The weather here has been simply glorious. Sunny with clear blue skies and gentle to strong winds depending on where you are located, we have really experienced what living on the Caribbean coast really feels like and we like it!
Unbeknownst to us, we had actually arrived in Cartagena’s cooler season, the ideal time to visit because of the year round humidity in the historic city, which according to the people who lived here, made Cartagena almost too intense to bare. Infact we had been warned of the heat and humidity of Cartagena, but we had found the weather to be much milder in comparison to Bahia in Brazil. Still it was hot, very hot, hovering steadily in the early to mid thirties everyday, so I couldn’t imagine how it could possibly get much hotter then it was but I was very relieved that it seemed as if we had come at the perfect time!
We had booked a trip to one the nearby beaches, Playa Blanca. Playa Blanca was touted as the best of Cartagena’s beaches due to the sand which was very white, and the sea which was very blue – much more like the type of typical Caribbean beach that I was hoping to see! The tour included transportation to the beach (you could go by boat or by sea but we opted for the road option because of the reports of the boat being small and fragile looking, and the sea’s being rough). We were then going to be taken to Nena Beach, said to be the best beach resort on Playa Blanca and it included a beach cabana there for the day with a welcome cocktail, beach towels, lunch and drinks. There were other, cheaper options available but we wanted to get the most out of our experience, and since we didn’t plan to do endless trips to the beaches in Cartagena due to the fact that we were going to be seeing even better beaches once we got to the Caribbean islands on our upcoming cruise, we thought that it made sense to visit the best one on offer.
In addition, after some 2 months of joining us on our travels, my sister had booked her ongoing trip to one of the ABC islands: Curacao, and would be leaving us in the next couple of days to spend the remainder of her time there before she went back to the UK. Living as a threesome, or #thethreeamigos as we’d affectionately called our group of three, had been lots of fun. The bond between my sister and I is a given but thankfully Josh and my sister also get on like a house on fire, which has made the 2 months that we’ve spent together in Colombia pretty easy.
We lived together in our beautiful Medellin apartment for 6 weeks and then since moving to Cartagena we have spent the 2 weeks that she has been here checking out the area and going out and doing activities together. For Josh and I, travelling is a way of life for us and our passion, but we also enjoy sharing our experiences with our loved ones and we’ve had a great time with my sister in South America.
Since we were staying in an apartment (that none of the local taxi drivers seemed to be capable enough to find), we told the tour guide to collect us all from my sisters hotel instead. We were told that we needed to be there ready for collection before 8:00 am in the morning, which for me now that I was used to rising late every morning, was truly painful. But despite being there on time, we all sat there like numpty’s waiting for this guy to collect us way past the time that he said we would be arriving as nobody showed up. Eventually after waiting for over 30 minutes we made contact with the company and they told us that he would be there very soon. Soon thereafter, a guy wearing a green t-shirt who had been standing in the lobby for awhile saying nothing to no one, approached us and asked Josh if he was awaiting collection to Playa Blanca. Well of course he was you fool! Honestly.
We jumped into the mini-van and then a couple of stops later we transferred into a large mini-van which was already patiently waiting for us to join them, no doubt who had been delayed because this man didn’t have enough common sense to announce that he had arrived at our hotel! The journey was relatively short, just under an hour, and on the way we passed by 2 of the areas that we had yet to visit: Manga, which had been touted as a very nice area despite it being very far away from the city walls, and Bocogrande, the more modernised part of Cartagena.
But what had appealed to me most about the city was the very things that these “modernised” areas didn’t have – an abundance of historic buildings. Sure, they were crumbling, many of them needed repainting, and quite a number of them needed rebuilding, but the architectural beauty and historical value of these buildings was exactly what made the city so appealing. Without them, Cartagena was just another city trying to fit in. I didn’t particularly like the look of the buildings in those areas – they looked modern but already dated, much like our apartment – they had probably at one point been quite stylish but modern architecture oftentimes doesn’t age well and this I was seeing being played out many times here in Colombia, as in Medellin they had had the same problem leaving them with no legacy buildings to decorate their streets.
