At Land's End

It’s been a busy week here in Colombia: a new president was sworn in, a war with Venezuela was avoided (for the moment), a car bomb exploded in the capital, a prominent politician was either executed or kidnapped in Medellin, a major airline was struck by lightning and broke into three pieces but managed to save all but one of the 121 passengers, and yours truly arrived at the Caribbean sea after ten months of snaking my way up the South American continent from Ushuaia.

THE CARIBBEAN!

I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to cover a continent from one end to the other, but now I am quite positive that it feels hot; it is a heat that is both sweaty and sticky, like a sugary popsicle melted over the counter-top. I could be sweating from the emotions of finally making it to the Caribbean, but I reckon it is just the damn weather here in Cartagena. There is no respite, twenty four hours a day of sweat….but you, kind reader, will take solace in the knowledge that I am replacing my liquids (although, I am not all that sure that ice cold Club Colombia is very hydrating).

Cartagena lives up to its reputation as a beautiful city. In many ways it is reminiscent of Havana or Santo Domingo because of the similarity in the architecture, especially the massive stone walls and fortresses constructed by the Spanish to ward off those nagging pirates, such as Francis Drake.

A typical street view in Cartagena

Aside from the inferno that they call ‘weather’ here and the architecture, there is also a similarity in the people here with the rest of the Caribbean…that being that the people here more resemble other locales in El Caribe rather than Bogotá or Medellin. MaraLuz assures me that the accents here also resemble other Caribbean Spanish accents rather than other Colombian accents…I’m taking her word on that.

Overall, Cartagena is a city of leisure…if for no other reason than that it is too hot to do anything. It encourages sidewalk cafes and a midday beer or two and boasts a varied, though expensive, cuisine. Moreover, it is said that there are some wicked beautiful islands around here to visit…but I got my eyes set on the Totumo mud volcano. What can beat a refreshing dip in a live volcano bubbling with silky mud…who needs to spend money in a day spa when you have detoxifying mud? Paradise in the form of mud!