Cartagena and Playa Blanca

Cartagena is like a big box of watercolor paints. Plus, we are well protected from pirates.



See, back in the day Cartagena de la Indias was the plunder point for the conquistadors, where they stashed all their ill-gotten gains stolen from the indigenous folks around here. I suppose what goes around comes around, because once Sir Francis Drake and his pirate ilk got word of all the easy booty, Cartagena was besieged by swashbuckling, cutlass-swinging piratas. They built a huge wall around the city and like I said, the thing works and Cartagena has held onto it´s treasures ever since.



I´ve been reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez recently, Colombia´s most shining literary light, and Cartagena syncs nicely into the magical realism vibe. I half expect the winged horses guarding the harbor to take off and soar over the seafood cocktail stands and Technicolor colonial arquitecture, wouldn´t surprise me with some of the crazy things I´ve seen out here.



We´re staying on the main hooker throughfare, we landed during a famous film festival and we got to chew on coca leaves at the Guillermo Pineres Botanical Garden. They made our mouths numb. And finally, finally I saw a macaw. Three of them in fact, pets of the bot gar. They had potbellies and hung upside-down by one leg for us, silly billies.



We also put the daypacks back on for a bit of beach camping this week, two nights at Playa Blanca. White sand, turquoise waters and little hammock hostels and restaurants popping up everywhere in a most low tech, Colombian way. Lots of time in the sun and Aguardiente-fish dinners.



Next stop, Medellin!