Cartegena

Dripping with old world culture, Cartegena is a city with a long and colourful history. From the days of the Spanish colonialists, pirates and privateers to its modern day resurgence as a tourist destination, it remains enchanting.

If Bogota was getting the facelift, Cartegena is being reborn. Restoration projects on parks, attractions and buildings are endless. The architecture has Bronwyn in a state of over excitement and she is continuously peering through cracks in doors and pretending to be a customer and the expensive boutique hotels and restaurants. We were invited into a home in the old city and were absolutely blown away by the other world inside the buildings. \most buildings have beautiful  inner courtyards that are surprisingly cool in the tropical humidity.

The charming city comes alive in the evening as locals and tourists alike take to the town for the party which seems to spill into the streets and seethes with a life of its own. The continuous offers of coceena reminds one that is indeed Colombia and that the white powder market here is one of the biggest illegal economies in the world.