The iconic city walls at night
When we arrived at Playa Blanca, gringo’d up to the nines with traveller backpacks in tow, we trawled through the clearly desperately poor town where the locals stared openly at us as we walked by, passed the multiple sellers of unwanted tourist-centric tatt, through the dust filled dirt roads which smelt like a mixture of rotting food, open drains and feces. Following us, a group of locals, clearly with the intentions of following us to see where we went so that they could proceed to offer their services (whatever they may be). I had previously been warned about the fact that I would be encountering an abundance of beach sellers at this beach resort, who very much like hyena’s waiting to pounce upon any tourist that ventured through their area were very insistent and would continue bothering you until you gave in.
At this point in time I found it hard to imagine that this place, with it’s bad odours, piles of rubbish that had just been dumped on the floor in the car park, and broken pieces of glass and brick a brack, could possibly have the beautiful beach that it had been described as having, but once we got through the sad looking town and car park area and down onto the beach I could finally see what people had been talking about. The sea was even better then expected: clean with an eye-catching light powdery blue colour which against the white sand looked very inviting.
And though the beach did have lots of beach clubs, restaurants and hotels alongside it, our beach resort Nena Beach, with it’s beachy bohemian good looks, decorated with wood in white and light natural colours with lots of comfortable looking private cabanas was most definitely the best of the lot. All in all, I was quite surprised how undeveloped this beach was as it was clearly very popular, but then I was still being surprised with Colombia, in particular with how underdeveloped the most expensive city in Colombia was (Cartagena) versus Medellin, which was much more developed in comparison.
Dinner cocktails at Candé Cochina
Beach Scammers
Not long after we’d locked our personal items away in the accompanying wooden chest that came with our cabana and been given a welcome cocktail, did two “beach sellers” approach my sister and I before I’d even gotten the chance to swig said cocktail, did they begin their tirade of sales spiel to try to convince us to try their beach massage services. I wasn’t in the least bit interested, but Josh and my sister were so they proceeded to prepare themselves for their 30 minute full body massages and then before I knew it another masseuse was upon me proclaiming the benefit of her massages and telling me that I was very stiff. Well yes I am very stiff because I’ve literally just arrived to the beach after an hours drive in a cramped mini-van and here you are harassing me before I’ve even had a chance to breathe! I haven’t had a chance to do the relaxation that I came to the beach for!
Unfortunately, this woman wouldn’t go away. As I’ve mentioned before, these people are very pushy and determined, and they can talk for Britain. No matter how many times you say “No Gracias” they just relentlessly bang on until you surrender. But I didn’t want a bloody massage from this woman because I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied at the end of it. I had been spoiled in Thailand, with having the best massage in the world (Thai Massage) from the women who do it the best, and having massages in Thailand is like a social activity, it’s as casual as you going to get your nails or hair done – men and women alike simply stroll into one of the many massage parlors on the highstreet, at breakfast lunch or dinner or even all three and get not only the cheapest massage you’ll ever get but the very best.
So having this predatory Colombian woman provide a massage on the beach, which I knew wasn’t going to rival that experience seemed pretty pointless to me, alas this woman was clearly so desperate to have me change my mind that she offered to give me a “demonstration”.
I didn’t want that either but she started massaging anyway. About 20 minutes in it occurred to me that this woman might be trying her bits, and continue massaging in the hope that at some point she could guilt me into paying for her services because she had been doing it for such a long time. In addition to the massage which was below par as expected, the woman kept on banging on to her masseuse mates who were massaging people near by. She simply wouldn’t shut up!
Any chance for relaxation was ended swiftly as she talked and cackled her way through her “professional work”, slathering on lots of watery feeling oil with no scent whatsoever as she went. The fact that this was supposed to be a professional enterprise on the beach was laughable. This woman was having a laugh! The massage felt like she was simply giving me a rub down, it was a tickle NOT a massage, infact I would have been surprised if she had any masseuse qualifications whatsoever.
