IT'S NOT YOUR GUERILLA'S COLOMBIA
Well, the South American leg of our journey is over, and it ended with many highlights. We spent the final week of our visit to Colombia in the colonial gem of Cartagena. With miles of colorful, colonial architecture lining the hot and sexy blocks of the city, we explored day and night throughout the magical, walled city. The photo above was taken through the side entrance of the Santo Domingo church. The city's oldest church has a floor made out of gravestones and a crooked bell tower...the immense vaulted ceiling also provides a great escape from the intense Caribbean heat. The photo below is of the pool at Casa Relax, the lovely inn we stayed at during our time in Cartagena. The name of the hotel certainly told the truth, and the Corsican owner took good care of us with great local knowledge and a wonderful day trip to the Totumo mud volcano, the unforgettable city market and a couple of local fishing villages.
One very special treat we had while in Cartagena was a visit from our friend, Adam Farber. Adam has always had a strong travel itch, and when he realized the likelihood for him to travel to Colombia in the future was quite slim, he took advantage of Rachel and I being there and booked a last minute trip. Below is a photo of the three of us posing in front of our chiva...a common party vehicle found in Ecuador and Colombia. It's essentially an open-air party on wheels with a live vallenato band, plenty of dancing and copious amounts of rum. We had an excellent time with Adam and the rest of our chiva-mates during the famous Colombian tradition.
Another major highlight of our visit to Cartagena were the numerous juice stalls scattered throughout the city. We found a reliable juguero on our first morning and he kept us well-nourished and entertained during our stay with delicious concoctions made from local goodies such as pineapple, banana, curaba, lulo, mango, zapote, melon and mora, among others.
On our last day in Colombia we took a day trip with Michele, the owner of Casa Relax. Although the primary destination was the infamous Totumo Mud Volcano, a couple detours down dirt roads leading to the Caribbean Sea took us through memorable fishing villages, as seen below.
The first association many friends and family make when we tell them about Cartagena is with the movie, Romancing The Stone. The photo below is my best imitation of the famous "Joan Wilder...THE Joan Wilder? I read all your books...please come in to my home." scene.
Although the majority of our time in Cartagena was spent exploring the colonial center and the surrounding walls and forts, no visit is complete without a day at the beach in Bocagrande...the posh, modern tourist strip of all-inclusive resorts and nightclubs. Below are a few photos from the final bits of sunshine we had on the beach. We all decided to get backrubs and get the knots out before tackling a full day of travel the following day. You can see Adam really enjoying his rub in the photo below, while I pose with my backrubber, Claudia, in the following shot. You can note we refer to the experience as a backrub and not a massage, as there seemed to be absolutely no therapeutic benefit in the experience at all...just a creamy and oily backside.
Rachel and I pose a final time on the glorious Colombian coast.
Well, the South American leg of our journey is over, and it ended with many highlights. We spent the final week of our visit to Colombia in the colonial gem of Cartagena. With miles of colorful, colonial architecture lining the hot and sexy blocks of the city, we explored day and night throughout the magical, walled city. The photo above was taken through the side entrance of the Santo Domingo church. The city's oldest church has a floor made out of gravestones and a crooked bell tower...the immense vaulted ceiling also provides a great escape from the intense Caribbean heat. The photo below is of the pool at Casa Relax, the lovely inn we stayed at during our time in Cartagena. The name of the hotel certainly told the truth, and the Corsican owner took good care of us with great local knowledge and a wonderful day trip to the Totumo mud volcano, the unforgettable city market and a couple of local fishing villages. 
One very special treat we had while in Cartagena was a visit from our friend, Adam Farber. Adam has always had a strong travel itch, and when he realized the likelihood for him to travel to Colombia in the future was quite slim, he took advantage of Rachel and I being there and booked a last minute trip. Below is a photo of the three of us posing in front of our chiva...a common party vehicle found in Ecuador and Colombia. It's essentially an open-air party on wheels with a live vallenato band, plenty of dancing and copious amounts of rum. We had an excellent time with Adam and the rest of our chiva-mates during the famous Colombian tradition.
Another major highlight of our visit to Cartagena were the numerous juice stalls scattered throughout the city. We found a reliable juguero on our first morning and he kept us well-nourished and entertained during our stay with delicious concoctions made from local goodies such as pineapple, banana, curaba, lulo, mango, zapote, melon and mora, among others. 
On our last day in Colombia we took a day trip with Michele, the owner of Casa Relax. Although the primary destination was the infamous Totumo Mud Volcano, a couple detours down dirt roads leading to the Caribbean Sea took us through memorable fishing villages, as seen below.
The first association many friends and family make when we tell them about Cartagena is with the movie, Romancing The Stone. The photo below is my best imitation of the famous "Joan Wilder...THE Joan Wilder? I read all your books...please come in to my home." scene.
Although the majority of our time in Cartagena was spent exploring the colonial center and the surrounding walls and forts, no visit is complete without a day at the beach in Bocagrande...the posh, modern tourist strip of all-inclusive resorts and nightclubs. Below are a few photos from the final bits of sunshine we had on the beach. We all decided to get backrubs and get the knots out before tackling a full day of travel the following day. You can see Adam really enjoying his rub in the photo below, while I pose with my backrubber, Claudia, in the following shot. You can note we refer to the experience as a backrub and not a massage, as there seemed to be absolutely no therapeutic benefit in the experience at all...just a creamy and oily backside. 
Rachel and I pose a final time on the glorious Colombian coast.
CHECK BACK SOON FOR A SPECIAL THANKSGIVING REPORT FROM FLORIDA!!!
posted by Donkey Crossing @ 11/22/2006 08:56:00 PM
1 Comments:
i feel sorry for claudia...
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