Mike had to go up to Cartagena for a ship visit so we tagged along. We had such a blast! The weather was HOT and the ocean and swimming pools were the perfect temperatures. Cartagena is one of Colombia's premier vacation spots, also making it very expensive. It's also a major cruise port. One of the coolest things about Cartagena is the old walled city built by the Spanish around the 16th century to keep out invadors. In 1984 the walled city and fortress were deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stayed the first 2 days a bit further out from the old city in the newly built resort area. The place we stayed at is called, "Las Americas." It's a gorgeous new hotel right on the ocean and has about 8 swimming pools.
The kids FAVORITE pool had a big slide! We spent most of the two days at the hotel there.
On our second day we found out the ship visit was canceled so Mike ended up being able to spend the whole time with us. Unfortunately this also meant that we had to pay for our hotel the last 2 nights. In Cartagena this is very expensive! Especially during peak season when we were there. Oh well. Our first two days we spent on the beach and in the pools. The kids were in heaven! Mom and dad loved it too :)
The only bad thing is we were kind of swindled on the beach. In Cartagena the locals are SUPER agressive about selling goods and services. On the beach they especially push their massages and braiding. A few ladies came up to us saying they would give us a free 2 minute massage to test it out and instead of stopping after 2 minutes they kept going and didn't tell us we had moved into the payed part of the massage. It only lasted about 15 minutes and the horrible thing was that the prices were ridiculous! AND they forced the kids to sit for massages too (we didn't know we'd have to pay for those either since they didn't ask). The kids hated it and they wanted to charge adults prices! Then one of the ladies insisted she could get Amaya to sit to have her hair braided. I kept telling here there was no way Amaya would be okay with that. When she started braiding I couldn't believe it but Amaya actually sat for it! I think she was in shock and a little scared to do anything about it.
It was sort of expensive too but we were semi okay with it because Amaya looked so cute.
We ended up talking them down in price but still paid WAY more than we would in Bogota for our hour massages we get at home. After that we promptly turned away anyone who tried to come our way. Jay and Amaya loved playing in the ocean though. The waves are always so much fun! We loved the pools even more because there was no one harassing us. We stayed all day in the sun and had a blast! Our last day after we had lunch by the pool we were walking back over to the swimming pool and Jay somehow managed to hit is leg on a pipe. He scraped it enough that it started bleeding (just on the surface) so we took him to the staff to find a bandaid. In true Colombian fashion they immediately put him in a
wheel chair and pushed him down to the nurse. Haha! I think Jay thought his leg was going to fall off or something with all the attention he received! They cleaned him up, slapped on a bandaid and all was well.
For our second two nights in Cartagena we stayed inside the walled city at a beautiful little aparthotel called San Diego Suites. It was really nice and had 2 bedrooms, which we loved. There's nothing like sleeping in the same room as our kids (on a double bed) that causes sleep to alude me more. The apartment was a welcome change! We decided to take a boat ride out to the little islands of Rosario about 45 minutes from the coast on our third day. It was okay. Probably not something we will repeat but I'm glad we went. The boat ride there was a bit long for littles, but not terrible.
The island was very small but very pretty. There wasn't much there but the beach had white sand and the water was very clear and blue (which you don't find in Cartagena). We did have an awesome lunch there, probably my favorite of the trip. We had grilled local white fish, whole with bones in, and it was delicious! Jay ate and entire one himself. They also served coconut rice (yummmmmm....), salad, sweet plantains and a seafood soup. Other than eating we hung out on the beach, swam in the swimming pool and visited the local village.
Visiting the village was probably my favorite part. It felt like we had been transported back 100 years or more. It was very rural, surrounded by jungle and very small. The people were friendly, although they seemed a little surprised to see us. I don't think many tourists normally stray too far from the beach.
On our final day in Cartagena we woke up early and walked around the old walled city. It was cool to see the old structure and the kids loved the cannons.
Best buds.
In the afternoon we went swimming at the rooftop pool in the building we were staying at. Jay is such a little fish. He could swim ALL day and he's doing so well! Once a week swimming lessons at school are definitely paying off.
Giving high fives in the water!
What a great trip! We loved just being together and enjoying the beautiful weather.