Alas after 40 minutes of oily rubdowns it was clear to me that despite the incessant talking that i’d had to endure, and despite no skill being shown whatsoever in the task of massaging, and far too much low grade oil running down my back, I knew that this woman was expecting payment. When it eventually ended after about an hour, at pretty much the same time as did my sisters and Josh’s, all three masseuses were put their hands out demanding payment for the full hour. We’d all been duped. They as masseuse should have stopped massaging once the 30 minutes was up as was requested but they knew that we would have no idea when 30 minutes was up so they went on until they could fleece us for the full hours fee. What bitches!
Arguing with them in Spanish wasn’t an option and in some ways unfortunately I wasn’t in the least bit surprised with their shady antics. The Colombian people of Cartagena had unfortunately been exhibiting some very shady behaviours in our encounters with them since we’d arrived I was afraid to say.
Needless to say after that encounter, I didn’t feel in the least bit relaxed.
Lunch was delicious though, a combination of locally caught fresh fish (that had been fried as the Colombians love frying things!), with coconut rice, plantain and salad (a staple Colombian meal really). But the fish I’d never tasted before and it reminded me very much of fried chicken, lol.
Beach sellers were a big (and very annoying) problem. Of course I know that in many parts of the world this is very much a thing on the beach but Colombians, particularly those in Cartagena, are noisy people. They talk loudly, talk to you even when you are clearly not interested in hearing what they have to say, talk at you, after you and goodness knows what about, and they bother you incessantly. These beach sellers were no different and coupled with the fact that we were all still seething from the encounter with the scam artist massage ladies on the beach, and the strong smell of petrol fumes coming from the many jet ski’s that were zooming through the sea close to us, it was becoming increasingly harder to relax.
So we went for a walk but that wasn’t very relaxing either as people were playing music at full blast through their very distorted speakers and talking loud enough to be heard on the neighbouring island. All I wanted was a bit of peace and quiet on a beautiful Caribbean beach but I was being treated to something else entirely. Eventually things quietened down a bit and I was able to have a snooze on my very comfortable cabana bed and go for a swim in the inviting sea. Unfortunately on my first attempt I lost my sunglasses as I ducked down to avoid being blasted in the face by on oncoming wave and they were consequently ripped off my face in one swift motion and none of us could find them after that.
I hadn’t really enjoyed being in the sea anyway as there were very big rocks on the sea bed and despite the light blue colour of the water, you couldn’t actually see your feet (perhaps because of the chemicals from the jet ski’s?) and thus I was tripping over the rocks, almost stubbing my toes. No, the best place for me was actually back in the safety and comfort of Nena Beach, where I could at least sit on one of the wooden swings at the front of the raised restaurant looking out at what looked very beautiful but also had a few undesirables lurking within.
I had enjoyed myself at Playa Blanca but had no plans to come back due to the annoying beach sellers and the intense smell of petrol fumes that permeated the air almost making me gag.
Beach Loveliness on Playa Blanca
Relaxavous for two
Nena Beach Club
There are infact no mosquitoes or cockroaches in Cartagena. I know, I’m as surprised as you are but honestly I haven’t seen any cockroaches (though I have seen a couple of beetles), and I haven’t been bitten by any mosquitoes. In Medellin it was the same but here I assumed that it would be different because of the climate, which is extremely hot and humid, alas I am pleased to say that we have had the pleasure of being able to leave our windows and sliding doors to our balcony open all hours of the day and throughout the night because of our confidence that there are no lurking beasts here to venture in.
I have been especially happy that I haven’t had any mosquito bites to attend to as I am allergic to mosquito bites and it can be get pretty bad for me, and was particularly bad in Brazil. I’m sure this won’t last forever though, as we have booked a couple of days in Palomino, which is also on the coast of Colombia and I’ve been reliably informed that they definitely DO have mossies. But for now I’m revelling in my good fortune!
My sister has now left Colombia and flown to Curacao, a little island in the Caribbean. We got to spend lots of quality time together in Colombia so I’m not sad she’s gone and of course I will see her again when I (unfortunately) return to the UK! 😦
My sisters last night with us in Colombia
#thethreeamigos
Honk Honk!
