¡Ay Colombia!

It seems like forever since I (Bill) have written a blog and I've missed consolidating our experiences and putting them in words. We've had a bunch of great experiences since Hong Kong and we really are in a different world now.

Dinner in the street thanks to some pedestrian-only areas

After leaving Hong Kong we headed back to the US for some great time with family and friends. It was almost difficult getting back on the road after having a little taste of home, almost, well... really given the adventures that lie ahead it wasn't even close!

High rise area of Cartagena

Old City Cartagena

Lovely building in the old city with wonderful flowers

Cartagena, Colombia isn't probably the first travel destination on the minds of most Americans but perhaps it should be for those that escape the winter year after year to overrun Caribbean resorts that cater to American tourists.

Warm sunny beaches in the winter with no people

Colombia has been quite safe for ages and with a newly signed peace treaty, Colombia's years of strife are officially in the rear view. Even the US State Department allows travel along the Caribbean coast for its employees who are more likely to be targets of crime than average US citizens. This is the area where we toured, and we really came for one reason: Kitesurfing!

A fellow paragliding student in Nepal tipped me off that a small town in Colombia had consistently strong wind, warm water and waves, all the perfect ingredients for great kitesurfing. I am a junkie for kitesurfing. I've always loved things that fly, when I was a kid I built many, many kites, I even glued popcorn to one kite in an attempt to make a bizarre seagull bird feeder. I also spent lots of time around water doing not just the garden variety things like kayaking, swimming, and whatever crazy things we could dream up, my brother and I built a diving bell, made a makeshift boat, and a plywood wakeboard among other water toys. Peer pressure makes many people give up the fun things of their youth for more dignified prospects. With kitesurfing I get to combine several treasures of my youth all at the same time and still have a chance to come off looking like an adult while doing so.

But before heading out to the small kitesurfing town we had a few days to explore Cartagena. 

Right away it is clear that we have been spoiled by our previous travels, Colombia is a Spanish speaking country and for many Colombians English words get barely a glimmer of understanding. Add to that, I was literally told in Barcelona that my "my Spanish was crap" and we're in deep trouble. It’s not quite as bad as it seems. I took the criticism to heart, we have been using some Spanish learning software and making modest progress. At this point when I'm able to stave off the urge to speak French I can get a few minor logistical things done, still it's pretty bad and understanding is even worse!

Nonetheless, we manage to see what Cartagena has to offer. Even before landing we learn that we've been pronouncing the name of the city wrong our whole lives. The end is more like henna than the heña that for some reason I thought it was and I've been saying to people leading up to the trip. So much to learn and we're not even started.

 

The imposing fort that lords over old city Cartagena, protecting the city

The walls of the old city along the sea front

Cartagena is right on the Caribbean sea. It was a Spanish port where all kinds of riches were taken from South America and shipped off to Europe. While the geography makes a fantastic natural port that is shielded from the open sea the port was hard to defend because it has several openings to the sea. After being sacked a few times over the years they built a wall around the city and a substantial fort on a hill just behind the city. The fort is a puzzle palace of various revetments and parapets facing in odd directions that would confuse the enemy and perhaps your own soldiers as well. Adding to the confusion the fort also has an extensive network of tunnels that join various parts. It was fun to tour through.

 

Views from the fort toward the high rise area

Guard tower in the fort

Looking up one of the many revetments

The old city wall now makes a great promenade to see the city and the sea. Within the city walls there are dozens of buildings that are brightly painted but with architecture that still echos the colonial roots of the town.

Gate through the city wall

They love their bright colors!

There is a gold museum that displays some of the gold that wasn't taken ages ago along with bits of evidence showing how the indigenous people lived before Europeans arrived, oh and its free with air conditioning!

Display in the gold museum

One interesting thing we noticed was that the Colombian people are incredibly diverse in race, we saw Colombians that were indistinguishable from the whitest Caucasian’s you'll will ever see, some that were as dark as the darkest African, some indigenous people and everything in between, pretty amazing diversity.

Graffiti in the Getsemani Neighborhood

Outside of the old city there was a range of spectacular graffiti in the Getsemi neighborhood where we stayed.

By then our time in Cartagena was coming to a close so we picked up our rental car and headed to Santa Veronica, northeast up the coast.

 

The finest rental car our budget could muster, yes it came with mismatched wheels...

We had quite a flattering moment at the car rental office. A very nice lady was there doing some translation for us and at the end she said that she wanted to let us know how different driving in Colombia was from the US. She went on to say that we should expect motorbikes on all sides and from all directions, aggressive drivers and all sorts of other indignities. I then told her that we both had driven in Mexico, at that she said, oh, never mind, have fun! And for the record the driving wasn't that bad although the car was every penny of the turd we paid for.

 

Sunset over the beach in Santa Veronica

We arrived in Santa Veronica and we were greeted with unbelievable wind. It was strong enough to shake the windows through the night; sadly it wasn't until our last night there that I figured out the right combination of things to jam around the sliding glass door to make it quiet through the night.

Spectacular sunsets almost every day in Santa Veronica!!

But the wind was intense!

And the kitesurfing was amazing. I was on a much smaller kite, 1/3 the size of my San Diego kite and I still had plenty of power. It was fantastic. We didn't get many good pictures of me kitesurfing because, well, playing in that much wind was like learning all over again and I was generally a mess.

The kite spot on a busy day

After six days of kiting we headed further northeast up the coast to Santa Marta in search of new kitespots and new surroundings. Santa Marta delivered on graffiti as well:

More Colombian graffiti

No idea...

We didn't find much in the way of wind for kitesurfing we were pleased by a great hike in Tayrona National Park which got us our hiking fix in beautiful beach, lush jungle surroundings and very intense waves. Signs said that more than 100 people have drowned there due to the strong current. We just spent the day but you can also camp overnight. It was nice to see Colombia making a very genuine effort to set aside some land to preserve in a somewhat natural state.

 

Looking down the beach at Tayrona National park

Trail through the Tayrona Park

Leaf cutter ants in Tayrona

And we also visited the plantation where Simon Bolivar died along with a museum dedicated to the site. For me he was virtually unknown but we got a good bit of history and after checking up on Wikipedia he certainly lives up to the reputation of "South America's George Washington." As a military and political leader he inspired revolutions in modern day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and his namesake Bolivia. He was eventually ousted by a populist demagogue (someone who simply tells the people what they want to hear rather than the truth) and much of South America has struggled to institute stable democracies since then. Despite his huge accomplishments Bolivar died penniless.

 

The bed where Simon Bolivar died,

We went shopping as we always do and we found it amusing that in Colombia anything that is in liquid form comes in bags, water, ketchup, mayonnaise, even milk. 

This is milk, in bags...

Condiments... in bags...

Despite the past Colombia seems to be doing well and things should continue to get better in this country. Columbia should be on the standard list of Caribbean escape locations from the cold North American Winter.

Next up a sailing to Panama!