Venturing Into: Cartagena - The colonial jewel of the Colombian Caribbean

Highlights

- Wandering streets of Old Town is very beautiful: colourful, flowers everywhere

- Generally speaking the OT is in pretty good condition

- Old style buildings/colonial 

- Walkable due to small size, nice to wander around and get lost in

Lowlights

- Touristy: not a real sample of Colombia, everywhere inside the old town is a business, nobody lives there so it loses local feeling

- Expensive for Colombia

Cartagena was the first stop on our South American journey. This was for a number of reasons... it's EXTREMELY touristy so provided a nice landing spot to get our bearings, it is highly recommended as one of the most beautiful spots in the country, and it has excellent transport connections both internationally and internally. In summary, it didn't disappoint! 

The Old Town is the touristy part of the city and still sits within the old city fortifications. This, we learned, is barely populated by Colombians, but consists almost entirely of hotels, hostels, Airbnbs, restaurants, shops, bars... Like I said, EXTREMELY touristy. In this area we felt totally safe, there is a strong (but not overbearing) police presence in the busiest areas, not to mention tourists everywhere. After having wandered the town for a day we felt comfortable taking the camera out and holding it in hand down the street. This isn't something that should be done in many other parts of Colombia and not even other parts of Cartagena but Old Town in many ways doesn't really feel like part of the rest of the country. 

Visible in the distance from the Old Town walls is Boca Grande, a sprawling metropolis, seeming more like a Miami skyline than that of an old colonial port. During our free walking tour, the guide told us that the Old Town is such a hub of tourism that street vendors will come from locations hours away very early in the mornings whenever a cruise ship is in town. There is therefore a plethora of street vendors of all types littered throughout the town offering traditional pastries and Arepas, fresh fruit, juices, artwork, jewellery and all with such an abundance of colour that coming from the grey English winter we felt like those recordings of the first televised transitions from greyscale into colour TV! There are also countless Palenqueras walking down the streets often carrying fruit on their heads in traditional basket weaves. These are not necessarily for sale though, their real trade is in photos with tourists for which they charge around 5 thousand COP per person. Almost every street in the Old Town is like a postcard, the one and two storey buildings painted every colour, the upper balconies creating a stunning frame around the bustling streets, bright vibrant flowers highlighting against the old white wooden structures. We couldn't recommend more than simply wandering around the town "getting lost". This was probably Nick's highlight of our time in Cartagena, with no shortage of photo opportunities! 

External and adjacent to the Old Town is Gestemani, a neighbourhood which our walking tour guide informed us was built for the lower-class in antiquity. The entire area has a totally different yet equally vibrant feel to it. Street art and colourful sun-catching displays hanging from between the buildings betrayed the claustrophobic narrow streets' grittier feel. We would absolutely recommend visiting Gestemani as it is beautiful and filled with no end of bars, restaurants and art to marvel at. HOWEVER... we would suggest leaving the area before dark. The narrow streets make potential ambushes far easier and were told as much not only by our walking tour guide but by other guests on our boat tour who had been threatened by a gang forcing them to pay "protection money" the previous night. They thankfully emerged from the experience undeterred and unharmed but caution should be exercised in Gestemani. If Old Town is an island of its own inside Colombia, Gestemani is a middle ground of ultra-touristy but still requiring common sense, a 360 degree radar and should most likely be avoided at night especially by solo travellers (the group we met that had been accosted were 3 very large and tall men).

Later in the week we spent most of a day on a boat tour of the Rosario Islands. We were taken to 5 of the islands with some measure of activity on each. We paid approximately £65 per person which was a sizeable chunk of our budget and we came back with mixed feelings from it. We loved the time on the boat, the heat broken by the cool sea air whipping through us as we sped through the waves. Nick was unfortunate to be sat on the one seat that received the most splash much to the amusement of everyone on the boat and his regret and having not chosen to wear a swimsuit from the off but this could not dampen our spirits. The islands themselves were fine. The first stop was at an old fort with a local guide recanting the history of it's defence of the city, The fort was well preserved and contained an excellent model of an old galleon which we both appreciated however it was somewhat underwhelming when compared with those we have seen in other parts of the world so would not alone constitute in our opinion a sufficient reason to go on the tour. The remaining islands were essentially a variety of beaches broken up by a brief snorkelling opportunity. The beaches were very picturesque and would have made a very nice day trip in their own right (although everything must be paid for in cash and prices are predictably higher than on the mainland). The snorkelling however was quite brief and not centred around anything particularly interesting to view, some small coral and fish which although pleasant was again underwhelming. Nick couldn't help making comparisons against a similar tour he did in Croatia which he felt utilised the time and activities better. There was nothing wrong with any particular aspect of this tour, it was all pleasant and a nice day out from Cartagena however we were not blown away by any part of it. The lowlight was undoubtedly the "party island" visit in which we were placed on a standing table in the water with a parasol which snapped in half in the wind exposing us to the direct sun for 40 minutes or so (we ended up... singed). We would recommend this tour for anyone who is happy to expand on a shoestring budget, the best way to maximise the experience being to buy drinks at the various locations which, although not expensive by European standards, do amount to more than we were willing to spend on a single day activity. 

All in all we really enjoyed our time in Cartagena, the 5 days or so we spent there a perfect amount of time to see everything at a leisurely pace and relax. It is easy to imagine Cartagena being talked about in the near future as a massive tourist destination as so much is already in place and will only continue to grow. It has a little bit of everything to offer whilst being a very safe gateway to the rest of the country. 

CARTAGENA AT A GLANCE

Accommodation

Easy to find, a very large number of hotels, hotels, airbnbs for all price ranges.

Transport

Well connected by an airport and is a regional transport hub, buses to various nearby towns and cities. Everything inside Old Town & Gestemani walkable and safe (except Gestemani at night).

Affordability 

Abundance of food, drink, cafes, but expensive for colombia, expect European prices. Rosario islands prices more expensive and requires cash payments but you can avoid this by taking your own drinks on your tour. The tour itself is not excessively expensive for an all day tour.

Safety

Excellent in the old town, lots of police around and felt totally safe to go out alone in the evenings. Held camera in hand down the street as did many tourists around the old town. Gestemani much narrower streets and stories from fellow tourists of being surrounded by a gang and forced to pay "protection" money - don't go after dark.

Activities

Plenty of free walking tours regarding the city, Street art. More paid tours regarding the history of slavery and local indigenous communities. Delightful to wander the streets and check out the shops, restaurants, bars, art stalls, fun to get lost in, almost every street is beautiful. Rosario islands tour is a nice day out, reasonably affordable, nice beaches.

Tips/key takeaways

Very hot but nice breeze in early months of the year, next to no mosquitos so bring airy clothing and sun protection.