Nov 8, 2017
1/25/2014 - Photo of León Boyer. The statue is located in Plaza de Francia, Casco Antiguo, Panama City, Panama. Photograph by Cristian Landero
seen from France
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1/25/2014 - Photo of León Boyer. The statue is located in Plaza de Francia, Casco Antiguo, Panama City, Panama. Photograph by Cristian Landero
Las Bóvedas, Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena 8/12/2011 - 8/14/2011
Well, it's arrived; our last full day here in Colombia. While it feels like we just got to Colombia it somehow feels like we've been down here for an incredibly long time.
After having a great deal of rain on Friday morning things cleared up toward the afternoon. We took that opportunity to head back into the old city and check out Las Bovedas. Las Bovedas were former holding cells/a dungeon used by the Spanish to hold prisoners. Now the entire structure has been turned into a huge craft market.
From there we wandered some more through the old city (it never gets old) before heading over to Plaza San Pedro for a healthy bout of people watching. After getting our fill of observation we walked back to the hotel and got ready for dinner which took us right back to Plaza San Pedro. The night turned into a gorgeous one so we opted to dine at Cafe San Pedro (one of the hot spots to eat in the old city). Naturally we sat outside in the plaza with the facade of San Pedro church as our backdrop. It was spectacular and the food was brilliant.
Yesterday (8/13/2011) we got an early start and with no rain in sight we were at the docks to sail out to Playa Blanca by 9AM. Playa Blanca is easily the nicest beach in the region and is on the Baru peninsula near the Islas de Rosario national park (about a 20km sail, give or take, south of Cartagena). Generally the boats commissioned to sail you to Playa Blanca will first take you to an Aquarium, some of the other islands, and another stop or two before actually getting you to Playa Blanca in an effort to bleed as much money as possible out of you. Britt and I weren't having that and along with one other couple opted to go straight to Playa Blanca and bypass the rest. That said, we were on the beach by about 11:15AM and not only got 2-3 hours more beach time than the other folks but it also meant that for those 2-3 hours the beaches were largely uncrowded (as all the boats literally follow the same beat meaning we were on the beach ahead of hundreds and hundreds of other folks). Well played by us. The only drawback to our time at Playa Blanca was the CONSTANT soliciting by locals peddling everything from jewelry to coconuts to on the spot massages. With not many other folks around initially that also meant that we were constantly the center of attention. While peddling various products and services is likely the only source of income for the locals, at times they weren't only annoying but downright aggressive and invasive. A number of times I literally had to tell women to get their hands off of me b/c i didn't want a massage. So did Brittni as well. These women were not playing around. Other than that, the beach was pristine and very relaxing.
Last night we took it easy for dinner and slummed it with empanadas. I pretty much never get tired of those delicious little items. Unsatisfied by our empanada snack, we joined some colombians at a local pizza shop for some pizza and beer while watching the U-20 colombian soccer teamn compted in the world cup trying to defeat mexico to advance to the semifinals. Again, colombia is hosting the tournament so it was a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, Colombia lost. Oh well. It was a pretty good run.
That pretty much does it for Colombia. It's back to the States early afternoon tomorrow. We have a long layover in Panama so maybe we'll add another country to the lineup on the way home. Needless to say, I truly truly enjoy it down here, especially Cartagena because of the diversity of the people, the weather of course, and just the overall vibe of the city. Given, we only scratched the surface of Colombia, which is pretty much the case any time you have a week or less in any given country, but it has been great from top to bottom. It's common knowledge that I love all things latin america but i think Colombia might rank near the top of my hierarchy of favorite latin american countries. That said, I'm pretty confident I'll/we'll be back here in the future.
As usual...a few pictures to follow.
Next up...Turkey in four days,