Cartagena, Colombia

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

Cartagena de Indias is the undisputed queen of the Caribbean coast, a historic city of superbly preserved beauty built by African people lying within an impressive 13km of centuries-old colonial stone walls. Cartagena’s Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site – a maze of cobbled alleys, balconies covered in bougainvillea, and massive churches that cast their shadows across leafy plazas.

This is a place to drop all sightseeing routines and just go with the flow. Instead of trying to stick to all of the top 50 internet searched sights in Cartagena, try strolling through the “Walled City” of Old Town day and night. Soak up the sensual atmosphere, pausing to ward off the brutal heat and humidity in one of the city’s many excellent bars and restaurants for a cold cerveza or margarita. Take a day adventure to the incredible, Afro-Colombian town of Palenque, and explore the colorful hand painted, graffiti murals and and explore the rich African culture…definitely the gem of Cartagena. Holding its own against Brazil’s Ouro Preto and Peru’s Cuzco for the continent’s most enthralling and impressively preserved historic city, Cartagena is hard to walk away from – it seizes you in its aged clutches and refuses to let go. Hasta Pronto, Mi Familia!