Cartagena

The flight from Panama City to Cartagena was much different than I´m used to. The people who checked me in when I arrived at the airport were also out directing the plane as it taxied. It was a 2 prop plane that carried about 35 people.

Now Columbia has by far more problems with terrorism than any other country in the Americas. You would think that the door to to the cockpit would be locked as we are used to. It actually remained open and people were invited up for a look. Security is in perspective in Columbia. Everyone went through security - no guns or knives. If someone wanted to take the cockpit or even a few people, the would have about 30 more to deal with.

A really cute girl, Jenny sat beside me and we talked. The conversation lead to the fact that I only had $50 for 2 days until the banks open and she offered to let me stay in her house. I took that offer.

The first night I was really tired but she wasn´t. She went out partying, leaving me alone which I felt pretty strange about. There was music blasting from next door and a couple of other houses all night. I didn´t know if she was going to come back with some friends to rob me or what was going on. At 7am, she came home drunk and asked me to come out and meet her neighbours. I don´t know how many shots of rum I did that morning, but Jenny passed out and I stayed and talked with her friends until about noon.

It was pretty strange to be in a middle class neighbourhood and loud music being blasted until noon. We weren´t the only party either. As it turned out, there was always music being blasted and always at least 2 parties per block, no matter what time of day. It was a really safe neighbourhood too. I didn´t see one person to worry about the whole time I was there.

Jenny woke me up with some fantastic food. She is such an amazing cook. Every morning started with a large fruit salad of a quality impossible to find in Canada. The money I saved on hotels and food went to us going to a different beach every day. There is an archipelago just offshore of Cartagena and it has lots of beaches - some larger than others.

Playa Blanca was one of the nicest beaches I have seen. It had Caribbean white sand and lots of little restaurants and the odd tent for rent. There was no electricity there which was fine as it was a full moon. The restaurants all used wood to cook which gave the fish and rice a really nice flavour.

All of the beaches had a unique character. The last one we went to was really small and nice. It had one restaurant and we were the only tourists there. Everyone else was there for substance farming or fishing. Some guys were fishing with dynamite. The water was super clean.

I got to love Columbia even more this time. The best thing about Columbia is the service. Sometimes it is a little pushy but if you want something, you can always get it fast and it will come to you. Even in the residential areas, there are constantly people walking around, selling fruit, coffee, smokes, beer, CDs, you name it. This is true in other Latin countries too, but in Columbia, there is way more of it.

The people in Columbia are fantastic. There are so many friendly people it is hard to believe. It´s amazing how good looking they all are too. From young to old, they all look good. Sometimes I would look around, trying to find someone who didn´t look good. Women never go out in public without having spent a lot of time on themselves. When I had to go but a bus ticket to Caracas, Jenny spent about an hour, maybe more trying on different clothes and putting on makeup just to go to the bus station.

One other thing that was great about Columbia this time was that I didn´t spend much time in the tourist area. The entire time I was there, I only spoke English for about 5 minutes. My Spanish has improved, but it still has a long ways to go. Colombians are usually eager to meet a foreigner as there are so few, so they would often take the time to try to talk to me.

The buses are really cool. In Panama, they decorated the exterior of the buses, in Columbia it was the interior. Lots of curtains with lace. Often there would be kids toys hanging from the roof and pictures of a sports hero and usually a picture of Jesus. There would always be a driver and two helpers. The helpers would help with luggage, take money and hold ladies hands as the exit. Don´t worry about missing a bus here. If you are walking down the street, it will slow down and someone will yell the route out the window. The only drawback is that they are slow in the chaotic traffic. If you want to get there fast, you can weave in and out of the traffic on one of the many motorbike taxis.

Traffic in Cartagena is chaotic. There aren´t many rules and very few traffic lights. If you want to make a left turn in traffic, you inch out one car at a time. Don´t go too far at a time or you will get hit. Eventually you will make it far enough to block the left lane and then you can start looking the other way. People drive extremely aggressive yet they don´t go too fast and are always ready to slam on the breaks. Nasty words are often exchanged. It is about as masculine as driving can get. The only courtesy I really say was to the horses and donkeys with carts. I think that it is out of sympathy for the animal as everyone know that if it has to stop, it is hard for it to start again.

I had such a good time in Cartagena, I really didn´t want to leave. I ended up taking a 24 hour bus ride to Caracas at the last possible minute to catch my plane. If there was a way, I would have stayed longer but I am in debt and need to work. I should use that ski pass that I forked out over a grand for as well.