These people are crazy, that’s all I can say. I do not know what on earth is wrong with them but their low down behaviour and scam artist tactics is so predictable that it’s become the norm. I hate using the local taxi service here because of this but as my sister lives 10 minutes away from us and the walk from ours to hers is through a very undesirable area (aka stab alley territory), we thought it would be safer for us all if after a night out we all jumped into a taxi from the old town and then went via ours to drop us off first before driving onto hers, however these taxi drivers seem determined to try and scam us, with every trip home, the same distance and to exactly the same addresses (which are basically walking distance), charging us wildly differing prices for the trip. They have no metres in their cars so it is is very easy for them to do this, and the worst thing is that they do not even know where they are going!
They charge obscene prices for going a few metres down the road, and sometimes do not even give back change, or in the case of my sister, give her the wrong (lower value) note back as change. They are thieves! Plain and simple. It pains me to say this as I do not wish to think of the Colombian people in this way but unfortunately each trip of them has shown that this kind of low down culture permeates as they all do it!
They overcharge, give you back the wrong change – all whilst clearly knowing that we are tourists and can’t really speak the language so they are clearly doing it on purpose which is disgusting! And if you thought they would redeem themselves with knowing where they are going then think again because they haven’t got a clue! They are asking us (tourists) for directions! – They don’t use sat navs (I don’t think they’ve even heard of a sat nav) and they don’t use maps either, they just expect you to direct them to where you want to go and then overcharge you for the privilege!
The last straw was when my sister took a taxi to the airport. Sick to the back teeth of using their crooked service she used the app Cabbify to book a taxi instead but then one of the “local” taxi’s turned up! So even when you try in earnest NOT to use them you fail as they are signed up to this app too. Bloody buzzards. Anyway she had prepaid the journey as the app (much like Uber though Uber is now banned in Colombia) is connected to her credit card, but when the driver arrived at the airport he demanded payment from her!
She paid because she was in a rush and didn’t in that moment remember to check her account to show him that she had infact already paid plus she didn’t want to have to try and argue with this abominable man in Spanish but it turns out that of course she had already paid and he would have known that. These people are shoddy beyond belief!!
The bus drivers and taxi drivers honk their horns at you as you walk down the street, motor cyclists beep, locals shout out of their car windows, cyclists ring their bells, men driving the horse carriages yell – it’s all too much honky honk lark if you ask me!
In addition to the questionable taxi behaviours (which it seems as though anyone can qualify to do so long as they can afford to buy the car!), the honking of car and motorbike horns on the road in general is VERY frequent and VERY noisy. They honk their horns so often for no apparent reason that I’m genuinely worried that I’ve come so disensitised to it that if anyone honks their horn at me in the UK I won’t react and possibly cause an accident!
It also seems as though the men here are on heat, with the most filthy kind of lustful looks cast my way that I’ve seen outside of Italy. Shameful. Disrespectful (as they can clearly see that I’m with Josh but they don’t care), and they are very vocal about their approval too. The level of the men here I’m afraid to say is very low. I doubt very much that they have anything of substance to say judging by the way that they behave and it’s such a shame because I still think that Cartagena is a very beautiful and romantic place. It has such a character about it. The way the light hits the walled city, and sunsets at Cafe Del Mar is really something to behold. And there are so many places we continue to discover.
Places that you wouldn’t expect, hidden away in the maze of roads in the walled city, behind iron gates and heavy intricate wooden doors. And then there’s the music, so good it makes your heart sing and your feet move. The feeling of being in Colombia is strong and is what I love so much about this place. It is authentic, with beautiful colonial buildings, salsa music drifting out of the flower filled balcony’s littering the old town, such energy and fun. But it’s also very dirty and more rundown then I would reasonably expect a UNESCO heritage city to be, extremely busy, the taxi drivers are crooks, and it’s quite sleazy and very hassley with a distinct air of desperation and aggression coming from many of the street sellers who hang around on the street corner. So, not all perfect!
