Beautiful Cartagena

What could be more appealing than a cute colonial city of colorful bouganvilleas, pastel colored houses with wrought iron balconies on cobblestone streets? Than a turquiose Caribbean sea sighing against white coral beaches reflecting the heat of a tropical sun? Than a history of pirate attacks, for which a great fortified wall and cannons between the ramparts were built, and a treacherous manmade reef sunk at the mouth of the bay?

Cartagena was everything a beautiful colonial city by the sea that I expected. Along the coast was the modern city and at its shore, a long white beach. It was the kind of beach I thought was nice enough to be packed on weekends, but today it was quiet, with swimmers and sun-worshippers spread sparsely along it. There was no esplanade of restaurants or cafes as I expected there to be, but lunch at a sandy kitchenette was more than satisfactory, if a little expensive.

Outside of Cartagena was Volcan de Totumo, one of the most popular tourist sights to visit. Totumo is a small mud volcano, where you climb the wooden steps to its rim and descend into the practically bottomless crater filled with a fine grey mud. It was so dense that it was difficult to sink deeper than your chest, but such a strange experience. Afterwards, mud people emerged from the volcano to go for a dip in the convenient nearby lagoon. For a small tip, a lady helped me wash the mud from my braids and clothes. At one point, I was completely naked in the murky water as my clothes were rinsed, and felt utterly like a baby in a laundry tub while water poured over my head from a small jug.

That tour was worth the experience, but one that I would not recommend was the tour to Playa Blanca. Much of the day was spent sitting in a big slow boat while the crew attempted to entertain the passengers. Okay, so the local tourists were amused, but we few gringos were quietly bored. The first stop to the acuarium was too expensive to be worthwhile, I thought, and when we arrived at Playa Blanca, we had only two hours left of the day to spend there before the journey back. Having said that, lunch was pretty good and if you can ignore the incredible number of tourists and inexperienced jetski riders among the swimmers, Playa Blanca was an idyllic Caribbean beach. Coconut palms on white sand, crystal clear turquoise water. Just go on your own and take a fast boat to get there.