Cartagena, Colombia

Hubby and I chose Cartagena as our honeymoon destination not because it's at the top of our travel list but because after a wedding in Hawaii, we didn't exactly have a lot left in the budget for a grand honeymoon. We wanted a tropical place yet exotic so after a long research we decided on Cartagena because it has both gorgeous beaches and a rich history. Flying to Cartagena was a pain but I will not bore you with the details. Let's just say that we had to fly back home from Hawaii and then get right back on another flight straight to south America but there were a lot of missed flights before this could happen. We flew United Airlines from Newark to Panama, a 5 hour flight but the only complimentary thing we were offered was water, juices or soda. Then flew Copa airlines from Panama to Cartagena, a 46 minute flight however the service was not even comparable to United as we were served a sandwich and unlimited drinks including booze. Boarding this flight I was afraid they wouldn't speak any English especially after they initially told us they only had the immigration arrival cards in Spanish. We had to beg the attendant to go and look for an English version. He said the only ones in English they had are old and not part of their recent updates. We took them anyway. Super quick flight. We arrived around 11pm and it seemed like we were the last flight to arrive. We had to walk down the stairs of the plane straight into the immigration line. The officers seemed nice and worked at a good pace. They asked standard questions and also whether or not you have been to any of the ebola infected countries. I tripped up a bit when it was my turn and started stuttering but I quickly redeemed myself. Lol I wasn't trying to get denied.

We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The taxi driver didn't speak a lick of English. But for some reason we trusted that he would be honest and take us to the right place after showing him the name of the hotel. We were staying at hotel Torre del Reloj, a 10 minute drive from the airport but trust me we were also following the route on our phones. Cartagena reminds me so much of Africa. For a second there I thought I was in Accra except they had far more paved roads so it was too good to be true lol.

We arrived at the hotel safe and sound...Thank God! He quoted us the price in Spanish and with the little Spanish that I understand I thought it was too much so we took him to the hotel receptionist to confirm if it's the standard rate. He said it was fine. We paid him 12000 pesos which amounts to about $3. Checked into the hotel okay. It's a very basic hotel, you have a bed, bathroom and a tv. That's it! Nothing fancy although it was listed as a 4 star hotel. (Side eye) We decided to come out and explore some street foods after refreshing up. The hotel is located within plaza de Los Coches, framed by Torre del Reloj (Clock tower) and Clock gate, hence the name. This area is sort of like the city center. First, let me explain how the city is broken down, Cartagena is like Marrakech. There is an old city and a new city. The old city is walled with ancient walls sort of like old Marrakech (The walls were built to protect them from their enemies) and that is pretty much where all the action is and everything outside the walls are considered to be in new city.

We found a kebab stand right next to the hotel and a drink cart next to it. We ordered two kebabs and 2 beers.

I then noticed that they were lots of women lined up on the street dressed in very scandalous clothing. It still did not occur to me that they were working until while we were seated in the square enjoying our kebabs and beers when two women got up and walked in front of us and gave my hubby a signal to follow them. I was like...oooh these are prostitutes. We finished our kebabs and went back to place another order...while there hubby told me that another girl walked by and pitched his butt. I was standing right there!! These promiscuous chicks have no shame. After that, that's all I could see as they kept walking by. I saw some foreigners walking away with these chicks. I was just shaking my head. I didn't expect this at all. I was overwhelmed and couldn't wait to leave for the islands tomorrow. We decided to go back into the hotel and go to their rooftop nightclub instead. Afterall, there wouldn't be this many of them up there.

The ambiance at the club was very sexy and inviting but it was completely empty. The music was good but we were the only ones there. Every now and then people would pop in but would leave a few minutes later but I guess that's typical for a Tuesday night. We could see the prostitutes and some tourists on the streets from the rooftop. It was better looking at them from the top than being down there with them lol. After a couple drinks we decided to call it a night as we had plans to get to the island tomorrow.

Breakfast was included with our stay so we woke up early to eat. The breakfast attendant didn't speak English. ..here I was trying to remember all my Spanish I learned from Rosetta stone 5 years ago. I was able to order by using some basic words and sign language. Food was okay.

So our plan for the day was to explore a bit then head to the pier to catch the boat to Isla Rosario (our home for the next 2 nights). Hubby all of a sudden decided to tell me that the pick up time to the island was supposed to be at 8am that morning but since they drop off the day trippers to the mainland at 4pm, we can get away with going back with them at 4pm. I told him it doesn't work that way so we need to call and ask if that could be done. At this point, we had missed the morning boat. Each time we called the resort, a lady who spoke no English picked up and hung up because she couldn't understand us. Hubby met a guy earlier who spoke perfect English claiming to be a tour guide so we decided to get him to help us out. We had him call and explain to them that we wanted to come on the afternoon boat but they said they only had one departure from a mainland daily and that was the one we missed. We explained to him that we had to check out of our hotel today and had booked them for 2 nights so they had to get us there. Our tour guide, JC, told us that he could get us on a boat there but it would cost us extra. We didn't have any choice so we agreed and went and got our belongings. The pier was walking distance from where we were so we walked with JC. We were met by woman who spoke no English and was speaking very fast Spanish to JC in what seemed like an annoyed tone. We thought the boat would be waiting for us there but instead she led us away from the pier. JC kept saying that since we missed the boat, they had to get us on another boat under the table. Lol smh we followed them to the other side of the water where an unmarked boat with passengers in it already pulled up. The boat pulled as close to the sidewalk as it could without completely docking and we were asked to get on quickly. About 10 other ppl came out of nowhere and got on too. It reminded me of Ghana so much. We were all given a life vest and then we took off immediately. Everything happened so fast I was overwhelmed. Wow! We left JC and the woman behind. Here I was just praying they would take us to Isla Rosario as planned. Stay tuned!

#Colombia #SouthAmerica