Cartegena, Colombia

 

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All packed up and ready to go!
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Long layover in Florida after a long redeye flight.

Our first stop on our RTW trip!!

We were invited to Cartagena, Colombia by our good friends from Virginia. They are currently stationed there and H and K are best friends with their two children.

We kids only know a few words in Spanish, and it was our first experience being in a country where English is not the primary language. Both our parents studied Spanish in school, but remember very basic phrases. Thank goodness for our friends who are fluent and translated and helped us out throughout our stay in Colombia.

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Fun times with old friends on their rooftop pool.

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Colsunset©.jpgOn our first day, we were exhausted from our red eye flight, so we relaxed. We ate freshly made empanadas and watched the sunset from the rooftop pool of the apartment building our friends live in.

On the second day, we toured the beautiful streets of El Centro, “the walled city”, there were many vendors who offered us hats and sunglasses (though most of us were wearing at least one of those). It was hot and humid to say the least and by the end of our tour of the city, we were ready to cool down. We stopped at Crepes & Waffles for ice-cream. The building was beautiful and the ice-cream was refreshing and delicious.

One of the coolest things we did was take a boat out for the day. We toured an aquarium, swam around a sunken plane, docked and swam at a beautiful beach house, and stopped by an old fort. We, the four kids, had to get used to swimming in saltwater! We were all surprised by how salty it was. Swimming in the Caribbean was a really fun experience. We got a little sun kissed, I got a little jellyfish sting, got pelted with rain on the way back to shore but it was definitely worth it!!

On the last full day of our stay in Cartagena, we drove to the Vivarium, a reptile farm. We got an extremely detailed and private tour of the facility. The reptile farm was mostly outdoors, we walked along a path lined with flowers and animal enclosures. We learned about each animal specifically. Not only did we learn about the animals but we also got to feed and hold the caimans and tortoises.

We had a few surprises awaiting us in Colombia–Because the country is so close to the equator, the sun stays high in the sky all from morning til evening. We wore lots of sunscreen! Another thing we found surprising is that the food isn’t spicy, as we Americans had imagined Hispanic cuisine would be. Some of our favorite dishes were the patacones (fried smashed plantains served with sour cream) and the meat empanadas (imagine a pizza pocket but stuffed with ground beef). Lastly, the traffic. Not necessarily the amount of it but instead the chaos of it. Nobody stops for pedestrians, there’s probably 2 stop lights in all of Cartagena, and people will cut you off even if there isn’t enough room. The motorcycles weave in and out of the cars–especially at stoplights and traffic jams–the little yellow taxis are everywhere. We thought you had to be an aggressive driver to live in the D.C. area but this is a whole different ball game.

Thanks for following our travels 🙂 For the next stop we’re heading back to the US!

28 thoughts on “Cartegena, Colombia”

  4. Wow! Wow! And Wow! I’m thoroughly impressed with the richness of your family’s tapestry and quest for this RTW journey! Amazing. Incredible. Courageous. The ultimate quest for higher learning and enlightenment. These thoughts do not even come 1/100 of a percent close to describing how I view this beautiful opportunity.

    A special salute to each of you: Cindy, Ken, Greta, H, C, and K! Bravery! Thank you for sharing your adventures. I am looking forward to seeing other areas of the world through y’alls lenses.

    Praying for God’s hand of protection throughout your adventures and that your RTW dream journey surpasses each of your expectations by 360 to the 360th power and then some!!

    Cheers!

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  9. Cindy-we are enjoying this so much – living a bit “vicariously” through this adventure with you! Love the pix and commentary! You are helping inspire us to think outside the box more!! Anne-Marie

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  14. The blog is fantastic! Love all the pictures and perspectives!! Remember the traffic in Coloumbia, it’ll be echoed in other places! Thailand (Bangkok), for sure! Keep the posts coming!

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  15. I never knew that South America could be so very beautiful. What a joy to have a personal experience with friends that you did. Loved sharing in it with you💋💋

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    1. The children all commented on how beautiful it was. It surpassed our expectations! Glad you’ve figured out the blog, Aunt M 🙂 — Cindy

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  16. Thank you all for the invite to tag along on your incredible adventure. Looking forward to your posts and must say you are already inspiring future travel plans for the Thompson’s. Wishing you fair winds and following skies!
    Mike T

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