The Walled City of Colombia

Cartagena, Colombia

Situated on the northern coast of Colombia, Cartagena is a popular spot for vacationing Colombians, travelers, and cruise ships. This unique city was founded in the early 1500’s and after frequent pirate attacks, a giant wall was commissioned to surround the city and serve as protection. Approximately 11km (6.8 miles) of fortification were built and the construction took place in phases over 208 years (YEARS!!). Most sections of the wall still stand to this day and provide a historical backdrop to this beautiful city.

Inside the Wall

One thing we learned fairly quickly about Cartagena is that it’s HOT. Like, “it’s 8am, I’ve barely moved a muscle yet, but I’m stuck to my chair and my shirt is soaked through already” kind of hot. Because of this, we took advantage of the mornings and tried to get our activities out of the way early on so that we could spend the afternoons perched in front of a fan. In addition to being absurdly hot, Cartagena is also very beautiful. The part of the city that is inside of the wall is filled with old Colonial-style buildings that are just oozing with character.

I should note that Cartagena is also where we managed to find the cheapest beer to date on this trip: 1L of Aguila for 2500 pesos (1L for $1USD or $1.25CAD. 1L = 3 BEERS!!!)

Playa Blanca

Since the nearby beach – Bocagrande – isn’t the most idyllic of places (it’s located right next to a main road and the physical beach space is very small), a popular beach destination is Playa Blanca. Located on Isla Baru, you can either take a $10 shuttle ride each way, or a complicated combination of public buses & collectivo taxis which totals about $4.50 instead (I’ll let you guess which one Mac and I did). Whichever way you travel to Playa Blanca, the end result is the same: turquoise waters, white sand and every possible person capable of fitting on the beach to make it one of the most crowded “relaxing” places I’ve ever been. Yes, it was beautiful, but it’s also expensive, packed, and slightly annoying with the constant stream of vendors that pass you offering anything from massages to jewellery to live lobsters. (Uh, no thanks).

Since the beach is so incredibly un-shaded, you have the option to essentially ‘buy shade’. Tents & huts are set up in rows and for a cool $4/person, you can sit in shaded luxury for the day.

Mac and I went for a walk along this vast beach hoping that the crowds would thin a bit as we walked further away from the taxi drop-off point. This wasn’t the case however, as hostels & beach inns began to replace the shade-tents.

It should be noted that we DID go to the beach on Easter Sunday. The week leading up to Easter (Semana Santa), and especially Good Friday are extremely heavily celebrated in Colombia, but actual Easter Sunday doesn’t get that much attention. Instead (from my keen observation and hopeful assumption), all Colombians go to the beach – Playa Blanca to be precise. I’m sure our experience might have been different if we went on another, less popular day, but if I were to go to Cartagena again (which I totally would!), I’d skip Playa Blanca and reminisce about the beautiful beaches in Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Panama instead.