Cartagena

The last 10 days of our Colombian adventure were along the Caribbean coast. We flew into Cartagena -

This is the clock tower on the old city walls (in the morning)…

… and the evening. It is VERY hot and humid here during the day (90 degrees and 80+% humidity), so everybody gathers after the sun goes down.

We escaped to the Rosario Islands which are about an hour’s boat ride SW of the city. We got some interesting pics on our way out (both of buildings and of boats)…

… as well as just the sense of lines of condos -

I actually took very few pictures while on the island because we just basically hung out…

… read, and enjoyed the solitude.

view from our bungalow

Steve enjoyed watching the drink vendor who, while wielding his machete for drink preparation on the canoe, was very careful to avoid stepping on the resort’s private beach.

Once back in Cartagena, we went out early while it was still sorta cool…

… to wander the streets…

… and check out daily life…

… admiring the fruit…

… and the door knockers…

… and doors…

(did you notice the “human sized” doors within the massive ones?)

This was actually a working door knocker, and my favorite! -

As the morning wore on, the streets definitely got busier…

… so we retreated to the park across the street from our Airbnb, which had monkeys (Cotton-top Tamarins)…

… and a sloth!! (in the middle of the city!)

Did you find it?

This was WAY better than the Amazon in Peru! :)

The parrots and parakeets were unbelievably noisy (but pretty)-

The next morning, we wandered along the walls of the old city…

… which had nothing on the walls of Avila, Spain, but the juxtaposition with the new city was kinda neat:

… as well as being right on the coast -

We found a Botero sculpture (remember those from Medellin?), in front of a church!

And then we wandered into the more “artsy” area, just outside of the old city…

… with great murals…

… colorful buildings…

… and artists displaying their work -

Okay… we’re finished for today.