimming there in the morning. There was quite a strong current, so we preferred not to swim too far out. The water is warm and crystal clear, the sand nice and soft. Funny fat crabs live in holes in the sand and come to the surface from time to time. While snorkeling, however, we didn’t find that much of interest. Some bars and fish restaurants are directly accessible from the beach. Towards afternoon more and more people have arrived. Also our “neighbor” France has a beach bar there. Since we had not gotten a coconut there in the afternoon, he has climbed in his garden times just on the palm tree and has thrown us one down and freshly opened.

Actually, we wanted to hike over to the other side of the island in the afternoon (16:00) and inform ourselves in a diving school there. Margarita and France strongly advised us against it, because the road across the island is not safe for tourists, especially in the evening, and we should better go there by bus or cab in the morning. Since we are then rather walked again on the beach. We cooked pasta and sat on our terrace in the garden. Next door in a street bar a few men play loud dominoes with reggae music.

Silke

In New York it was only -11 degrees Celsius at our stopover this morning at 7:20 (01.02.). Winter is really severe in North America at the moment ( Chicago -40 degrees Celsius). We flew on to Latin America. And in Cartgena we were greeted by a cozy 33 degrees Celsius at 13:10. We are now minus 6 hours at German time on the road. We took a cab to our accommodation in Cabrero. You can enter the address on a screen in the airport and get a printout with a fixed price (8 km 11,000 COP, about 2.80 EUR) for the cab driver. We stay in the sweet apartment of Martha and Lukas with the cats Thomasina and Pepita. It is about 5 minutes walk from the beautiful colorful old town.

After a friendly hello, we went exploring. We got a phone SIM card, picked up a few pesos, dropped off our laundry at the Laundry Service and bought something for dinner.

Silke