Windswept on the wall
The Coronavirus virus has been spreading rapidly in all parts of the world, including in South America, where there has now been one death in Brazil. Now the prediction of how bad things are going to be as time goes on seems much more certain and as a result people have began to panic. According to the news, shelves have started to empty back in the UK with people walloping other shoppers over the head with the last packs of toilet roll no less! It’s things like this that make human beings, already predisposed to selfish behaviours, even more so, and their nasty, selfish reactions to this crisis has already began to show.
This is despite the UK being far behind in comparison to the rest of Europe and Italy in particular which has been suffering badly with the pandemic, quarantining whole villages and closing schools. And who knows whether the same will happen in the UK? – All I know is I’m glad to be out of it.
At present, South America is far behind in comparison when it comes to Covid 19 cases. Colombia doesn’t appear to even be aware that there’s a worldwide pandemic going on and infact they don’t even have the sanitiser gel that the World Health Authority have been telling people they need to be using, infact I don’t even think they even know what hand sanitiser is! So we are without any anti-bacterial gel or wipes out here but then at the same time I’m not worried about catching it here anyway. When we leave here to go to Miami now, that might be a different matter!
And of course there’s always the possibility that we will be quarantined on our cruise ship like the other 2 cases that I’ve heard of. But even Amazon is low on stocks for the gel and the ones that are available have been hiked up to 10 times the price. Josh and I have seriously considered making our own with a mixture of 60% + alcohol and Aloe Vera Gel – or failing that we’ve even thought about using Sexual Lubricant since that has alot of Glycerin in it, another ingredient that can be used! lol
Vera at the Tcherassi Spa and Hotel
We had previously passed the Tcherassi Spa and Hotel on one of our strolls around the city. It had immediately stood out because of it’s mysterious air and beautiful smell wafting out of it. You entered through a beautiful latticed iron wrought gate and gigantic wooden door and beyond that was a light and airy courtyard with a running waterfall and glorious looking pool set against a living plant wall. The owner of the restaurant Silvia Tcherassi, is a highly regarded Colombian fashion designer and this hotel, her very first one in the city where she was born, is regarded as being one of the very best in the world according to Condé Nast Traveller. Naturally, I just had to go!
We booked a table in their Italian restaurant Vera and I wore my fancy Havaianas as I didn’t think I could face walking the streets of Cartagena in heels but I brought my heels in another bag just incase as I knew that it was a very fancy establishment. Thankfully they were okay with my footwear and showed us straight away to a table overlooking the pool area in the gorgeous courtyard. I loved the lovely stone walled courtyard, filled with greenery and flowers. There are so many of them in Cartagena and it’s something that only places with a reliable amount of sunny days can pull off. The floors were cream marble of the highest quality, the furniture was rattan, suiting the tropical Caribbean environment perfectly.
Beside the long pool was the stunning plant wall which clearly was being pampered very well indeed to keep it looking so immaculate. White walls all around, open in the middle to allow the sky in, the intimate tables with their immaculate white table clothes looked very elegant against the beautiful exposed brick arches they were underneath. A simple cream rose decorated each table. Design wise this was very us. Both Josh and I thought it was gorgeous. Unsurprisingly being that this hotel was the namesake of a designer, the decor had been very well thought out and it’s simple but classic elegance was very romantic.
The service matched in professionalism and warmth and the food came out promptly and was both delicious and creatively presented. There was a live salsa band there too, where we were sitting it was a little awkward to see them as one of the beautiful stone pillars was right in front of our table but they sounded fantastic so I found it hard to eat without jiggling about in my seat. We would most definitely return with no hesitation!
Tcherassi Spa and Hotel
Beautiful interiors at Vera Restaurant
Sated 🙂
The following day we dined at Alma, one of Cartagena’s fanciest seafood restaurants (with a price to match!). The food was very good but unfortunately the restaurant was full of loud Americans who can’t seem to keep their conversation level to just their table -they have to advertise their whole life story for the whole restaurant to hear!
Tomorrow we’re off to the beach resort of Palomino for 5 days 🙂
Art on a plate at Alma Restaurant
The Life and Times of Miss Jackson 