CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA Travel Blog!
Happy New Year!!! YESSS It's 2020 and it's my first blog of the year!! SO excited for this year and hope you are too! Before the year ended, I GRADUATED from Grad School!! (Whoop Whoop!!) Of course, a trip was in order and I have heard so many great things about Cartagena....the culture, the history, the food and I definitely wanted to visit. We went for a total of 5 days, which was perfect, but I could have stayed longer Lol. Keep reading for our full itinerary and travel tips!
We flew Spirit (which was actually a great experience, no complaints) and stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Bocagrande. *TIP: $1.00 = 3,288 of the Colombian Peso, so Colombia is super affordable!* Anyways, I HIGHLY recommend the Hyatt Regency hotel. It was the perfect location in Bocagrande, which is a popular area for it's long, sandy beaches, dining scene, cafe's, and shopping. The hotel had all the bells and whistles, breakfast, infinity pool, and was walking distance to most of the restaurants and about 10 minutes away from the Walled City.
The Walled City should definitely be on your list of sites to see! It is an historic wall that surrounds old town Cartagena with colonial architecture, bars, restaurants, and of course the beautiful murals and Palenqueras.
We booked all of our excursions with Experience The Real Cartagena (Alex Rocha) ✊🏾 and they were amazing! They are a Black owned company and pride themselves in "Letting a Black Man teach you Black History" They offer tons of tours that all include lunch and history of Cartagena.
We went to Palenque, a town established by run away slaves with African roots where we learned about music, dance, culture and their way of living. We met with the locals, visited a dance school where the children danced for us, and learned about their history.
The tour also came with a delicious lunch! The traditional Colombian meal of Fried fish, coconut rice, plantains, and salad...DELICIOSO!
We also visited El Totumo Mud Volcano, and active mud volcano popular for its alleged healing. Great and weird experience! You bathe in the mud and can get a massage (or not) and are washed off by locals in the sea. Unfortunately the Pink Sea, which I wanted to see, was closed during our visit, but the tour usually visits it as well.
*TIP: Hopefully your bargaining skills are good, EVERYTHING is negotiable and you will be approached multiple times to buy things, etc. The best way to say no is "No Gracias". *
And Yes, Colombia is a Spanish speaking country, so I would brush up on your Spanish as well! Other tours they offer are a Party Bus and a Boat tour, unfortunately we did not have enough time (sad face) Will do next time!
The Palenqueras are colorfully dressed women who historically commuted to Cartagena from Palenque to sell candy and fruit. Today, they thrive off tourism and are an iconic symbol of Cartagena, highly respected, hard-working women that represent strength and resilience in Afro-Colombian heritage.
Cartagena is a beautiful city, full of life! I cannot wait to go back! Explore the city, eat, drink, meet the locals, and soak in all the culture this beautiful city has to offer.
Cartagena is a beautiful city, full of life! I cannot wait to go back! Explore the city, eat, drink, meet the locals, and soak in all the culture this beautiful city has to offer.
Thank you for stopping by! I had an amazing time and encourage everyone to TRAVEL the WORLD. There is so much to see and appreciate about other cultures!
Travel leaves you Speechless, Then turns you into
a Story Teller - IBN Battuta
Thank you for reading!
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